The Local Church

Transcript

GRM 1212
01/27/2019
The Local Church
1 Corinthians 12:4-20; Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We finished the study of Revelation and have moved into a new year. I just want to cover one of the basic areas for us and that's the biblical doctrine of the church. It will be review for most of you, but I hope it will be good review. We are all about the church; the church is what God is doing in the world today. We are experiencing the realization of what Jesus told His disciples, “I will build My church.” That is what He is doing today. We are part of what God is doing in the world today, as we are part of the church of Jesus Christ, brought into existence through His death, the subsequent provision from heaven of the Holy Spirit.

So I just want to overview the doctrine of the church. Much more that could be said than what we are going to say, but I just want us to be all together in our thinking. Now when I talk about the church, I am focusing primarily on the local church. We've stressed this in other studies, and there is a fine work on the doctrine of the church, and in the back of that work he lists about 114 references to the Greek word, ekklesia, which we usually translate as church in the New Testament. And over 90 of those references are to local churches. I think that is important. There is the truth of the universal church, sometimes called the invisible church, but I don't think that is a very accurate doctrine. The church is not invisible, even believers who are in heaven are visible. We don't see them, but they are.

But the universal church encompasses everyone from Acts 2 down to this day who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. That makes up the universal church. Whatever local church they are part of, wherever in the world, they are part of the universal church. And believers who have died and are in heaven who were part of the group from Acts 2 down to the present are part of the universal church. But the manifestation on earth of the universal church is each individual local church. So, this church is a manifestation of the body of Christ, the church of Christ in this place. There are other local churches in the city also, they are part of the universal church. But where we sometimes get off track, we think the emphasis ought to be on the universal church and all we do together. The emphasis of Scripture is on the local church and the responsibility of each individual local church to fulfill its responsibility and it will be accountable to God for that responsibility.

We talked about this when we talked about the seven churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3, seven individual, local churches named in Revelation 2 and Revelation 3, addressed by Christ. Each, and they are all in that area, Asia Minor as we would identify it, the region of modern-day Turkey basically. But God addresses each of those churches and holds them individually accountable for their condition and for correcting what needs to be corrected. He never says since you are in the same region you all ought to get together, work together, help one another, not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, but the focus is on each individual church, is made up as God intends I, to carry out His purposes for that church. So, we want to make sure we have a biblical emphasis.

Much of the broader organizations we call para-organizations are built more on a doctrine of a universal church than of a local church. And sometimes there is that emphasis. I was addressed by that a number of years ago, those who thought we ought to come together and really view the church as just one church in Lincoln, the city church, that the city of Lincoln has a church. Well, the universal church is visible in the city of Lincoln in a variety of local churches made up of believers. But the visible manifestation is each local church.

So, I want to focus on that doctrine of the church. Let's start in Matthew. Can't start in the Old Testament because the church does not appear in the Old Testament. There are two references, two uses, references to the church in the four gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Both of them are in the gospel of Matthew, so Matthew 16 is the first. And you are aware that a transition occurs in the gospel of Matthew, we have done this on occasion as well. But back up to Matthew 12, the transition occurs after Matthew 12.

In Matthew 12 Christ presents Himself in His superiority of ministries to all aspects of Old Testament ministries. Christ is a prophet, a priest and a king. Such ministries were present in the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law and so on. But Christ is superior in each of His ministries. Look at Matthew 12:6, “But I say to you,” Christ speaking, “something greater than the temple is here.” Christ is a priest, the temple was the focal point of the priestly ministry, but Christ's ministry as priest supersedes all of the prior priests and the priestly ministry associated with the temple. The book of Hebrews elaborates that greatness, the superiority of Christ. But He is greater in His ministry as a priest than the Mosaic Aaronic system.

Come down to Matthew 12:41, the end of verse 41, “something greater than Jonah is here.” Jonah was a great Old Testament prophet, Christ uses him as the example. “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of Man be three days, three nights in the heart of the earth.” But something greater than Jonah is here. He is greater than the great prophets of the Old Testament in His prophetic ministry. And then at the end of verse 42, “something greater that Solomon is here.” Solomon was king over Israel during the time of its greatest glory. He ruled the greatest realm with the greatest wealth, that was Israel at its pinnacle. But Christ as king is greater than Solomon. So, you see Matthew 12 focuses on the greatness of Christ, superior to everything in Israel and the Mosaic system, even as prophet, priest and king.

With Matthew 13 there is a change—from the focus on Israel and offering the kingdom to Israel, presenting the truth concerning Christ as the Messiah. And we see in chapter 13 He begins to address the people in parables and His disciples said, why are you talking to them in parables? These are things harder to understand. Even the disciples had to ask, “explain the parable to us.” Jesus tells them that, verse 11, “to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to them it has not been granted.” Verse 13, “Therefore I speak to them in parables. While seeing they do not see, while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” It shows the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

So, you see there is a change in the ministry of Christ taking place, from offering the kingdom to Israel if they will turn in faith to Him as prophet, priest and king. But they have said no. So now the change is, He will be moving toward Jerusalem, the offer of the kingdom is being withdrawn to the nation. Their rejection of Him is accepted as final, if you will, so truth begins to be more concealed from them because they rejected it when it was openly presented to them. That doesn't mean He is still not preaching some of these things, but the tenor of Matthew is changing.

When you come over to Matthew 16:13, “Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘who do people say that the Son of Man is?’” Son of Man is Christ's favorite title for Himself during His earthly ministry. He is the Son of God, but He is also Son of Man. And various views, and they all connected Him with great Old Testament prophets, because you could not deny the power of His person and of His ministry. So, some said that He was John the Baptist.

Remember Herod, who had John the Baptist beheaded when Jesus is preaching, began to think John the Baptist has come back to life. Others said other Old Testament prophets—Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. And “Christ said, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered, ‘you are the Christ, the anointed One, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ What a great, simple declaration. Jesus said to him, ‘blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but My Father who is in heaven.’”

Peter didn't come to understand that because of greater insight or wisdom, but God the Father had opened his understanding, and so he knew who Jesus Christ really was.
“I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Now we get taken aside here because He says “you are Peter and upon this rock I will build My church.” But you note, I want you to note first, “I will build My church.”

So, the church here is mentioned for the first time, that coming spiritual entity comprised of saved people from all walks of life, all national and racial backgrounds. “I will build My church.” The church is yet a future entity. Some of the material you read, they will talk about the church of the Old Testament. There was no church in the Old Testament, there was no church through the gospels. But Christ does promise and prophesy, I will build My church. The church will be built, it will be upon the rock. And you have Bibles that have margins and they note the different word for Peter, describing a rock. Some say it is a small stone, and upon this rock, the large boulder.

Some say it is Peter, some say it is the confession Peter gave—"you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Quite frankly I don't think that is a major issue, there is no foundation here for a pope or subsequent successors, just because a man or a group of men decide, I'm the successor of Peter. You can claim anything you want, and people do that today. They make up their minds they are this or that and they pretend they are. It doesn't make it reality. There is nowhere in the Bible that indicates Peter had any kind of successive authority or descendants, successors of Peter did. That's what men later, as we move out of New Testament times, decided happened. So the pope today has no connection with Peter, physically or spiritually. And even if you believe Peter is the rock here, it could be seen, the Jews will hear the Gospel for the first time from Peter. The Samaritans, the mixed Jews, will receive the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Peter in Acts 8. The Gentiles will hear the Gospel from Peter initially and receive the Spirit in Acts 10. So, in that sense he is foundational. It is all connected to the message that he preached on those occasions.

So those who would build some kind of doctrine of the successor to Peter, as we have in Roman Catholicism, that is just a myth like Alice in wonderland or any other. I'm not up to date on the newer Star Wars or whatever you want to make up. But the message that Peter preaches is key. The truth concerning the church in its fullness will not be given until the Apostle Paul receives revelation from God. So that doesn't even come through Peter, as we will see in a moment.

So, this is the first mention of church, it is something that will be built. You see now, we are in this section, and you will note what he says in verse 21. “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priest, scribes, be killed, be raised on the third day.”

We saw what was preliminary in Matthew 1. He begins to speak in parables that concealed truth from the Jews. Now He clearly presents to His disciples, we are on the way to Jerusalem, not to start the kingdom, but so I can be crucified. Of course ,Peter speaks up. Sometimes he opens his mouth with good, sometimes it would have been better not said. Peter says, no you can't do that. Now isn't it amazing, the man who just said you are the Christ, the Son of the living God now says you are mistaken. That is not going to happen. Now make up your mind. I mean, it is either Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the Son of the living God and you don't tell Him, He tells you. Peter makes a mistake here and he is sternly rebuked. Peter, your mouth has become a mouthpiece of the devil.

A second use of ekklesia is in Matthew 18, just so you know where it is, in the context we refer to with discipline in the church. In verse 17, “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and tax gatherer.”

Come over to Acts 1. Now what Jesus prophesied has been fulfilled. He was crucified at Jerusalem, He was buried, He was raised on the third day. Now He has been meeting with His disciples off and on for 40 days. Acts 1:3, “To these He presented Himself alive after His suffering,” and you are talking about His disciples, His apostles, those He had chosen in verses 1-2. This picks up where the gospel that Luke wrote leaves off, where Jesus explained to them from the Scriptures, the Old Testament, how Messiah had to suffer and die and be raised from the dead before there could be the establishing of the kingdom. He had to provide salvation, make it possible for people to be credited with the righteousness of God and thus become participants in the kingdom.

So “to these apostles,” verse 3, “He presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days, speaking to them of things concerning the kingdom.” Understand, even though Jesus mentioned the church, they didn't have any concept nor understanding of this totally new entity, distinct from Israel, although it would include Jews. But it is not the nation, it is a separate entity from the nation Israel. So, He talked to them about the kingdom, I take it further explanation like we had at the end of Luke, how going through Old Testament Scriptures. This is why when we get to Acts 2 Peter is so strong and clear in using Old Testament Scriptures to show the Jews the Messiah had to suffer and die on the cross. He had to be raised from the dead and ascended to heaven and sit at the right hand of the Father, bodily. That couldn't just be a reference to David. How did that all of a sudden become clear? Well for 40 days Christ has been explaining to them that work that He had to accomplish and how that would be foundational in preparation so there could be a kingdom.

Then He tells them, I want you to wait at Jerusalem because He is about to leave them. He is not going to be reappearing day after day like He did over those 40 days, time after time. “And you wait for what the Father promised,” what I told you about, “what you heard from Me.” Verse 5, “For John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” You understand, the baptism of the Spirit has not occurred yet.

During the three years of Christ's earthly ministry when the disciples ministered with Him, they ministered in the power of the Spirit but they had not experienced that unique ministry called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Important we keep these distinctions clear. So here His apostles are, would include Peter, James, John, the others. They hadn't been baptized, you haven't received the Spirit in the way that I promised, that when I ascend to the Father . . . Remember John 14-16, in that Last Supper on that last night, He said it is important that I go to the Father, for the Spirit will not come until I go to the Father and send the Spirit. Because the coming of the Spirit in this unique ministry depends upon the finished work of Christ and His arrival in heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, as Hebrews says, completing His high priestly ministry of sacrifice of Himself and so on. So now the Holy Spirit can come.

So, what was promised? And He says, “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So whatever ministries of the Holy Spirit have taken place earlier, He had not come in this unique way. Now the Holy Spirit is God, in that sense, He is omnipresent. We met the Holy Spirit in the opening verses of Genesis, “the Spirit of God hovered over the deep.” So, we're not saying the Spirit of God was not present in the world before this, but the Spirit of God did not come to carry out this unique ministry until this time.

So, you wait at Jerusalem, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit just like I promised, like John the Baptist said. “When the Messiah comes, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” The disciples say, now it is kingdom time. “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Now we understand. You are going to heaven, you will send the Holy Spirit and then you will come back, and we will start the kingdom. Jesus doesn't say anything good or bad about that, He just says, verse 7, “It's not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” If we could put it more colloquially, it's none of your business. Remember Deuteronomy 20:9? “The revealed things belong to us, the secret things belong to God. When the kingdom is going to be established, you don't need to know. The Father has fixed the time” for that. So, it is left open-ended now.

It is important as we move into Acts, pick up some passages, people go into Acts and they don't appreciate the distinctions that are being drawn. But He does say something is going to happen. He doesn't say the kingdom will start but He is back to what He told them, you need to baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be My witnesses.” And what is unique here, “both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth.” That becomes really the pattern of the book of Acts. Some spiritualize this and say we start in our Jerusalem, then we move out to the surrounding region, and then we go to . . . But that is not what this is talking about, this is talking about what literally happens. Do you know what they are going to do? They are going to preach the Gospel in Jerusalem, and then that message is going to spread out to the region around Jerusalem, Judea. And then when we get to Acts 8 it is going to go to Samaria. Then when we get to Acts 10 it is going to go to the Gentiles, and then to Gentiles through Paul in the remotest parts of the earth.

So, you come to Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost, that is about ten days, it had been 40 days, so a little short of ten days here, but we come to Pentecost, 50th day. And the Jews are gathered in Jerusalem, Peter and the apostles, note what happened. There is a noise from heaven, a violent rushing wind, tongues of fire distributed on them. “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” What was the purpose of this? To demonstrate Christ had ascended, taken His seat at the right hand of the Father, the Spirit of God has come in this unique ministry of baptizing. The baptism of the Spirit, it's not a water baptism, it's a Spirit baptism. “They were filled with the Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,” other languages. We use that same expression because our tongues are what we use to speak. And we'll say what is your native tongue, what language were you born with? You know, your native language. And sometimes when people have learned language in adulthood, the accent is still there. We can say, I can tell from your accent, and sometimes if you are good at it, you can say it's a….point out where they are maybe from. They hear in their own language. No doubt about that.

The end of verse 6, “Each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language,” his own dialect, dialectos. So, a tongue is a dialect, here it is an earthly language. We hear them in our own language to which we were born. They have come in from all over the world as Jews to celebrate this feast, but they were born in other parts of the world. But they are Jews so they come back for this feast. We are hearing in the language where we were born. This is amazing! It's an evidence that the Spirit has come.

Then Peter preaches, and he quotes the Old Testament. Remember, he has had instruction on this. And verses 17-18, I take it, were fulfilled in this context. Now keep in mind Peter, at this time, does not understand the establishing of the church. The church is going to begin in Acts 2, but Peter doesn't understand how new this entity is. And in the opening chapters of Acts the church is Jewish, because remember it starts in Jerusalem and Judea. So, it is in the realm of the Jews. What happens? Joel had prophesied the coming of the Spirit. Remember, the Old Testament did not distinguish between the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming, but we are told “in the last days,” those were days of Messiah, so the last days in Scripture are the days from the first coming of Christ to the Second Coming. Because the Old Testament just talked about the last days, they are Messianic days. They talked about the Messiah being born to rule and reign and suffer and die, there is no distinction.

“In the last days I will pour forth My Spirit.” Peter is saying that is what has happened, the Messiah has come. Now he just quotes the whole passage of Joel, but really there is a line after verse 18. Verses 19-20 have not yet happened, that's what we read about in the book of Revelation. Now Peter is not telling them this truth, he is quoting the whole passage, he doesn't know any more about the distinction in time than Joel knew, except he knows the Messiah now did have to suffer and die and ascend to heaven. But he doesn't know there is going to be a 2000-year break, approximately, thus far, between what they experienced on the Day of Pentecost and what is going to happen in verses 19-20 in the coming seven-year tribulation. So, it's not anything strange.

And verse 21, it is true, “it shall come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Well that's true, as the Spirit of God directs him because this message that they are going to witness to is going to be carried to the remotest parts of the earth. So, Peter is beginning to pick up pieces, even though he doesn't fully understand.
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Well early in Christ's earthly ministry when He sent His disciples out two by two, He says you don't go with this message to the Gentiles, you don't go with this message to the Samaritans. You only go give this message to the Jews. But now we are going to tell everyone you can be saved. That's why you remember in the Old Testament the Jews were to be a light in a dark world, but it was not an evangelistic time. There is no evangelism, there is no mission program, in that sense in the Old Testament. When God sent the Jews into the land of Canaan, He didn't send them in to evangelize, He says you go in there and you kill every man, woman and child in the whole land. That's not evangelism, that's judgment. So now it is going to change. That doesn't mean Gentiles couldn't be saved, and primarily it came through converting to Judaism, if you will, and what was revealed to the Jews.

So, you have the church established. Peter preaches, the Holy Spirit falls upon the group, people are saved. Verse 33, “Peter therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you see and hear.” Then he connects it to the Old Testament. David didn't ascend to heaven and send the Holy Spirit, but Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, ascended to heaven. Now you see the Holy Spirit, that is proof He is sitting at the right hand, and you see the evidence of the Holy Spirit present.

In Acts 8 ,Phillip carried the Gospel to the Samaritans. The Samaritans were mixed bloods. When the Jews were deported out of the land, carried to other lands, they lived there, married there, had children there, they intermarried. So, they are mixed blood Jews and they developed their own corrupted worship system north of Jerusalem in Samaria. Phillip carries the Gospel, then Peter and John go down, make sure they have really believed the message concerning Christ and through Peter and John the Holy Spirit is given to these Samaritans. So, you have the evidence. Acts 8:14-17, they had to pray to receive the Holy Spirit.

Now some confuse this and misunderstand and think we should get the Holy Spirit after we are saved. No, understand this is a developing time. How were the Jews going to accept the fact that the Samaritans had been saved by the grace of God and received the Spirit? Well, you have this visible evidence—they spoke in tongues, languages. We can't deny it, that's the same thing that happened to us Jews.

You come to Acts 10. Remember, Peter still to this point has no concept of taking the gospel to Gentiles. So, he is getting hungry, he falls into a trance, God reveals to him, he sees this sheet lowered down from heaven. There are all kinds of unclean animals, the unclean animals were those animals under the Mosaic Law that the Jews were not allowed to eat. That would defile them ceremonially before God. So that happens repeatedly and then a knock comes at the door, God told Peter to rise up and eat. Peter said, “no, Lord, I don't eat unclean things.” Now again you see the same kind of situation. If the Lord tells you to eat, you eat. Peter says, “no, Lord, I don't do that.” Why wouldn't you do it? Well the Lord said don't do it. Well now if the Lord says do it, do it.

Verse 15, “The voice came to him a second time, what God has cleansed no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times and then the Spirit of God speaks to Peter and says there are some men who will come knocking at your door. You go downstairs and answer the door and you go with them. So, Peter does that. He goes to the house of Cornelius. Now this is going to cause a ruckus among the Jews. He goes to the house of a Gentile. We say that's no big deal. It was a big deal. You don't go in the home of a Gentile at this time when you are a Jew. You get defiled, there are all kinds of unclean things there. You don't hobnob with Gentiles in this kind of intimate situation.

But Peter says to them, verse 28, “You yourselves know how it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner to visit him.” And a foreigner is any non-Jew. “But God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” So that's why I came, and further explanation here. Then he goes on to tell, and he says, “now I understand,” verse 34, “God is not One to show partiality. In every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.” And now what was sent to the Jews is being sent to the Gentiles. He preaches the Gospel to them, the Messiah of Israel who demonstrated it during His earthly ministry. “They put Him to death on the cross,” verse 40, “God raised Him on the third day, and He was visible after His resurrection. I am one of those witnesses to His resurrection.” And “this is the One,” verse 43, “of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” And while he is speaking that, the Holy Spirit falls on them. Why? “They believed the message that was being preached,” that which Peter says. Verse 47, “Surely no one can refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

Come to Acts 11, the apostles centered in Jerusalem even though others had been scattered out. Here Peter went to the house of a Gentile. Gentiles have responded to the message. The Jews take issue with this, verse 3, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” So, Peter began in a logical, orderly sequence to explain how God had revealed this to him from heaven, what is clean, what is unclean, what He has cleansed, and so on. Verse 12, “The Spirit told me to go with him without misgiving,” and verse 15, “As I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He did upon us at the beginning.” When was that? Acts 2. “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say John baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He gave to us also, after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in the way?” Now they were baptized with the Spirit.

Well, what would have had to happen? The Gentiles received the same gift; they would have had to manifest the same evidence—speaking in tongues. Do you think the Jews were gullible? Well how do you know they received the Spirit? He said they did. No, Peter, Gentiles don't receive the Spirit. Well, they were baptized with the Spirit the same way we were, they spoke other languages. So, then they say God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life. That's Acts 11. This is new, it is just breaking out now in clarity.

We mentioned the Samaritans in Acts 8 but at least they are partial Jews, they have Jewish blood mixed in. But these are Gentiles, they have to become Jews. And this will become a battleground. They have to be circumcised, they have to keep the Law. Gentiles can be saved, like they could in the Old Testament, first they have to convert to Judaism. No, no, no. They go directly to the Messiah of Israel.

So that's the pattern. That doesn't mean we have to speak in tongues as evidence that we received the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean you get the Holy Spirit sometime after you believe. These kinds of things they pick up from Acts and don't appreciate God is doing something new, and in this context, He is evidencing and guaranteeing because there is no . . .

How would you know the Spirit has been poured out? There has to be some evidence, just like Christ came when He walked the earth gave evidence He was the Messiah and gave the power to His apostles, His disciples to do healings as evidence the Messiah is present. This doesn't mean everybody does that every time, the uniqueness of the book of Acts and the orderliness of it.

So, we have established the local church. Come over to 1 Corinthians 12. In 1 Corinthians 12 we have the analogy that becomes so crucial to understand. The church is the body of Christ in the world and the local church is the body of Christ in this place. That is crucial! The model for the church, if you will, there are other models, but the basic model and it is developed repeatedly, is a body. And the body is one body with many parts.

That's what we are here, we are one body, many parts. If you don't have that, that's why the church keeps fracturing, we deny the truth of the doctrine we came to believe. So, he is going to tell the Corinthians who were marked by division as you are well aware. In 1 Corinthians 12:4, “There are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit.” You'll note that emphasis, you may have it marked in your Bibles, varieties/same, varieties/same. There are varieties of gifts, the enablement’s the Spirit gives to an individual when he believes to function as part of the body. But the same Spirit is providing those gifts, enabling those gifts. There are varieties of ministries, ways of serving, the same Lord who directs the service. There are varieties of effects or workings, but the same God. You see Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all involved in the working of the local church. You have the Spirit, you have the Lord, referring to Christ, and you have God, referring to the Father. And there is variety involved in the ministries that they are appointing. But there is unity in it, unity in the variety.

Note this, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” It is the Spirit's presence in the body that is being evidenced under the direction of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Spirit is the One indwelling and enabling. So, the exercising of a special gift as part of the body, just like in your physical body is an evidence of your belonging to the body. Now if you have an unbeliever who attends the body, he is going to be constantly a misfit. You see people today, they get rings hung everywhere. That's fine, I'm not getting into that right now, but they are not part of the body, they are hung on. That is different. You can take the earring out and throw it away, you can take the nose ring out and you still have the body. You cut the nose off, that's a whole different story. So, there are people who can attend, but they really are not part of the body. That sometimes is part of the conflict, they don't fit and yet they want to fit. And they think it is someone else's problem that they don't fit. And that can cause conflict.

“But to each one individually there is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” You were given a special ability to enable this body of believers to be effective in what God has called us to do and to be, and if you don't function, just like your physical body functions with malfunctions in certain parts. But to that extent it is limited, it is not functioning completely.

Then he talks about some of the examples of the different gifts. But verse 11, he makes clear, “One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” So, I take it that when you place your faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God comes and takes up residence in your life, with His coming He brings a gift, if I could put it that way, an enablement to fit in the body.

Now it is a process, perhaps, and it is, of discovering what your gift is and ability. And just because your gift is in one area doesn't mean you can't be used in another area. You may not have the gift of showing mercy, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be merciful. But those with the gift of mercy will contribute in a special way to the effectiveness of the body, to help those who don't have that gift to be used to one degree or another at least in there. But there will be an area where you will be most effective, and over time you will probably begin to focus more and more of your attention.

How do you find your gift? Do something, just like a little one, a baby. It is born, and it has all the parts, but they are not all yet usable in the right way. You don't stick your food up your nose, it goes in the lower opening. It's a process, all the parts are there and how the parts fit together and how they are to function. God chooses, this simple little analogy—it's like your physical body. There is no excuse for not understanding. You may be a hand, a finger, an eye, an ear.

Paul goes through this. Verse 13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member but many.” So, it's not based on your nationality or all these other things, when the Spirit of God opens your eyes and you come to salvation in Christ, He moves in and He gifts you. Otherwise you just have a pile of parts and then people going to the parts bin to decide what they want to be. Part of it comes when you begin to see where you are most effective and other people recognize it, that I think you are really used in that area.

And that's why you try areas. How do I start? Look for an area where something needs to be done and start doing that. That's good. It's not, that's not my gift, I don't do that. We have the gift of giving in Scripture but that doesn't mean all of us shouldn't give. But those with the gift of giving probably lead the way for us and help us all to do better with that and strengthen the body. So that's the picture here. Verse 18, “Now God has placed the members, each one of them in the body just as He desired.” Verse 20, “Now there are many members but one body.”

Do you see the problem the church at Corinth had? Come back to 1 Corinthians 1, he's writing, note verse 2, “to the church of God which is at Corinth.” This is an individual, local church and it is made up of those “who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,” holy ones. And with all “in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” So, you see, that's the universal church, but I am particularly addressing this local church. But what he is saying to this local church would also apply to other local churches. You appreciate the distinction. Now note what he says to the church at Corinth, verse 5, “that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge.” Verse 7, “so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I take it in God's sovereign control and work of the Spirit based on the work of Christ we have every gift we need in this body. That's why I'll sometimes say there are needs presented in our bulletin which are opportunities. Maybe you could be used in that area. Well, I don't know. Try it, doesn't matter. Do it for a while and you say I think this is probably not the best area, or I think I might be effective in another . . . You still learn and grow in that area.

I did things in my student pastorate, because I was the only pastor, that I don't do here where there are a multitude of people involved in pastorate and people that do the ministry, that are able to do ministry in so many areas. That's been the strength of our local church. It is not based on this one group, but people step up and do the ministry. And what an honor. Think God gifted you specifically, intentionally for just what would be needed in this body for serving Him. That's the point. These gifts function that way. The picture of the body.

That's why division in a fractious way is always….something is wrong. We see the triune God who is always in harmony with Himself. There is never any conflict of any kind, on any level, among the members of the godhead. And since we are to be functioning as one body under the direction of the triune God, we noted the different areas of the Father, Son and Spirit, and we are biting and tearing one another apart, something is wrong somewhere. And we begin to deny the truth that we preach and say that we believe. We want to be careful about that. The beauty of it is God has called us together. That doesn't mean He sometimes doesn't lead believers to other places, to other churches to serve in other ways in those other places. That's great. We just want to be careful we don't set off a bomb when we go.

The picture of the church, this is what God is doing in the world. That's why I came to Lincoln so many years ago, I'm committed to be used of God and do what Christ is doing in the world. I came to pour my life into this local church. God uses other men in other places, in other ways, that's fine. I never desire to go to other places, rarely do I go other places to preach. I want to be here, God called me here to this body. I appreciate other men used, that's between them and the Lord. This is what I . . . I think we appreciate the local church, what can we do to build this local church, to make it as strong as it can be, how can I be used in the greatest possible way of God to make a contribution. It may seem a little contribution, it's not that significant, I don't do much. You know it's where your body is. When every part is functioning as it should, I take it somewhat for granted.

I mentioned I fell on the steps. My toes are very white, I'm fair skinned and my toes never get any sun, but my one toe turned this beautiful shade of purple and black and just stood out from the other toes. Something was wrong with that toe. And do you know what it did? I can say I have four others, doesn't bother me, except when I tried to do something. When I walked, all of a sudden, ouch! One toe. Maybe we should cut it off. I don't think so, maybe we fix it. Good idea. That idea, the toe is in a shoe. If somebody said to you, what do you think Gil's toes look like? I hope I never find out. But we all have an idea, we know descriptions. We put pictures of people's faces in there, we say they have the most beautiful green eyes. Did you ever hear anybody say they have the most lovely toes? I know, ladies paint their toes. . . We don't do that. So, all I'm saying is, all parts of the body are important and need to function as they should. And my prime contribution is, first of all, to be concerned, functioning as God appointed me? Think of that, God specifically, individually gifted you to function as He wanted you to function so that this body could be His body, bringing honor to Him.

So, as we continue to serve one another and together, it's not complicated. Lord, I want to be what You want me to be, I'm your child. But more than that I'm your child gifted by You to contribute to Your body as You have established it in this place. And if each of us is functioning as effectively under the power of the Spirit, then the body is a beautiful testimony to the work of God.

Let's pray together. Thank You Lord for the riches of Your grace, the grace that brought salvation to us, those who had no relationship with You, who were Your enemies, who were in constant rebellion against You. The marvel of the power of Your saving grace, You changed us. You didn't start on the outside, You started on the inside, You made us new, we became new creations, new creatures in Christ, new hearts, new minds. We became new men, new people. How amazing it is. Then You gift us so we could function as a part of Your body in the place You would place us to perform the function that You enabled us to carry out. Lord, You are an amazing God. You rule the world, You control the universes and yet You work in each of us individually, specifically each one, You use us. How amazing it is to serve You, the living God. May our church be a testimony of that grace. We pray in Christ's name, amen.