The Body
Family Camp Bible Study
May 23, 1999
1Corinthians 12:4-26
:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
gift – an special ability given to you by the Holy Spirit, enabling you to do something that you wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. There are quite a few gifts of the Holy Spirit. Not everyone has the same gifts. But it’s the same Holy Spirit that runs the gift of tongues that also runs the gift of helps.
:5 differences of administrations
administrations – the ministries that you perform with your gifts. Two people may both have the gift of teaching, but one may use their gift teaching as they counsel their friends, teaching them God’s ways of dealing with their problems, while the other person may teach a large, formal Bible Study. There are different ministries that use the same gift, and they are all run by the same Lord.
:6 diversities of operations
operations – the effects that a person’s ministry has. One person may have a ministry of evangelism, using their gift of evangelism, and win people to the Lord, one by one, out on the street. Another may use their gift of evangelism to speak to large crowds in a stadium. Both are valid ministries, and both are valid results or effects. They are all works of the same God.
:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man
manifestation – phanerosis – manifestation. It comes from phaneroo – to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way. It’s the visible, tangible evidence of the Holy Spirit working in your life. In the current context, Paul is talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
is given – present tense, something currently and continually going on. It’s not something that happens once in the past, it’s been going on and continues to go on in your life.
For those of you who aren’t sure what your gifts are, the Holy Spirit has probably already given you gifts, and He may even have more in store for you. For those of you who already have an idea of what some of your gifts are, it’s possible that the Holy Spirit may have even more gifts to give you.
Lesson
He has gifts for every believer.
You may not be quite aware yet of what gifts, ministries, or effects the Holy Spirit has for you, but He still has them for you.
It’s not just for pastors. It’s not just for people you think are "super spiritual". It’s for everyone.
:7 to profit withal.
or, "for the common good"
The work that the Holy Spirit wants to do through you is not for your sake, but for the sake of others.
Lesson
Being a part of the Body requires being other-centered.
We can think of this illustration of the church being a "body" and think about the value of belonging. That’s certainly important, to know that you belong.
But it’s even more important to understand WHY you’re in the Body. God places you in the Body, giving you special gifts which define your function, all for the reason of ministering to others.
What is your ministry? What are your gifts?
What do you have to offer that others need?
JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country". That’s really the way it’s supposed to be in the Body.
:8-10 For to one is given by the Spirit …
This is just a partial list of the gifts of the Spirit.
These are special abilities that are given to a person by the Holy Spirit.
The word of wisdom is that special answer you’re looking for. You’ve been worried about a problem for months and then the Holy Spirit gives the solution to a person, one that is just incredible in how perfect an answer it is.
The word of knowledge is special knowledge of a person or an event, knowledge that could not come by any other means but through the Spirit of God giving it.
Prophecy is simply having a direct word from God. It’s speaking for God. It’s God using you as a mouth piece.
Discerning of spirits is the ability to know when something’s not right. It’s understanding the spiritual nature behind a situation, is it something from God, something from the flesh, or something from Satan?
Tongues and interpretations have to do with speaking or understanding a language which you’ve had no prior experience with.
Other gifts that are found listed later in this chapter, as well as in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 include: Teaching, administration, helps, mercy, giving.
:11 the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will
severally – or better translated, "individually"
Lesson
Receiving your gifts.
We see several things that we can do on our part to receive the gifts.
The filling of the Holy Spirit.
When individuals were filled with the Holy Spirit, this seems to be a time when new gifts manifest themselves. (Acts 2)
The laying on of hands.
Paul wrote to Timothy:
1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
It’s okay to ask others to pray for you, to ask for God to give you His gifts.
Ask in faith.
Paul wrote:
(Gal 3:2 KJV) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
We ask, but then we trust Him to give:
(Luke 11:13 KJV) If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Lesson
God is in control of giving gifts.
There’s a sense in which it’s okay to have a desire for certain gifts:
(1 Cor 12:31 KJV) But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
But the bottom line is that we need to realize that the Holy Spirit is the one in charge of handing out the gifts.
It’s okay to desire gifts. It’s okay to pray for gifts. It’s okay to wait upon God for gifts. But let God be God. You don’t have to worry and struggle to receive a certain gift. When God thinks you’re ready, He’ll give it to you. If He doesn’t think you ought to have a gift, no amount of wrestling on your part is going to change His mind.
Illustration
The Emperor's Seeds
Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"
There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.
Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing. By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by--still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful--in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!" All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grown, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
I think that we as a church need to be careful that we are honest about what God has given us. We run into danger when we think we have to "manufacture" some kind of manifestation. If we are waiting on the Lord, and God doesn’t give you a word to share, then don’t try and make something up. Then, when we see something happening, we will be seeing the real thing.
:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body
There are some that have confused this verse with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The word "baptized" (baptizo) means to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge.
The concept of being "baptized" in the Holy Spirit is that of being "immersed" into the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist described the baptism of the Holy Spirit this way:
(Mat 3:11 KJV) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
John baptized people by immersing them in the water of the Jordan River. Jesus would baptize people by immersing them in the Holy Spirit.
But here in 1Corinthians, it’s not Jesus doing the baptizing, it’s the Holy Spirit. And it’s not a baptism of being immersed in the Holy Spirit, it’s being immersed in the Body.
This baptism into the body is what happens when we received Jesus into our hearts.
When we decided to follow Jesus, He put His Spirit in us (Rom. 8:9), and the Spirit put us into the body of Christ.
It’s a package deal. When you get Jesus, you get the rest of us as well. When you get Jesus, it comes complete with a new family.
:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
The body isn’t just one big simple mechanism. It’s a complex mixture of various integrated mechanisms, all working together.
:15-17 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
One problem comes when we start comparing ourselves with others, starting to admire a little too much what God does in another person, and because we aren’t like them, we must not be important too.
Lesson
Each part belongs.
It doesn’t matter if you think you’re just the big toe, every part is important.
The importance comes not by which "part" you are, but in whether or not you are functioning as you were designed.
When a body part ceases to function because it thinks it needs to be like another body part, that’s when the body is sick.
:21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee
Sometimes (like verse 16) the problem is that we think we aren’t an important part. But sometimes we face the opposite problem, where we think that we don’t need certain other people.
Illustration
Tradition!
During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up... The rabbi, educated as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn’t know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98 year old man, who was one of the original founders of their temple. The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual temple tradition was, so he went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation. The one whose followers stood during Shema said to the old man, "Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?" The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." The one whose followers sat asked, "Is the tradition to sit during Shema?" The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." "But", the rabbi said to the old man, "the congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether....." The old man interrupted, exclaiming, "THAT is the tradition!"
Lesson
We actually need each other, even the weird people.
Some people are quite different from others.
Sometimes we tend to hang around people that are like us.
It’s natural to want to be with people who are like us.
But we need EVERY part of the body.
We don’t discard body parts because they’re different. We need to learn how to get along with them.
:22-23 which seem to be more feeble … less honourable .. uncomely
Paul lists three kinds of body parts that we seem to think aren’t quite as important, yet we take special care of them:
feeble – asthenes – weak, infirm, feeble. Note, Paul says they "seem" to be more feeble. He’s probably talking about things like our brain or our eyes. Things that seem susceptible to injury. Though they seem (and are) feeble, they are actually vitally important to the body.
less honourable – atimos – without honour, dishonoured; of less esteem. He’s probably talking about body parts like our feet or our belly. We don’t usually think too highly of feet, but when our feet hurt, oh how we quickly try to take care of them. We make sure our feet are in the height of comfort.
uncomely – askemon – deformed; indecent, unseemly. Paul is probably talking about those private parts of our body that we always cover up. Even when we go swimming, we cover these parts up. They’re always covered with special care.
:24-25 … should have the same care one for another
care – merimnao – to be anxious; to be troubled with cares; to care for, look out for (a thing)
We take care in our own bodies to give honor to "uncomely" parts by giving them special clothes. Our "comely" parts, the things that we allow to be most visible, we don’t bother covering up. The point is that in our bodies, we naturally take care to give honor to certain parts of the body that are "feeble" or "uncomely".
Yet in the church we often have it backward. We often are giving special honor to those "up front" like pastors and musicians, when they already have all the honor they need. Perhaps we ought to be giving more honor to the more "hidden" parts of the body, like those who clean the bathrooms, those who teach the Sunday School classes, those who change diapers in the Nursery, those who make the tapes, those who do the accounting and secretarial work, those who quietly pray.
Lesson
Be open to loving others.
Sometimes we aren’t all that loving towards each other.
Illustration
Ole Bessy
Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company (responsible for the accident) to court. In court the trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe. Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, "I'm fine," said the lawyer. Farmer Joe responded, "Well I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the......." "I didn't ask for any details," the lawyer interrupted, "just answer the question." "Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'" Farmer Joe said, "Well I had just got Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road..." The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question." By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie." Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, "Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her then he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me. He said, "Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are you feeling?"
Sometimes caring for one another means we have to wound each other with the "faithful wounds of a friend (Prov. 27:6). But on the other hand, we aren’t called to shoot the mule either.
Sometimes we simply have our eyes on the wrong things. We can tend to miss the beauty and importance that is in the "uncomely" parts.
Illustration
The Sailor and the Lady
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose. His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn't matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. "You'll recognize me," she wrote, "by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel." So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen.
I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. "Going my way, sailor?" she murmured. Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?" The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are."
:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer …
In the human body, an injured body part affects the whole body.
Illustration
As most of you know, my dad had a heart attack about a month ago. He had been having chest pains for about six days before going in to the doctor for a check up. During those six days, the rest of his body was telling his heart, "It’s going to be okay, there’s nothing to worry about". But in reality, he was getting nearer and nearer to death. It was his heart that was sick, but the entire body was affected. When the rest of his body decided to confide in my mom and tell her about the pain, the entire body went to the doctor and got a checkup. It was there in the cardiologist’s office that my dad had his heart attack.
When the heart attack occurred, the doctor didn’t just take out my dad’s heart and send it to the hospital while the rest of his body went to Disneyland. The rest of his body didn’t say to the heart, "It’s your problem, come back when you get fixed!" The paramedics came and took my dad’s whole body to the hospital.
When the doctor performed the angioplasty procedure on my dad, and they opened up the blocked artery in his heart, I can tell you that more than just his heart was happy. His whole body was pretty stoked. In fact, so was his whole family!
Lesson
We sink or swim together.
We are a body. We belong to each other. There is a sense in which we need to take some responsibility to keep all the members of the body healthy.
I know that this can get twisted around to where I’ve often heard people comment something to the effect that they aren’t getting any better because the church isn’t doing everything for them. This is going overboard. But we still need to realize that we belong to each other. We need to help each other.