This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) Welcome to day four together of 1 Corinthians chapter 12. We're
going to focus on verses 20 to 27 today. You might remember yesterday as we began
to talk about the importance of the body of Christ and the use of our gifts, we
talked about the importance of many.

God has made us many within the body, many different parts, many different
opportunities to serve. Today, we're going to focus on the importance of one.
That's exactly where Paul leads us in verse 20.

He says, as it is, he's just said there's one body but many parts. In verse 20,
he says, as it is, there are many parts, but one body. Many, as we said
yesterday, means we don't have to compete, we don't have to copy.

But what does one mean? What does it mean that we are one? Well, Paul walks
through that in these verses.

One means, the fact that we're one body means I need you. The fact that we're
one body means we need everyone. The fact that we're one body means we need each
other.

Let's just walk through what he has to say about that. First, one means I need
you. Verse 21, the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you.

And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. We need each other for
this to work. It takes all of us for the body to be shown what it truly is.

It's in one sense like we're an orchestra with all the parts needed. How would
you like to hear an orchestra where only the kettle drum played its part, or
only the third violin played their part? The true beauty in that orchestra is
only revealed as the whole orchestra plays.

Then the beauty of that violin, of that kettle drum comes out. So I have a
question to you about this when it comes to serving God. Do you try to serve God
like an Old Testament prophet or a New Testament Christian?

One of the pictures we have of Old Testament prophets, it wasn't always true,
but it's one of our pictures, is that somehow they were out there all on their
own serving God, making a difference in the world. Now they did often have
partners. They did often have people they mentored.

But that's our picture. And for some of us, that's our picture of how we should
serve Christ today. It's me and Jesus.

Out in the world, I'm making a difference for him. He didn't make you to serve
him that way. He made you to serve him in a body.

It's as clear as a bell in this chapter. As a New Testament Christian, I realize
I am made to serve him, but I also need what other people do. In fact, without
what other people do, whatever I do to serve is not going to last.

It's not going to make a difference. One means I need you. One also means we need
everyone.

In fact, we especially need, Paul says, those parts that may seem to be the
least needed in the church, the most ignored. Listen to what he has to say in
verses 22 to 24. On the contrary, those parts of the body which seem to be
weaker are indispensable.

And the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. And
the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty. While our
presentable parts need no special treatment.

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the
parts that lacked it. So here, our body, again, is an example. And Paul says, we
spend more time, in one sense, on our least attractive features.

They get more honor. You have to have the right makeup for a too thin a face.
You have to have the right clothes for the battle of the bulge.

You have to comb your hair in the right way to cover some encroaching baldness.
When something doesn't seem right, you make sure that you give it even more
honor, more attention. Paul says there's an example in that.

There's an example of what's needed in the body of Christ. And it's not that
there's just some things that are weak. It's actually that that which seems to
be the weakest is indispensable.

God has made the church body in that way. And sometimes we miss this important
truth. With our physical body, if your big toe was bothering you, a toenail, and
your big toe was bothering you, you wouldn't say, I'm just going to cut that big
toe off 'cause it's bothering me.

But we can easily do that in the body of Christ. Oh, that's irritating. Let's
get that out of sight and out of mind.

And Paul is saying here, listen, the less showy the gift, the more necessary the
gift. He's speaking here for the opportunity to see that what we see as the
weaker gifts are actually the gifts that most strengthen the church. So for
instance, what's weaker?

What do we often see as weaker? We often see the weaker gifts as maybe the less
spiritual gifts. So we might see preaching as a very strong gift 'cause we see
that happening in church in a pulpit every weekend.

But helping, the person who sets up the chairs in that church, that's a weaker
gift. When the truth of the matter is, more helping is needed in a church, more
serving than preaching 'cause that's what shows the reality of what we're
preaching. Or we might think that the gift of some kind of spectacular gift like
healing is what really we need more of.

But the truth of the matter is, those gifts that people don't see, like maybe
intercession and prayer and trusting God and faith in that prayer, that gift,
that's the gift that nobody sees that makes a greater impact on the church than
we ever are going to imagine. We will see it when we get to heaven. But right now,
Paul says we don't see it.

So the weaker gifts, the less noticed gifts are often the most important gifts.
We need each other more than we even realize. One means I need you.

One means we need each other. One means that we must care for each other because
we need each other, we also must care for each other. That's what Paul talks
about in verses 25 to 27.

So that there should be no division in the body, he says. That's why God's made
it this way. But that its part should have equal concern for each other.

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every
part rejoices with it. Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a
part of it.

Paul is saying in these verses that God has built both the human body and the
church body so that all the parts need each other. If you've got a friend who's
in a deep depression, one of the ways that sometimes you see that is they no
longer care for themselves. And that depression can sometimes even lead to
thoughts or actions of suicide.

These verses are revealing to us that churches can sometimes become spiritually
depressed. And you can feel that. You can feel that when you walk in the door of
a church.

You can feel that this church doesn't want to be alive. These people don't want
to be here. Now, how do you see that a church is spiritually depressed?

No one cares for each other. Nobody cares about being there, and no one cares
for each other. Paul is saying here in a healthy body, physically, the parts
care for each other.

And you can see that your physical body, your physical thinking is unhealthy
when you stop caring for yourself. In a healthy church, the parts care for each
other. That's how you see health.

And Paul makes it very clear here. He says, if one member suffers, all suffer.
If one member rejoices, all rejoice.

If one member of your physical body suffers, your whole body suffers. If you
hurt your shoulder, you don't say, "My shoulder is sick. " You say, "I am sick.

" There's something about a pain in your body that affects all of you. If you've
got a pain in your hand, your whole body gets involved in making sure that pain
gets taken care of. You use your mind to make sure that you find a doctor.

You use your feet to walk out to the car. You use your hands and all of you to
drive to the doctor. You ask somebody else to do it with your mouth.

Your whole body gets involved in caring for that one hurt part of your body. If
one member suffers, all suffer. Who do you need to be suffering with right now,
praying for?

'Cause they're part of the body. It's hard to suffer for others sometimes 'cause
you got enough in your own life. But the truth is, when we suffer for each
other, then we carry each other's burdens.

And not only do you lessen their burden when they're suffering, but they'll
lessen yours when you're suffering. If one member suffers, you all suffer. And
if one member rejoices, all rejoice.

I love this verse. You want to have constant joy in your life? Always something to
rejoice about.

It may not be that every day of your life, some circumstance happens, some
blessing happens, some answer to prayer happens, that you say, "Wow, I'm really
going to rejoice in that. " But the truth is, if you learn to rejoice with other
believers, then every day of your life, you're going to have a reason to rejoice.
Something that happened because something happened in their life.

It doesn't have to happen in your life for you to rejoice about it. These verses
say, because it's in the body, you can rejoice just as much when it's in
somebody else's life 'cause it's not just about you. It's about the body of
Christ and His glory in the world.

In light of that, one member suffers, all suffer. One member rejoices, all
rejoice. Let's take some time to pray together.

And right now, as we pray, Lord, who is it that I need to suffer with today?
Just right now in my mind, I bring their face. I bring their name to mind, what
they're going through.

And Jesus, I ask that you give them grace. I ask that you give them peace. I ask
that you give them strength.

Help them to know that they're not going through this alone. Lift them up, I
pray. And Lord, who do I need to rejoice with today?

To recognize that you've done something wonderful and to bring joy into my
heart, not competition, never jealousy, but instead joy, God, that you are at
work in their lives. How can I today, Lord, suffer with those who suffer and
rejoice with those who rejoice? How can I be a part of your body today?

Show me how, Jesus. I ask it in your name, amen.