One Body in Christ

Romans 12:3-8

Intro. :
1. In his book that every Christian ought to read, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis has a chapter on the Great Sin-Pride. Pride is the sin thru which the Devil became the devil. Pride is so subtle that it can take many forms and assume many disguises and it is so vicious that he destroys everything it touches.

A, Pride is competitive. I am disturbed if someone is the big attraction at the party, because I wanted to be. I am not content with being rich, clever, or good-looking, but that is false. I am only content with being richer, cleverer, or better-looking than others. Two people pursue the same girl. They could be happy with different gifts, but the pursuit is to show a proud man that he is a better man than you. It is pride--the wish to be richer than some other rich men.

B. Pride's competition produces conflict and enmity. Other vices may bring people together. You may find good fellowship and jokes and friendliness among drunken people, or unchaste people. But Pride always means enmity--it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

C. Pride makes it impossible for you to enjoy other people for what they are, and for them to enjoy you. Pride destroys the possibility of friendship. What happens when two vain, proud men or women get together. Enmity arises. They want the front seat, the top billing, and their so-called desserts first. Someone has compiled a list of how to be perfectly miserable. 1) Think about yourself, 2) Talk about yourself, 3) Use I as often as possible 4) Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others, 5) Listen greedily to what people say about you, 6)Expect to be appreciated, 7) Be suspicious, 8)Be jealous and envious, 9)Be sensitive to slights,(10} Never forget a criticism, 11)Trust nobody but yourself, l2)Insist on consideration and respect, 13) Demand agreement with your own views on everything. 14) Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown them, 15 )Never forget a service you may have rendered, 16 )Be on the lookout for a good time for yourself, l7)Shirk your duties ifyou can, l8)Do as little as possible for others. 19) Love yourself supremely, 20) Be selfish. This recipe is guaranteed infallible.

2. Scripture? “I bid everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think" for when you do that is pride, and it means isolation. On the contrary we are to think in terms of closeness. Christians are to be close and they are compared to a body. We are one body in Christ, says Paul (v.5.) If this be true, some truths are set forth.

I. A body has many different functions. 6.

1. Many of you have read the RD's series, I am Joe's heart, hand, etc. In a popular vein this has pointed up the different abilities and functions of organs of the body. We have a different analysis here, but much is pertinent. As one body in Christ we are individually members of one another. Certain gifts are listed: Let's look at them.

1. prophets, or in the New Testament usage, this is what we would call a preacher
2. service, or diaconing, caring for the poor or distributing money for their use. This care arose out of spiritual motives and was retained in a spiritual context. People need money and help, but they need more than mere money.

3. teaching, primarily the teacher of the Scripture.
4. exhorting, or admonishing, or encouragement. The suggests a calling to one's side and out of this good relationship a matter of encouragement in spiritual growth, or problems.
5. contributing, sharing with one's substances. The deacons can't give it all.
6. a giver of aid, a protector, or guardian.
7. a shower of mercy. Mercy is good will toward the
afflicted and miserable, coupled with a desire to help them.

2. The gifts are received, not conceived. To be a gift it is received freely without regard to debt. A gift is not earned. A gift is part of birth. In this case the new birth brings with it abilities to serve in the midst of God's people and contribute to the well being of their body.
There is the belief among some in the charismatic movement that you can con God out of his gifts. This has been particularly true regarding speaking in tongues. The charismatic movement has developed a technique for helping people to speak in tongues. This is contrary to the idea of a gift. In the three instances in Acts nobody sought the experience of speaking in tongues. It was given without seeking,
yearning, searching, or praying for it. That's a gift.

3. What is your function in the body? What is your function in church? Are you really a teacher and you are sitting in a class not fulfilling your role? Are you a preacher not preparing to preach? Are you a deacon, but you are not serving? This is not with reference to a board of deacons? Whoever limits service to being or a board of deacons has no idea of service. Are you a comforter, an encouraging, but
you have fallen down in your service, and perhaps become a discourager, a pessimist. Has God blessed you with a great means beyond your needs, and you are keeping it yourself and not getting the delight of giving so that God can continue to enlarge His blessing of you. What about your giving of mercy?

I1. A Body needs exercise 6.

1. Paul said, "Let us use them," Gifts are for using. A frequent comment about an organ in Joe's body meant that it needed exercise of the whole body for it to work effectively. Here, we need the exercise of the individual gifts for the whole body to function effectively. Listen, this church has gone along well, but it suffers because some of you are not in God's niche for you. Some of you don't want to get involved. We suffer because you teachers are not coming forward to take up your responsibility. You're not getting any exercise and you are suffering and the church body is suffering. You who can encourage, and lead, and protect, and be guardians are involved in too many others things that you are not fulfilling your function. You who have a special gift of contributing may be involved in laying up treasures on earth that you are missing God's increased blessing to enable you to give more.

2. Exercise is a directed experience. Some exercise is just plain busy activity and may not be the best for you. Some of our activity in church is not directed to specific goals. Let me illustrate in the story of a man in Rochester, N.Y. whose name was Wahlstrom. He was a tinkering kind of man. Several years ago, he bought an old bombsight and took it apart for the fun of it. Then he began to put it together again. On his work table were some parts from other machines, so Mr. Wahlstrom began to see how he could fit these on the bombsight. It became quite an interesting project. Neighbors began to help. They
brought in parts, too. So, f or ten years now, it has been going on, until the result is something called "Wahlstrom's Wonder." It has about ten thousand parts. When the switch is turned on, three thousand of them begin to move. Wheels move with wheels, cogs intermesh with cogs. There are bells, belts, and flashing lights. At the same time the whole apparatus is revolving on a turn table. Wahlstrom's Wonder has everything! There is just one slight defect. It doesn't do anything. It just runs. Is this the story of your relation to this body. You don’t do anything, but run. Take stock of what God has don e for you and how he has gifted you with ability to make this church develop spiritually , and get into the right place for you.

3. The success of the body's growth depends upon everybody's exercising of his part of the body. There is an old story of a knight who once entered an isolated castle and saw tables piled high with delicious foods. There were various kinds of fruits, steaming platters of vegetables, delicious pastries. and rich meats. Many men, women, and children lived in the castle anc the knight was shocked at their poor, weak, and undernourished condition. When he asked the reason, they replied that all of them had stiff elbows and short spoons, and consequently, they were slowly starving to death in the presence of plenty. The knight resumed his travels and entered another castle and saw the same ample supplies of food. He also observed that these people had stiff elbows and short spoons. But they were plump, rosy-cheeked, and healthy looking. The knight told them of his earlier experience and asked how it was that they managed to be so well fed when they too had stiff elbows and short spoons. One of them replied happily, We have learned to feed each other. This is what we want to do in the church, learn to help each other according to need.

111. A Body needs health. 3-4
1. Health means positively, the ability to take food, and sustain itself from day to day in its activities. Our health depends upon feeding on the word of God. One writer commented, "My soul was starving until I let Jesus cook the meal.” One of the biographies I appreciated early in my life was that of Goerge Mueller, and he wrote: " I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to 'which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into
a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. The first thing I did after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word was to begin to meditate upon the Word of God, searching into every verse to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had mediated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. Now, what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through out minds, just as water runs thru a pipe, but consider what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts."

2. Health also means absence of disease. A body has its ailments, its diseases. Here is a man who has great ability to run; how will he make out if we tie one leg up and let him run on one leg? The body can develop a variety of problems. Churches do so too. Does our church have a heart murmur? Murmuring has its quiet existence in the church. If you listen closely you can hear it. A Sanford and Son brand of arthritis comes when we decide we don't want to be responsible. Loss of hearing is a problem for the church body. it loses it sensitivity to the cries, needs, and anguishes of not only its own people but also outside people.

3. A variety of poisons can be introduced into the body that will harm a variety of its members. The church-body is subject to the same kinds of poisons, whether it be pride, gossip, irresponsibility, cold ness of heart; Poison takes it toll. A woman in Frankfort, KY, years ago was a victim of a strange accident. She arose in the night in her plain little home to get a drink of water from the wooden bucket. There was just a little light from the moon to keep her from lighting a lamp. She lifted the dipper, and in drinking swallowed a small black spider that had dropped into the bucket during the night. She felt the spider going down her throat but did not know what it was. In an hour she became terribly nauseated and ejected the spider, but not before it had bitten her internally. The poison from the bite soon spread thru her system. Her flesh puffed up in bolls and ridges. Her ears swelled so tightly that the blood oozed thru the skin, while her tongue swelled til she almost suffocated. A doctor worked for several hours administering all antidotes known to medicine and finally saved her life. The little spider that had such a venomous bite is no larger than a pea and can roll itself into a complete ball and float on the water like a piece of cork. In the same manner, a single sin can poison the whole life blood of the church. One bit of gossip goes from cell to cell and soon the whole body is shaped and influence by gossip. Other sins have a poisonous effect upon the body's health and thus its activity, influence, and efficiency.

Conclusion:
1. Where are you in the body of Christ? You get out of your body what you put into it. You get out of church what you put into it. The serious issue is that you are treating your own spiritual health in a blase manner.

2. Are you thinking rightfully about your self. While you are not to think too highly, don't think too lowly either.