Which is His Body - Meaning, Part 1

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that the church is not the physical organism or a 'semi-quasi-physical extension' of the glorified Lord's body, refuting Roman Catholic theology and emphasizing…

Martin uses the physical limitations of his own body and Christ's glorified body to argue against the idea that the church is a literal physical extension of Christ, emphasizing that Christ's body has defined boundaries.

which is his body. Well, let's start out by saying what it does not and cannot possibly mean. It does not mean that the church that is the people of God, the church universal, all the elect of God, the true people of God, are the physical organism of the glorified Lord. They cannot be in that literal sense his body in the sense that these things waving in front of you this morning are part of my body. How do we know that that can't be so? Well, let's credit Paul with a little common sense. For he has just prayed, Father, give the Ephesians the spirit that they may understand the measure of you...

9:49 - 10:51 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that the church is not the physical organism or a 'semi-quasi-physical extension' of the glorified Lord's body, refuting Roman Catholic theology and emphasizing…

He imagines a blind man feeling Christ's glorified body to underscore its physical reality and limitations, further refuting the mystical extension idea.

Christ is somewhere in the universe of God called The Right Hand of God. And if you were a blind man and were taken to where ever that body is right now, and you were to feel up from the shoulders, and you were to feel up from the shoulders, And if you were a blind man and were taken to where ever that body is right now, And you were to feel up from the shoulders, shoulders, up the neck, the ears, and come to the top of the head, you'd feel nothing but space beyond it. It's that real a body. Now why do I emphasize this? For the simple reason that we must never underestimate the power of the hu...

11:44 - 12:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin clarifies that the church is not the physical organism or a 'semi-quasi-physical extension' of the glorified Lord's body, refuting Roman Catholic theology and emphasizing…

Cited as an example of perverting God's truth by claiming elements become Christ's physical body and blood, which Martin calls 'absolute foolishness'.

Christ is somewhere in the universe of God called The Right Hand of God. And if you were a blind man and were taken to where ever that body is right now, and you were to feel up from the shoulders, and you were to feel up from the shoulders, And if you were a blind man and were taken to where ever that body is right now, And you were to feel up from the shoulders, shoulders, up the neck, the ears, and come to the top of the head, you'd feel nothing but space beyond it. It's that real a body. Now why do I emphasize this? For the simple reason that we must never underestimate the power of the hu...

11:44 - 12:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You know what a mirage is? A mirage is something you think is there, but when you go to take a hold of it, it's nothing there. ...figures of speech in the Bible are not given to be mirages. They are given to explain and …

Used to explain that biblical figures of speech convey substantial realities, not illusions, contrasting them with a mirage that promises water but delivers nothing.

The church is likened to Christ's body under a figure of speech, or an analogy. The church is likened to Christ's body when it's within a outrageous compare and comparison, such as a boundary that anything is. A comparison. But remember, figures of speechesín leaders of 했던 history, the H company, and analogies and comparisons are given to convey realities, not mirages. You know what a mirage is? A mirage is something you think is there, but when you go to take a hold of it, it's nothing there. You know, the picture of the poor man in the desert, and he's got his beard down here and his eyes ar...

14:18 - 15:21 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It's not merged life, it's shared life. It's the pattern of marriage. The two shall become one. Are they one will? You ain't married if you think so. One mind? You're not married if you think so. No, they maintain all th…

The mystery of marriage, where two become one yet retain individual identities, is used to explain 'shared life' in Christ, distinguishing it from 'merged life' mysticism.

I just get rightly adjusted and he makes my choices for me. All my friends, that's a foul heresy. It's not merged life, it's shared life. It's the pattern of marriage. The two shall become one. Are they one will? You ain't married if you think so. One mind? You're not married if you think so. No, they maintain all their own individual identity and yet wonder of wonders. God constitutes a life that is one. I don't understand it and Paul didn't either.

24:08 - 24:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Recoil in horror from the heresy that regards the church as operating in the light of human wisdom, power, or programs, rather than Christ's administrative headship.

Martin uses the example of his hands, tongue, and feet obeying his head's directives to illustrate the church's necessary submission to Christ as its administrative head.

He is the administrative head of his church. He is the governor. He is the ruler. All that my hands are doing this morning, and all that my tongue is doing this morning, all that my feet are doing this morning, they are doing at the directives of the head.

40:51 - 41:08 Read in full sermon

The point: Recoil in horror from the heresy that regards the church as operating in the light of human wisdom, power, or programs, rather than Christ's administrative headship.

The tragedy of a spastic child or paralyzed person whose body does not obey the head's messages is used to illustrate the grotesque nature of a church that disobeys Christ's commands.

And some of us know the tragedy when something happens in the system from the head to the members. When the head says, articulate the word church, and the mouth goes, and I'm not being funny, dear ones, don't anyone snicker.

41:09 - 41:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Be a stickler about the Word of God, recognizing it as the nerve impulses from the living head that members of the body are charged to obey.

Martin recounts spending a day with preachers who found the Word of Christ insufficient for methods and message, resorting to pragmatism, highlighting his gratitude for his congregation's submission to the Gospel.

The power of God to usward operates in this framework of practical submission to the headship of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may I say, and I must say, or I'd be delinquent, what a privilege to be a ruling and a teaching elder in a church. Where the word of the head is all the persuasive you need as you seek to give direction to the members of the body. And oh, beloved, I thank God for you again and again because I spent a whole day this past week with a group of preachers to whom the Word of Christ was not enough.

43:55 - 44:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third substantial reality is a coordinated relationship, meaning the body is a unified whole. Members not only draw from the same life source but are also coordinated with one…

He contrasts tape recorders plugged into the same power source (sharing a common life source) with a body, to explain that a body requires not just a common source but also coordinated relationship among its parts.

So it's not only organic relationship with the Lord and one another, submissive relationship, the church to Christ, but a coordinated relationship. Think with me for a minute about the whole imagery of a body, and then we're going to look at several verses. You see, a body is not just so many members all related to the same source of life and direction. Right now, downstairs, there is a panel, a power panel, if you want to call it, where a lot of tape recorders are all plugged into the same power source.

46:14 - 46:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third substantial reality is a coordinated relationship, meaning the body is a unified whole. Members not only draw from the same life source but are also coordinated with one…

The children's song about connected bones is used to illustrate the coordinated relationship and functioning whole that defines a body.

You see, what makes this thing in front of you this morning, six feet, two hundred pounds of it, a body, is not just that I have an arm that is related to a source of life, the nerve life in the head and in the spine, my chiropractic friends, and to the life of the blood pumping through that four-chambered muscle called the heart, no, no, it's that this is related to this. In the words of that old, you know, knee bone connected to the thigh bone and thigh bone connected to the hip bone and hip bone connected to the back bone and back bone to the shoulder bone, that's what makes a body, you see...

47:08 - 48:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Show the world what man should be and what grace can do by functioning as a coordinated whole, where diversity leads to honor and love, not tension.

Examples like a white finger pinching a black finger or a rich hand slapping a poor hand are used to illustrate how the church, despite diversity, should function as a coordinated whole, demonstrating what man was intended to be.

He's showing us that. He shows that amidst all the diversity there can be a coordinated whole. So you don't have the white finger pinching the black finger and you don't have the rich hand slapping the poor hand and you don't have the educated foot stomping on the toe of the uneducated foot. God brings them all together a motley mass and He coordinates them into one functioning body who with one heart and mouth praise their God.

51:53 - 52:28 Read in full sermon

The point: Actively involve yourself in a visible body of Christ; otherwise, your sanctification is suspect, as isolation hinders spiritual growth.

The analogy of 'sandpaper influence' from difficult people is used to explain how God uses interpersonal relationships within the church to teach patience and foster spiritual growth.

Sitting out in the woods on a log with your Bible having devotions? No sir, my friend. You learn it when God puts you right down next to somebody who's just like sandpaper and every time you're near him.

58:00 - 58:09 Read in full sermon