Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 1 Co 12:1 and following. Indeed, speaking of assembly meetings, the Apostle gave the first place to the celebration of the Last Supper (1Cor 11:20-34). Only then does it deal with gifts and services for edification. Let us not forget that worship is of all meetings the most important. Paul reminds these ancient idolaters that they were once trained by satanic spirits. What a change. Now it is the Spirit of God who directs them, operating in them “as He pleases” through the gifts He distributes to them (1 Co 11:11). The apostle lists these gifts, specifying that they are given for the purpose of utility. And to illustrate both the unity of the Church and the diversity of services, it takes the example of the human body: composed of many members and organs, none of which can function without the others, yet it constitutes a single organism, driven by a single will, that which the head communicates to each member.
What a subject of wonder constitutes without looking any further, the body that we “inhabit.” “I will celebrate you for what I have been done in a strange and admirable way,” David cries out in Ps 139:7-16. Yes, what diversity and yet what harmony in this complex set of members and organs, the tiniest of which has its own raison d’être and function. The eye and the little finger, for example, cannot replace each other. But the second makes it possible to remove the dust that came to irritate the first. Whether a single organ is functioning insufficiently or in a deregulated way, the whole body will soon be sick.
All this has its equivalent in the Church, the body of Christ, which is not an organization, but a living organism. “The members… who seem to be the weakest, are necessary” and everyone must be careful not to despise either his own function or that of others. An elderly or crippled Christian, through her prayers, a word of purpose or simply through material comfort, may support the zeal of an evangelist or pastor. Thus, what each has received, may he use it for others as a good administrator of God’s varied grace (1 Pel. 4:7-11).
Then the body of Christ seen in his union with his Glorified Head in heaven, but the body, in the place he occupies here on earth, in the eyes of the One who is its Head. This body is called “the Christ”. He is identified with Him, or rather Christ identifies Him with Himself. This was the first truth that Saul of Tarsus had learned on the way to Damascus. “Why are you persecuting me?” the Lord had said to the one who persecuted Him in His limbs on earth. Their whole was Christ here on earth: a whole, composed of diverse members, indissolubly bound with Christ by the Holy Spirit; a whole that is called the body of Christ: “You are the body of Christ, and its members each in particular.” Note, very importantly, that it is the corinthian assembly that is called here the body of Christ. It is not only the whole of believers, of all those who, in every place, invoke his name, but the manifestation of this body in a local assembly in Corinth. You will object that this Assembly, composed as in the past of all Christians gathered in one locality, no longer exists. Alas! how many members of the body of Christ respond with inertia to this exhortation. Our spiritual laziness finds it more convenient for others to act in our place, and we like to persuade ourselves that in the body of Christ one member can supplement the other and take over his function. This is to contradict the thought of the Holy Spirit. We should read and re-read this chapter and ask ourselves: Do you respond to what is expected of you the One who distributes to each one in particular as he pleases? We easily suffer from one or two gifts among God’s children, while many others remain paralyzed! Is this the normal state of the body of Christ?
Indeed, what the Lord had instituted in Corinth and in every place was ruined by the fault of those to whom this manifestation had been entrusted. But if we have lost this character of the local assembly, and it cannot be found, if everything is ruined by our fault, we do not remain without resources. We learn in Mat 18 that the Assembly can be represented by two or three gathered in its name, on the principle of the unity of the body of Christ that cannot be destroyed.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- Diversity of God’s Gifts
Mt 25:15 He gave five talents to one, two to the other, and one to the third, to each according to his ability, and he left. Rom 12:6 Since we have different gifts, according to the grace bestowed upon us, let him who has the gift of prophecy exercise it according to the analogy of faith; 1 Co 4:7 For who distinguishes you? What did you receive that you did not receive? And if you have received it, why do you glorify yourself, as if you had not received it? 1 Co 12:4 There is diversity of gifts, but the same Spirit; Eph 4:11 And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
- Unity of Believers in Christ
Rom 12:5 thus, we who are many form one body in Christ, and we are all members of one another. 1 Co 10:17 Since there is one loaf, we who are many form one body; for we all participate in the same bread. 1 Co 12:12 For as the body is one and has many members, and as all the members of the body, despite their number, form one body, so is christ. Gal 3:28 There is no longer a Jew or a Greek, there is no longer a slave or a free, there is no longer a man or a woman; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ. Eph 4:13 until we have all attained the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, the state of man made, the measure of the perfect stature of Christ,
- Special characteristics of the divinity of Christ
Lek 6:5 And he said to them: The Son of man is master even of the Sabbath. Acts 2:36 Let the whole house of Israel know with certainty that God made Lord and Christ that Jesus whom you crucified. 1 Co 8:6, however, for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we are, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are and by whom we are. 1 Co 12:5 diversity of ministries, but the same Lord; Eph 4:5 there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Promises of particular divine Inspiration
Ex 4:12 Go, then, I will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you have to say. Isa 50:4 The Lord, the Lord, has given me an exercised tongue, that I may know how to sustain by the word the one who is dejected; He awakens, every morning, he awakens my ear, so that I may listen as disciples listen. Isa 51:16 Look up at the sky, and look down on the earth! For the heavens will vanish like smoke, The earth will fall to shreds like a garment, And its inhabitants will perish like flies; But my salvation will last forever, and my righteousness will have no end. Jer 5:14 This is why the Lord, the God of hosts, speaks: Because you have said this, Behold, I want my word in your mouth to be of fire, and this people of wood, and that this fire consumes them. Mt 10:19 But when you are delivered, do not worry about how you speak or what you say: what you have to say will be given to you at the very hour; Lk 21:15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your adversaries cannot resist or contradict. 1 Co 2:13 And we speak of it, not with discourses taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, employing spiritual language for spiritual things.
From all of the above, we note that the members of the body are in solidarity with each other; and to avoid any tendency of a member to adorn himself with his advantages over others, God was careful to put on those who seemed the least honorable to mark the importance he attaches to them. This is how the most hidden organs, such as the heart, kidneys, stomach, etc., are the most clothed and without them, indeed, all life would be interrupted in the body. So, the members are made to help each other, and not to fight or supplant each other, “so that there is no division in the body, but so that the members have equal care for each other.” For the purpose of all this harmonic functioning of theorgans is utility: “To each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the purpose of utility.” If we have understood it, we will not suffer from hindrance to our activity in the body, and, realizing our function well, we will seek to carry it out faithfully, with a view to the profit that the whole must derive from it. The enumeration of the “greater” gifts of grace, that is, of the apostles, prophets, and teachers, differs from that of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which mentions the evangelists as acting for the formation of the body. The epistle to the Corinthians omits them, because it tells us about how the body works, not how it is formed. For theapostles represent authority, the prophets the revelation, the doctors the teaching. These three gifts remain, the first as having laid once and for all the foundation in the written Word; we will see the meaning and role of the second, and the third is never lacking, when it comes to growing through the knowledge of the Word. These three gifts are called “greater,” but the apostle particularly alludes to the last two, when he advises the Corinthians to desire them “ardently,” for the foundation could not be laid again. But this call to desire them applies to us, as well as to all those who invoke the name of the Lord. Our prayers support you all in your humble requests to receive Spirit gifts.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow about “the need for love or charity.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.