Discerning the Members of the Body

Mr. Beyer, during his sermonette, covered all the beginning of my sermon. So we can just skip that, and actually I'll simply reverse with you, as he covered in John chapter 6.

Jesus said he was the bread of wine. He said he was the true bread from heaven. He said he was the living bread. And of course he said he eats his flesh and breaks his blood as eternal life. And so we want to abide. Abide in Jesus Christ. And as the inner sermonette always encouraged us to do, that's where we want to be. I want to elaborate on that a little more throughout the sermon today, because there are a number of things that we can keep in mind. And certainly during these days of unleavened bread, it's remarkable. As I mentioned earlier, that God has given us not only these days, because the Holy Days really are incredible. The way that God has not only begun them and instituted them as we see in the Old Testament, but as we also see them in the New Testament. You can read about each one. You can read about what they mean. You can read about where they are headed, certainly, in the book of Revelation. And yet, unleavened bread. That's his odd thing. But you know, unleavened bread has a lot more significance than Easter buckets. Or than chocolate eggs. Or, you know, one of the other things. Puffed up buns. I was in the store yesterday. I wasn't looking directly for unleavened bread. But certainly, if you walk through the bakery, they didn't have unleavened bread there. They had all kinds of rolls and stuff that looked good and nice. That has nothing to do with the celebration that we are observing. And so, I want us to be encouraged by how wonderful our great God is. That he gives us symbols, and we are familiar with leavening and with putting leavened products out of our home. And then, eating, as he tells us to, for seven days, unleavened bread. There's great significance in that, and I hope to be able to focus on that throughout the sermon today. In the last sermon that I gave, that was actually prior to the Passover, I explained how we need to properly discern the body. Properly discern the body of the Lord. In order to do that, there are actually two major ways that that is done. The first involves an understanding of Christ's suffering, what he went through, what he endured, and how that provides us a very merciful benefit of healing. We can seek that, we can ask for that. We know there are a number of different factors, as I covered earlier. And that clearly is a part of what we want to understand as we prepare and get ready for the Passover. But the second part of discerning the body of the Lord involves a collective discerning of the members of the body. You know the Church is referred to as the Body of Christ. We can easily read that in many different scriptures. It talks about the Body of Christ being, the Church of God, being those that God has called out, those that God has chosen to refine. That's the way I think we should look at ourselves, that we are to be in a process of growing, a process of getting rid of the carnal ways and taking on the divine nature of God. But I want us to look at this discerning of the body because I think it's in this life, thinking of the body not simply as Jesus' broken body given for us and for our healing. That's a different topic.

But to think of how it is that God wants us to discern the body and how we act toward each other is extremely important. And it involves also the discerning of the body. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 11.

And that, of course, is where we get this instruction that Paul gave the, in a sense, the struggling church that was in Corinth. When you read the book of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, you realize, boy, these members of the church had some difficulties. But, of course, Paul was working with them. He was encouraging them. He was trying to tell them how to fix many of those problems. He wasn't put out with them. He did, at times, have to be stern. And then he also mentioned how he would rather come with a spirit of gentleness and simply tell them what to do and that they could benefit from you and that. But here in 1 Corinthians 11, I want to focus on verse 29 and verse 30.

Because if how to do it is we evaluate ourselves and then as we take the path over service, as we have become committed to that, that we are devoted to Jesus Christ and then we are recipients of the Holy Spirit of God through the miracle that God does through, actually, through human servants. Through the lame-on hands. He extends the Holy Spirit and then he causes us, through faith in Him, to grow in that Spirit. But he says in verse 29, all to eat and drink without discerning the Lord's body. And so he says there is a certain understanding that you need to have. He was directly telling the Corinthians this, but he also is telling us this because he says, for all to eat and drink without discerning the Lord's body, he can drink judgment against themselves. And for this reason, verse 30 ought to be something we think about. For this reason, because we're not discerning the body of the Lord, discerning the members of that body as we should, for this reason, many of you are weak and ill and some have died.

See, I don't know if we've thought about this, but this is an implication, or excuse me, an admonition, that may have very far-reaching implications. Far more than we could ever imagine. Because even to the extent that others may have much to do with my attitudes and actions toward others in the mind. I know all of us that we simply want to be healed. But say it for the people that I pray for, I want them to be healed. That I don't want my misperception of the body, my misperception of what God tells me to do toward the body. I don't want that to inhibit God's benefit of healing being extended to others. And that may be what's, this is implying. I don't know that I can fully say that. But certainly when you read that, it seems to clearly be connected. And I want to show you in the remainder of what we look at here in 1 Corinthians 11. That even though we often read this section from verse 17 down to the end of the chapter, verse 34, I believe. Even though we often read this and think, okay, this is talking about the Passover, which clearly it is. All this instructing them about how to properly and reverently come to the Passover. But I think it also shows the inability of the members to relate to one another in a loving and kind and concerned manner. So let's begin after verse 17.

He says in the following instructions, I simply cannot commend you. Because when you come together, it's not for the better, but for the worse. Again, you could be referring to the Passover. Now that may well be the case, but I think when we read through this, it also appears that they come together at other times as a congregation and don't really act very concerned about each other. And verse 18 to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And to some degree, I believe it. And indeed, there have to be some factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you is genuine. Now these are powerful words that Paul was telling the Corinthian church. And of course, they were divided. They were arguing all the time. They weren't really pulling in the same direction. And we hope that we're doing better than the last one. At times, we find that we're not. But he goes on to say, in verse 20, when you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper. He now, perhaps, he's again referring to when they come together to observe the Passover, that you're not doing it properly. But I think he also is implying that, well, even when you come together otherwise, you treat each other in a selfish way. Everything focuses around you instead of the group. He goes on to say, when the time comes to eat, verse 21, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. It doesn't quite sound like the Passover to me. We're going to use a little bit of wine, a little bit of bread, but it almost appears to be a, what could we say, an out-of-control potluck. That's what it almost seems like. Whenever you see the description here. And so he says, when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What? Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? He says, well, if you want to eat quite a bit, leave that at home. Do you want to drink quite a bit? At least if you do that at home, not that I'm recommending that, but that if you do that at home, then you're not adversely affecting everybody else. As he goes ahead to say, don't you show, or do you show contempt for the Church of God and humiliate those who have to live for nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter, I don't commend you at all. See, Paul was actually addressing a problem. A problem where, and it seems to be describing them coming together, and I would say not solely on the Passover Day, he does go ahead and mention that, and that obviously had to also be a problem, but he says, you know, he's describing them coming together in a selfish, an unconcerned, a kind of chaotic manner of disrespecting one another when they didn't feel. Now, if we should drop on down the section here, verse 23 to verse 32, it's pretty familiar with us. We read that quite often, and I read part of that earlier. But in verse 33, he goes ahead to say, so then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, and so really he's pointing out how that, when you do come together, when you come together, you are to be a respectful, a holy congregation. You are to come together with love. You are to come together with peace. You are to come together with concern and with interest toward each other.

That's what God would expect. He says, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. So it appears they haven't been waiting. They've been coming and having pretty much just a chaotic kind of a meal. He says, if you're hungry, eat at home. And so when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. And about the other things, he says in verse 34, I'll give instruction whenever I come. Now, I've often read this and wondered, well, what is it talking about? It sounds like it's talking about them coming together and not being respectful toward one another. That's what it sounds like. And I would certainly say, whenever you see in verse 32, or excuse me, verse 33, when you come together, wait on one another. Wait for one another. See, that puts an implication that we have a responsibility toward each other. We have a responsibility to treat each other in a Christian manner. We have a responsibility to actually show the things that God would expect. To actually be the unleavened people that God has called us to be. Now, clearly, the Corinthians didn't meet the bill. They were missing the mark. And yet, certainly, we want to think about that ourselves. I feel it's an important aspect of discerning the body of the Lord.

And then it may impact God's benefit of healing for all of us collectively. That may be the implication. I'm not saying that that's for sure, but I think you can clearly see that there is reason to think that how we treat each other, how we talk to each other, how we show the type of Christian love toward one another has something to do with how much God can bless us. Now, if you recall, Jesus could perform miracles anywhere.

He said, he could perform miracles anywhere. He said, I'm kind of limited here in Nazareth because these folks don't know or believe who I am. And so they didn't receive the benefits that he had in Walford. I want us to continue this thought here to read chapter 11. Because in chapter 12, another chapter that we're pretty familiar with, and often we kind of segment these chapters, but they all are one big letter.

What's he talking about in chapter 12? Is he talking about the body? Is he talking about how the Church of God has been put together by people from all over the country? How this congregation has people who live in Kansas and in Missouri and some in Topeka and some up in Cummings, Kansas, and some down in Parks, Kansas, and some out in Independence or in Buckner. We've got some folks here from Washington. And we have people from all over, but see, when God brought us into the Church, I'm surely glad that whenever God brought me into the Church, and put a kid from Oklahoma, God was bringing me out of the fields and the peopins of Oklahoma.

And I'm glad that he did it. I'm glad that he may not have known what bigger project it might be to work on me. I'm sure he did, and I'm thankful for that. But see, God has thrown us from numerous back then. Some of you have considerable amount of education. Some of us don't. And yet, God is aware of all that.

He brings us. We work in different occupations. We have different personalities. And yet, he all brings us together to learn one thing. To properly discern the body. And here in chapter 12, he starts talking about spiritual gifts because they abused those, too. They were arguing over who was special because they've got this gift, or they've got that gift, or they can speak with tongues. You know, Paul, different languages.

Paul was a linguist. He could speak in numerous languages. And God probably could give him ability to speak in others if he needed to. And yet, they were arguing over that. And yet, here in chapter 12, verse 4, he says there are a variety of gifts. But the same spirit, there are a variety of services, but the same Lord. There are a variety of activities, but it's the same God who activates all of them in every one of us. See, God brings us together in a common bond. He brings us together.

All of us sinners need to be forgiven and need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be different. That's what he wants us to be. He wants us to discern the body. He wants us to have a feel of responsibility to whichever. He goes on to say, in verse 7, To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit, so that each person will feel important, so that each person will be impressed with their own ability.

No, he says, I only do that for the common group. I only give gifts in a congregation or in the church at large. I only give those for the benefit of all, for the common good. And he said, the one is given to the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge, according to the same Spirit, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another working of miracles or prophecy.

He says, all these are activated by the same Spirit, but they're all to be used for the common good. You know, Paul had the ability, you know, he had been given many of these gifts, and he could boast a great deal about that if he chose to, but he said, that's not why God has done this. We go on to read down in verse 12, just as the body is one and has many members, all the members of the body, though many are one body, as it is with Christ.

That's why I say, whenever we properly discern the body, not simply thinking of the body that Jesus suffered in, but we think of properly discerning the body, it says, indeed, verse 14, the body doesn't consist of one member, but many. And if the book says, because I'm not the hand, I don't belong to the body, that would not make it less a part of the body. And if the year says, I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body, well, I would not make it any less part of the body.

If the whole body were an eye, I would, well, where did the hearing become? Brethren, we need each other. We need whatever each member is able to provide. And of course, he says in verse 18, as it is, God has arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chooses. And so, we're not here to promote ourselves, we're not here to be selfish, we're not here to be disrespectful. We're here, and again, this was also mentioned in some of that, we're here to be concerned about on the number, to allow Jesus Christ to live in us, to allow the Spirit of God to transform us, and that's what the days of Unleavened Bread are about.

And we want to live leavened lives in the past, and live unleavened lives today. And we want to be transformed with change. So, he goes on, and I'm not going to read the entirety of this for the sake of time, you can read the entire section, but a section that we're quite familiar with, drop down in verse 26, if one member suffers, then everyone suffers with it.

You know, it should hurt for us to know that others are suffering. But also, it says if one member is honored, then everyone should rejoice. Everyone should rejoice together with it. And so, you see in chapter 11 and in chapter 12, and actually in other chapters here, this chapter of the book that Paul is writing, he's writing to tell them how to be toward one another, telling them how to be Christians.

They weren't real good Christians yet. They were in the process of reforming. And he actually encouraged them when they did something right. He was very praising, very encouraging, very uplifting. And yet he also pointed out that you needed to discern the body. You needed to discern the body and appreciate one another. So, this week of unlettered bread, we've begun the first day here, and we have seven days to enjoy unlettered bread.

That's something that we purposely do. It's far more than just what we eat. It is, nobody's got to eat unlettered bread. That's what we would do. But it's also about truly showing concern for, and properly discerning the body.

We have a responsibility toward each other. And so what are those responsibilities that we have toward one another? Looking at what the Bible says, you just look up the phrase, one another. See, I read to you in verse 11, it says, wait for one another.

There are a lot of other verses that talk about one another, as how you should be toward one another. And clearly you can think of some very obvious ones, which I probably will mention. And yet we need to consider, if I'm discerning the body properly, am I looking up to these responsibilities? Am I living by these principles? Each day, and can I, for this next week, think about this more? And then try to do it even better? I've heard of them five things, and I know there are many others, but I want to point out at least five that are things that we all have a responsibility toward each other about.

To properly discern the body of the Lord, and how we should be toward one another. We all know the first one, you can write it down, I won't even tell you.

You're with love, one another. I mean, that's so obvious that you don't even need to tell me. But see, that's what Jesus said in John 13, verse 34 and verse 35. He read it the other night at the Passover. See, he says this is going to identify you as my disciples.

If you have love, one for another. How it is you are toward one another. How it is that you express interest, express concern, kind of grow out of your selfishness. And think about somebody else. See, even that's part of the process that we had mentioned earlier. Growing out of our own limitations. In Romans 13, actually there's way too many verses here. There I could go to Romans 13, verse 8.

Paul says, Oh no one, anything except to love one another. What we owe to others is to come to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. So we are observing and be a purpose and intend of the law by loving one another. He says the commandments, like not commit adultery, not murder, not steal, not covet, and the other command number summed up in this word, love your neighbor as yourself. Now we strive to observe those commands because we want him to get away from sin. He says ultimately that shows us how to love others, how to truly be concerned for one another. He says, loving verse 10 does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is a fulfillment of the law.

Verse 7, verse 4. Starting in verse 9, now again, on 1st Thessalonians 4, we ought to read verse 13 and down to the end, because he's talking about Christ's return, we're talking about comforting one another with these words. And that, of course, is also a responsibility that we have toward one another, to comfort one another as there is need. But in verse 9, it says, now concerning the love of the brethren, you don't need to have anyone right to you, for you yourself have been taught by God to love one another. And indeed you do love all the brethren throughout Macedonia.

He was commanding the people in Thessalonica for the good job they were doing, but he goes ahead to say in verse 10, we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more. He says, there is a limit. There's not a limit on how much you should love one another.

To aspire, to live quietly, to mind your own business, to work with your own hands as we directed you so that you may behave properly toward outsiders and be dependent on no one. Here he gives other instructions, but primarily he's mentioning how you should love one another, and that you should grow in that love. 1 Peter 1, again, all of these are familiar with verses and chapters to you. 1 Peter 1, verse 22, says, Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth, so that you have genuine, mutual love.

Love one another deeply from the heart. He gives numerous instructions here in chapter 4, verse 8. He says, above all, verse 4, verse 8, maintain constant love for one another. And in those who had to add love, it covers a multitude of sins.

Now that's a type of caring, a type of concern, a type of sharing that isn't involved in gossip and tearing others down and uplifting ourselves up. Like realizing, well, there's a lot of help that every one of us need.

In 1 John 4, and again, there's many, many, many verses we could go to on loving one another. 1 John 4, verse 7, John says, Beloved, let us love one another because love is from God, and everyone we love is born of God and knows God.

But if we want to really be like God, then we need to have love for one another. Drop on down to verse 11, beloved. Sing, God since God loved us so much, we also want to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, then God lives in us. And His love is perfected in us. That's quite an aspiration to shoot for. That's quite a blessing to know that if God is living in us, then we're really going to have love for one another. That's number one. Number two, again, is quite obvious.

As Jesus was teaching His disciples in John 13, He said, You ought to serve one another. In John 13, verse 14, He gave them the example of watching the disciples speak. He told them, John 13, verse 13, or excuse me, John 13, is where this is. John 13, verse 14, So if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, then you also ought to wash one another's feet. That was a gesture to reflect an attitude of humility, with an attitude of willingness to serve one another. And see, that's not only something that we do once a year at the past, but that's something to be reflected throughout the year.

It surely should be reflected throughout the days of Unleavened Bread when we desire to serve and love one another. In Galatians chapter 5, we've already read a little bit here out of Galatians, but in Galatians chapter 5, I want to point out again what Paul was saying.

Galatians 5, verse 13, he says, You were called to freedom, brethren. Only don't use that freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence. Don't be puffed up about the fact that God has chosen to work with you. That's not something for us to be puffed up about. That's something for us to be thankful and grateful for. And he goes on to say, But through love, become the servants of one another. See, through love, now that's our motivation.

That's got to be the motivation to serve others. That was what Jesus said his motivation was. He says in verse 14, the whole wall is summed up in a single commandment. You shall love your neighbor as yourself, if however you bite and devour one another, take care of them. You're not consumed by one another. Paul was being quite direct to these people in Galatians because they were struggling with several things as well.

He says, if you tear each other down, and you're not serving one another, actually, here in verse 1 of chapter 6, My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness. You read that earlier? Was that what we do? Or are we kind of glad to find out somebody's got more problems than I do?

You know, sometimes that's what we think. And see, that's not what this says. It says, learn to be big enough to sewer of other people because in verse 2, he goes ahead and says, bear one another's burdens. So those are the words that you can just like go right over your head. You can read that and not know what that says or means. He says, you've got to be willing to sewer one another. You've got to be willing to love, but you've got to be willing to sewer, bear one another's wounds, and in this way, you fulfill the law of Christ.

He says, you must come like Jesus Christ, if you learn to sewer one another and bear one another's burdens. The third thing I want to mention is quite obvious, and one that I think in many ways we probably do a pretty good job in. Here in James chapter 5, again, we're familiar with what James 5 usually focuses on. It says in verse 14, if any of us are sick, then we should call for the elders of the church, and have them pray over us, anointing us with oil in the name of the Lord, and then the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up, and if anyone is committed since, then they will be forgiven.

There's a lot of information there, and I'm not going to take time to focus on all of it. It's very obvious, though, that if we seek God's blessing, we seek His mercy. We often do that if we're sick, but we also need to do that as far as pray for others who are suffering in this way, because He goes ahead in verse 16. And I know that King James says, confess your sins to one another. I think in many ways, be shy away from that, because we don't want to know, or we don't want everybody to know our sins.

Most of us are not very good at that. I think in many ways it means to acknowledge our sins to one another. If we acknowledge, and I'm going to acknowledge my sins, they are, in some ways, pretty obvious. And yet, I would want to overcome those. I don't want those to continue to burn me down, but all of us have got to realize we're sinners. And we need to acknowledge our sins to one another. And He says, then pray. If I know something that you're struggling with, and that doesn't make me better, that makes me responsible to pray for you.

To pray to help you, to pray to bear your burdens. If I'm going to do what it says, if I'm going to live out what unleavened life is, I'm going to learn to pray for one another so that we all may be free. That's why I say, I think there's an injection here with how it is we are toward one another.

And it's important for us to realize, to acknowledge our sins, and to pray for one another, then God is interested in the prayer, He says, the righteous man avails much. It's powerful, it's effective. It's moving, and if we're moving God to respond, then I think we might see more help, more healing. Again, that's not the total answer, because we all know that we learn through trials, we learn through tests, and some of those are often physical afflictions. But we can't get away from what it says in James 5, verse 16.

Acknowledge our sins to one another, and then pray for one another, to help one another, to cause us to grow. Number four, another one that a responsibility we have toward each other is simply to be of the same mind, to be united.

We read this in 1 Corinthians 11, where Paul told him, I'm hearing that there's a bunch of division among you, and if that's the case, then that's wrong. And yet I'll also tell you that because there are some factions, that actually shows who is genuine. He says you need to be able to be stable enough, and to have the right foundation, that division, isn't going to adversely affect you.

But here in Romans 12, Romans 12, verse 16, Romans chapter 12, verse 16, he says, now this is among a lot of other things. I can read verse 10, one another with mutual affection. We've already covered that. But in verse 16, he says, live in harmony with one another. Be of the same mind with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lower. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. See, how do we apply that to one another? How does that make us better Christians? Turn over page in chapter 15, chapter 15, verse 5.

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another. This is what Paul is telling the people in Rome, explaining to them that you have a commission, you have a responsibility, you have an obligation toward one another. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another in accordance with Jesus Christ so that together you may have one voice, and with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Together we can praise God and worship Jesus. Verse 7, he says, we're seen, or accept, or welcome one another, present, just as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. See, that's what he tells us to do. He tells us to be in unison, help us to know how God has drawn us together. Ephesians 4. Now, this whole section is, of course, shocking about the unity that's to be in the body of Christ and to be agreed from verse 1 down to verse 16, and have a lot more information than I could cover here today.

But I just want to read verse 2. He says, live a life worthy of the calling that you've been given with all, and verse 2, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Now, if I'm always right, then I'm not going to be in unison with the Church.

If I'm always, you know, I've always got all the ages, then I'm not going to be in unison with what God is teaching in the Church of God. But if I'm willing to look at, willing to grow, willing to grow in understanding, then what's going to cause me to be united? Here in Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3, again, we've got far more information. But in verse 13, he says, bear with one another.

Bear with one another, and if anyone has a complaint against someone else, then forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive one another. Again, that's a big part of what, you know, resolving difficulties, not the difficulties that never occur, is that those need to be resolved for acknowledgment and for bearing with one another and forgiving one another. So we are being united, and the final thing that I'll mention here today, and I hope that we can think about these, the responsibility we have to love one another and to serve one another, and to pray for one another, and to be united with one another.

And this last one, number five, I have a responsibility, and so do you, to build up one another. That's each and every one of our jobs. Now, I feel that's my job, and feel it is something I wish to do and think I'll be required to do, and yet everybody has that direct command. You're in 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5, starting in verse 9. He says, Still alive, whenever Christ returns. Therefore, He says in verse 11, Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

In 1 Peter 4, in verse 9, I read verse 8 earlier, but verse 9 says, Be hospitable to one another without complaining. He says, Being hospitable is correction, right? It's what we should do, but we'll do that without complaining. Do that without judging one another. Do that without complaining. Like verse 10, good stewards of the manifold grace of God serve one another with whatever gift each of us has received. Sounds like that applies to everybody. Whoever has whatever gift that needs to be used for the common good, we need to encourage and build up one another. Here in Hebrews 10, we're pretty familiar with because we do cover it from time to time.

Hebrews 10, starting in verse 23, says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised his faithful, and we've been called to a responsibility, we've been called to a glorious future, we've been called to have hope and to be uplifted.

He says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised his faithful, and let us, in verse 24, consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. How is it that we can encourage or build up each other to have love for one another and to do good deeds toward one another? Not neglecting to be together is the habit of somebody encouraging or exhorting one another and all the more. As we see today approaching the time when Christ will intervene and return, we're not just a part of the church for what we can get from it. We're here as a part of the church for what we can give, and building up and encouraging. The final verse I'll use here is Colossians 30. I know I've done through a lot more verses than I normally do, but I hope that we can think about how we are to be toward one another, and we can properly discern the body and how God expects us to work together. Here in Colossians 3, again, a lot of good instruction, verse 12, 13, 14. Verse 14, above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Verse 15, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called into one body. Be thankful. Verse 16, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. If the word of Christ dwells in us richly, then we're going to be building up. We're going to be encouraging. We're going to be uplifting to others. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, with gratitude in our hearts, singing the hauls, hymns, and songs, and spiritual songs to God. We don't always admonish one another. Sometimes that's in the right way, in a building way, in an uplifting way. That's needed. It's needed for our good. If iron's going to sharpen iron, then we're going to have to point out something that could improve, something that could get better. We'll send it by that, and we'll talk and be the same way we were. Never change. Never grow in the divine nature. So that's what God is in the process of doing. So we have a wonderful seven-day period of time here before us. We're just begun this today. We've begun to eat our mother's bread. We'll eat that every day. What are we reminded of what that means? How that pictures the unleavened life of Jesus Christ that is to live in us. And that we have a responsibility toward one another. And so these days, these next seven days, are far more about how we view one another and how we discern the body and our relationship with one another than exactly what we eat. Although, obviously, we watch that. It's a symbol that God gives us for our benefit. And as we do, I think you'll find that we can be a lot better than what we see the Corinthian church was. They were growing, and they have, we have that information written so that we can see where we can change and improve. And so I encourage all of us to properly discern the body of the Lord by simply showing the type of love, the type of concern, and the type of respect that God expects to see from each and every one of us toward one another.