We are All in this Together

Good Morning and Welcome!!!

Our passage for this morning is a bit different than originally planned. About halfway through my study for part 2 of Paul’s God stopped me and shifted my focus to Ephesians chapter 4 and 1 Corinthians 12 talking about the Local Church Body.

Ephesians 4:1–16 KJV 1900

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

All ONE Local Body

Fitly Joined Together

Ephesians 4:16 KJV 1900

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

1 Corinthians 12:12–13 KJV 1900

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.

When we consider these references to the church body, Paul is using the best picture that we could have to explain what the body of Christ refers to. The word used for church is ἐκκλησία which refers to a local called out assembly, that meets for political, religious or civil purposes. That being said, the Church is the locally manifested Body of Christ, which then fits our 2 passages this morning.

We NEED Each Other

according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, or according to the proper working of each individual part.

If my shoulder was in any way out of sorts, it wouldn’t work smoothly. If one ligament, one vein or artery, one piece of bone or cartilage, or one muscle decided that it no longer wanted to work properly, my shoulder would hurt or no longer be able to function properly.

1 Corinthians 12:14–27 KJV 1900

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.

God has called every believer to the work of the ministry as we talked about last week. However, He did not call or equip everyone to the same role and responsibility within the church.

Ephesians 4:11–12 KJV 1900

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

God calls specific people to fulfill these rolls that are very specific to the work of the ministry. While we don’t have Apostles or Prophets anymore, we do have evangelists and Pastor Teachers. Verse 12 tells us that the roll of the Evangelist and the Pastor Teacher is to equip the Saints for or in order that they may be able to do the work of the ministry and edify one another within the body of Christ. Now this doesn’t mean that the evangelists and pastors don’t do that as well because we are part of the local body of believers as well, but their primary responsibility is to teach and train the body.

But we must see through this that we absolutely and desperately need each other! We need each other to build one another up, to nourish one another, to support one another as we move toward Christ Likeness. Not every member was designed the same or with the same abilities. As I look around, I see all kinds of people here from different backgrounds and all gifted in different areas of service. The one thing that unites us through all of our differences if the Lord Jesus Christ. He fitly joins us together compacting the joints and connecting the tissue. We will differ on things from time to time, but our mission remains the same, to advance God’s Kingdom here in our community and around the world.

Our Church cannot and will not be able to survive without each and every part of the body functioning and working together in the manner that God has designed us to.