Church Unity
Holy Spirit Power, Holy Spirit Purpose • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 53:56
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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. 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.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
Thesis: The gifts empower us towards unity, and when we are united, we draw closer to Christ.
Intro: Last week, as we began this series, I wanted to just dive right into the message - and after you saw the how long our service went, you may understand why.
We have so much to cover, even today, but the purpose of this series, I hope I articulated it well last week - there is so much confusion centered around the Holy Spirit.
Of the Trinity, we are quick to just let so many things happen and call it the Holy Spirit and that’s not fair to Him, and it’s certainly not fair to the church, or to us as individuals.
And last week we went headfirst into the Spiritual Gifts.
What can happen when it comes to giftings, and what did happen in the Corinthian church, is that people who operate in a certain gifting some times find themselves elevated to a higher level than others within the church.
Either this is done by others or by themselves, but it is not done by the Holy Spirit, and we’ll see why today as we go.
And, we saw last week, the Holy Spirit does not “force” a person to do something, Paul clearly states 1 Corinthians 14:32
and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
The Spirit may “prompt” you to do something, but we don’t really see the Holy Spirit forcing an unwilling person into something in Scripture.
In Acts 2, we see the church speaking in tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance”, not “forcing them to pray that way”.
But with that said, there are things the Holy Spirit makes us, as a church. He makes us diverse, He makes us equal, and He makes us love, all as He unites us, the church, and draws us closer to Jesus Christ, our Savior.
The Spirit Makes Us Diverse
The Spirit Makes Us Diverse
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.
Paul begins to paint a picture of the church - the body of Christ - comparing the unity, or solidarity we have to that of the human body.
In verse 12, what we see Paul doing is using a brilliant literary device, switching phrases back and forth, to make his point. “One body, many members, all the members are one body.
So it is with Christ.
Now, we already know the body of Christ is diverse, we see that as we look around the room - people from different backgrounds, different towns, different family names, different occupations.
We see the diversity of the church in the book of Acts. Had some in the early church had their way, the Gospel would not have been brought to the Gentiles, to the Greeks.
But Peter has this vision, and he ends up going to a centurion named Cornelius’ house, and while Peter preaches to them, giving them the Gospel, something happens:
While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
Now, in the Old Testament, God set Israel apart, but He has always made a way for the alien, the traveller, those who were not Hebrew or Jewish to come to Himself, and in the book of Acts the church becomes proactive in that mission.
Of course we have the great Commission of Mark:
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
and Matthew
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,
This means the church was, from its earliest beginnings, going to be diverse. It was going to be made up of different people from different races, different backgrounds, and so on.
Paul says that’s fine, but he goes deeper than skin color or social standing - he goes to the core of who we are, and what the Spirit does within us.
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.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
By again saying we are all part of one body, Paul is likely referencing a familiar analogy to the Corinthian Christians. They frequently would have heard similar such messages from the Greek writer Homer who famously coined the phrase “Strength in Unity”.
Of course, we’re all familiar with the Latin “E Pluribus Unum”, or “Out of the Many, One.” You see it on your pocket change.
Marcus Aurelius would later say: “Since you are an integral part of a social system, let every act of yours contribute to the harmonization of social life. Any action that is not related directly or remotely to this social aim disturbs your life, and destroys your unity.”
There was a famous fable from Memenius Agrippa from the 500’s BC, in which the mouth, hands, and teeth rebelled against the belly, so they refuse to give it food, which of course doesn’t go well for them.
So this would have fallen into their cultural conscience.
Of course, we’re all familiar with the Latin “E Pluribus Unum”, or “Out of the Many, One.” You see it on your pocket change.
But Paul goes further and connects it with baptism, and not just baptism in water, but in the Spirit - “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body”.
Paul does not mean this as Spirit Baptism the way we would, at least not here, and we know this because of context. Paul specifically says they were baptized into one body.
So at the point of conversion… not a secondary thing, not what he is referencing here at the moment.
We see it clearer within the context of this letter, Paul writes earlier:
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
So the way he is referencing here at the moment is the Spirit filling of a converted believer.
Paul is making the case that once we are joined with Christ we are joined IN Christ.
We see him do this in Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
In Romans 8:9
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
When we are in Christ, the Spirit dwells within us. This happens to ALL believers.
Whether we are Jewish, or Greek, Free or slave - the Spirit does not care. We are all taken in and the Holy Spirit dwells within us.
Again, Paul speaks of this in Galatians
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
That is not to say the idea of baptism in the Holy Spirit is moot here, or pointless to Paul.
The idea of God’s Holy Spirit baptizing believers as a secondary thing, for the early church, was foundational. We see it in Acts 2,
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
They were already believers and followers of Christ when this happened. But Peter gets up, and he explains this event, quoting Joel 2:28
Joel 2:28 (ESV)
“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...
Again, all flesh - it’s not limited to a select, elite group of people.
For Paul, the idea of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit as we refer to it, as a secondary event in the believer’s life, was likely assumed for them to have the manifestation of gifts which they were writing to him about.
Especially in light of the events of the book of Acts, where there is always an external event giving evidence of the internal Spirit Baptism, the action of speaking in tongues.
But as I point out last week, the Spirit doesn’t stop with just the gift of a personal prayer language, there’s a variety of gifts.
And those gifts are given to different people at different times for different reasons, but their ultimate purpose, is to bring unity. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many.”
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?
Now, we don’t catch this because there’s quite a few years of history that separates us from what Paul is doing, but he’s actually using humor here to prove his point.
The hand, the ear, the eye, none of them even have the ability to speak, yet they may say they don’t belong to the body? Paul’s making a joke here - he’s saying, “Look how silly that sounds!”
And yet, Paul reminds us of God’s sovereignty.
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
As the Holy Spirit works within the church, He does so in a way to arrange the members of the body, each and every one of them, as He sees fit - to unity the body.
The church is meant to be diverse, but from our diversity, the Holy Spirit draws us towards unity, and in that unity, we draw closer to Christ our Savior.
The Spirit Makes us Equal
The Spirit Makes us Equal
If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
While we are all different, as individuals, we are all to be one body. There is not to be any sort of hierarchy within the church - we’re not all doing this on our own.
A couple of weeks ago, as we saw Jesus send the disciples out two by two in Mark 6, you may remember I said we are not meant to be “loner Christians”.
We are the sheep of his pasture, to be a “lone wolf” is never a good thing, church.
The body needs its members. Church attendance matters. Yes, if you can not get out of your house because of your health, or the weather is bad, yes that’s an obvious exemption.
But we are commanded to meet together. To come together as one body - different but equal, not the same but together.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
If you are Spirit-filled, if you are a believer, your spiritual health is at stake when you do not meet with other believers, when you are not part of a church.
And, those who are faithful, we’re to be trying to gather them up and get them on their feet, not lording our faithfulness over them.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
Jesus also addresses this, in Matthew 20:25-26
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
I was speaking with someone the other day, and I was talking about pastoral correction.
If I, as your pastor, come to you and try to correct you, or persuade you on your theology - it’s not so that I can be right. It’s not so that I can have everyone say, “Oh look how smart pastor Jeff is.”
Absolutely not. Peter gives strict instructions to pastors when he says, 1 Peter 5:2-4
shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
If, as your pastor, I am trying to correct, edify, or even rebuke, I try to do it in love and in a way that brings you to Christ. That’s how I’m to operate in my gifting.
It does not make me better than you. It does not make me higher than you. It does not make me “more spiritual” or “more special” than you.
But if, as your pastor, I see you heading down a path that’s a little too slippery of a slope, it’s my calling and my gifting to try and Shepherd you back to solid footing.
The same goes for those whose gifting is discernment of spirits, or knowledge, or wisdom like we saw last week. It is not to be a tool for placing us higher than one another.
In Ephesians, Paul will instruct the church that they are to be...
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
No one is to be higher than anyone else within the church body.
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
Aesop has a fable where he tells the story of an eye that gets so jealous of the mouth, because the mouth gets to enjoy the taste of honey, even after the eye gets to see it.
So the human they belong to pours honey into his eyes, which makes them cry out in pain.
Paul makes a similar point here. Within the body of Christ, because just like in the human body, there are parts that don’t get seen, or get a lot of praise.
When’s the last time you thought about your kidneys? But if they don’t function, you’ve got a problem, right?
When’s the last time you thought about your kneecaps? But if you lose those, you’re not going anywhere fast, right?
Your sweat glands? Your nose hair? Yet without those your body would overheat or you could breath in some nasty bacteria… the list goes on and on.
Same thing is true with the church. I’m very appreciative of our staff - Calvin, Tiffany, Allen, they make my job much easier, but if it wasn’t for the faithful giving of our church, none of us would be able to dedicate the time to the church it needs.
That’s not to put down bi-vocational pastors, there are plenty who do great work, but that’s now how we operate here at Faith, currently.
Paul even says “God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there be no division...”
You understand, the parts of the body we overlook are often the things we really need the most within the church.
James tells us
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
James isn’t saying rich people can’t be Christians, he’s saying the poor can be, too.
In Christ, it does not matter where you came from or your financial standing, what clothes you wear, what kind of car you drive.
We were all sinners, in need of a Savior, and God sent His Son for all of us. When we accepted and believed that, we joined equal footing.
The ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level, no man, no woman stands taller than the other.
If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
This echoes Paul’s words in Romans 12
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
If one person, or one family suffers within the church, we all are to take that one - it’s why we have prayer chains and flocknotes, and things like that.
It’s not because we’re nosey and want to know each other’s business, it’s so we can pray for one another, serve one another, bless one another.
Because we understand, were it not for Christ, we’d all be lost, and the flock is strongest together, working together, moving towards the same goal.
We may already be diverse in our “pre-Christ” background, but in Christ the Spirit makes us each unique, different, yet equal, all for the purpose of drawing us all together towards Christ who gave Himself for us.
The same gifts that make us different, draw us towards unity, and must lead us to Christ.
The Spirit Makes Us Love
The Spirit Makes Us Love
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
Paul makes it clear, the church belongs to Christ. The word “you” here is plural, as he addresses the whole church, yet individually, we are all members of that church.
So we all belong to Christ, if we are part of Christ’s church, we are part of Christ’s church, if we belong to Christ. They go hand in hand.
Now, this idea of individual members, or “ek merous” in the Greek (ἐκ μέρους), is going to play out again in Chapter 13, when Paul writes
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
And this does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament.
So what is Paul implying?
Well, since this series isn’t going through chapter 13, as I’ve already done a series on that chapter in the past and didn’t this, I’ll tell you.
To begin with, in chapter 13, Paul is stating clearly that the gifts will no longer be needed at some point in the future -
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
But as for now, we know in part (ek merous), we prophesy in part (ek merous), and we are all a part of the body (ek merous).
Prophecy, like knowledge, as it pertains to the human/earthly side of things is limited. The idea of prophecy in the Old Testament as well as in the new is just to pull back the veil enough so that we gain a small inkling as to what will happen.
But in the end, when we are in the presence of Christ, we will be in the presence of God who knows all, sees all, and is sovereign over all - so the idea of knowledge, prophecy becomes moot.
When we, as the body, become truly united - we may prophecy as an individual, we may know as an individual, but it being an individual gifting for the sake of the individual is not the point.
It is for the unity of the church. So the united church, of course, is greater than the individual parts that make it up, as the parts that make it up are what makes it great!
All, of course, in accordance with the perfect will of the Holy Spirit, as He empowers us. As He empowers us, and we are united, what is the driving thing that God is that makes it possible?
Love.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
And that is where Paul is now turning us now...
And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
Now, I’ve talked about the office of apostles and prophets before, so I won’t go into that too much today, but notice that God appoints them, not men.
The appointments are God’s to make, we can’t just give ourselves a title, or a church can’t just give that title, or an organization - it’s God’s to declare and make evident.
Then what follows? Miracles, gifts of healing, helping, administrating and various kinds of tongues.
Nowhere does Paul say these things end. Nowhere does he insinuate they’re foundational, like he does the offices of prophets and apostles in Ephesians 2:20, so we know these continue.
But we do see Paul adding more to his list of gifts: helps and administrations. Helps, of course, would be similar to what Paul would refer to in Romans 12:7 as a gift of service, or perhaps even exhortation which we see in Romans 12:8.
Administration, of course, would likely be the gift of leadership, we also see in Romans 12:8.
But Paul begins to ask rhetorical questions, "Are all apostles?” Well, no. Are all prophets?” and the answer is “no”.
“Are all teachers?” No. Are all doing miracles?” No. “Does everybody have the gift of healing?” No. “Do all speak with tongues or interpret?” No.
Remember verse 11
All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
The Holy Spirit gives these gifts to individuals according to His sovereign will, His sovereign plan.
But the problem in the Corinthian church was they would elevate the apostle office above another person - which Paul definitely doesn’t like. He believes the apostle should come in humility, and he makes that clear earlier:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Paul was clearly an intelligent person, yet he didn’t want to seem more than he was. Someone who has the gift of prophecy, and maybe we would call them a prophet, their job is not to be elevated, either.
Their position would be to keep the church on track, keep them operating in accordance with God’s word.
I had a professor say in Bible College, beware the man or woman who wants to be considered a prophet. Most prophets, we see in the Old Testament and I believe we see it in Agabus in the book of Acts: They don’t want to be prophets.
Nobody would really want to be an apostle if it means they’re going to suffer like the apostles did.
In the same way, we shouldn’t be quick to use the gifts of the Spirit without knowing the responsibility that goes with them, that’s what got the Corinthian church in trouble.
We shouldn’t give utterances without weighing them, or considering them, or testing them. If they are given, we are to test what is said - not take for granted, “Ol’ Jim Bob is filled with the Holy Ghost so we should listen,” no, Jim Bob doesn’t get a pass.
None of us do.
We must be discerning, and we must do it in love so the church grows in the Spirit, not stunted by selfishness or laziness.
And Paul wraps it up with verse 31.
But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
This is vital, and I hope you understand this today. Many translations could do a better job on this.
There is a Greek tense use here in the word for “earnestly desire” - it’s the Greek (ζηλοῦτε) zeloute, which would change the meaning to “But you earnestly desire”.
Zeloute is where we get the English word zealous, but there’s a slight negative connotation to this word as it is used here. In truth, it also gets translated “jealous, envy” the King James says “covet”.
And we so often brush this off as “a good kind of coveting”, but that’s not what Paul is saying. In fact, if he were to mean it in a good way, it would be contradictory to the entire chapter.
It is not a command, but a verb statement. It would best be taken to mean “But you earnestly desire the higher gifts in a wrong way”, and that is why Paul “and I will you a still more excellent way.”
Then he goes into 1 Corinthians 13, the “love” chapter.
Because they were all focused on the external, but Love is the key that unlocks the gifts for their better purpose.
Now, Paul will go on and establish that they should desire certain gifts:
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
But notice, first and foremost, love must be at its core.
That is why he will wrap up chapter 14 like this:
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.
When they are done properly, Paul says “decently” (which can also be translated “becomingly”), and in order, it is because they are done in a way that is loving and respectful to one another, and to God.
To use the gifts from any other place in our spirits is not from the Holy Spirit.
That’s not how the church should operate. The church of God - if it is Spirit-led - is a Surrendered, suffering, soul-winning church.
We must be in tune with the Spirit if we’re to make the impact for God we want to see.
AW Tozer once said that if a hundred pianos were tuned to one another, but if they were all in tune with a single tuning fork, they’d all be in tune together. The same is true of the church!
If we are in step with the Spirit, we are united. We are effective, we are Spirit led.
If we are surrendered to the Spirit, we follow the Spirit’s leading, we follow the word He inspired.
We see a model of this in Scripture as we see the church at Thessalonica.
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
And within a few weeks, that church had turned from their idols - being about 50 miles from the actual Mount Olympus where the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses was believed to reside - they cast down all their idols and worshiped Christ together.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
But they were also a suffering church, Acts 17 shows us, after Paul goes in and preaches for 3 weeks, they began to believe in Christ.
But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.
If we are a Spirit-filled church, we will be a suffering church, we will face persecution, we will turn the world upside down and the world won’t be happy about it, but we will face it together!
And we will be a soul-winning church. The church at Thessalonica did this as well, Paul said 1 Thessalonians 1:7
so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
They were an example of what a church should look like! Their example and the message they preached made them a soul-winning church! Isn’t that the type of church we want to be?
Then we must be Spirit-surrendered, first, operating in the gifts decently and in order, and most of all, in love.
Because the Spirit makes us operate in love - love for Christ and love for one another...
In love, the greatest gift, the one that will never end Paul goes on to say (1 Corinthians 13:8) we will be united, drawing closer all the more to Christ together, operating in the Spirit empowered gifts He blesses us with.
Conclusion
As we close today, I want to challenge us. I’m very serious: Ask yourself, are we a united church?
Are we operating in the gifts as we ought to - are we loving one another, are we encouraging one another, are we engaging with one another in love?
If not, why not? What can we each, as individuals do differently?
What does the Holy Spirit prompt you to do differently? What giftings has He placed in your life and are you using them for building up the church, building up your brothers and sisters in Christ?
If you do not know your gifting, pray today. If you’ve never been baptized in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues, and you’d like to - well, we’d like to pray with you to receive that.
Tell them about Monday?
Close in Prayer