Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

The Body of Christ Pt.3

Go ahead and turn to the book of Romans, and we'll pick back up in our study on the knowledge of God. We've been talking about pursuing Him and coming to know Him in the process of dying to our own self-righteousness, our own strength, and our own abilities. We're coming to the place that, as He's revealing Himself to us, we see that it's going to be a revelation of coming to the knowledge of Him through His body, and He's going to deal with us accordingly. We said that before we can really come to a full knowledge of God, we're going to see that it's going to be a progression as He brings us to a knowledge of ourselves. The more He reveals ourselves to us, the more we're capable of dying and being crucified with Him, the greater illumination we have of who He is, and what's really effected in this great work of redemption. In this 12th chapter we had you read in preparation for this evening's service, and as you read it in the context tonight, these first couple of verses take on another meaning, don't they? We've looked at this so many times in personal consecration, and that is what it's speaking toward, but I made the comment to you this morning that our personal consecration is for the purpose for being prepared, purged, and purified so that we could meet the needs of the community or meet the needs of the body of Christ. Many times we look at this as just a relating between us and the Lord as our own personal holiness to where we're in right standing with God or that we're able to be gifted or anointed in a special way.

As Paul speaks here, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your [spiritual service or] reasonable service." He said, "I want you to do that and understand that it's for the purpose to where there would be no conforming to the world system." "And be not conformed [he says, to the world's method of doing things] but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Then, as we're going to read down in just a moment, we'll see that the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God is in direct context to how we relate to the body of Christ. "Be not conformed to the [world's way of relating to others. Be not conformed to the world's selfness] but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. [He then says,] For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself... [That's quite a statement if we just stopped right there.] ...to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, [and discreetly] according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but be sober, be discreet. Understand that God, through His sovereignty, gives us different gifts and different graces, and then look what [Paul] goes on to say in the context of this thing. "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office." There is one body and we don't all have the same responsibility. We don't all have the same ability, the responsibility, the ability, the glory, or the honor. "So we, being many, [verse five] are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." What's he saying? Present your bodies so that I can put you in the body as it pleases Me. Present your bodies a living sacrifice so that you don't live to yourself anymore but you can live for the community, the body of Christ. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto to God, which is your reasonable service... [so that I can take you, as you die to your own will, and put you into My program, and cause you to stop trying to glorify yourself and begin to edify others]."

We saw what the original sin was, as we've been in our study here, didn't we? We all understand that the original sin was independence, selfness, the seeking of our own glory. "Eat it, your eyes will be opened. You will be as gods. You will no longer be subservient. You will no longer be under God. You yourself will be a god." Or, as he said to the woman, "You'll no longer have to be under your husband. You'll finally be equal." That's what our society is promoting today because "there needs to be equality." We see it in the social order; it's called socialism because every person deserves the same. In the economy of God, it doesn't work that way. He's given to every man according to the proportion of faith. We're being so programmed in our day to think that everybody is equal that we have trouble living by the biblical order that God has established. Parents want to bring up their kids on an equal basis. They want to relate to their children and talk to their children as peers. They're not peers! They're little vessels that are being molded by you into the image of Jesus Christ. They're little earthen vessels full of foolishness that needs to be knocked out of them, the Scripture says. It shouldn't be done by a fool. We realize that in our society, we want to elevate children to this level, and it's out of order. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right" (Ephesians 6:1). There's a realm of obedience, of subservience, that the children have. "You mean our kids are servants?" "Yeah, that's exactly what they are. They're serving in that household." Let me remind you they're not your children; they're the Lord's. You're just the steward over that house.

The equality.... I'm getting a little bit off line here, but I want you to see what's in man who always wants to elevate himself, who always wants to be on an equal basis, who is always thinking that unless he is in charge of his own fate, that somehow he's inferior, somehow he's worth less, and God says it's not so. The greatest in the kingdom is--say it: [Servant of all]. That doesn't equate to the natural mind; it will not be accepted by carnal man. If you can't accept that, guess what kind of mind you're operating in. The greatest is the one that can die to himself and unselfishly serve as the body is in need. Now, we'll relate to that as it comes to Jesus. You can serve and still be in authority. You can serve and still be lord. You can serve and still be above. It's the attitude of death to self. It's service that's in love. It is service that's in obedience to our head, Christ, who is representing the will of the Father. As we're in that right relationship, we're serving, but we're serving in authority. We're serving from a position of power. We're serving from a position of authority, of power, of responsibility, but it's in a servant's heart of someone who has now the motive being your good, not their will. That's what makes the whole difference.

When someone is asking you, requiring of you, commanding you, it's being done in obedience to their head, Jesus. It's being done in faith. If it's being done as someone who has emptied their life out, and died to self-will, and what's being required of you is not their will, but God's will, then they're the servant. They appear to be lord, but they're actually the servant of all. The greatest among us is the one who is willing to die to self, and bring forth the will of God in our midst, to serve the body by revealing the will of God, to serve the body by requiring the Word of God. That is the greatest. The servant isn't the guy that goes around doing everything for everybody. The servant is the one who requires that the will of God is being done. When we understand that spirit: it's not my will, I'm not demanding my way. I'm not imposing upon you my will, my wisdom, or the world's wisdom. I'm bringing you the wisdom of God through a vessel who's been broken, who's been purged, who's been yielded. My body has been offered up "...a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is [my spiritual] service." My mind is renewed. I am not conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of my mind, and I am now proving, or putting to the test, bringing to revelation, the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God because I am not thinking of myself, but, by the grace and the faith given to me, I am seeking the good of the body for the glory of God. That's what it means to be a servant.

We have it all backwards. We seem to think the man is to serve his wife and so the wife is just sitting there doing her nails, and the husband is vacuuming and doing the dishes. He's to serve the children, and so the children make their demands for a new (I don't know, the names change so fast) Ultra Super Sky Man Station (whatever, I don't know). That's not what it means to be the servant, to move in humility in your home. When we understand here, as the body of Christ, when we're talking about how we're placed into the body of Christ, and the spirit of humility in service, we want to get it in biblical order. He says, (Look at it again.) "Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Don't be confident in your own ability." It didn't say, "Don't recognize who you are and who God has made you." Is standing before your family and saying, "I want you to know something; I'm the head of this house" thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think? No, that's your role. That's your position and that's where God has placed you. To think of yourself more highly than you ought to think is to think that you can do the job. To think of yourself more highly than you ought to think is to begin to require things of your family that God is not requiring of them, and enforcing your own personal preferences in lieu of the revealed will of God. Thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think is seeing yourself as an exception, exclusive from the corporate body of Christ, and how you fit into the community, because your job is more important than everybody else's job here. "I have to work." Well, join the club.

We realize, then, that thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think is thinking that somehow we're unique, we're the exception. The humility, there is a humbling process that's taking place here. Think soberly and discretely as God has dealt to every one of us the measure of faith, every one of us. There's no unique, separate individual that's dismissed from finding his place in the body of Christ. He has dealt to every one of us the faith necessary to be placed into the body of Christ. Do you know what that tells me? It's not natural to be placed into this corporate body. Naturally, the Adamic nature wants to be an individual. "I want to be unique!" That's the adolescent approach to things and, over the years, all of us did it. The generations that have followed us have done it. The adolescents always want to be different than their parents; they're going to be unique. "I'm a nonconformist, me and my 20 buddies who all dress alike. We're unique. We're nonconformists." Basically, they're trying to find their own niche in their own generation, and we're all that way. We were like that. Most of us were never secure enough to be true nonconformists and be different than everybody. God gives us the faith to be able to be placed in and placed under, as it pleases Him. "For as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office." Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; we don't all have the same office.

We're going to look at the practicality. We've dealt with the character part of not thinking more highly of ourselves. Now we want to deal with the practical placement, and recognize the gifting among us, and then not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. The moment you ask this question (and it doesn't have to be verbalized; it could be in your thoughts), "Why? I don't understand. Why did that idiot get that position, with a gift like [mine] not being recognized?" Don't think of yourself more highly. The moment you question God, you're thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think. The moment you question the wisdom of God, the Head, you're thinking of yourself way more highly than you ought to think. If He has the hairs of your head numbered, if He can call you by name, then I think He can probably put you in the position He wants you in. Therefore, we don't have to promote ourselves. We don't have that quite as much in this fellowship as in a lot of churches. Over the years, it's always been humorous to me to watch all of the politicking go on as people try to become deacons. You might as well have run a campaign with posters, and parades, and kissing babies over the years, to see all of the politics involved in becoming a deacon or getting to sing specials or getting put into the choir, or becoming the head of the pie baking committee for missions, or whatever it was. Natural man vying for position and the jealousy that was in churches. "I've been in this church for 20 years and some young whippersnapper comes in here, and he gets put into the position that I've been trying to sneak into for years. It's not right!" That goes on in churches because folks are folks. As we begin to understand what it means to come to the knowledge of God as He's going to relate to us through His body, we have to be confident that God has put us where He wants us in His body. It just happens to be at this fellowship in this town. He's put the rest of the folks here that are supposed to be here to strengthen you, to care for you, to refine you. Yes, even the idiots. How many of you know we have some really stupid folks among us? We're not going to call any names. You all know who they are, (right?) and they're not you. People that irritate you. Is there anybody here that irritates you? Don't look around right now. They're here for you. "Yeah, thanks, God." [Paul] is trying to tell us here that God, in His sovereignty and His wisdom, is putting His body together--universal and local--and in His wisdom, He's gifting us and placing us as it pleases Him. Keep your finger here and go over to the 12th chapter of Corinthians for just a moment. (Just kind of hold your finger there; it's real easy to look at both of them at the same time.) In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 18, "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath [say it with me] pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body."

We see in these two chapters, [Paul] keeps talking about the distinction between members and bodies, the corporate. The function of each one of us is fulfilling the call of God on our lives, every one of us, members one of another. You don't have to be directly touching another part of the body to be a member of it, part of it. "I just really want to be able to spend more time with one of the pastors and just get to know them better, so I can just feel their hearts." There could be opportunities for that, but you've got to understand that the finger doesn't directly touch the head; it's got between it different parts of the body. You have the hand, and you have the arm. Between you and the head are teachers, deacons. Does that mean that you're not in relationship, that you're not members and joined with that other part of the body? No. He says that we are one, we are all members one of another. We work together. We might not ever be working on a project together, but we're working on the same project, aren't we? We worked on a project here just a moment ago, as it pertained to Africa. We're all working together on that.

As the overseer of this fellowship, the head of this fellowship and you, as a member in particular of the body, you and I may not physically work together. You and I may not sit down with your children tomorrow and give them the instruction that was given to you earlier about how to give of their own lives, and sacrifice, and these different things, but we just did it, didn't we? I shared with you and now you're going to share with them. It may be a couple of you that are getting together and dealing with your children at the same time, a couple of parents or whatever, and you do it in that way, that's a corporate function, however it's done. Paul makes it very clear. He says, "Look, I want you to see that we are every one members one of another. You may not be intimate. It may not be something that is preeminent in a relationship, but we are all members one of another." In fact, the Scripture makes it very clear, verse 14 of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians. "For the body is not one member, but many," he says. The relationship and the responsibility that we have in all of this are seen in verse 25 of that 12th chapter. He says you need to work together, you need to humble yourselves, you need to all do your jobs that you've been gifted to do. That one that you've been called to do, "That there should be no schism in the body; [no gaps, because we're all members one of another, and that we, then, are to] ...have the same care [verse 25] one for another."

"And whether one member suffer, [what does it say?] all the members suffer with it...." There should never be a time in this fellowship when somebody's hurting, that we're not all aware of it and feel it. We're not all going to be in the same relationship with that suffering body. We've talked before about the different relationships that we build among ourselves here, and that you just can't be intimate with everybody. We all have the same care, though. We don't just say, "Well, they're in that care group, that home fellowship group. That's their problem." Do you understand that we don't have twelve separate churches meeting here? These home fellowship groups, these twelve groups that we're broken up into, are not twelve separate entities. All that does is allow us to administrate this principle of caring for every member of the church. The deacons are there to fulfill what the Scripture says their mandate is so that there are no needs that are left unmet in the body. The purpose of the ministry of deacon is seen in the book of Acts. It says that there was a problem among the Hebrews and the Greeks, and that the Greeks felt that they were getting overlooked, and so God put the deacons in the church to make sure that everybody's needs were being met, and that nobody was getting left out, nobody was falling through the cracks. Not only is there a deacon, but there's a more intimate group. I want to tell you something. If, in this fellowship, you ever have a need that isn't addressed, it's your fault and nobody else's, because every vehicle is in place for you to be cared for. You just have to get rid of your pride and let somebody know you have a need. The machinery is in place to see to it that every need is met, and every member is cared for. A healthy body, a body functioning the way it's supposed to, is to see that everybody is cared for, that all of the needs are being met, that we're receiving counsel, we're receiving reproof, we're receiving wisdom from others so that we can learn how to train our children, etc. All of this is the reason that we do what we do, because we're a body. We can't all, as I said, have an intimate relationship, and we can't all receive counsel, as a community from the head. I can't sit down with all of you in the same way that Moses couldn't sit down with all of Israel, and so elders were appointed, and then captains of hundreds and tens were appointed so that everybody's needs were being met.

Hours are spent with the deacons and the pastors to where we're aware of all of the circumstances that are going on though all of the different meetings on a daily basis. The pastors are coming and speaking toward certain issues, and we're very aware of every need in our fellowship. Are you that aware of the needs in your own home? You may only have a congregation of five. Do you know what's going on? Maybe we need to put these principles into work so that we can have the proper communication. Because the bottom line is this--let me share with you as we're winding down here--the whole purpose is having no schism. Think what that word "schism" is. It's a gap. You don't allow any gaps. We don't allow anybody to get off in the fringe by themselves. The reason some people are on the fringe is because they prefer darkness; their deeds are evil. They want to handpick people that are just like them and breed weakness. If we're going to do what the body is supposed to do, and some of those people are a pain in the neck, but you know what you have to do. You have to go hunt them out, and you have to begin to bring to them the nurture, the admonition, and have a care for them because of the fact that there can be no schism allowed in our midst. If anybody is hanging on the fringe, then we, as the body, are not doing our job. You say, "Well, what if they just don't want to be a part of us?" If the body does its job, little white blood cells, you know what will happen. They'll either become part or be driven out but you can't just let them hang. There's no place for just hanging out in the body of Christ.

We shared the other night how that's going to, practically, be a part here, as it pertains. Some of you are tired of coming to home fellowship, and we shared that you don't have to come; it's a privilege to come. In fact, some of you, if things don't change, you're going to be asked not to come, and the same to discipleship training, and to men's breakfast. When that happens, you're going to be encouraged at the same time, saying, "We're not your enemy, we love you." We're not telling you that we don't want you. We're telling you that you don't want us. Everybody that's part of us, part of the body, is caring one for another and is not only providing ministry, but receiving ministry, as the Spirit flows, and as we interact so that we could edify one another so that Jesus could be exalted in our midst. If you're the only person that can't make it up here for prayer consistently, then I've got a question, "Why?" "Well, you know, I have children." We've made provision for that, but it's not unique; there are billions on the planet. "Yeah, I've seen one of those." This probably isn't the applicable Scripture, but you'll get the point. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man..." (1 Corinthians 10:13). If everybody else can do it, why can't you? Because you don't want to. You can't make it to prayer. You can't make it home fellowship. You can't make it to service on time. Do you want to know something? You're just thinking of yourself a little more highly than you ought. You're hanging out there unique, "you're special" and there's no place for that in the body of Christ.

As we come to the knowledge of God, He wants to reveal Himself in us as we're moving into this preparation for the glory of God. He has mandated, verse 25, that we care for one another. When people come to care for you, don't get your nose out of joint. They're doing what they were told to do. "Hey, well, 'care for me' means to do what I want done, and right now I want some space, and if you're going to care for me, then just leave me alone." Now what does the natural man say to that? "I'll give you space. 'To the moon, Alice!' Right! I'll give you outer space! I'll give you space, man, there's going to be a great gulf between us." There can't be any schism in the body. Nobody in our midst can have that kind of an attitude and be in the body. This thing's got to be resolved. Either it has to be cut off because it's not part of the body--it has to be cut off because it's not bringing forth fruit, John 15--or it has to come in and be part of the body. Otherwise, it's a tumor, a cancer. It's something foreign but it's not part of the body.

As we come to the knowledge of God and we see these particular mandates that are put upon us, we're commanded to care for one another. Next session, we're probably going to talk about recognizing the different people among us, and how we're to relate to them, like the comely and the uncomely, the weak and the strong, and how we relate to those different positions. Who is it that is strong in our midst, really? Begin to identify how God can receive the most glory in each one of our lives as we fulfill the ministry, the call of God on our lives. As we end for this evening's session, don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think as it pertains to what you think you can give or what you think you need to receive. The commandment of God is that we are all members one of another, so you can't hang out there and say, "Well, I'm just not interested right now." If you're part of the body, you get the whole lump. As comfortable as it would be to hang out to yourself, you can't do that. You have a whole bunch of folks that you're living with. Family, you have a big family; there's no privacy in a big family.

I'm thankful I didn't have a big family, just my brother and me. As it was in those days, we didn't have a big house either. I've shared some of the stories with you. My brother and I always had to sleep in the same bed. (Today, dear Lord, if I don't have my own room....) Room? We didn't have our own bed. "You got a bed?" "Yeah, as the Lord prospered us, we had a bed." I can remember not having a bed, too. You remember that as a kid sleeping in the bed with your brother or sister, you'd draw that imaginary line down the middle. "Don't even think of coming over here. Get on your own side." "I am on my own side." "Hey, that cuff on your pajamas is over the line, man. I want some space!"

You just might as well understand that we're members one of another; you can't live to yourself. "Well, this is the private part of my life." No such thing, because every decision you make affects us. All of your bonehead financial decisions affect us when we have to take care of your kid's education. So don't think we're not going to speak into those areas of your life. "Well, I'm just not interested in having that much intimacy." Then go out on your own, but don't, like Ananias and Sapphira, say you're part of us, and think you're going to remain, and not have contributed everything like the rest of the fellowship has done in the caring for one another. You can't have it both ways. As we understand what it means to truly care, we see that it's going to take the grace, and the faith of God to affect it in our lives. Not only what we're responsible to give, but what we're responsible to receive.

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We just ask that as You continue to mold us into Your image, help us to receive love and to give love, that the world might look and say, "Behold, how they do love one another. Behold how they love one another, so that they would know that I was raised from the dead and I was sent of the Father." It's not in words, Father, it's in what we give of ourselves, the fruit that's manifested, and for that, Father, we ask that You would be perfected in us. Help us to humble ourselves to not think of ourselves more highly than we ought so that men could see the works, and glorify our Father in heaven. Thank You, in Jesus' name. Amen.

I want to share with you on the offerings that came in tonight. Can you say praise God for this? Our youth took an offering and from our young people, $198.00. Can you say praise God for that? That's just our youth. The rest of you gave in tonight's offering, $27,045.00. Can you say praise the Lord for that? In addition to that, $7,700.00 was pledged and $1,100.00 was pledged by the youth that will be coming in. One person--this was not included in those other totals--one person put in $10,000.00, so that brings the grand total to $46,128.00, praise God. The Lord is good. Amen? Let's just stand and thank Him for His presence and His love for us, praise God, for the community, and to see that our community stretches across the oceans right now into Africa. We have Charles, who's part of our family, and the deacons of the Kakamega church, and you've just cared for them, and you've loved them, and the resurrected Jesus is going to be seen in these love gifts that you're sending. They are going to know that God has raised Jesus from the dead because of your liberality. We just need to give Him the glory. Just thank Him for what He's done in our lives tonight, not only in this offering but what's happened in our hearts through the Word of God tonight, as we've made new commitments to our relationship in the body of Christ. Hallelujah! I believe that the Lord has spoken to some people tonight and given another perspective of what your role is in the body and how you relate to the body. As we said this morning, you now have a decision to make. You've heard; now what are you going to do? This is not up for consideration. It is the Word of God and you can do one of two things. You don't modify it. You do it or you reject it. That's all there is to it. There are no modifications. It can not be the Word of God with your twist. You've been challenged to join with many members to make one body. It's going to cost you and you will benefit from it. It's going to cost you, and you will benefit from it, and God is going to be glorified. For that, Father, we give You all the praise, in Jesus' name. Amen. Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Many members, one body." Amen. Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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