What Is Your Obligation to the Body of Christ?

Well, brethren, the title of my message this afternoon comes to you in the form of a question.

And that is, what is your obligation to the body of Christ?

Have you ever given that much thought? What is your obligation to the body of Christ? You know, I can take that question, I could flip it around, and I could ask it myself as well. What is my obligation to the body of Christ? When I refer to the body of Jesus Christ, and surely all realize I'm referring to the Church. I'm referring to those spiritual members of the body of which Jesus Christ is the Head. As a member of that body of Christ, what is your obligation to your fellow members? Boil it down in a more basic form, what is our obligation to one another right here in this room? That's a question I'd like to answer today. Brother, when God called us out of this world, when we received His Holy Spirit, we became immersed in a very different lifestyle than this world around us. The world around us is immersed in spiritual darkness. It lives under the influence of the Prince of the Power of the Air, and that influence is one that focuses primarily on self. But God has called us to something different. God called us to a way of life that extends beyond self. God called us to a life of outgoing concern for others. God called us into relationships. He's called us into relationships with Himself and Jesus Christ, and God's called us into relationships with one another as well. And as people that have been called into relationships, we have a responsibility, we have an obligation, and we have an accountability to one another with which we're in relationship. So today we're going to look at the primary obligation that we have to one another in the body of Christ. My message today won't cover every obligation. It will just simply be a drop in the bucket. But as we're coming up to the Passover in the spring Holy Days, hopefully this will get our minds rolling on something very important for us to focus on. Let's begin in 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12, because it describes the structure and the makeup of the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12, beginning in verse 12, very familiar to passage to all of us, hear the Apostle Paul writing. And he says, For as the body is one, and has many members, that all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. So for by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we've all been made to drink into one spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body?

And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the member of each one of them in the body, just as he pleads. So the point is that each member of the body has a part to play.

Each member individually has a function to carry out, and it's not the exact same function for each of us. The fact is, I play a particular role in the body. Each one of you individually plays a role in the body as well, so it's not the same for everyone. But the fact is, our calling to salvation is the same. Before God, our calling is the same.

But in terms of our interactions, in terms of our relationship roles we play in the body, we are not all the same. Scripture shows that there are diversities of function. It shows that there are diversities of responsibility within the body of Christ, and it's God who decides where we best fill those positions.

Verse 19, it says, And if they were all one member, where would the body be? That now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And ye, I cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you, know much rather these members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. So Scripture points out the fact that I need you, and in this relationship process you need me. And when we look around the room we understand that each and every one of us need one another as well.

That's simply the way the function of the body works. Verse 23, And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable on those we bestow greater honor, and on our unprecedented parts we have greater modesty. But our presentable parts have no need, but God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which locked back to it. Verse 25, That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care, one for another.

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. No, brethren, I learned that lesson very well in a physical sense recently. Most of you know I went out and played a little basketball with the teens this winter. A little fun shooting hoops. And I found out very quickly that I'm not a teen anymore. I found out I'm not even teen-ish. As most of you know, I rolled my ankle into a level 3 sprain, and as a result, I tore ligaments in my ankle and in my foot. And basically that put me down on crutches for six weeks. So during that time, it was somewhat of an eye-opener for me.

A member of my body suffered. It suffered great trauma. And what's interesting is that suffering didn't stay contained to my ankle. Because what happened is, with that injured part of my body, I had to compensate. Whenever I got up out of the chair, I had to use my arm to push myself up. When I was able to stand and balance a little weight on my body, I had to put 80% of my weight on my good side, which then caused the knee on my good side to start to hurt and swell.

My low back on my good side began to hurt. My shoulders started to hurt because I was not able to stay in the chair and I was walking everywhere on crutches. The fact is, there was collateral damage to the other members of my body because of the suffering of my ankle. So I thought very, very clearly, again, in a physical sense, when one member suffers, all the members suffer.

And it's the same truth spiritually within the body of Christ. When there's trauma, when there's injury, when there's physical or spiritual suffering of one of the members in the body of Christ, it affects all of us. Continuing on, verse 26, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Think of baptism. Think of weddings. Think of ordinations, things that occur in the body of Jesus Christ. And when they do, we all rejoice together. Verse 27 says, now you are the body of Christ and members individually.

So, brethren, God has called us. He's placed us together as a body before Him. He's given each and every one of us individually a role to play. And you see, in the fulfillment of that role, it's not all about me. And it's not all about you individually, but it's about the collective function and the strength and the edification of the entire body. So, again, in light of that, I come back to the question I began with this afternoon. And that is, what is your obligation to the body of Christ? Well, today I've come up with four points. It's not an exhaustive list by any means, but again, hopefully it'll get the ball rolling in our mind. But four points of responsibility that Scripture reveals we must put into practice in our relationships with one another in the body of Jesus Christ. So, let's take a look at these four and ask ourselves, how do we measure up? Point number one is you and I have an obligation to the body of Christ to love one another. We have an obligation to the body of Christ to love one another. Now, that may seem like a simple point, but the fact is it's not always practiced. And when love in the body of Christ is not practiced, we have problems. We can probably all look around and think back in the history of the church. We can all remember issues and troubles that have arisen because individuals have not always showed the proper love for one another. Some people can tend to look at love and think about love and dismiss it as a minor point. Brother, I want to encourage us not to make that mistake. God the Father and Jesus Christ are love. They set the example for us of love. Everything that God does is motivated by love. The fact of our very existence was motivated out of the fact that God is love and God desires a family. God very much loves the family relationship. God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins so that we can be reconciled to Him and established in that loving relationship. So love is no small matter to God and in the body of Jesus Christ, it should be no small matter to us as well. Let's look at 1 John 4, beginning in verse 7.

1 John 4, verse 7, it says, He loves. Let us love one another for love of God, and anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. That he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifest towards us that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. And this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent us His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Do you truly want to come to know God in your life? Do you truly want to come to understand His nature and His character, and to understand what He is doing in our life, and why He has established this plan He's begun? We'll come to know those things when we love as He loves. We'll come to know those things when we express that love to one another. You know, essentially, there's many scriptures in the Bible that we could wrap up into the phrase, do unto others as God has done unto you. Love others as God has loved you. Through that, you'll come to know God.

Now, how do we go about expressing this love among the body of Christ? You know, because it's easy to say, love one another, but what does that really entail? I think we need to look at a few specifics. To begin with, love is expressed by doing.

It's expressed by doing. Love's not just a happy thought, but love's an action. It's easy to tell somebody all day long, I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Don't you know I love you. Easy to say that, but do you really show it? Your actions, is your conversation. Do the words we speak with one another show that we truly express love, one for another? Love is expressed through a helping hand when another person is down.

Love is shown through nurture and care. Love is expressed in the way that we support one another, and we strengthen one another, and we lift one another up in service before God.

Godly love requires that we give of ourselves to one another, even to the point of personal sacrifice. That's the example that Jesus Christ set for us. Godly love requires that we give of ourselves completely, fully. Christ poured his life out in service to the body and to this world, and we ought to be willing to pour our life out in service to one another as well.

To love one another requires that we maintain an outward focus.

Again, outward focus is a completely different focus than the focus that our adversary would like us to put our attention on. As we heard from Mr. Oliver in the sermonette, worry is the tool and Satan the devil, and worry is inward focus. It's putting your thought and your attention on self, but love rather is outward focus. It's not all about me. It's not all about my needs, my desires, my wants. You know, Toby Keyes had a song, and the chorus in it goes something like, you know, I want to talk about me. I want to talk about I. I want to talk about number one. You know, it's not all about me. Love's about lifting up others. It's about helping them have a life before God in which they fulfill their potential and their calling. So through love, we strengthen one another, lift one another up before God. Love among the brethren means we're patient and we're humble in our approach. It means that we're steadfast and we're faithful in our relationships, not just in the good times, but when there's struggle, when there's challenge, and when there's trial, love means you'll be there side by side with your fellow brother in the body of Christ, and you'll support and you'll strengthen them as God's given us direction. Romans 13, verse 8. Very interesting passage. It says, oh, no one, anything except to love one another. We live in a world that is indebted to the rest of the world up to its eyeballs. It says, oh, no one, anything except to love one another. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. I say, well, that's interesting. How do you fulfill the law simply by love? Well, you remember that Jesus Christ was asked, what's the greatest commandment in the law? And he basically said, love God, love your fellow man. So when we express that love, we're fulfilling the legal requirements and the spiritual intent of the law. 1 Peter 4, verse 8.

1 Peter 4, verse 8. Breaking into the middle of the thought. And it says, and above all things have fervent love one for another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Have you ever had someone in the church of God sin against you? Have you ever had somebody in the church do you wrong, cause you pain in your life? How do you get over that? How do you reconcile that relationship and fix the breach that has occurred? I can tell you it's not going to happen in any other way except for our willingness to express love one to another. That doesn't do away with the fact that there needs to be repentance. But if you're going to, upon repentance, then go and extend forgiveness to your brother, you know, we can't walk down that path unless we're willing to continue in relationship based on love. Again, God is love. Christ is love. As they have forgiven us, we often forgive one another as well. Final point on love here, 1 John chapter 4, verse 20. 1 John 4, verse 20.

So that someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

Verse 21, in this commandment we have from him that he who loves God must love his brother also.

So love is an obligation that we have not only towards the body of Jesus Christ, but we have it towards God as well. It's an obligation that we have in our relationship with one another and God. And if we can't love each other, how in the world can we love God? 2 John 4, verse 20. Brethren, as fellow members of the body of Jesus Christ, we must continue in love one for another. That is our direct obligation. Point number 2.

Point 2, we have an obligation to the body of Christ to be as spiritually strong of a member as we can possibly be. We have an obligation to be as spiritually strong of a member as we possibly can be.

Ephesians 4, verse 16. Jesus 4, verse 16.

Contact here, speaking of Christ. It says, From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edification of itself in love. As a body, we're bound together in part by what each member supplies one to another, which means we don't all contribute the exact same thing as everyone else does. We're not all left feet. Thankfully, although there is a responsibility to the left foot, even in the body, truth be known, I'm left-footed, which actually made it kind of nice that I sprained my right ankle. But we all have a responsibility to play. We all have an obligation to fulfill. It's not the same. And as part of the body, I need a little something from you, and you, and you, and you, and you. We all need something from each other.

As we grow as the body, and as we develop with each part doing its share, the Scripture says it's according to the effective working of each part. So my question is, how effective are you at what you contribute to the body? If you're an eye, how well do you see?

If you're an ear, how well do you hear? If you're a hand, how strong is your grip?

Well, I would say it largely depends on the quality of your relationship with God. If the body is to function as it should, we each have to make our contribution from the perspective of spiritual strength. We owe one another no less than that.

Every part of the body doing its share well actually reminds me of the game of baseball, and specifically reminds me of a perfect game in baseball. In baseball, no-hitter is a pretty amazing accomplishment in and of itself. In a no-hitter, it means that no one's gotten on base off of a hit.

The pitcher's throwing the pitch. Nobody's hit that ball in order to get themselves on base, but even in a no-hitter, someone can still get on base if the pitcher walks him. If he hits him with a wild pitch or there's been some type of an error committed in the playing of the game, that allows the batter to advance the base. A perfect game in baseball means that no one gets on base in a complete game. It means there's no hit, there's no walks, there's no errors that put the man on base. There's 27 batters up and 27 batters down. There have only been 23 perfect games in the over 100-year history of Major League Baseball, and so it's a pretty incredible accomplishment. And when there is a perfect hitter, generally the primary glory and the praise for that accomplishment generally goes to the pitcher.

But the fact isn't a perfect game. The bat can still make contact with the ball and it can drive it out into the field. And at that point, it's up to the other players to either make the catch or throw the runner out at first. A perfect game is to be accomplished only by the whole team playing its part at peak performance with each part doing its share. And in that contribution, it takes a lot of practice and it takes a lot of effort to reach that level.

President of the body of Jesus Christ, we have an obligation to one another to be on top of our game spiritually. We have an obligation to be strong and to be supported the best that we can to one another. God places us in a body as individual members and yet we're there not just for ourselves, we're there for the purpose of contributing to the benefit of the whole.

In my life and in your life personally, we each need to be ready to contribute the best that we possibly can to the strength, to the cohesion, and to the spiritual workings of the body of Christ. That means we have to regularly exercise our spiritual disciplines. It means we need to pray. We need a Bible study. We need to fast. We need to meditate. We need to be doing those things that build up a strong spiritual life personally within us. Those things are essential for our direct relationship with God. They are also essential for our direct relationship with one another. I need to be ready to contribute the best I possibly can to the workings of this body and so do you.

Now it is true that there will be times where we have spiritual weaknesses.

There will be times of trial. There will be times of struggle. There will be times when members suffer needs or some type of spiritual issue. That's when the strength of the rest of the body compensates to uplift and bear the burden of the injured part until that trial passes.

When I hurt my ankle, I had to rely on the fact that the rest of my body was strong because I needed to support myself and use it to get myself around in spite of my injury.

That doesn't mean there wasn't pain. It doesn't mean there wasn't difficulty in that because, again, when one member suffers, all the members suffer, but should we not, brethren, be as strong as we possibly can be to help uplift and hold and support one another and even fill in the gap, should it become necessary.

Galatians 6, verse 1. The church we need to be prepared to bear the spiritual burdens of one another when the time arises. Galatians 6, verse 1.

It says, brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

We're talking about a situation where someone's become spiritually weakened. They've stumbled. They've fallen into sin. It says here, you who are spiritual restore such a one. You go in and get them. You go in and pull him out of the fire if, in fact, he's willing to come with you. But as it says, it takes someone with spiritual strength to do that.

You know, if you're down at the lake in the summer and somebody is drowning, you don't send somebody who can't swim out to save the drowning victim. You'll end up with two dead people. You send a strong swimmer out there to rescue somebody who's in need of rescuing.

So then we need to keep ourselves in the position of spiritual strength in order to help support and strengthen and lift one another up, even in our times of struggle in the body. Verse 2, again, Galatians chapter 6, it says, Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. So we come back to the fact that these things will be done because we love God and we love one another. So that love that the law of Christ will then be fulfilled.

Spiritual weakness and spiritual injury is dangerous to the body of Christ. It puts the body at risk.

At the Wind River Challenger Program a few years ago, I had the situation which occurred. We went out one day on a hike and it was a beautiful day. It was a crisp, cool morning. The sun was shining. We actually took our day packs, which were a pretty light pack. We went out on a day hike over to an area that we were going to do some rock climbing. As we're heading out, I'm feeling pretty energetic. I'm feeling great. It was a good night. I was well rested. We're heading down this slope of the scree field down to this valley below. Feeling light of foot, I started jumping from rock to rock, from boulder to boulder, being a bit carefree. After a few minutes of that, Mr. Miggleton pulled me aside. I'll always remember what he said.

He said, don't do that. That's not all he said. He said, don't do that. You're putting the team at risk. That always stuck in my mind. I was putting the team at risk because if I slipped, if I fell, if I broke my leg, everyone else would have to stop doing what they were doing and come and carry me out of there at personal risk to themselves. He said, don't do that. You're putting the team at risk. Rather than we all have an obligation to protect the team. We do that by keeping ourselves in a safe place spiritually, which means we don't get spiritually off track. Don't get off on tangents that pull us in one direction or another. Don't get off on tangents that are apart from sound doctrines. Don't leap from thought to thought. Wild idea to wild idea. Don't allow yourself to be blown about by everyone at doctrine. Because if you do, you greatly increase your chances of spiritual injury, not only to yourself, but you also put the body at risk. What we've seen over the years in the Church is that those types of injuries rarely affect just one person. Let's keep ourselves focused on being as strong of a member spiritually as we possibly can for the benefit of the rest of the body.

Point number three. Point three is something we've been touching on all through. The last two points, and yet I think it deserves recognition of its own.

Point number three. We have an obligation to the body of Christ to serve one another.

We have an obligation to the body of Christ to serve one another. And believe me, there's ample opportunity to do so. When you walk the earth, use of Christ set the example for us in all aspects of life. And service was right up there at the top. Serving is the giving of yourself for someone else. And it can come in many forms. You can serve with your time. And you can take the time to go and visit a widow, visit a shoving, somebody who isn't able to make it to services. You can serve with your time. You can serve with your physical muscle. You know, there's people in this congregation that show up whenever somebody's moving. Moving from one end of town to the other. They'll show up, they'll pack them up, they'll upload the truck, and they'll move them. That's service. Sounds like you could serve the checks by coming and splitting firewood at their place. They certainly welcome you. But there are people in this congregation that have needed firewood. And people have jumped in and served in that way as well. We can serve through our work. If you see somebody who's down, and you see somebody who could use a little encouragement, if you have the ability to speak comforting words to them, you're doing them a service by sitting down, talking to them, lifting them up simply by speaking to them, listening to what it is that they have to say, offering encouragement. You can also serve the body of Jesus Christ through prayer for one another. We hear the needs on a weekly basis that are announced. There's health problems, there's financial problems, there's various things that we're aware of amongst one another that go on. We can serve one another in prayer. Everyone in this room has the ability and the obligation to serve in one form or another. Again, Jesus Christ is our example. And He came serving, and in doing so, He set a very powerful example as to how we ought to serve one another. Matthew 20, verse 25.

Matthew 20, verse 25. So that Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and that those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Christ served with His life. He laid His life down for mankind while He was alive, and He laid His life down for mankind in His death as well. So we're to look at His example, we're to learn from His example, and we're to implement those things in our life as well. Matthew chapter 25.

A few pages over. Matthew chapter 25 verse 31.

Since when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you blessed my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. 32. Verse 37, and the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the King will answer and say to them, As surely I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. 33. So when we serve one another, we're actually serving Jesus Christ. We're bringing benefit and health and strength to the body of which He has had. True service requires humility. True service requires an attitude of submission one to another. The true servant of Jesus Christ is not served for recognition. They don't serve for the praise of the glory or the esteem that they might receive from men. They serve for the glory of God and to give glory to what it is that God is doing.

In his service to humanity, Jesus Christ was brought low in the eyes of men. He wasn't lifted up. He didn't elevate himself. Jesus Christ was brought low in the eyes of men. When He was hanging on the stake, beaten, bloody, bruised, dying, it wasn't for personal recognition.

Christ was fit upon when He was slapped, when He was mocked, when He had the hair yanked out of His beard. It wasn't for the glory or the stature of some sort of human accolade that He could receive. It was for the glory of the plan of God. And ultimately, brethren, it was for the glory of you and I as well, as we one day stand before God as the sons of God. So in that likeness, we're not called to serve one another with the motive of being lifted up over our fellow brethren. We're called to serve one another with the desire to help each one fulfill his calling and fulfill his potential before God. We serve to strengthen one another.

Christ's example shows us that we need to have the heart of a servant and not simply be someone that serves. There is a difference because anyone can serve. There's many people that serve all the time and yet don't have a servant's heart. If it goes back to motivation, why are they doing it? Are they looking to seek praise and glory and honor for themselves or are they doing it to lift up others? Serving is an action. Serving is what you do. On the other hand, a servant is what you are. So what you find is that not everyone that serves will be a servant, but everyone that is a servant will be serving.

That's what we owe to one another in the body of Christ. We need to serve one another from the perspective of a servant's heart.

Christ was a servant and you and I must be as well. The Passover service is just over two weeks away. It's right around the corner. One of the main lessons that we take from the Passover is our need to humble ourselves before one another in service. That's the primary focus in many ways of the foot-washing ceremony.

Let's go to John 13. Verse 1. It's the passage that we'll read during the Passover service. Not all of us in this room will be at the Passover service, so let's take a look at it. John 13. Beginning in verse 1.

It says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world of the Father. Having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

In supper being ended, the devil, having already put it into the heart of Judas, the scariest, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel, and girded himself. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with a towel with which he was girded. Verse 6. Then he came to Simon, Peter, and Peter said to him, Are you washing my feet? And Jesus answered and said to him, What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered and said, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. You know, if a little's good, why not all of it? Verse 10. Jesus said to him, He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you. For he knew who would betray him. Therefore, he said, You are not all clean. So when he washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? He said, You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do, as I have done to you. Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.

The act of poet washing in that day wasn't something that the master of a house did. When a servant showed up at the door, the servant would greet them, they'd loosen the sandal strap, and they would wash the dust from their feet. The master didn't get down and do that in such a sense. So here, in what would appear to be a reversal of roles, you have Jesus Christ washing his disciples' feet. Why?

Well, Christ instituted the foot washing ceremony to illustrate that he had come humbly, he had come willingly, serving mankind. And he came not to have dominion over them. Remember, he said he didn't come to be served, but to serve. So here what we have at this Passover and at this foot washing is the creator of the universe, giving down on his knees. He loosened the sandal strap of his disciples' feet, and he washed them. By that foot washing, he set the example of service and humility that we must have for one another as well.

As we wash one another's feet at the Passover service this year, it should remind us that just as Christ came to serve, you and I are called to serve one another as well.

Foot washing attitude is an attitude of submission before one another, an attitude of humility and service. And that foot washing attitude can't last for just the five minutes in which we're in there washing one another's feet. The foot washing attitude has to be an attitude that is with us and among us in the body of Christ all the time. We need to be willing to come before one another in humility and in submission and willing to serve one another in the manner and with the attitude in which Jesus Christ served us. I believe, brethren, if we could maintain the foot washing attitude all the time, there would be fewer problems in the Church of God. There would be fewer trials and struggles. There would be fewer disagreements, fewer contention, fewer problems among individuals if we maintain that foot washing attitude all the time. It is, after all, the example of service that Jesus Christ set for us. In the body of Christ, God gives spiritual gifts as well.

It's not my intent to go into spiritual gifts today except to remind us why they are, in fact, given. Go to 1 Corinthians 12. 1 Corinthians 12, beginning in verse 4, says, Now there are diversities of gifts of the same spirit. There are differences of ministries but the same wards. There are diversities of activities but it's the same God who works all in all. So there's a broad spectrum of gifts that God pours out on His people through His spirit. Not everyone has the same gifts. Not all the gifts are the same, but the purpose for the giving of those gifts is for the service of the body. The purpose of those gifts, no matter what the gift is, is to be used for the same purpose. Verse 7, it says, But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. So God disperses spiritual gifts throughout the body for the benefit of the whole body, which means we must be using our spiritual gifts in service to one another. What I have isn't just for me. What you have isn't just for you. It's for the benefit and the strength and the edification of the body of Christ. It's also there to help fulfill the work that God has given His church to do. Verse 8, it says, For to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gift of healing by the same spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirit, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another interpretation of tongues. Brethren, if you had the gift of interpretation of tongues, or if you had the gift of prophecy, what good would it do to stay at home and talk to yourself?

Well, it wouldn't really be much good, would it? We have some people in the modern-day Church of God seem to think that's okay. They think it's okay to stay at home and be the church of me, or the church of me and my wife. Well, that doesn't work, brethren, because we come together in part to strengthen and uplift and to edify the body through use of our talents and our spiritual gifts that God doesn't give to us. We must come together to do that. Verse 11 says, But one and the same spirit work all these things, disreverting to each one individually, as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. It's one body, it's one spirit, it's one Lord and God, but there are many members working together in service to one another. That is, in fact, how God has established it. Which leads me to my final point for today, point number four, that you and I have an obligation to the body of Christ to fellowship.

And an obligation to the body of Christ to fellowship. Because after all, it's when we come together in fellowship that we build the relationship. It's when we build the bonds and the structure of our relationships together that helps us to function as a unified body.

The Greek word that's translated fellowship, I went back into the Greek lexicon and looked at a number of the descriptive words that are lined out in definition of the Greek word defined fellowship. And basically, this is my personal definition, but basically fellowship means to share what we have in common through a caring and productive relationship. That's what I gathered from the words that were described there. Fellowship means to share what we have in common through a caring and productive relationship. And that's what the Church of God has done from the beginning. Acts 2.

Acts 2, verse 41.

A familiar passage to us. This is in the context and time frame of Pentecost following Jesus Christ's resurrection. Acts 2, verse 41. It says, So here are the people, the Church of God. It shared what they had in common. And the Church was strengthened as a result. You know, I imagine eventually these people that had gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost, eventually they had to go home. They had to return to their homes, to their jobs. But they came together and they shared what they had in common. Brethren, when we come together, we share as well. Maybe a little differently than they did in that day, but we share as well. We share our belief. We share our love of God and His word. When we come together, we share our spiritual gifts, as we've seen again, as our obligation. And when we come together, even as they did there, we even share our food. We fellowship over potluck. We have each other into our homes. We share a meal together. There are many advantages to fellowship that would not be experienced otherwise.

Brethren, when we come together as a body, there are a multitude of counselors. Right here in this room, there's individuals with years and years of experience, of wisdom, and of understanding in how to live this way of life. I guess there is probably individuals in this room that have gone through the various situations and trials that you're going through. I would encourage you to look around. If you see someone that you recognize has been a member in the Church of God that has lived a strong and faithful life and they continue in service before God and they are in that sense a successful Christian, I would encourage you to seek them out. Build your relationship with them. Find out from them what the strength of God has done in their life. Ask them for advice. Ask them for solid spiritual food that will help you through your troubles and your trials and your struggles. I would also encourage you who are spiritual to give solid spiritual advice.

You don't have to be in the ministry. You don't have to have an ordination in order to offer advice one to another in order to encourage one another and lift one another up and support one another through the experiences that you've had in life. God has poured many blessings out on His people and we need not be afraid to share what God has blessed us with with one another.

Through the act of fellowship, we comfort one another. We strengthen one another. We offer encouragement to one another. Through fellowship and the assembly together, such as we've done here today, we come to understand what the needs of the body are. There's nothing inherently wrong with having needs. God designed the body so that we would need one another. That's the way in which we function. The only way really that we can find out what those needs are and how we fill them and how we build the relationships in order to fulfill those needs, the only way that happens is when we come together in fellowship, in conversation. It's when we're fellowshiping at the church. It's when we're eating meals together. It's when we're sitting in the hospital waiting room together. All these things are building and strengthening our relationships. Through fellowship, we learn to forgive one another.

And there's even times when we have to rebuke or correct one another in love. The operative word there is in love. All these things are found within the pages of God's word.

It's what God admonishes us to do. In Hebrews chapter 10, the Apostle Paul speaks strongly to the importance of continuing in fellowship and assembly with God's people. Let's take a look at that. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23. Hebrews 10 verse 23 says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to store up love and good works. When we come together, we need to be thinking about, what is it that I can do to stimulate or provoke somebody else to love and good works? What is it that I can offer that will help strengthen and encourage someone else as well to love and good works? Hopefully everybody else is thinking the same thing. We're all encouraging one another to those attributes. Verse 25 says, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. The apostle Paul is basically saying, let's use our time together well. Use it to strengthen one another, because the time is coming when we, in this room, in this day and age, I do believe the time is coming when we won't have the ability to move about and to assemble as freely and openly as we do today. So I just say, let's use our time well. Let's use our fellowship to the greatest possible advantage. Fellowshipping and assembling on the Sabbath is the commandment of God, but it is also a blessing. Let's use it well. In Proverbs 27 verse 17 says, As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens an accountenance of his friend. So we're in part here together to sharpen one another spiritually. We're here to hone that edge, to strengthen one another, to lift one another up. Final Scripture on this point, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

Revision, that's 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 11. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 11 instructions from the apostle Paul. He says, Therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing. My question is, how can we do that if we don't fellowship together, if we don't assemble together before God? The answer is we can't.

Comfort each other, edify one another just as you also are doing. Verse 14, Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly. Comfort the faint-hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourself and for all.

Brethren, God has called us out of this world in its ways, and He has established us as individual members in a collective body. And as such, we have obligations, we have responsibility, and we have accountability to one another. What we've covered today is by no means a complete listing, I encourage you to do a Bible study. There are so many things that God's word reveals that we must be sharing and doing and living within the body of Jesus Christ. So we've by no means covered all of those, but hopefully what we have looked at today will help us to consider the role that each of us have to play in the spiritual lives of one another.