Together In Spirit

Introduction

Illustration: “I’ll be there in spirit...”

Ease at which Covid-19 contagion spreads through air droplets has caused us to practice social distancing as well as stay at home as much as possible under shelter in place or safer at home guidelines.

High school and College graduations are being recognized online.

Weddings

Drive-by Birthday Celebrations

Funerals

Meetings are taking place using technologies such as Zoom & Microsoft Teams,

Vimeo live steaming & Facebook & Youtube Live

So many of us are together in spirit these days.

“In Spirit” means:

not physically in a place or situation but thinking about the people who are there and wishing you were there

I’m afraid I can’t come, but I’ll be there in spirit.

if you say you will be somewhere in spirit or with someone in spirit, you will not be with them but will be thinking about them

Many of you ought to feel that way about in person church worship together these days

Transition To Body- A Church Body Together Physically But Divided & Fractured Spiritually

Quarreling Within The Body, the family (Chapter 1)

1 Corinthians 1:10–11 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.

The Mind Of Lord & Christ (Chapter 2)

1 Corinthians 2:16 ESV

16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Individual Temples of God

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 ESV

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

A Spiritual Father’s Correction

1 Corinthians 4:14–15 ESV

14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Present In Spirit

1 Corinthians 5:3–4 ESV

3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,

Temple of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Nonconformity Regarding Marriage

1 Corinthians Chapter 7

Regarding Destroying God’s Temple Part 2

1 Corinthians 8:13 ESV

13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Reaching As Many As Possible By Any Means Necessary

1 Corinthians 9:19 ESV

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.

1 Corinthians 10:31–32 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,

Holiness In Worship (including Communion)

1 Corinthians 11:16 ESV

16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.

1 Corinthians 11:33 ESV

33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—

Body- The Church’s Spiritual Reality Is God

Creating Unity In Diversity In Christ Without Conformity

1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

Illustration: Most psychologist would say that conformity is a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group.

This change is in response to real (involving the physical presence of others) or imagined (involving the pressure of social norms / expectations) group pressure.

Group pressure may take different forms, for example bullying, persuasion, teasing, criticism, etc.  Conformity is also known as majority influence (or group pressure).

The term conformity is often used to indicate an agreement to the majority position, brought about either by a desire to ‘fit in’ or be liked (normative) or because of a desire to be correct (informational), or simply to conform to a social role (identification).

Paul & Barnabas said in the book of Acts (the Acts of the Holy Spirit):

Acts 15:8–9 ESV

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Acts 15:10–11 ESV

10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Unity = one body

In Diversity = many members

Without Conformity = all the members of the body, though many, are one body

God allows you to keep yours hymns old saints

God allows you sing Gospel inspired Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) young adults

God allows you to keep your swag wearing a T-shirt to church in the summer young people

God don’t mind if you like wearing suits to church- my Sunday’s Best wearing saints

And God is just as pleased if you dress down to be comfortable at church

We can all serve the LORD God faithfully with the spiritual gifts which God has provided us to be a blessing to the church and one another

(

But not only is The Church’s Spiritual Reality found in God

Creating Unity In Diversity In Christ Without Conformity,

But also God Is

)

Constructing A Sanctified & Extraordinary Church Community

1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Paul has already identified the church in Corinth, as being composed of those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus

Called to be saints together with all those...

1 Corinthians 1:2–3 ESV

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why use baptised into one body & made to drink of one Spirit?

Drinking means we take something inside of us and it fills us up. This is our shared experience as Christians hence in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1 Corinthians The Many-Parts-One-Body (12:12–27)

In response I would argue that baptism of the Spirit is the common experience of all Christians at the time that they receive Christ as Savior (Rom 8:9). First Corinthians 12:13 supports that conclusion by emphasizing that the total body of Christ experiences immersing (baptizing) in and infusion (drinking) of the Holy Spirit.

There are some things you ought to share spiritually in common with your brother and sister in Christ...

It is an Extraordinary Experience to

bring Jews & Greeks, Slaves & Free together in Christ Jesus

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1 Corinthians The Many-Parts-One-Body (12:12–27)

Jews or Greeks, slave or free shows that Paul is emphasizing a unity that is not merely a unity of diversity of gifts but is social and political in nature (cf. Gal 3:28).

Illustration: English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator, J.B. Priestley once said

“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”

Illustration: Examining the times in which we live and the inability of people to just get along Rodney King and have civil discourse with those of differing perspectives than their own. We see a whole lot of polarization and disunity in our modern society and culture

Polarization of the news

Polarization of our electorate

Polarization of our communities

Polarization of the economy

Polarization around immigration

Polarization around climate change

Polarization around healthcare

Polarization around racial issues

Polarization of the church

Illustration: Thursday’s peaceful protest in Taunton, MA being like a church service in some ways

The church transcends the barriers of race...

The church transcends the barriers of socioeconomics & geography...

(

So not only is The Church’s Spiritual Reality found in God

Creating Unity In Diversity In Christ Jesus Without Conformity, and God is

Constructing A Sanctified & Extraordinary Church Community

But finally, in the church, God is

)

Inherently De-emphasing Me & Re-emphasing Us As One

1 Corinthians 12:14 ESV

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

eimi = to possess certain characteristics, whether inherent or transitory

Illustration: DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, in the field of Bio-chemistry, you would find

is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.

i.e. Through God’s Holy Spirit, the LORD Jesus Christ has embedded, into the Spiritual D.N.A (or hereditary material) of the church, the necessity of our connectedness to one another within the body of Christ, in order for the church to survive, in order for the church to keep reproducing itself.

Do I have a witness in here today who can testify…I need

De-emphasis

Illustration: De-emphasis in Electronics. a process of reducing the relative amplitude of certain frequencies in a signal that have been exaggerated by preemphasis, restoring the signal to its original form.

preemphasis- a process of increasing the amplitude of certain frequencies relative to others in a signal in order to help them override noise, complemented by deemphasis before final reproduction of the signal being received.

preemphasis is likened to us first getting excited about our Spiritual gifts (with the Holy Spirit overriding our noisy lives) and overemphasizing them

What is the Us?

One Body (living organism) that is:

Organically Interrelated

Interdependent- we have responsibilities that are interconnected

Harmonious

Functioning as one with one purpose

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Unity Is Not Just Some Ideal, Invisible, Heavenly Model

It is the Reality of the Real Body Of Jesus Christ

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: 1 Corinthians The Many-Parts-One-Body (12:12–27)

In Paul’s mind there is some sense in which the divinely constructed union (v. 13) of the many diverse parts—organically interrelated, interdependently, harmoniously and functionally one body—constitutes now through the Holy Spirit the reality of Christ’s visible presence and activity in the world. It is important to note that it is the historical, empirical church of Christ in the world, not some ideal, invisible, heavenly model, that is the real body of Christ (vv. 12, 27).

Transition To Close- The Church: Pieces Of A Jigsaw Puzzle

Illustration: Hard work of putting together a jig-saw puzzle with my granddaughter. We were putting together a jig-saw puzzle of a picture from the movie Frozen.

We were trying to force pieces into places where they were not meant to fit or connect

As members of the body of Christ, we can be compared to pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece has protrusions and indentations. The protrusions represent our strengths (gifts, talents, abilities), and the indentations represent our weaknesses (faults, limitations, shortcomings, undeveloped areas). The beautiful thing is that the pieces complement one another and produce a beautiful whole.

Just as each piece of a puzzle is important, so each member of the body of Christ is important and can minister to the other members of the body.

Just as, when one piece is missing from the puzzle, its absence is very obvious and damages the picture, so also is the whole weakened when we are absent from the body of Christ.

Just as, when each piece of a puzzle is in place, any one piece is not conspicuous but blends in to form the whole picture, so it should be in the body of Christ

We’re better together in Spirit

That is the Holy Spirit

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

A New Commandment

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Greater Love Has No One

John 15:13–14 ESV

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Because Jesus was creating a new creation

Romans 8:28–29 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:30 ESV

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And every human needs blood in order to live

Matthew 26:28 ESV

28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Galatians 4:4–7 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain: O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Behold the Lamb Of God

John 1:29 ESV

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Revelation 13:8 ESV

8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Close- God’s Glory Revealed In The Church’s Oneness

John 17:20–26 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:19–22 ESV

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.