The mystery of the Lord’s body

Here are my notes, for this morning’s message.........

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August 7, 2011
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GRAB YOUR BIBLES 1 Corinthians 12:12-21
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This is part of the mystery; (1)(The Body of Christ...is the bride of Christ
(2)(That is one body with the Lord (3)(Because of our Spiritual marriage!)
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LETS READ THE TEXT 1 Corinthians 12:12-21
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This passage demonstrates...just how “out of place” the unsaved are in a Church!
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V.12A “For as the body is one,”
-SOMETHING GOD WANTS US TO UNDERSTAND........ABOUT THE CHURCH-
(The Church is “one” body....with one goal
-To obey the Lord!-
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In the same way...a wife obeys her husband!
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V.12B “and hath many members,”
-EACH MEMBER OF THIS ONE BODY.....IS IMPORTANT-
(And there are billions of them
When you consider.....Eternal security!
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We are eternally in Christ: (But those in heaven are on “inactive duty”!)
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V.12C “and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:”
-THIS IS A CONCEPT....THAT MAY BE HARD TO UNDERSTAND-
(In the same way the trinity is hard to grasp
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Regardless of how many there are of us:
We are still just....”one body”!
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V.12D “so also [is] Christ.”
-THE TRUE IDENTITY......OF THE CHURCH-
(We are in Christ & He is in us
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So we are one body....in Christ:
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In the same way a husband & wife are one body!
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V.13A “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,”
-THE ONE THING....THAT MAKES US ALL ONE BODY-
(Our Spirit
Which is the Holy Spirit:
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We all have....the same exact Spirit!
Therefore when we are following the Lord’s instructions:
We will all be working in unison:
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Just like a human body!
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V.13B “whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free;”
-CHRISTIANS HAVE THE SAME SPIRIT...ALL OVER THE WORLD-
(All races are in this same Body
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There is no room for racial prejudice in the Church.
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V.13C “and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
-THE WAY THE LORD.....HAS FORMED THIS BODY-
(By offering us....some Spiritual water to drink
A drink of the Spirit;
At the moment of our salvation:
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“Our Spiritual baptism!”
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See John 4:13,14
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V.14 “For the body is not one member, but many.”
-THE WAY WE AUGHT TO THINK......OF THIS BODY OF BELIEVERS-
(A body....with billions of members
Comprised into a handful of functions:
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EG. (20 million is an arm), (5 million is a mouth), (10 million are the eyes)
When a person is saved..and are placed into the body:
They are assigned certain gifts!
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V.15 “If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body;”
“is it therefore not of the body?”
-SOMETHING ELSE....THAT IS HARD FOR US TO UNDERSTAND-
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(None of us are more important......than any other
Regardless of what we may think!
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Preachers are no more important than anyone else!
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V.16 “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?”
-EVERY MEMBER OF THE BODY.......IS AS VALUABLE AS THE NEXT-
(Because we each have God’s Spirit
That places us.....in the Body of Christ:
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Therefore each of us...has a job to do!
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V.17 “If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing?”
“If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling?”
-GOD’S GREAT PLAN.......FOR “OUR DIVERSITY”-
(So we can reach more people
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Every Christian retains their distinctiveness:
(We are not suppose to....all act just alike
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Therefore God can use us...in every corner of the world!
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V.18A “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body,”
-OUR IMPORTANT PART.....IN GOD’S GREAT PLAN-
(To do the part....He has called us to do
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Because God is the one.....who put us where we are!
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V.18B “as it hath pleased him.”
-THE BOTTOM LINE......ABOUT OUR CALLING.........IN THIS BODY-
(We are to be happy....where we are at
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Because it pleased God to put us there!
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V.19 “And if they were all one member, where [were] the body?”
-GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN....FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-
(That we be....a “body” of believers
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All looking and acting....as individuals:
But with.....the same goal in mind!
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V.20 “But now [are they] many members, yet but one body.”
-THIS DEVELOPS A RENEWED RESPECT....FOR ONE ANOTHER-
(Just because you are different from me
I should love you as my brother or sister:
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Because we are in the same Body!
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V.21A “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee:”
-WE ARE ALL....IN NEED OF EACH OTHER-
(To accomplish God’s work....in the Earth
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So none of us should turn his back on another:
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Because....I need your help......to accomplish the Lord’s will!
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V.21B “nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”
-THE MOST SURPRISING POINT....IN THIS PASSAGE-
(Even the Lord Jesus..... “needs” us
Because He is the head of the Church:
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And he needs....every member of His Church!
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Hi Tom Butler

Thank you for your response.

Your ideas about the local Church and the body of Christ(the universal body), are very interesting, in how they seem to be reversed.
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First of all every local Church(including mine), has the same problem; They can’t guarantee that 100% of their congregation, are truly born again.
Because our only qualification for Church membership is a public profession of faith.

I could not tell you “for sure”, that any of the members of my Church are saved:
Although they all profess to be and most live like it.
This is the case, because I can’t read their minds.

We see the “Local Church” described by Jesus, in such parables as....“The Wheat & the Tares” and “The Net”, where you see a mixture of the saved and the unsaved.

When you said.....

This is actually a good description of many of today’s local Churches:
Who are filled with unsaved Church members.
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While on the other hand, the Body of Christ, has no membership roll at all(except for the Lamb’s book of life), because it is made up of every truly born again believer in the world.

And although being born again doesn’t guarantee that a person will live a sinless life, it does guarantee that they will be changed on the inside.
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Over the years, I have heard a lot of people say derogatory things about “the universal body” and I have never been able to figure it out.

Is it so hard to believe, that God knows “those who are truly His”, and that they “exist”?
To deny the universal body, just doesn’t seem to make any sense to me at all.