Prologue

For the last two Sundays ending on June 8, and last two Wednesdays ending June 11, I was amazed to find out the messages on the pulpit are interrelated. The two Sundays dealt with the Tale of Two Churches – Laodicea and Smyrna, and the two Wednesdays are about Jesus knows all men and Jesus answers us. I believed the speakers did not discuss with each other the topics they shared to the congregation during those four days. I feel strongly that the speakers are guided by a Superpower we call the Holy Spirit to deliver their messages. And I am convinced personally that something will happen in this church that each of us has to watch for.

Last May 11, I spoke about mothers because it was Mothers’ day, exhorting all mothers for their tireless job and dedication to their families especially to their children. Again, I was requested by the Board of Elders to speak on June 8, but for strange reason, was moved to June 15, today – Fathers’ day. Perhaps the reason is, it is a silent and implied suggestion to me to speak about fathers.

I searched my old files about fathers but I did not find any at all. Instead, I found a message entitled “How Important Are You in Our Local Church.” From the time I found this file, I have been musing whether to deal on this topic instead of about fathers. I finally chose to share the message about this topic, setting aside exhortations for fathers. I thought I have to hit while the iron is hot, so to speak, and discuss matters of importance in our very own church -The Maples Evangelical Church, as a sort of sequel to the last Sundays’ messages. So, my apologies to all fathers for not commending you by way of message your contributions to your families and children. Being a father myself, I know firsthand that we, fathers, are the symbol of leadership, provider, protection, and discipline in our families. I salute all of you for remaining strong and steadfast in serving your families and especially the Lord!

I could have entitled my message as “A Tale of Another Church – Inkster – Part 3.” But because I might infringe copyrights and be accused of plagiarism, I entitled it to The Local Body of Christ.

The Church

The church is defined in the Bible as the community of believers who confess that Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. According to Matthew 18:20, the church is not a building structure but where believers in Christ meet together: ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” It could be anywhere, for as long as there are at least two believers are present communing and glorifying God.

The word “church” originated from the Greek word “ecclesia” which means an assembly of people.

In the context of the local body of Christ, who are we at The Maples Evangelical Church? In a scale of 1-10, with the higher number being the better, how do we rate our importance in this church? Is our presence relevant to this local body of Christ? Are we leaders, ordinary attendees, or someone else?

Together, let us read 1 Corinthian 12:4-14 and personally examine ourselves in the light of these verses:

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c]one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

I   Our Initial Value

The moment we genuinely accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord, we were born-again and received the assurance of eternal salvation. As human beings, our life has appreciated greatly in value before God’s presence because we became children of God who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. By the grace of God, we were simultaneously bestowed by the Holy Spirit spiritual gifts, the supernatural powers that enable us to get together and work harmoniously with one another for our common good and welfare.

Spiritual Gifts

Verses 8-10 enumerate the nine (9) spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit bestows:  ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

These gifts are given with one purpose: to edify the local body of Christ for the glory of God.

What does edify mean then? Edify means to instruct or improve someone morally, spiritually, or intellectually; to build up. This can be accomplished by believers by working with one another co-operatively in doing God’s mission and work in this chaotic world. It also means giving sincere and honest compliments instead of destructive criticisms to our brothers and sisters in Christ when they do commendable things. (Trivia humor: edify means to instruct or improve Edi. Edi who? Edi ikaw at ako). (If you extend your left hand to the left side and your right hand to the right side, what do you call this act? – Edify).

I would like to share with you a true story about the how “to edify or to build up” works. There was a man, single, in his late twenties, was ready to settle in the complicated married life. He is a Christian and was praying to God that he finds a Christian partner. He visited several churches hoping he would find prospects, but to no avail.

One family sad event, the death of the grandmother of the man, his whole clan gathered together to pay last respect to the dead. One of his first cousins who is married to a pastor, inquired if he had a girlfriend already. To which he answered her, he had not at the moment and he was then still available. His cousin invited him to pay a visit to her church and said she knew someone, a Christian lady to be introduced to him. His cousin mentioned to him all the positive descriptions and characters of the young lady. Reluctantly, he agreed and set a definite date for the visit.

Unbeknownst to him, before the set date, his cousin had built up him to the lady too, telling her that her cousin is someone who is a professional and working in a well-known multinational company.

To cut the long story short, the man and the young lady met at the set date and became friends thereafter. Two years later after their meeting, they were married. The couple was blessed with two wonderful children, now both professionals and serving the Lord.

One thing is noteworthy in the story – although building up someone to another works, it is the power of sincere and genuine prayer seeking the Lord’s will that initiates the building up or edifying.

Whole Numbers and Fractions

In solving arithmetic addition problem, we commonly encounter the terms whole numbers and fractions. It is quite easy to add whole numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4. Just add the numbers straight forward and we get the sum of 10. However, to add fractions (also called part of a whole), it’s a little bit complicated. We have to identify first the numerators and the denominators. Once we have known them, the next thing to do is find the least common denominator (LCD) divisible by the denominator of each fraction, that will give a whole number. Then multiply the whole number (quotient) by the numerator of each fraction to get a new amplified numerator. Because there is a common denominator already, the sum of the numerators can now be added and placed over the LCD, giving a new amplified fraction that can be reduced to lowest term, if need be.

Example: Add ½, ¼, and 1/4.

LCD is equal to 4 because 4 is divisible by 2 and 4 denominators that will give whole numbers. For ½, 4/2=2; for ¼, 4/4=1; for 4/4 =1. The new amplified fraction is now 4/4 (after adding all the numerators and using the LCD as the denominator), the correct sum of the fractions. Reduced to lowest term, is equal to 1.

You may ask why I used the LCD illustration above relative to the spiritual gifts. In the above sample problem, the objective is to find the sum of three fractions. To accomplish that, we need to identify first the “common good” for each fraction. And that is the LCD of 4. After that process, the objective sum can be arrived at following the above-mentioned succeeding steps.

Since spiritual gifts are bestowed by the Holy Spirit to edify or build up the local body of Christ, each gift is a portion of a whole and needed to be incorporated to other gifts to avail the “common good” (edify) principle similar to the LCD phenomenon to achieve the desired favorable results. Effectively, the “common good” binds all the gifts for the glory of God. Before God’s eyes, all gifts stand in equal footing, that is, not one is treated highly or poorly.

The Human Body Metaphor

In the context of the body of Christ, Apostle Paul described the human body to illustrate diversity and unity within the church in verses 12-14: ¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

These three verses clearly state that the human body is composed of different parts, each of which is working interdependently with each other to maintain the good health of the body. Each part is strategically placed and designed to maximize its effectiveness in the body.

Have you wondered why the four senses (sight, hearing, smell, and taste) are all located in the head? Why is it that the fifth sense (touch) is present all over the body? Why do eyes produce tears, ears store earwax, inside the nose has hairs? Why do we have two hands, two feet, the left and the right? Why ten fingers and ten toes?

There are logical and physiological reasons to support the answers to the above questions. But whatever they are, they are summarized as reasons for the protection and well-being of the functioning body. Note that when the tip of a finger is accidentally poked by a needle causing a hole on tiny vein and it bled, not only the affected finger, but also our whole body would feel the pain. However, other parts of the body particularly the blood platelets and plasma would quickly respond and repair the broken tissue by clotting the damaged vein, minimizing the loss of blood, thereby protecting the body.

Similarly, the body of Christ, the church, is composed of genuine believers performing diverse functions, depending on the spiritual gifts by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit bestowed on us. Not everyone is an apostle, nor a prophet. Neither everyone is a teacher, miracle worker, healer nor a helper, giving guidance, speaking in tongues, or interpreter of tongues. But each one of us, at least has one spiritual gift the Holy Spirit gifted us. Be it one or more than one spiritual gift/gifts given us by God, we must use it/them to build up and protect the church so that His name will be glorified in our lives.

II  Our Present Value

At TMEC, have we tried to assess our current spiritual standing before God in edifying or building up our church? Have we fruitfully utilized the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit bestowed on us for His glory? Did we prioritize God’s affairs ahead of our personal affairs? Are we following what Matthew 6:33 says “³³ Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”?

In the realty business, real property values are very important. Real property sellers and buyers haggle with these figures to gain financial advantage. Sellers consistently try to raise property values high as possible to maximize profits, while buyers always bargain for lower values as possible to save some money to cover other expenditures.

In the spiritual realm of the local body of Christ, believers are the agents of the seller of the Gospel of Christ, the most valuable real property ever known to humankind. It is priceless and cannot be bought using the world’s monetary standards. It does not fluctuate in value inherent in stock market nor affected by the law of supply and demand. It is heavenly and everlasting property prepared by the God Almighty as written in John 14:2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

As agents of God’s property, are we in the local body of Christ willing to offer the priceless value of Christ’s Gospel at a discounted worldly price tainted with divisiveness, compromise, and complacency in serving Him? Are we prepared to embrace the faithful character of the church of Smyrna and shy away from the lukewarm trait of the church of Laodicea?

It is my prayer that we activate our spiritual gifts, if they are still dormant, and put them together for God’s glory, and let us strive to continue to hold on to be true, honest, and sincere in serving our Lord Jesus Christ until we meet Him face to face.

May God bless us all!

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