Christ the Head, Church the Body #4

Will you please turn to Acts, the book of Acts. Chapter 2, we'll read from verse 42 through verse 47. Acts, chapter 2, verse 42.

And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers. And fear was upon every soul, and many wonders and signs took place through the apostles' means. And all that believed were together, and had all things common.

And sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all according as anyone might have need. And every day, being constantly in the temple with one accord, and breaking bread in the house, they received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. Praising God, and having labor, favor with all the people, and the Lord added daily those that were to be saved.

Romans, chapter 12. Romans, chapter 12. We'll read from verse 3 to verse 10.

For I say, through the grace which has been given to me, to everyone that is among you, not to be high thoughts above what is your think, but to think so as to be wise, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith. For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office. Thus we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other.

But having different gifts, according to the grace which has been given to us, whether it be prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Or service, let us occupy ourselves in service, or he that teaches in teaching. Or he that exhorts in exhortation, he that gives in simplicity, he that leads with diligence, he that shows mercy with cheerfulness.

Let love be unfaithful, abhorring evil, cleaving to good. As to brotherly love, kindly affection towards one another. As to honor, ease taking the lead in paying it to the other.

We'll read verse 11. As to diligent zealousness, not slothful, in spirit fervent, serving the Lord. May we have a word of prayer.

Dear Lord, our hearts are full of gratitude. That sinners such as we were are being called to attend Thy feast. We do thank Thee that Thou dost give Thyself to us in such a way.

Lord, what can we say? We just want to tell Thee how much we appreciate Thee. We do pray that all Thy purposes concerning us will be fully fulfilled. It is not for our sake, but Lord, it is for Thy sake.

If there is anything yet being undone, may Thy Holy Spirit do it now. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

I find it very difficult to speak after the Lord's Table. At the Lord's Table we have before us a demonstration of the theme that we have been fellowship with. At the table we see our Lord, how He gave Himself to us.

He truly is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. And to us He is more than that. He is the Lamb in the midst of the throne.

His love has conquered us, and we cannot but worship Him. Jesus is truly Lord. At the table we break the same bread.

Though we are many, yet we are one bread. We communed fellowship with one another in love. Dear brothers and sisters, the head and the body, we see it this morning.

And I hope in our spirit we do see it. I recall at the beginning of the 18th century. There was persecution in Europe.

And many believers had to flee for their lives. A man by the name of Zinzendorf. He opened his estate to receive those refugees.

These refugees came from different countries with different backgrounds. They all loved the Lord. And because of the Lord, they forsook everything.

Now these people gathered together in that estate. But strangely, they could not get along with one another. But one day, when they all gathered together for the Lord's table.

While they were at the table, the love of Christ melted them. They embraced one another, confessed to one another. And on that day, an institution became a body.

And from that body, the Moravians, the gospel, went to all the world. And it is always my desire, I always long to see when God's people are together at the table. That His love will melt us together.

And may the Lord show mercy to us. If you look into the heart of God, what do you see there? You see only one thing. His beloved Son.

In the center of God's heart, there is His Son. You cannot see anything else. Everything is for His Son.

His Son is the heir of all things. And all things will be summed up in Him. Dear brothers and sisters, have we seen the heart of God? But if you look into the heart of our Lord Jesus, what do you see there? You see the church.

He loved the church and gave Himself for her. This is the mystery of God. Christ, the head.

The church, the body. How we need to love Christ. Because He is the one whom the Father loved.

And how we need to love the church. Because this is what our Lord loved. So what we are fellowshipping together is not something small.

It is something that shall occupy our whole life. And by doing that, we really, not only know our God, but we also are doing His will. Even though my responsibility is on the body, but I want brothers and sisters to understand that we should never, never lose sight of the head.

We do not want to see the body bigger than the head. Because this is an affront to God. We need to see Christ Jesus, our Lord.

He shall occupy our whole being. And only in Christ Jesus we see the body, the church. So always remember, this is something we shall never, never forget.

We only see the body through the head. The body comes out of the head. And the body is for the head.

We have been sharing on body vision. In the road to Damascus, the Apostle Paul was given that heavenly vision. And in that vision, first of all, he saw Christ.

He didn't see first the body. He saw Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Lord. And to him, he yielded himself.

And this Damascus vision is for everyone of us. Dear brothers and sisters, may everyone of us here see that vision. Jesus is not someone that can be despised.

He is the Lord of all. He is your Lord. And you need to yield your whole life to Him.

Because He is worthy. And this vision shall always fill our heart. But thank God.

If you see Jesus, the Lord, you will see His body. That He has a body. A mystic body.

Even though it is mystic, yet it is very real. It is a body that covers the whole earth. A body that spans the twenty centuries.

It includes all who believe in the Lord Jesus. And it is in that body, He continues to teach and to do. We remember, Luke wrote two books.

The Gospel according to Luke. And the Acts. In the Gospel according to Luke, he records our Lord in His incarnated body began to teach and to do.

Then he wrote the second book, the Acts. And in the beginning of that book, he said, in the former discourse, I have written about how Jesus began to teach and to do in His incarnated body. But now he is going to write another treatise.

It is a continuation of the first one. It is the Lord Jesus continues to do and to teach. But it is in a different body.

It is in a corporate body. It is in a mystic body. It is in the church.

And that is the book of Acts. So we need to also catch that vision. That we not only belong to the Lord, we also belong to one another.

We have a direct vertical relationship with the head. And we also have a horizontal relationship with all our brothers and sisters. This is the heavenly vision.

And the second day we fellowship on body calling. This vision is given to us, not just for us to contemplate. This vision has a practical element in it.

So with the vision comes the calling. God calls us to leave what was formerly ours. And to go to where He will show us.

In other words, He is calling us to leave behind that which will hinder us from fulfilling the vision. And He is calling us to follow Him that we may be that vision. Vision is not just something for us to see.

Vision is something for us to be. We are called to follow Him to be the very vision that God has shown us. And the third session we share on body principles.

This is our body. And within the body there are certain principles or laws inborn. These are not something being added on.

That would be legal rules and regulations. These principles are within us. And it is a blessing if we know what they are and follow them.

Then this body will be a healthy body. Now this morning we would like to continue with body living. We know a body is for living.

What is the use of a body if it is not to live? The life that is in that body is to live out. If it is not living out, then what is that life for? And what is the use of this body? Brothers and sisters, before we believe in the Lord Jesus, we have a soul life. Because when God created man, and when He breathed the breath of life into that clay, and the Bible says man becomes a living soul.

So we have an animal life. By creation we have that life that animates us. And this life enables us to think, to feel and to will.

So we are living souls. And this body of ours was used by this living soul. This body expresses this living soul.

So formally you use this body to express yourself. Your body is to serve your purpose. But now we are saved.

We are redeemed by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus. So this body is no longer to serve our selfish purpose. Our body is no longer to serve sin.

We need to present our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord. So these bodies of ours are now to be used to live out Christ. So this is what this body is for.

So you remember the Apostle Paul says, for me to live is Christ. I am crucified with Christ. No longer live I. It is Christ who lives in me.

I now live in flesh. By faith. The faith of the Son of God.

Who loved me and gave himself for me. So you see our bodies are to live out Christ. We have a new life in us.

And this new life of Christ in us is to live out through our body. Through our consecrated body. And so Christ can live out today.

Now this is not only true personally. This is also true collectively. So it is more than just a matter of each individual Christian trying to live out Christ in their bodies.

It is that we together as the body of Christ to live out the fullness of Christ. Because no one individual is big enough to contain all the riches of Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily.

And how can one individual contain all that fullness? It takes a whole body to contain the riches of the head. And it is only the body that can express Christ in fullness. So you find that to live out Christ is not only an individual thing.

If it is only individual, it is very, very limited. It takes the whole body to live out the glory, the beauty of the head. So this body of Christ is not only to contain but also to express the riches of the head.

You know in the beginning the name Christian was not there. Today we call ourselves Christians. Do you know where the name comes from? Actually it is a nickname given to a group of people by the world.

It wasn't until in Antioch. In Antioch because there were so many Gentiles coming to the Lord. So they cannot be considered as a sect of Judaism.

So the world looked at them and said, who are they? They are not Jews. And therefore they cannot be considered as part of Judaism. Now who are they? So finally they gave them a nickname, oh they are Christians.

They are Christ men. Because when they open their mouth it is Christ. When they gather together it is Christ.

When they sing hymns it is to Christ. When they pray they pray to Christ. And they live for Christ.

They are fully occupied with Christ. So they are Christians. That is where our name Christians comes from.

At that time it was a shame. You remember King Agrippa said, well with your little persuasion you want to make me a Christian? That is a shameful name. But to us now it is glory.

But in the beginning there wasn't that name Christians over us. So if you read the book of Acts you will find in the beginning there were followers of the Lord Jesus. And they were in Jerusalem, they were in Antioch, they were everywhere.

Now how would the world identify them? You know the world always likes to put a label upon somebody. Because without a label they cannot get hold of it. And if they cannot get hold of it they feel a little bit threatened.

So when the world look at the people, the followers of the Lord Jesus at that time how would they describe these people? You will find they call them the people of the way. In Acts chapter 9 verse 2 So he was persecuting those followers of the Lord Jesus. So he was persecuting followers of the Lord Jesus.

I am saying something. Now whom did Saul persecute? Now in verse 2 of chapter 9 of Acts. He came to the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus, to the city gods so that if he found any who were of the way, both men and women he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

So these people were people of the way. And you will find this is being repeated several times in the book of Acts. For your reference you can find that in Acts chapter 19 verse 9 verse 23 and chapter 22 verse 4 and chapter 24 verses 14 and 22 the way the people of the way those who are of the way Now what do you mean by the way? Now in Chinese Dao means two But here it is not truth, it is way.

Our Lord Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. So this is the way. Now what does it mean? It means a way of life.

When I first came to this country I was meeting with a group of believers and most of them were Americans there were some Chinese there so when I met with them often times when a few brothers and myself were together and we were fellowshipping and discussing what should be done and the brothers from America they will tell me this is not the American way and I often argue with them I say it is not a matter of American way or Chinese way is it the Christian way Brothers and sisters you know every country has its way and we think our way is always the best but here you find our body that is so different from all the countries of the world it is composed of people out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue but when they are together you find they live a different way not the American way

not the Chinese way not the European way not the Asian way but you find they have a different way a different way of life the world has never seen such a way it is different from every way you can think of on this world and yes strangely in spite of the differences of culture and background but when they come together as the body of Christ you find that they rise above all these distinctions and they are not bound by any of these customs and they all follow a certain heavenly way well of course there will be some flavor there of course there will be a little bit of flavor a little bit of... flavor if that gathering is composed mostly of Chinese in the ground probably they will be more quiet if they were composed mostly from South America when they meet they are more lively but whether

they are more reserved or more lively you find there are certain basic similarities among them they live a different way of life so we are told that during the second century there was some people trying to describe those Christians they say now who are these people because they are so different even though they live in their native countries and yet they are aliens and foreigners they keep the law of the country but actually they live above more than what the law requires they live a life of righteousness of purity they love everybody but they are hated by all now brothers and sisters you find this is a way of life a quite Christian way of life and it is for all believers at every age and throughout the whole earth so the body has its way we as believers we live differently from the

world we live differently from the Chinese we live differently from the Americans we live differently from the Brazilians and you find that wherever you put us we are different because we are walking the heavenly way dear brothers and sisters the body is to live and this is our testimony we would like to go to the word of God and see how is this way of life and whether we are really living in it if you look in the church in Jerusalem because when you think of this way you better begin from the beginning you find that on the day of Pentecost there were 120 believers now these 120 believers they have followed the Lord maybe for a few years they were veterans and in one spirit they were baptized into one body formerly they were just 120 individuals if you look at each individual each one is

a spiritual giant we may say but now when you look at them you lose sight of these individual giants you find they are in 120 members of the one body of Christ when Peter stood up the 11 apostles stood with him Peter was the one who spoke but the 11 stood by him to show that we are one what you say is what we say we are one mind, one speech and then on the day of Pentecost 3000 were added now they were new believers and yet you find they were together whether you had believed the Lord for many years or whether you just newly born again you find they were together and they persevered, they continued in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles dear brothers and sisters what were these people doing? they continue on with the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles because at that

time it was the apostles who taught them now what is the teaching of the apostles? here you discover that the teaching is singular number but the apostles are thrown in the mud in numbers there were at least 12 apostles at that time but their teaching is one not that Peter has his teaching John has his teaching James has his teaching everyone has his teaching no, you find their teaching is one it is true that to each there is a specialty there we say that Peter is the apostle of hope because his experience with Christ he found that Christ is really his hope many times he was disappointed many times he failed he even denied the law three times but the law restored him his hope is in Christ so in his teaching you find hope is very evident and you read 1 Peter and you find that we say John

is the apostle of love because he leaned upon the breast of the Lord he knew the love of Christ so much and when you read his gospel, all his epistles you taste of love brothers and sisters it is true that each apostle has his special specialty has his special emphasis and yet you find the teaching is only one why is it so? because all that they teach is what they have received from the Lord because all that they teach is what they have received from the Lord you remember what Paul said what I have delivered to you is what I have received from the Lord the apostles have nothing of their own to teach they do not have their own teaching they only teach what they are taught by the Lord and the teaching is the teaching of Christ but it is being taught by the different apostles dear brothers

and sisters you know even Martin Luther he was very glad with Paul's teaching but he thought James' teaching was rubbish he said he can fight the reformation with Galatians but the epistle of James is an epistle of straw how can you fight with it? he thinks that these two apostles teach different teachings but thank God we know better we know that whether it is Paul or James whether it is Peter or John they have only one teaching it is the teaching of Christ it is Christ we know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified and here you find all these people they continue on in the teaching of Christ dear brothers and sisters the problem today is everyone seems to have his own teaching and you find some people say I prefer this teaching and I prefer that teaching some say I am of Paul some

say I am of Apollo some say I am of Cephas and some say I am exclusively of Christ brothers and sisters is Christ divided? is his teaching divided? no his teaching is one whole it is so full that it covers many many areas and yet it is one teaching so they just follow the teaching of the apostles that is the way to live the body life how do we live this body life? by the teaching of Christ whatever the word tell us we follow and then we are in the way you find not only the teaching of the apostles but also the fellowship of the apostles you know teaching alone may give you the impression that it is something for you to think over to ponder over but actually there is no action but there is the fellowship of the apostles the teaching has to be balanced with the fellowship and here again you

see the same thing but the apostles are plural number many apostles one fellowship not that Paul has his own fellowship so now you belong to Paul's fellowship and you belong to Peter's fellowship no no matter how many apostles there are the fellowship is one what is that fellowship? in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 9 we are all called into the fellowship of God's Son Jesus Christ we are all called into the fellowship of God's Son Jesus Christ we do not belong to this fellowship or that fellowship we belong to one fellowship and this is the fellowship of God's Son Jesus Christ that is His fellowship with His Father and now this fellowship is tended to us and we are included in that fellowship He shares His Father with us so that we may know God as our Heavenly Father the Father shares His

Son with us so that we know who the Son is and what He is to us and we have a part in Him that is fellowship it is delivered to us through the apostles because in 1 John chapter 1 John said what we have seen and heard and contemplated and what we have known the Word of Life we have reported to you that you may have fellowship with us and our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son so brothers and sisters what they have fellowship with the Father and the Son they deliver to us that we may have fellowship with them and we may fellowship with the Father and the Son so it is one fellowship dear brothers and sisters thank God we can share together we can be taught together we can practice what we are taught in the fellowship and that is body life that is how we live in the body and

especially in two things they are very very demonstrated one is breaking of bread dear brothers and sisters why do we break the bread together because the breaking of bread is not only following the teaching but also practicing the fellowship of the apostles our Lord Jesus said this do in remembrance of me as we break bread together we have communion with the Lord and with one another it is in the spirit so brothers and sisters the Lord's table is very very important to us unfortunately you find among Christians today the Lord's table is very much neglected by taking part at the Lord's table we demonstrate that we live in the body we hold fast the head we have communion with the head and communing with the members of the same body before we break the bread this bread represents the

physical body of Christ in that body He was broken for us it is a demonstration of His love for us He gave Himself to us to be our life to be our food but after we broke the bread even though on the plate the bread is disappeared but when God looked down from heaven He saw the bread among the people every one of us has a piece and putting together is the bread that is the church one bread one body and we are all fellowshiping in that one body dear brothers and sisters so every Lord's day we demonstrate our body living and another thing that will express our body living and that is prayer now the prayer here is not our personal prayer of course personally we need to pray but the prayer here is corporate prayer that we come together to pray as one if two of you agree on earth on anything

and the Lord will hear us of course according to His will so brothers and sisters again you find this is something that shouldn't be neglected among God's people usually on the Lord's day maybe some people just come for the teaching at the Lord's table only a few but after the Lord's table when you have the message the place was filled and then during the week you have prayer meeting and you find only a few birds were there most people do not care about it how can you say you are living the body life if you do not join together in prayer brothers and sisters it is most important that we come together and pray as one body and these are the two most practical things to show forth that we continue on the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles when you read chapter two of the book of

Acts what do you see there how these people live you find that they were together they were not only together physically they were together in spirit in heart and in soul and with one accord they were together and you find they were completely delivered from self-possessiveness you know a very basic human instinct is self-possessiveness this is mine it belongs to me you look at the children they are playing together and they share their toys but after a while you find something happens and one child says this is mine and the other says this is mine now we have that instinct to possess but here you find something wonderful they were all delivered from self-possessiveness they were delivered from that individualistic ideas they were together they share together they love one another they

are one they broke the bread they met together in the temple most likely in Solomon's porch and they met together at every house they broke bread from house to house and they enjoy their food with thankfulness they live in such a way that the world look at them they have never seen such a scene before no matter many were added it is their way of life that attracts people more than just what they preach it is their life together that touch people's heart now that you find in the church in Jerusalem and of course Jerusalem has its peculiar circumstances because on the day of Pentecost Jews came from all over the world they came to attend the feast but when they believe in the Lord Jesus many people did not go back to their home they all stay in Jerusalem so those who live in Jerusalem will

open their home my home is yours come and live with me and they share food together and because of the need there so some people will sell their properties so that the need will be met brothers and sisters whether we should practice to share everything in common is another matter but during revivals such things usually happen and if there is a need such thing to happen but the important thing is are we delivered from our individualism I, my, mine are we so delivered that we can see we are members of one another and really love one another not in words but indeed now this is the Christian way of life this is the body living and when the body is so lived it is so healthy that it begins to grow many were aided the same thing happened in Antioch if you turn to chapter 11 you will find when

the gospel is preached was preached to Antioch in the beginning those Jewish people who believed in the Lord Jesus they went there they only preached to the Jews but they were Greeks they were in Jerusalem during Pentecost probably they were devout Greeks and now they believe in the Lord Jesus so when they went to Antioch they preached to the Greeks and the Holy Spirit began to work and many turned to the Lord so when the church in Jerusalem heard about it you know they sent Barnabas there I think it is very very interesting because the church in Jerusalem does not send John and Peter there and if they sent John and Peter there probably it means that now you believe in the Lord Jesus now you come under our wing we the church in Jerusalem is the mother church now your Antioch is the

daughter church you come under our jurisdiction no they sent Barnabas Barnabas was a Hebrew Jew a Hellenistic Jew Barnabas was a Greek Jew and he has the Greek background so he will understand his people better and he was a man with big heart he was a son of consolation so the church sent him there not in the sense of trying to absorb the church in Antioch but rather to show sympathy to show we are one we want to help one another and Barnabas was a good man and he was full of the Holy Spirit so he helped them when he saw the thing he was glad he was not envious he was glad and he encouraged them to continue on with purpose abiding in the Lord and the Lord began to add people in and Barnabas realized it was too much for him so he went to Tarsus to find Saul and asked Saul to come and work

together with him now Barnabas was not going to say this is my territory it is mine nobody can come no he realized his limitation he was humble enough to ask a younger brother to come and help and for one year they were with the people they were teaching the disciples there and these people believed in the Lord Jesus they were so taught they grew so spiritually they manifest Christ in such a corporate way so the world said these are Christians they earned that name brothers and sisters we are called Christians do we earn it are we worthy of it sometimes I think I am not worthy to be called a Christian this is the body living so here you find in the book of Acts we have those examples oh how I thank God that before the epistles you have the gospel and the book of Acts because this is the

way God always works he would do it first and then he would teach us to tell us what has happened this is the right order because if you reverse the order you teach first there is always the problem of trying to put the teaching into practice by your flesh and that turns it into law and letter and the letter kills but here you find first the life and then tell you what that life is the potentials of that life the life is already there so everything comes out instead of put on brothers and sisters our problem is everything is put on and it is not something that comes out from within so it is man made it is not a matter of life so here we see how God's people live together as the body and then the epistles begin to teach us tell us what has happened and we should follow this life and life

will grow and grow and grow so then if you turn to the epistles you find the epistles is full of the teachings on body living usually you find the first part of each letter is on life and the second part is on living he does not teach us how to live before we have life because if that is the case we are not what it is and we try to be like that it is like a monkey trying to act like a man brothers and sisters this is not so so you find when you read the epistles first it tells us what that life is for instance in Romans the first 11 chapters tell us what God has done for us in Christ Jesus what is Christ to us and after we receive all the mercies of God then we are exalted? no, begged begged are we just being exalted being encouraged or are we being begged so you find in Romans chapter 12

therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God I beg you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice after you present your bodies as a living sacrifice then what happens ah you discover you are now in the body now how are you going to live that body life do not be high minded and do not look upon yourself as bigger than what you really are but to think wisely do not think that you are the body you are the body you are only a member of the body so be faithful as a member if God gives you the gift of prophecy then prophesy according to the proportion of faith if God makes you an eye then look for the body do not try to be an ear be faithful and according to the proportion of faith if God made you a member to serve maybe a hand or a foot then serve diligently every member does its

part and it is all for the increase of the body let love be unfading let brotherly love be there and let us serve the Lord diligently dear brothers and sisters this is living the body life you are not just living alone and everything is just for your own self you find you are living with the other members of the body so we need to love one another and encourage one another and if you continue on with the book of Romans you will find we need to receive one another as Christ has received us to the glory of God brothers and sisters this is something that we have sinned very much we do not receive one another if our brother or our sister has a different understanding of the word of God or has a different experience than of ours we say you are not of us we have no fellowship we cannot receive

you brothers and sisters how we hurt the head receive one another as Christ has received us to the glory of God if you read first Corinthians yeah we will say first Corinthians certainly does not tell us body living these believers in Corinth they were so carnal they live everything opposite to the very principle of the body life but thank God through the negative we learn the positive so here you open first Corinthians chapter one to chapter four you find it talks of division God's people are divided some say I am of Paul some say I am of Apollo some say I am of Cephas some say I am of Christ Paul brought me to the Lord so I am for him some say Apollo helped me with his teaching so I follow Apollo some say Peter is the orthodox one because he came from Jerusalem and he was one of the

early apostles so we trace to the very orthodox so I am for Peter and some people are superficially or pseudo-spiritually you don't know I am of Christ Christ is bigger than Peter he is more orthodox he is bigger than Apollo he is bigger than Paul I am for Christ so you are all out is Christ divided? why are you so small?

Paul is yours Apollo is yours Cephas is yours everything is yours and you are Christ and Christ is God brothers and sisters that's body living in Christ we are one then you continue on chapter 5 to chapter 7 you find these people who are called Christians they live to the shame of the Lord Jesus they were seen in the mist that you couldn't even find in the world and they don't care they sue one another in the gentle courts they were very loose in their living brothers and sisters certainly this is not body living but what is body living?

Paul said our Passover is Christ now we are in the Feast of Unleavened Bread the church is like three meals offer to the Lord so purge out the leaven we must live our life as with unleavened bread with sincerity and truth brothers and sisters this is what a church is in the body life there should be no leaven all the leaven has to be destroyed that we may keep the feast in purity in sincerity and then you find from chapter 8 to chapter 9 how the children in Corinth they indulge themselves how they want to enjoy life they enjoy good food they want to have parties so they went to the temple and eat things offered to idols they thought they had the knowledge but there was no discipline so Paul said I discipline my body to put it under me if my brother will stumble because I eat meat I would

rather not eat it I have to live by love not by knowledge chapter 8 chapter 10 to 14 you find there was confusion there at the breaking of bread there was confusion because in the beginning you find they usually put the love feast and the table together but the love feast became something loud those who were rich they eat by themselves with wine until they are drunk and those who are poor they sit there watching and after that they broke the bread together isn't that a contradiction? so Paul said no what we have received and delivered to you was not that only the table the love feast is another thing so from there on you find these two things are separated confusion and from this confusion we learn that our God is the God of order there is a spiritual order there the head of Christ is God

the head of all men is Christ the head of woman is man there is an order not equality not inequality so far as life is concerned it is equal but so far as order is concerned God sets an order and with that order his work can be done and then you find in chapter 15 and 16 in the church in Corinth there were people who even doubted if there was resurrection and if you have doubt about resurrection then you can live loosely eat and drink for tomorrow you die brothers and sisters so you find there was rebellion but in the church the life of the church it is faith and obedience now we can go on and on and on but our time is up so anyway you find the bible has much to say about body living but remember the living is not something put on it is something live out so the more you know the life of

Christ the more you are able to live out Christ and this is true individually and also corporately so may the Lord help us that this matter of the body to us is a reality it is heavenly but it can be practiced on earth to the glory of God let us pray dear Lord we want to thank thee for all thy mercies and grace thou hast gathered us together these few days and thou art with us how we praise and thank thee for everything that thou hast blessed us with now as we are going to our different places we pray that we may go rejoicing in the Lord we pray that our Holy Spirit continue to remind us of what we have seen and heard until nothing is being lost that it will bear fruit unto thy praises to God be the glory in the name of our Lord Jesus Amen