Different but not Divided (2/12/23)

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And now let's listen in to today's teaching.

I doubt many of you were around to Member many uses Fable of the

body in b.c. 494 during the Roman Empire, the history of

Rome is fraught with a history of battles between what was

known as the petition. The patricians and plebeians the

patricians were the rich benefactors in the plebeians

were the poor of the ones that depended on the patricians, they

were mostly old soldiers. That had gathered The Spoils of

War and over time these patricians Factor into their

wealth, the work of the plebeians in the plebeians were

work for the patricians. And if a patrician wanted to

increase his wealth, he would hire plebeians and plebeians.

If they wanted to increase their wealth, they would be dependent

upon the patricians. In the early days of Rome, the

plebeians were very poor and they wanted to grow their land.

They wanted to kind of rise up into the class but what would

happen is that That during the time of room, Roman law was very

hard on a man who was in debt. If you were in debt, if you

cannot pay back what you were borrowed, your lands might be

seized. You might be thrown into prison.

Sold into slavery with perhaps your wife and children,

sometimes the creditors even would cut them into pieces and

take their share. In history.

One of these debtors was a man who was famous for bravery, and

he was thrown into into jail and he was a centurion.

But what happened was he broke out of his prison.

They would have these prisons around the, The Forum and they

what would happen is you'd have the game's Roman games would be

in the center and you're familiar with the chariot races

and Roman games. But what they would do is they

would house the centurions who were in jail and they would

house these prisoners, you've seen Gladiator right there in

the Jail's below. So they could be brought up and

fed to the Lions or they would fight it out.

Well, one of these men was an old Centurion, he broke out of

his prison and he ran into the forum and he had rags.

And he had changed still hanging to his hands and feet, and he

showed them to his fellow citizens and said, is this how

Rome streets their beloved centurions who gave their life

and the centurions began to realize that the way that they

were treating, this man who had once been at the highest level

of military was now, a poor plebeian seeking seeking, Just a

step up in life and he was held down.

What at the same time, what happened was there was a tribe

that came to war with Rome, and the Romans were called to arms,

and who is it? They call to arms.

But those who are the plebeians they call the poor to Arms to

defend Rome and what began to happen is in 494.

There was this tension between the plebeians in the patricians

and Civil War began to break. Gout and because this one, man,

cried out, this is how you're treating us, there was a man

named menenius, Agrippa, who was sent out to pacify a crowd that

was coming against the Senate to basically start a Civil War and

he told them a fable and he said that once upon a time all the

limbs of a man's body became disgusted with the service that

they had rendered to the belly, the feet, and the legs carried

it about and the hands worked for it and carried food to it,

the math. For it and so on they thought it

was hard The Saul to toil for just the belly and they all

agreed the parts of the body to do nothing for the belly.

They would neither carry it about clothes nor feet it.

But soon all the parts of the body found themselves growing

weak and starved and were obliged to own that all would

perish together unless they went on waiting on this seemingly

useless belly. So Agrippa told them that all

the ranks and States depended on one another and unless they all

work together Rome would die. Now, I don't know if Paul had

that Fable in his heart and mind as he's writing to the

Corinthians, no doubt. The Corinthians would have known

this Fable because Corinth was, you know, Rome part to Corinth

was a place where Roman citizenship was held in very

high esteem. They, they considered themselves

Romans of all Romans. And so when Paul uses this

illustration of the this body illustration, the Corinthians.

No. Doubt are thinking about the

history of Rome in the importance of being united

together as one. And so Paul uses this metaphor

that is a simple metaphor to identify the fact that we as the

body of Christ are bound together by something that is

ears Inseparable. It is it is a bond that glues us

together that is tighter than anything else much like our

body. The body is the body of Christ.

The Gospel is the glue that holds us together and it is a

fuel for our service, not only for God, but for one another, we

are different. We've seen that, we are

different, but we are not divided, we cannot be divided.

And so this morning, what I want to point us to is as we wrap up

chapter 12, the gospel. I need you to understand is the

foundation for which and the fuel for which we have not only

a desire to be other centered. But also the ability to be those

things that God has called us to be the gospel.

So, as we look through this text, I want to point us to you

3 things 1, in order for us to be others, centered, the macro

level of this attacks is that Paul has said, be open to the

spirit and the first few verses of this chapter, he's saying,

here's what the spirit does. Now, we're in the section, where

he's saying now, we need to be others Centered for the common,

good. And just as we are one body, we

need. To be others centered and then

he'll say we do this. Because in the next chapter, who

is say, because love is the main objective.

And then after we learn that, love is the objective.

How do we order ourselves and worship?

Which would be chapter 14, but this morning, we need to know

that one, we need to know the gospel.

We need to apply the gospel and we need to rest in the gospel.

Using this body image as a metaphor, look at verse 12, with

me for just as one body, just as the body is one, and has many

parts and all the parts of that body.

You do many are one body. So also he says, is Christ

notice. He doesn't say that he doesn't

say, he doesn't say that we are the church.

He says, we are Christ. But when we see there that just

as a body is one and he'll get into the illustration, he'll

unpack that for us. And in a moment he alludes to

the idea that the body is Christ and Christ is the body and the

body of Christ is the church, which is us.

We are the body of Christ. But the question is, how were we

made to be one with Christ? He says that we were baptized

into him. By the spirit.

Look at verse 13. This is one knowing the gospel

verse 13. To know the gospel.

This is what the gospel is for. We were all baptized by one

Spirit into one body, your translation might say by one

Spirit, but I would argue that, I think that is the wrong

translation in the Greek. It Like this, it looks like it,

says, in one Spirit, we all in the body are baptized.

We all are in the spirit. We are not baptized by the

spirit. The spirit does not operate on

his own, Jesus Christ, who sends the spirit because he sits on

the throne, sends the spirit and baptizes us in the spirit.

And so, in that translation, I understand why they say by one

Spirit, you might be like, hey, the spirit comes and baptizes

us, but the gospel is such that We were baptized in the spirit.

When we what, when does the spirit indwells us indwells us?

When we trust Christ, the moment we trust Christ, we are baptized

with the spirit. In other words, we are submerged

into and we are, let me use a fancy word ensconce tin.

You like that, just came up with that.

We rinse constant, the spirit. We are baptized in here.

The Greek construction of the sentence makes it very clear

that we were baptized in the spirit.

Diet and this baptism represents Jesus baptism in which he is

fully affirmed by the father. When we see a baptism service,

we in the name of the father and of the son and spirit, we

submerged the believer and he raises or she raises up out of

the water and they're completely soaking wet.

And it is the picture of the fact that there is no part of

us. That is not covered by the

spirit of God. Some might teach that there is a

second baptism that once we trust Christ we necessarily need

a baptism a second baptism of the holy spirit that there is a

gifting that is manifested to us.

That is secondary to the primary baptism of the holy spirit.

This is not what this text is saying at all.

And notice that the text says that it is whether Jews or

Greeks, or slaves or free, it does not Matter who you are or

where you came and your economic status, does not matter.

We are one in Christ. We were all given one Spirit to

drink that, that word there is what we use as imbibe, we imbibe

or take in, we drink the spirit. That's just an image of say.

It is in us. It's now part of us when we

drink something, it absorbs into our body and nourishes, us, and

refreshes us. That's what it is.

To have the spirit, there's nothing better than a hot.

Warm, tepid drink on a hot summer day, right?

No, the spirit is like a cool refreshing drink on a hot.

Humid Philly, summer day, when we drink it, we can feel it.

Coursing through our veins. It cools our body.

It refreshes us, we know that it is inside and it is that is the,

the picture here that Paul is painting for us.

Moving on, Paul uses a universal, very simple metaphor

that all of us can understand which shows us how a, so, if the

gospel, is the good news that Christ has baptized us into

himself that the spirit is in us that we are as Paul says sealed

and guaranteed to be connected with Christ.

And how do we apply this gospel? This gospel again, the

Corinthians were struggling with figuring out how they acted as,

as filled with the spirit Believers.

How were they applying the The gospel.

What the gospel is, the good news of the grace of Jesus

Christ. So in verse 18, we see that the

application of the Gospel is that we are arranged in the

parts of the body just as God wanted.

But the body is the picture. Look with me at verse 14 for

second indeed. The body is not one part but

many. And then he goes on to talk

about the foot saying, because I'm not a hand, I don't belong

to the body and that it is not for that reason to any less.

Out of the body. And then he goes on to give the

illustration of the ear and the eye.

I don't think we need to belabor this point.

We understand this, we are necessarily Inseparable and we

are different, but we are not meant to be divided in the

Corinthian Church. Some were saying, I guess I'm

not needed. They were, we talked about this

to be truly spiritual, they're like, oh, I guess I'm not needed

here and some other people were like, yeah, that's kind of

right? You're not.

I mean, could you imagine being part of a church?

But like, man, I don't really feel like I belong here is like,

Well, that's because you don't, you should find somewhere else.

Like, I don't think if Andrew said that at the connection

table, anyone would come back. Like, man, I really feel out of

place. Here is like, well, you kind of

not dressed, right? So there's some Churches down

the road and you could go to How strange would a giant eyeball be

walking around, right? Like it's just like, you know,

it's and I'm not talking about Monsters Inc.

Like we just know that, you know, one eyeball walking around

would look really odd. It's a humorous to think about

to take in the mixed metaphor to his extremes.

It's an overemphasis on one thing.

But also an under emphasis to is just as humorous.

We, we think about the body and import the importance of our

body are, the body, does not just Wash out or drop off

appendages or organs that seem to serve no purpose.

Like if you don't use your arm for a while which is never, but

if you didn't use your arm forward and also they just like

fell off. It's like what in the world,

what just happened? It's like, well, we weren't

using it, so we just dropped my arm.

Well, I might want that arm someday.

It's similar to a splinter. When splinters when things get

into our body, it pushes it out. You get a splinter and you don't

notice it for a while but then it gets hurt and then you look

and you see it's it's filled with pus and is starting to

bulge out and then you can easily squeeze it out.

I'm sorry if I disgust you but you know what I'm talking about,

right? It needs to come out or when we

have external organs that are introduced into our body for a

transplant, we have to go through a process where we get

through there. Rejection of the body.

And there's medicines to, to deal with that.

God has designed the body to protect itself to keep itself

together. And each person belongs to the

body, we don't just push out things because they're not

noticeable or we think that they're very important.

Yes, the spleen. No one knows what it does, but

let's keep it in there. Let's keep that spleen in there.

If everyone Paul says, did the same thing or if we expected

only one person to do all things in to do them?

Well, how ridiculous would that be?

That's the image there. It's like, can we expect one

person to do everything and do it well and just let them do all

the work mom's. Sometimes you probably feel that

way, right? I'm seeing some heads, shake

some amen. Dad's too, I want to be fair.

Do we find fault in some people for not being able to do all the

things? that we think that they should

do simply because they haven't been gifted, or even able or

called by God to do How ridiculous is that?

We don't expect a 120-pound puny little Kansas City, chief kicker

of the football team. To tackle our monstrous 6-foot

247 pounds running back, who's going to run them over this

afternoon? No, we don't expect that.

Just as we don't expect those things.

So also, so also we should not expect people that say I don't

belong to the body, they have a part to play.

Notice in verse 18 who has arranged these things.

God, God has arranged each one of the parts to be what it says.

Just as he wanted. There's a place and this is an

important foundation for us because it is assumed by Paul

who assumes that his readers believe in no.

The same thing that all things have been ordered by God.

In this should put us at rest that when we look and see the

order of the church that God has arranged things.

The way that he wants them to be arranged and we can rest knowing

that in his wisdom and in his kindness, he's ordered things to

be. So there's purpose, there's

intention. And there's intention in the

order of creation as well. There's intention and physics

when we find out about math, when we find out about human

reproduction, or sexuality or gender.

God is the Creator and he is the designer of every single system

in function in the creation. And there's good purpose to it,

and when we think that there's not a purpose to it, or there's

not goodness in it just because we don't understand.

Just like other people who we feel, don't offer a contribute

just because we don't see them in public spaces.

As much does not mean that they're invaluable or they're

not intentionally placed. Some of you have seen Rube

Goldberg Illustrations. This is Rube Goldberg, there's a

you remember. See these?

These are these are funny machines that are put together.

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist sculptor.

He was an author and engineer and he is best known for these.

These are his popular cartoons where he depicted these

complicated gadgets, performing performing simple tasks.

In indirect convoluted ways they just like he got from point A to

point G by doing all this stuff and he was he was trying to put

a point that there are just ways to get two different.

Current ways to get from point A to point G their butt.

When I was a senior in college, I gave a Communications speech

on Rube Goldberg and his connection to irreducible

complexity and Darwin's theory of evolution and how Darwin's

theory was was false. You're in your senior in

college. You do stupid stuff right you

know just it was a communications class it was like

I'm going to spend 15 minutes wowing these people and Michael

Bay. He has a theory of irreducible

complexity which argues this that if you take one thing out

of a machine it cannot be what it is intended to be.

Take one thing out of something that is intended to design,

something or build something, no matter how insignificant it

means. If you take a spring out of that

machine there it will no longer work.

All of us need each other, to be fully functional.

This is Paul's argument. Some of us are not as public as

others, and that's okay. And for the very reason that God

has other designs, some of us are not very public because we

have other roles to play, and there are things that are built

that you cannot take out something without doing,

irreparable damage to it. And firsthand both my wife.

And I understand how just things are when even just the smallest.

Little protein is removed from the building blocks of Creation

in the womb that how the direction of a person can be set

in a totally different trajectory than the rest one

simple protein, missing from the DNA of a particular formation of

cells and building of systems in the body, how it can make things

different than other bodies. And in the same way, that is how

God has designed the church. That if you ever feel that you

are not needed that, you are not part of the vital life of the

church, then Paul in the scriptures and got himself wants

you to say no just because you're not an eye, does not

belong mean that you are unimportant just because you

don't play this particular role. Look at verse 22 on the

contrary. He says on the contrary, those

parts of the body that are weaker, he's going to compare

like now that we're, we've nailed it down that.

You can't just say that I don't belong or that, I'm not

important that I don't need you because there are people saying,

we don't need you and I'm not belong to you.

How do we, how does the gospel? Mend that division Well, the

gospel applies to those who in the parts of the body that they

are weaker. There are weaker.

People in the church. What does that mean?

The the weakness of those who feel like they're not as public,

or they're not as given as gifts or they have just not the same

abilities that they are equally as indispensable as the person

that is gifted, seemingly gifted naturally and spiritually gifted

with gifts that are front and center.

Verse 23, and those parts of the body that we consider less

honorable and what that word there means, it's a less

aesthetically pleasing. No one in here has any less

aesthetically pleasing Parts. You are all beautiful people but

what we do is we do dress those parts that are in need of kind

of aesthetic. You would you dress nicely

because you want to look nice. You don't want to wear some of

you. Some of you are okay with

wearing, you know, whatever. But Some of us like to dress and

look nice when we present ourselves publicly.

And what we do is we have parts that we want to accentuate and

then he says we closed the these with greater honor now.

So this is then he then he says our unrespectable parts.

Okay, so that work there the on the there's the aesthetically

pleasing that's like we put on nice clothes you saying but then

our unrespectable parts friends, those are our private parts.

That word there is for the private parts, the on the Wii.

Don't just walk around naked, right?

Like just be blunt. This is kind of an image that

he's saying here is like, we don't do that and when someone

does that you're like, dude. Come on, cover that up.

Now, I'm not sure how many people you run into that.

I just, I just gave an illustration where it's like,

sounds like, you're walking down the street, you're like, dude,

cover that up as if that's often if it wasn't often that you'd

better make gave keep this keep going.

Are respectable Parts, don't need it.

So in other words, there's a reason why most of our body is

covered up in my face, is not my hands are not like we see this

over-representation in Islam. The hijab for Muslims.

In fact, in the most strictest parts of Islam, you see that the

women are fully covered except for what they can see through

their isolates. Because in the Quran, they teach

that the woman's presentable Parts.

There is a disrespect, if any part of the body, Body is shown

so that another man might not luster or the danger of doing is

so it's so ridiculously over, emphasizing the fact that if you

do this women, if you show, just a part of your skin, you're

going to cause a sin, another man, and you're guilty of death.

If that happens, talk about a ridiculous over emphasis on

trying to be legalistic in terms of how we attain the love of God

for them. It's a la.

There we who It does not exist. But the fact of the matter is,

as we cover parts, we cover less honorable Parts on respectable

parts. And there are things that need

to be covered in things that don't need to be covered.

And in verse 24, he says God has put the body together giving

greater honor to the less honorable and so now, Paul is

shifting from the body metaphor, the literal physical body to the

body of Christ. God has put the body of Christ

together giving greater honor to the less honorable.

So that what there would be no. Division.

That the gospel of God, the good news of God that that we are all

one in Christ leads us to a place where as the body of

Christ as the church we don't we don't push down those who are

less gifted or less important because there is no one who is

less important. But instead we do the opposite,

we raise them up. We give more honor.

God says give more honor to the less honorable so that you are

not divided. And look that the members would

have what the same concern for each other.

That word there is anxiety. It's the word where we get.

We're anxious for one another that we are.

So desirous of one another to be lifted up to be honored that

it's it makes us anxious. It's an internal sense of man.

Are you are, do you know that we love you?

That if there's a sense that someone feels that they have no

place in this, this family of God or that there's no part for

them to serve that we would be anxious about that and said, no

no. You we do not want you to feel

that way once you to understand how though you might not be up

front and center all the time and though you're gifting in

your service might not be seen. You are vitally important to the

life of this body which has implications as to church

membership. Which we'll talk a little bit in

just a moment but if we if we never see someone and don't miss

them, that we are not anxious for them.

I just saw will send it to her down the hall and sometimes it,

you know, families have like schedules and someone sick and

sometimes I if I don't see someone, it'll be like a month.

I saw. Almost like you're alive.

It's like hello. And he did not die.

He did not disappear. I just didn't see.

I didn't see him and I was anxious.

And just the same way that we're anxious for our friends were

always anxious for people that we love and we want to see.

We want to know that they're loved.

Weaker Parts less, honorable parts unrespectable parts.

Are vital to life of the church. This word weaker is it means

suffering from debilitating illness.

It's it's a sickness when we're sick were completely useless.

There's some of us try to be useful because we just can't

stay in bed. We get up out of bed.

We think that we can do something, but at the end of the

day, if we're sick enough, we just lay in bed and we let it

take its course. This is the sense here that

there is a sense. We're like, man, there is

nothing necessarily on the service.

That a particular person might be able to add to the body yet.

Even in that most extreme sense, there's absolutely no doubt that

they are indispensable to life of the church.

Do you see how this is counter? To the way that the world thinks

we just discard. I mean, let's just be brutally

honest. The reason why we have so many

aborted children in this world is because it is a strain to the

desire or the if it throws a wrench in the plans of just

comfort for Some and they just decide it's more convenient for

me to get rid of this child than it is for me to take this as a

blessing. I mean, hands down, that's the

argument. It is an economic decision for

many, not for all. But for many It's convenience.

It adds no value to the life but even at that extreme what value

does a child have? Who we wipe the?

I mean just we wipe stuff that's that shit.

It's just unnatural stuff that comes out of a newborn baby.

It's not convenient at all. There's sleepless nights but we

don't discard we bring in, We Love, We Care, we serve for the

elderly at the other end. There are there are elderly that

are they, they don't, they don't add anything.

NG to the economic value of society.

In there in bed, I was visiting with Norma Sandler this week and

I see her. She was an elderly woman who is

still alive and she's at the nursing home the Riders visit

with her, and she's there with three other women in her room.

And, and they are just laying in bed, and they're chatting it up.

And, but there are some that are incapacitated mentally and they

add no economic value to. But are they worthy and value of

light and life? Do we do?

We serve them. Do we love them?

Are they indispensable to the body of Christ?

Absolutely. When we get an attitude, when

things are just easily discarded, because they're not

convenient to us, or they don't seem to add value that is when

the gospel is not at work in our hearts.

What has God done? Look at verse 24, the end he

says God has put the body together.

He has harmonized that word, there is a harmonious mixing,

it's a blending of colors. The more that we honor one

another, the more that we give Grace to one another, the more

that we respect one another, the more that we love one another as

were being worked on and shaped and formed by the spirit.

What happens is the beauty that is intended to be displayed

comes out. We are being mixed together to

be something incredibly beautiful.

The beauti already exists their friends.

It's not that you're becoming beautiful.

In God's eyes, you are beautiful.

We are beautiful before God. He's not making us more

beautiful. He's helping the world.

See the beauty of his son in hid, the body of Christ.

What do we look like? Who are we to look like?

Well, that's what it is. Is the Christ.

Look at verse 27, we are to look like now you are the body of

Christ in individual memory. Now is a, is it now that

definitive statement is like, now, now that I've given this

illustration, right, Now that I've started for just as 1 by

verse 12, the body has many parts, all the parts of that

body are one so also is Christ. He ends this section by saying

now Corinthian Church. You are the body of Christ your

Christ. Let that sink in for a second.

Those of us sitting in this room who are filled with the spelt.

We are the body, the physical body of Christ here on this

Earth. Doing the things that Christ

would have us do. And if Christ is present with us

in the body, then therefore, how must we act towards one?

Another Love each other. As Christ has loved us.

Right. So how has Christ loved us

husband's seasons 5 of husbands. Love your wives as Christ.

Loved the church and gave what gave himself up for her.

So, all of us are to give ourselves up for one another in

time and energy. We're not all going to be best

friends right away, but we are family.

And the beauty that comes with the long term of being together

as the body of Christ is what the world sees over time.

It's a long haul, it's not instant, it's a long haul.

How do we treat one another? How do we respond to world

events? How do we engage in the world?

How do we deal with conflict? How do we?

There are people visiting here this morning that if you are

just checking us out for the first time and you want to see

what is it look like to be in the life of a local church?

If you're going to see things that are, you know, basically

like things that are just hard to see is like that people have

conflict here but how we deal with that conflict.

How do we love one? Another, how do we treat the

elderly? How do we treat children?

How do we view sexuality? How do we view all of these

things while we view them like Christ to vitamin and as the the

world sees us as Christ, they see the love of Christ in the

beauty of Christ. So we need to know what the

gospel is, that we are baptized into Christ.

We need to apply the gospel, which binds us together.

And finally this is a simple point.

We need to rest in the gospel. Verse 28, God has appointed

these in the church. Paul will go on and he lists, he

says, God has appointed these offices in the church.

First apostles, he speaking to the Corinthians second prophets,

third teachers next, any list, the things the Miracles Gifts of

healing helping leading various kinds of tongues, notice he's

shifted in his thought. The first part he's listing at

these gifts. Remember the whole argument is

that guy's your overemphasizing? These gifts.

Let me, let me point you to the reality of those spiritual

gifts, everyone has the spirit of God.

There's different gifts are going to manifest themselves for

the common good. And by the way, just because

someone has this gift in, someone does not have this gift.

Doesn't mean that they're Inseparable that are separable.

It doesn't mean that just invaluable that we're all

together in this just like the body.

So now that, you know, that you're the body of Christ, and

here's how you need to work out, he's going to circle back.

He says, now listen God has appointed Apostles ones who are

sent by Christ to bring the message of Christ that they were

sent specifically by Christ and they're establishing the gospel.

Then there are profits that were revealing God's word to the

church to establish the gospel then there was teachers teachers

who were valuable to the church because at that time they didn't

have Bibles. They were expensive parchments

that they had to spend money on and so they taught the church as

they were being established. Here's where Christ is in the

Old Testament. Here's what the gospel means.

Jesus is using these offices to build the church, and he's also

giving gifts there's people being healed.

There's, there's people that can help those people that can lead.

There's various kinds of tongues, which we'll get to in

chapter 14, but Church God's at work.

God has appointed. God has put together.

God has arranged God has gifted. You see the pattern there?

God's, the one that has established this.

If we Buck against the system, we're bucking against what God

has designed and it's exciting. The building of the church which

is the metaphor that Paul uses in Ephesians.

It's still being built but it's also like a body maturing.

We're maturing we need time. God is building us.

He's maturing us. He's using the gifts of the

Spirit to mature us And then in verse 20 29 he kind of drives

the point home of which he asked questions which the rhetorical

answer is what so are all Prophets.

Is everybody a profit is everybody?

An arm is everybody? And I are all prophets are all

teachers. I'm just trying to stop it.

You can say it loud and say it proud with me.

Friends, here we go. Do all, do miracles.

Do all, do gifts of healing. Do all speak in tongues.

Do all interpret. No, no, no, no, no, no,

basically, okay, Paul get to your point like fine.

Fine. No, we are not all the same.

We're not called to be the same. We don't all have the same

gifts. Okay?

Yes, we are one body but then he will he will transition and say

desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a better way

of how to do that, and we'll get into what he points out to be

the greater gifts, and how to do that in.

Love the love chapter, chapter 13, is how he basically puts

Christ before them and says this is love, this is what love is.

It's the it's the main objective of why we're together.

It's love God is love the church.

Is meant to manifest the love of Christ towards one.

Another how we act towards one another how we exercise our

gifts matters, this is The better way do this all in love

understanding that we are one body that we don't all have

these things. And the reason why I say that we

need to rest in the gospels, because listen to this, we can

rest knowing that none of us are being asked to carry the entire

load ourselves. The gospel tells us.

That we know who we are in Christ, because God has made us

that way. We are being used by God because

he has arranged that way, you are friends, who you are because

that has how God designed you to be.

You do not need to be anybody else.

That's that's not to say that we can't Aspire.

Paul says desire greater things, desire and figure out what it is

that God is going to use you. But in the end of the day, God

has a long way of doing things. He accomplishes things he and no

point in the road. Do we ever hear him say, you

know what you're pretty, you're not as valuable to me back then,

but now you are now that you're up on stage now that you're

doing this now that you've accomplished this.

Now, you're valuable to me. No no.

When you were Stuck in your sins.

When you were struggling or are struggling with something that,

you know, is not pleasing to God, your value, to him does not

change. Because when he sees us, he sees

Christ his son. The gospel God's grace to us is

good news. Here's if you're if you're

visiting with us this morning, I want to clarify the gospel for

you and I want you to this to stick in your head.

The gospel is good news because the one to whom we are all

compared. To listen, the one whom we are

all compared to Jesus. The son of God, who is perfect.

That's who were compared to Who is entirely good in every way.

The one who we are compared to tells us that the father loves

us. And that we are his.

And that Christ is enough for us.

And that God has said when I see you when you trust in my son, I

see my son in you. Rest knowing that my son is

sufficient for you. All you need is my son.

You need not compare yourself to anybody else.

The righteousness of Christ. That's good news, isn't it?

That's pretty good news. That's pretty good news.

The sermon you've just listened to is a presentation of Church

Newtown Square to find out more about our church.

Check out Church NS Q dot org that c HV R CH n SQ, dot-org you

are welcome to copy and distribute the sermon to others.

As long as you do not, do it for commercial purposes or alter

transform or build upon this talk in any way.

That's pretty good news. The sermon you've just listened

to is a presentation of Church Newtown Square to find out more

about our church. Check out Church NS Q dot org

that c HV R CH n SQ, dot-org you are welcome to copy and

distribute the sermon to others. As long as you do not, do it for

commercial purposes or alter transform or build upon this

talk in any way.