Angelic Conflict part 208: Human history (the Church) – 1Co 12-13; 3:1-9; Mat 6:1-7, 16-21; Mar 12:41-44.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 209: Human history (the Church) - 1Co 12-13; 3:1-9; MAT 6:1-7, 16-21; MAR 12:41-44.

 

The body needs different functions if it is to live, grow, and serve (vv. 14-20).

 

1CO 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

 

1CO 12:15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.

 

1CO 12:16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.

 

1CO 12:17 If the whole body were an eye [uniformity], where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

 

1CO 12:18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

 

And some of those are there for testing your virtue love.

 

1CO 12:19 And if they were all one member [conformity], where would the body be?

 

1CO 12:20 But now there are many members, but one body.

 

Denominations tend towards uniformity and conformity as they are ruled by an hierarchical system.

 

No member should compare or contrast itself with any other member, because each one is different and each one is important. The ear cannot see and the eye cannot hear, yet each organ has an important function.

 

Also, one member should not desire to be another, i.e. perform the ministry that another has been given (I am not hand; I am not an eye).

 

No member is promoted to function in their ministry until God promotes them and when God promotes, no one can prevent it.

 

1PE 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 

We see here that the solution is to walk by the power of the Spirit by putting on the new man and laying aside the old man and making a decision to yield to the will or commands from God.

 

1CO 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

 

1CO 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 

1CO 13:6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

 

1CO 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 

1CO 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

 

In this same light we see a tendency today for some people to magnify the "sensational" gifts that are no longer in existence and have not been since the first century.

 

Some believers feel very guilty or have low self-esteem because they possess gifts that do not put them into the limelight. It is this attitude that Paul opposed and refuted in this paragraph.

 

Diversity does not suggest inferiority. Are we to believe that the sovereign Lord made a mistake when He bestowed the gift?

 

MAT 10:39

"He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.

 

It is easy to get anxious about fulfilling one’s ministry, but we must realize that only God knows when we are ready, meaning that we will do what we do for His glory, for the service of others, and without any selfish motivations, i.e. walking by the Spirit.

 

HEB 10:36-37

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE,

HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.

 

The members promote unity as they discover their dependence on one another (vv. 21-26).

 

1CO 12:21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

 

1CO 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

 

1CO 12:23 and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness,

 

1CO 12:24 whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,

 

1CO 12:25 that there should be no division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

 

1CO 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

 

Diversity in the body is an evidence of the wisdom of God. No believer is a rock or island and he depends on the ministries of others.

 

Satan attacks this by creating uniformity so that there is no life. If that doesn’t work he promotes arrogant jealousy, boasting, or infighting. If that doesn’t work he promotes the perverting of doctrine so there is a lack of maturity and division and conflict arises and persists. Each attack results in a weakened assembly and eventually it becomes just a monument.

 

Maturity in the spiritual life opens the eyes of the believer to realize that he is not a rock or an island and that his own success in his ministry is dependent in several ways on others who are also functioning in their ministries. This is not to say that a believer is dependent on others for spiritual growth in the vein that someone is not replaceable or is essential, the emphasis here is on the ministry of the individual believers.

 

There is a subtlety that needs to be understood here. We are not dependent on people for our spiritual needs but we are dependent on people’s ministries. Paul makes this case perfectly clear:

 

1CO 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ.

 

I find it divinely ironic that we get the best teaching on what a church should be from the letter written to the worst church.

 

1CO 3:2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

 

1CO 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

 

1CO 3:4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men?

 

1CO 3:5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

 

1CO 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.

 

The planter and the waterer are necessary, but not irreplaceable and certainly not worthy of merit.

 

Their ministries were in turn dependent on someone elses for no one is born with wisdom. They are pens and voices, that’s all; tools in the hands of God who is the One causing the growth in the body.

 

1CO 3:7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

 

1CO 3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one [in agreement]; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

 

1CO 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

 

Each member needs the other members, and no member can afford to become independent.

 

When a part of the human body becomes independent it dies. Cutting off blood flow with its vital oxygen and nutrients kills tissue. If someone’s eyes see necessary water he cannot say I don’t need the hands or the mouth or the stomach or the circulatory system, etc.

 

In a healthy human body, the various members cooperate with each other and even compensate for each other when a crisis occurs. This is obviously why Paul uses this metaphor for the Church, which applies to the individual churches as well.

 

While it is true that not everyone in any church functions in their spiritual gifts, it is true that enough gifts have to function in order for the church to function. It is also evident that a church can function well or limp along on life support, which has nothing to do with the number of members, but the vigor in which they function in their respective ministries. In our day, the person who is under non face to face teaching is dependent on those who function in their gifts just as the face to face members are. God the Holy Spirit will lead them all to function in their own ministries for the common good of the body, both face to face and non face to face.

 

The instant any part of the body says to any other part, "I don't need you!" it begins to weaken and die and create problems for the whole body.

 

No Christian servant can say that his ministry has never once depended on another servant of God.

 

1CO 12:21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

 

1CO 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;

 

1CO 12:23 and those members of the body, which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness,

 

1CO 12:24 whereas our seemly members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,

 

So what is an unseemly member? Likely, Paul is referring to the parts of the body that we all feel the need to cover up or clothe.

 

Paul’s point, as we clothe certain parts, parts unseen but covered with nice clothes, that suit the body in an honorable way, so God bestows honor on those whose ministries are not visible or generally honored by those only love the visible.

 

The believer who is ministering behind the scenes and is not in search of recognition is clothed with abundant honor by God.

 

This is one of the subtle lures of satan to get people into the ministry with the promise of earthly treasure, whether wealth, power, approbation, or prestige. This method has always worked and selfish people get in positions of authority, as in the case of the Sanhedrin in the time of Christ, but what is also true is that eventually this false motivation and false power is brought to the light and it evaporates under the light from God, as was also the case of the Sanhedrin.

 

MAT 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

 

MAT 6:2 "When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites [actors who play a role] do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

 

To live for the praise of men is foolish because man’s glory does not last:

 

1PE 1:24 [ISA 40:6-8]

"ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS,

AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS.

THE GRASS WITHERS,

AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF,

 

It is likely that the reason for the trumpet to be blown was to summon the poor in the area over to the giver, but really his motivation was to be seen and therefore honored by men. This always occurs. Some scheme is devised in order to justify an insidious motivation.

 

MAT 6:3 "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing

 

A number of commentators believe that the right hand left hand image is a reference to best friends, so it would be rendered, “do not let your best friend know what you are doing.” Even if this is Jesus’ intent, it still wouldn’t mean that you go out of your way to be secretive, but it does certainly reference a mental attitude lacking a desire to be noticed by others when you give.

 

MAT 6:4 that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

 

MAT 6:5 "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

 

MAT 6:7 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

   

MAT 6:16 "And whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

 

MAT 6:17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face

 

MAT 6:18 so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

 

The only fast that God actually required of the Jewish people was on the annual Day of Atonement (LEV 23:27). The Pharisees fasted each Monday and Thursday (LUK 18:12) and did so in such a way that people knew they were fasting. Their purpose, of course, was to win the praise of men. There is no NT command to fast.

 

MAT 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

 

MAT 6:20 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

 

MAT 6:21 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

 

Unlike the past attacks of idolatry in Israel that were of completely different faiths than God’s Law, these attacks are of religion, which mask themselves as doing the actual will of God but without the wisdom and power of the true reason for doing such a thing.