The Assembly: Committed Congregation - Service (Part 1)

Just these two questions were asked and they kind of relate one to another. So, is it correct to say gospel hall assemblies? Would it not be better to say assemblies that follow New Testament principles? So, yes, that would be the, to refer to the New Testament in terms of a New Testament assembly. I think what was at least trying to be said this morning was the fact of practices that are done within association of these buildings.

The building does have a certain representation in a community and the people who meet there are known by where they meet and who they are. And so it would be scriptural to say New Testament assemblies. Yes, that is the way, that is a more proper way of saying it.

I remember once a person was preaching at a conference and he said, he says, you know, he says, the church down the street, he said, not everything that the church down the street does is wrong. He said, we can learn a few things from the church down the street. And I was like, okay.

And then he said, and you know, he says, you can learn a lot, he said from the gospel hall too. And I'm thinking, why is he saying it that way? So maybe what this question is asking is, the best way to say is don't refer anybody to any certain place, refer them to the New Testament, refer them to the scriptures. That is where we are told what to do, how to do it and who to do it for.

And so that would be the best answer for that. Is it proper to refer to assemblies as a gospel hall or is the gospel hall only the building in which an assembly meets? And so are we not distinct from denomination? So it seems like both of these questions were asked by a person who kind of knows the answer already and the gospel hall is a designation to differentiate correctly the building from the people that meet there. And in fact, when, if you were to put on it such and such church, that would be incorrect because the building is not the church, number one.

And when everybody goes home, the church is home, okay? In their homes. And so you remember that in the book of Acts, we read that certain things were told to the ears of the church and so on. So the building didn't have ears on it with eardrums, it was a building.

And so what people have done wisely and scripturally is to designate or call the building something that will designate it as just that. It is a gospel hall. And so buildings like Massey Hall in Toronto, Radio City, Music Hall in New York City and so on have done the same thing.

The building is designated as a title that will call it just that. It's not the people, it's the building. And so the assembly meets in that building.

The second part of this question says, are we not distinct from denominations? I would say that denominations are distinct from us, okay? In the sense of when I say us, people who meet in accordance with the New Testament pattern, that's all they ever had. So anything else is actually a separation from that. It's not a matter of two companies being distinct from each other.

It's a matter of, well, I'll give you an illustration. I was talking to a person one time and I said, okay, so I'm standing here. And I said, now, you wanna do certain things? I said, and so this is what the New Testament represents.

Now you wanna do, for example, you want your women to preach. So you take two steps forward, two steps backward. I said, now you want a clergy system.

You want a one-man pastor system. And so take two more steps. And we kept using distinctions from what the New Testament is teaching.

And pretty soon she was about halfway across the room. And I said, now, the question is, who moved? Who moved? I didn't move. I'm the New Testament.

The New Testament says what it says and it will always say the same thing. The question is, why are you moving? So I don't think really are we distinct from denominations is really the proper question. Is it's why did denominational systems or why does anyone for that matter want to be distinctive from what the New Testament teaches? So maybe that would be an answer to these two questions.

And it is important to differentiate. What we're trying to do is be as scriptural as possible and differentiate between the building and the people. That's a good point.

All right, let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I think too, something that does help us because sometimes when you get into discussions like this, the emotional thing can come in and sort of confuse things. I think it's always good to remember, I know my brethren up here, when we use the word Christendom or denominationalism, we are not condemning individual believers, okay? But we are condemning a system, a system that is opposite to the word of God.

Even the Lord, even God himself did that. The deeds and the doctrines of the Nicolaitans, God says in Revelation, I hate it. And that doctrine, those deeds was one man ruling over the people.

So once you deny the truth of the priesthood, the freedom of the Spirit of God to move on those brethren publicly, that is against the word of God to deny that. So it's just good for us to bear that in mind. We love every single believer no matter where they go on Sunday because I have, as Brother Frank brought out, I have a relationship with Christ, so do they.

I have salvation, they have salvation. But then as we move into the doctrines of the Bible, there are different levels of agreement with that individual. But we have to always remember, the Bible is the final arbitrator of everything.

I believe our young people need to hear this. This is part of my opening, I'm not gonna be very, very long. I was talking to a young brother just in the lineup to dinner, and this is very, very important for today because of the confusion.

We're living in a society that has told us that there's no absolute truth, but there is. It's just a fact that has to be faced. And then something has to take place, something has to replace.

If there's no absolute truth, what is there? Oh, well, my understanding, my perception becomes truth. And you can see the wrong of that. You can see the extremes of that today in culture around us.

We have to get back to the Bible, brother and sister. We've got to start defending things, not because preachers so, I'm thankful that preacher so-and-so believes it, but we have to get down to where the Bible tells us what it's all about. And we allow the Bible to interpret itself.

So we have to learn using the word of God to distinguish between doctrine and traditions. Doctrines, traditions of men. Now, when you're on the traditional side, there can be beneficial traditions.

I don't find in this Bible that the breaking of bread has to happen at 10 o'clock Sunday morning. What's that? No, see, doctrinal. The assemblies aren't what they used to be.

We can't break bread at 9.30. That's the extreme that some people go to. You're gonna chocolate this one. What's the temperature in the hall, Frank? Yeah, and they just, they literally freak out.

Tradition, I leave that with the oversight. I really don't care what temperature the hall is. I care about doctrine.

Doctrine. So once we start to use common sense, this logic that God gave us, and we allow the Bible to speak to us when a tradition is changed. Oh, it's just a tradition.

If an assembly decides to use, God forbid, brown bread as opposed to white bread, there goes the purity of the Lord Jesus. Common word for bread. Use what you have.

If it's raisin, pumpernickel, I don't care. It's a loaf. Just use it.

Doesn't have to be red wine. Oh, doctrine, that's the color of the blood. If you've got white wine, use it.

Just has to be wine. The fruit of the vine is what we find in the Bible. I could go on and on and turn this into a ministry meeting.

These things matter, brother and sister. They matter, and we have to teach our young people. We have to teach ourselves as well.

So just keep that in mind. We're gonna start in 1 Corinthians 12, even though the outline shows 1 Thessalonians 5, but I'm just gonna go chronologically through the New Testament here from 1 Corinthians up to 1 Thessalonians 5. You will notice when William did up the outlines, he left at the bottom my outline, original outline, Marcus Cain. He sent me his outline.

I just couldn't bring myself to throwing it out, okay? I'm sorry. I felt Marcus must have put a lot of effort into it, and I said, how can I just crumble up his exercise and go, no good. Then I remembered what my good friend said here.

Normally, five minutes after a Bible study starts, we don't follow an outline. You did pretty good, though. I have to give you credit.

So I'm just gonna kind of have a running outline here. I got certain ideas, and we're gonna spend half of it on chapter 12, and then we're gonna spend half on 1 Thessalonians 5. Right now, I'm just gonna read the section here, sit down, make a few more comments, then we'll go into it, and then when we come to 1 Thessalonians 5, I'll just read it again, and then we'll just go into that as well. So let's start in 1 Corinthians 12, verse number 12.

Now, the original outline I got was from 12 to 27, but I noticed the one that William, he went 12 to 31. I'm gonna go to the original, okay? 27, if you don't mind. But if you wanna bring in something to a gift, fine.

So 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12. For the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. So also is Christ.

For, because, gonna give the reason now in verse 13, referring to Christ, the body of Christ, the bride, this wonderful universal thing that is being formed. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, am I not of the body? Is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now, now here's a hinge, a change in the chapter. We're gonna get another one in a minute. But now hath God set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him.

And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary.

And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor. And our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need.

But God, there's the second hinge. But God hath tempered, balanced the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism, division in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular.

Now we do look to the Lord to give help. Very brief in my introduction, I'm gonna give about five minutes and then we're going to get into the Bible study. I find it always amazing what the Spirit of God uses to teach spiritual lessons.

Isn't it something that God, and what He'll do here is, He's gonna introduce three different bodies to us. There's gonna be the body of Christ. We'll show you that when we get there.

As Brother Frank mentioned from Acts chapter two, right up until the moment of the rapture, that is the bride, the body of Christ. Doesn't matter how old you were, doesn't matter what you understood about church truth, the minute you put your faith in Christ, unbeknown to you, unbeknown to me, the Spirit of God came into me. And then I was taken and placed into the Spirit.

And there was something formed in this world that never existed before. And it uniquely belongs to the Lord Jesus. Then He's gonna introduce us in verse 27 to the local, a local body that's made up of different believers.

In this chapter, this section, I want you to notice those two expressions, but God, but God. They come in at very significant places. I as well want you to notice another couplet.

There's two emphatic pronouns. He's gonna talk about we. Then He comes down to verse 27, ye.

Oh, why didn't He use the same word we? Well, there's a reason for that. What God has given us is the human body. I want you to stop and think about that for a minute.

Do you know what God has given us? Something that constantly speaks of unity, harmony, balance, design, purpose. Isn't it great that every part got out of bed with me this morning? Nothing was left. This is what has been bothering me.

We have a Bible language talk that we're not living. If I stood in front of you right now, how horrified would you be if all of a sudden this hand went bang, punched myself right in the face. Something wrong with that body.

What about in the car on the way home? Brother, sister, your kids hear you tear a strip off of Brody. We're not living what we say we believe. How many brothers and sisters have left God's assembly over doctrine? How many have left over personality clashes? We'd have to have a building a hundred times this size if they were all here.

So let's get real. Even if there's lots of faults in the past, let's say from this day forward, I'm gonna start to look at my brother Brandon doctrinally. I love that man because he wants truth.

I don't really care if his personality is like me or different than me. Doesn't matter. But brother and sister, the devil hates unity because it honors God.

The flesh within hates unity because it honors God. And brother, Frank, just a moment there. I forgot your name.

Wow. Just going on about love. I gotta love you more, brother, so don't forget your name.

Sorry. Where was I with that? Exactly. Time to sit down.

Okay, let me see if I can get that thought again. What was I going on there? I don't know, your hand was coming up. Yeah, right.

That was a little ways back. I was talking about harmony, unity of flesh within. Yes.

I know enough of this Bible to know this. I'm the greatest potential for error in the median I'm part of because I can divide her. Now that humbles me.

That makes me aware. I gotta be careful because after all I am in God's house. So let's just break into, I know what's in the chapter of gift.

I don't know if someone's got some introductory comments they want to add about that. Obviously it's very important where it's being found. So if someone wants to bring in a general comment, please do.

The section you read is bracketed by gifts that are mentioned, right? And so the point he's making here is how they can function for the common good of the assembly. Amen. He goes back to the Trinity though, even in the beginning.

Amen. And that's the point of the unity of the Godhead. Very good.

So I'll get you to second, Brody. So you cannot help but be impressed when you read this chapter of how many times the word one, one, self-same spirit, self-same God, self-same Christ. There's just all these words that are showing oneness.

That's important in the second, Brody. So you mentioned in your opening that you saw three different bodies presented here in the passage. Can you tell us what those are or how they're distinguished? Okay, so in verse number 12, which is coming off of verse number 11, which like I said, we got limited time here, so it's very important we stick to what we have.

Verse number 12, you got the human body. For as the body is one and have many members. So this truth that he's going to try to get these people to get ahold of, it's almost like, now stop for a minute and just look at your body.

And then he starts to give a little bit of, into that. Then when he comes to the end of verse number 12, so also, Greek has the definite, the Christ. I would encourage you to go through the New Testament and find out how many times that lovely the Christ, picturing that wonderful universal church, the bride of Christ.

And then on the heels of that, four. Oftentimes in the word of God, four, you substitute the word because. This, the Christ, this unity, four, verse 13.

Then he goes and he explains that. And then your main section, verses 14 down, is looking at the human body, right? And then when you come to the very last verse of the section, verse 27, now ye are body of Christ. Why did Paul exclude himself? Because he wasn't a member in the church of Corinth.

Why did he include himself in verse number 13? Because he was a member in the universal church, the body. You had anything else there, Brody? Just two things to just clarify in my own mind. You see that by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, could divide the gathering here if we got into that.

But I see it as the Lord Jesus baptizing in the spirit, placing in the body. That conversion. But where the article is missing here in verse number 27 is ye are body-like in character.

So you're gonna function like a body. But there are not little bodies all over, right? There's one body, but the assembly functions like a body. So as you know, we know that from the book of Ephesians.

One faith, one baptism, one body. And for the younger ones, you said about the, what was the big, often in scripture when you have the definite article, the, it's looking like the person, the thing. But when the definite article is removed, it's looking at the characteristics, right? So that is a helpful thing in going through that.

Anything? Yeah, it's nice to notice the one and the oneness. But also equally, when you go back, not to take you back, Scott, but verses eight to nine, it's another of the same kind, another of a different kind, he was going through that. So it shows that, well, we have, in a sense, been made equal, yet there is distinctions given as to how those gifts are given.

Absolutely, absolutely. There's a distinction of time that's important to see, that what was initiated at Pentecost is now contrasted in terms of, okay, verse 12 is referring back to, again, what happened at Pentecost, baptism of the spirit. But now verse 18, I know you took us down to verse 27 for the local company, but I wondered verse 18, in contrast, what you were saying, God, but God.

But here it's, but now, but now. Verse 20, but now. And so he's really contrasting, again, what began at Pentecost with what now God is doing locally in somewhat trying to mirror the unity of what God initiated and established.

It's not the same thing, but God wants those characteristics to be seen locally in what he has established in unity on the day of Pentecost. Yeah, yeah. So that's something that we need to work very hard at, is coming to a place, a local assembly, am I conscious that this needs to reflect unity, harmony? Because it is linked with God, it belongs to God, right? So that will help guard my words, my comments, how I interact with each other, yeah.

Isn't it wonderful, Brother Scott, that God created human bodies for the purpose of illustrating what he wants to see in the church? Very good. So that in the body we have unity between all the members, but that's not uniformity. Right.

There's unity and diversity. Amen. And even the diversity of our members of our body contribute to the unity.

Yes. The united function of the body. Yes.

What was happening in Corinth was that they were using diversity and it was breaking down the unity. They were failing to appreciate different gifts and they were only concentrating on one direction. That's very good, yes.

And it's something even how science has caught up to the word of God. You remember years and years ago, they said the appendix is really not an important organ. Well, they've changed their mind on that science.

It isn't. This whole body was designed by God. There's nothing that is, oh, don't really need that.

What we're trying to illustrate, dear brothers and sisters, is everyone is needed in the assembly. Amen. Can we please get that into our heads? Why do we emphasize public gift over private gift? There's very little privately you're seeing going on here.

Thank God you can't see my heart. I'd be dead. But look at the work it's doing.

Why can't we look at one another like that? So that's the challenge. Maybe we could have a little test of our unity. I would never think of standing a Bible reading on its head or being remembered because Murray McCandless disagreed.

But I'm picking up that you, brethren, believe that these, you know, it's coming. All right, let's just make it plain for the sake of all. Believe that when I trusted Christ, I was placed in that body.

I was baptized in that body, whatever way you want to say it. I see it different. I see one birthday of the church, one baptism of the day of Pentecost.

And I believe that I came into the good of that when I trusted Christ. Here's your example. I wasn't in the Garden of Eden.

I came into the effect of it when I was born into this world. So same thing, you can see the same peril. How could I be forgiven sins that I haven't been committed yet? How could the Lord Jesus say, I have finished the work which thou givest me to do headman of the cross in anticipation.

So just for the sake of the reading, it's just a slight little disagree, not disagree, but why would you say it, Brody? Distinction. Okay, distinction. That lets us out easily, so I- So verse 13, then, Murray, you would see it this way.

And I agree with you. This is the- Thank you. This is the wisdom that incorporates a believer into the body of Christ.

For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body. That body was formed. One body was formed on the day of Pentecost.

That body has grown to this day, but it's been formed and it has existed all the way through, that one body. It occurred once, and then we come into the good of it when we drink in the one spirit. That's when we're born again.

That's when we're regenerated by the spirit of God. That's when we become the possessor of eternal life, which is shared in common throughout the body, right? But that one body has existed, and we come into the good of it at conversion. So you were, just aside with Brody, because I do this, you were immersed into that body though, right? And it does say here, I don't see any doctrinal problem.

That's the other thing. So we're all, we love each other, right? Yeah, absolutely. So it says we were all baptized.

That's the exact word. We were baptized into that one body. So when you were saved, you were literally immersed into that body, which is baptism.

That body was formed at Pentecost. Absolutely, right. And I was immersed into it.

It wasn't a deformed body. No. If it was, then they wouldn't have it in this chapter because it's speaking about all the members.

Yeah. So God knew all the members. Go to Psalm 139, where God knew it was a human body.

God knew all about it before it was even formed. So I think that would be quite obvious. Right.

A few years ago, we had the Feasts of the Lord here in the Bible readings. There was only one day for Pentecost fully. Fully come, right? Yeah.

A one-time event. Yeah. I think Frank is right to mention that nobody's denying the one-time event of Pentecost and the birthday of the church.

And for the record, I am with my brother, Brody. Now, this is where you can have a difference of opinion, but we're still brothers. We're still, I would hope in my mind, I'm still able to, huh, I'm going to take away and consider what you've said.

Okay. So let's look at verse 13. Four by, the preposition is in.

In one spirit, we are all baptized. So go through the four gospels. The Lord Jesus is identified as the baptizer.

That's right. So in your mind, I'm sure everyone here has been at a baptism, and you see the man walk out with the baptizee, and there's the element they're wading into. And what happens? The baptizer takes the baptizee and puts them down into the element, but takes them out of the element.

Right? You have a very different thing here. The spirit of God is the element. See, we get a lot of ministry on the spirit in me.

Thank God, Ephesians chapter one, sealed, indwelt by the spirit of God. But there's a lot in the Bible, dear child of God, of you and I in the spirit. That's what produces this body, this unity.

I simply take the grammar of verse 13, are baptized, and the grammar is identical to having been made to drink, both in the air is something that happened. It's complete. So I simply believe that at the moment of conversion, yes, I believe in it wasn't a foreign body.

I was taken by the Lord Jesus, and I was put into the spirit, and the spirit into me. So there's your two different views, and, you know, what's going on. John the Baptist, he spoke of the Lord, didn't he? He did, yeah.

In the baptizer. Yes, very clearly. Yeah.

In the baptizer. Yeah, see, another thing, and this sounds like I'm pushing my side, but I'll just give it for you to think. Romans chapter eight ties together the spirit in me, and me and the spirit all happen in the same moment.

If I were to follow your line, and you don't know I love you, Burt Murray, if I was to follow your line, was I in the spirit before I was saved? Well, see, I look at it anticipatively. Okay, okay. The whole thing has to be, right? The other thing is this.

Put the question back on you. When did the body of Christ commence? Body, Acts chapter two. Right, has it ceased to exist since? No, but I don't think we're disagreeing.

I think, but I'm looking at it grammatically. It just says you were baptized, everybody, even people that weren't at Pentecost. You were baptized, and that's the word that's used.

So again, the effect, I think, is really what we want to see, that we've been added to a spiritual body, the body of Christ, and what that has produced now, and I think there's two things to emphasize here, is the bodies that you've said, I appreciated that. I agree with that. The secondary body here that he's bringing, which is for illustration purposes only, the human body, because he brings in members of the assembly there, or believers, who are actually part of a head, and if it were the truth doctrinally, there's only one head, and that's Christ, but several of these believers are linked with a nose, and eyes, ears, all part of, in fact, he actually says one part, the head.

He's emphasizing the fact that we've been brought into an environment of unity, functionality, responsibility, and diversity, all acting for the benefit and blessing of Christ. I missed your earlier comment, Frank. It wasn't entirely clear what you were saying.

I take it that the human body illustration is brought in again, verse 14, all the way down to verse 26. I do, too. I do, too.

There's a reason, brother, that he is emphasizing the one body, is that that unity is perfect. Absolutely. The perfect unity in the body of Christ, and the local assembly is to reflect that.

Yes. That's why it's a body. Yes.

We're not body of Christ in the full sense of the word, but we are an expression of that body, and if it's functioning properly, it will express the unity that is seen. He's showing that all are needed in the local assembly, and if you look at the body in the wider aspect, some members are missing, not even in it yet, right? Yeah, yeah. I think we're all, we should go on.

Yeah, just answer, he's using the illustration to bring in the members of the body, so that's why he says, but now. Well, wasn't this true before? Why would he say, but now? If he were only talking simply about, and singularly about the human body, the but now wouldn't make sense. I mean, he did that at creation, so he's bringing the two spheres together.

He's not divorcing the believers from the truth of a human body. I think that he wants them to pick up the lesson. Yeah, yeah.

Get a hold of this, right? Yeah, the but now is a figure of speech, as, you know, he's drawing a point, he's making a point now. Yeah, he changed it, they were ignorant of this. Yeah.

So, but now is the change. But listen, Sidney Maxwell said something I never forgot. If you're gonna change your mind, don't do it in a Bible reading.

Oh, yes. Okay? Never, never. And I've got a little word for you two boys that I live very close to.

When they are converted, speak to thy brethren. Right on, yes. Okay? Right on.

I might not even tell you if I do change my mind. Anyways, let's move on. I was just thinking of the prayer for you.

But now we see in a glass darkly. That's all I was thinking. I'll give you my understanding of that in just a minute.

Just before we leave verse number 13, just notice, neither Jew nor Gentile, okay? Neither bond nor free. Can we please stop caring what a person's last name is? It has destroyed assemblies. When it comes to someone coming on the oversight, I don't care what your last name is.

I don't care if your father was an elder, your grandfather was an elder, or they weren't. We have to start looking at things according to the Bible. 2 Corinthians chapter five, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.

Dear brother and sister, I've heard this. There's no such thing as a saved Jew. That's like saying there's a saved American.

I'm a saved Canadian. We're in Christ. All of those distinctions are gone, but we allow them to creep in.

And that's why, verses 14. Now look, look at this thing. Look at it.

The diversity, the unity, but it's all working for the benefit of this one body. So let's move into the human body. Brother? I'm coming back to your comment on the private aspects of function.

And in a body, a human body, the private unseen members, I should say the public ones would never function without the private ones. Exactly. And sometimes we feel to put the emphasis where God is putting it right here.

Exactly. He says the unseen ones are the ones we give more honor. Yeah, yeah.

I'm going to give you a very simple illustration. I'm sure there's, it really impressed me over COVID. I was helping my son-in-law renovate his house, my wife and I, and one of the Christians in the assembly, where you would know her well, made a lovely lunch for us, you know, mac and cheese was the best I ever had.

Anyways, it came to the house, and right in the kitchen was the local seam-filler, not saved. So he's working away, and I said, oh, where'd this come from? And a name was mentioned. He said, huh, that woman sends me free food too.

And I never said a word, but I remember thinking, well, good for her. There's a, he'd, I knew why she was giving him food, trying to get him out to the gospel meeting. There's a private thing that I didn't know until that point, but God knew.

So don't think for a minute what I do is insignificant. It might be insignificant to me, but it's not to God. That's the balance of the public and the private that you see functioning here in every one of us.

Can I say that idea that you're putting in our minds right now is in chapter, in verse 14, down to about verse 20, we have the problem of inferiority. But then you come down to verse 21, because in the inferiority part, it says I am not, I am not, I am not. And that's an extreme.

But then the other extreme is superiority. And that's that from about 20 down to the verse, what, verse 26. Excellent.

See, this is where the first, but God comes into play, verse 18. What just preceded that? What does a sense and attitude of inferiority produce? Discouragement. Oh, well, I'm not really important here.

At least I'm keeping the seat warm. Then he says, but God, God has set the members. Would you actually say that when you look at this world? Huh, why did God, what guy put the sun there? Why did God put the moon there? Oh, it must be inferior.

It has a purpose. It has a function. So I think he's using the first, but God, to encourage this attitude of, well, I can't preach like William.

See, why are we picking on the public again? We're overemphasizing one part and putting the other one down. All are needed. So a few comments.

15 and 16, Scott, is the idea. There's no jealousy then in the body. The foot doesn't say because I'm not of the hand.

The foot is less visible maybe than the hand. I'm not of the body. And then the ear, not as important as the eye.

So there seems to be that undercurrent of jealousy that I'm not what he is. And therefore, not functioning. Adding to that, that's a very good point, Brother William.

Adding to that, you've got three things that are really developed here, because in verses 14 to 16, it is no envy, just as you have said. Verses 17 to 20, it's no monopoly. Verses 20 to 21, it's no independence.

So those three aspects are given to us just as it functions that way in the human body, so likewise in the spiritual sense. Also, the parts that are given here of the body, we actually could live without them. But ones that you can't see, I can't live without it, okay? So the unseen is even more important at times.

He'll touch that, yeah. So it's wonderful when a person in a local assembly is conscious, what am I? What am I not? Now, there's a gift that we could get here and go further, gift of helps. Island, that's open to everybody.

Do you know what would be a very easy way to enact that gift? Just come with a positive attitude. I'm gonna help this place. I'm not gonna get into divisions and amplify one side against the other side.

When I see a little dispute, I'm gonna try to put water on it. Person of Christ, I'm gonna try to work here. I think then that will open doors.

God will show you maybe something greater to do for his glory. So just do what you can, brother and sister. It's all for God, it's all for his eye, right? You're not looking for to be honored.

The foot runs a race, the hand paints the painting, but the body is honored. Right, the whole. You don't honor the hand or the foot, but the whole body.

So that's, even if what little part I have of him doing it as God would want me, it's for the good of the assembly. Absolutely. The assembly is honored.

Absolutely. We'd like to be noticed. Yeah, that should go very well.

In the members of our body, if one eye, if your eye tries to do the hearing, it doesn't have the ability. That's right. And not only is it not able to hear, but you can't see either.

That's right. If it's trying to do something else. That's right.

So that God is so perfectly equipped each member so that they can function in the way that God wants them to be. Absolutely. And he's put them where he wants them to be, too, in our body.

Yeah, yeah. So they can function the best. Right.

That should be really our principle so far as how we function in a local assembly. Right, and that is emphasizing verse 18, the God setting as it has pleased him. So practically, don't put someone on the platform who's not a public speaker.

Don't make a member do something they're not equipped to do. Now, we have to work with what we got. I understand that.

But like our brother said, if this ear tried to do with this eye, nothing gets done, right? So we have to learn what is our role? How can I help him? And that's found. Just on that point then, Scott, how would I know if I'm a hand, for example? Well, like I said, you do what you can very simply. And I believe when something opens up just do to the best of your ability, and God will notice it, the oversight will notice it, and there will be that slow, like the work ends up commending the person, right? Right.

So it's not that you wake up one morning, oh, I'm an elder. Oh, I hope you know that. I'm an elder.

Let the work prove it. I remember Mr. McShane putting it this way one time. He said, whatever comes handy to you, right? Whatever fits, whatever fits, whatever you can do, do it.

If it helps. If it helps, it could be a help. It has to help.

And that's why I, well, you might disagree with me again. When he gets to verse 31, covetously the best gifts, that's helps. Yes.

Okay, it has to come under that. Yes. How come, Brother Scott, the tongue isn't mentioned here? The tongue? Never really thought of it.

Give me your thoughts. Well, that was their problem. Their problem with the tongue.

Ah, very good. In Corinth. Secondly, my ear doesn't get me into too much trouble.

My hand, not a lot, but my tongue got me. So it's kind of a troublesome character. Just leave it for now.

You get it in verse 30. Yeah. That's right.

The tongue is what destroys all this. But when it comes to gifts, like preaching, I think spiritual people would be the ones that would encourage you. Absolutely.

You know, you go to a conference and people come and say, I'm going to hear you this afternoon. Oh, man. I say, I don't know.

Yeah. We'll see. Yeah.

So we're going to touch. So people that aren't spiritual, I'm saying, can encourage you, but then they're all out of place. Yeah.

We'll touch more on that first. That's the only spot where you get the function of the oversight, but. Wouldn't it also, I mean, just from common sense, also the results of what you do would tell too.

I mean, if helps, you know, for example, if people are genuinely helped by what you do, you know, you can see the results of that, right? So I think that's brought out in Ephesians four. It's for the edification, the building up of the body. If the body is built up by what you do, then obviously what you've done is fitted.

You're fitted for that. Very good. So we got, we have to move up.

Go ahead and we'll move out to your comment. I'm just going to say that any gift has to be developed. Yes.

You may have a gift, but it still has to be developed. I mean, you could take a child and have them take piano lessons for 10 years. If they can't learn how to play the piano properly, they won't ever learn.

So they have to have the ability, but it has to start small. And so we recognize gift when it's small and try to encourage it. Right.

And I think encouragement is the big part of it. I, this is just a personal reference. Don't think more of it than it actually is.

My own exercise before God is this. I can't preach forever, Lord. Someone's going to replace me.

I want to land at the judgment seat and I want my Lord to lay his hand on me and say, thanks for encouraging the younger brother, Scott, instead of feeling threatened by him. That doesn't happen in this body. This body works together.