Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.heritagesermons.org/sermons/25998/discerning-the-body-of-christ-quality-good/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] The first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, the 11th chapter, verses 30, 31, and 32.

[0:16] For this cause many are weak and are sickly among you, and many sleep.

[0:27] For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world.

[0:47] For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

[1:03] But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. The apostle, in writing his epistle to the church at Corinth, has many things to say to them.

[1:24] We read in the early chapters, and also, as those chapters continue, that there were divisions among them.

[1:37] And those divisions were really moving away from the true principle of all things.

[1:52] That is, Christ. And looking at the word before us, for this cause, we have to refer to the last few words of the previous verse.

[2:07] Not discerning the Lord's body. This, in just a few words, is the cause of the low state of Zion today.

[2:21] Not discerning the Lord's body. There is plenty of natural religion. Plenty of that religion that the apostle had to speak against, very forcibly, when he wrote to the church at Corinth.

[2:42] But there is little of real religion in the world. For this simple reason, there is not a discerning of the body of Christ.

[3:00] We find the apostle speaking in the, I think the first chapter, is Christ divided? Is Christ divided? No, shall we not immediately reply that Christ is not divided?

[3:16] That he is one. There is only one Christ. The Corinthians were taken up with what we might call eulogizing beyond what was convenient.

[3:39] This and that person and to the detriment of others. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?

[3:51] Were ye baptized in the name of Paul? So you can see the trend of things at Corinth in those days.

[4:04] You can see the same trend in the churches of God today. There are those that are for one. And there are those that are for another.

[4:16] But, all this is so much a lack of not discerning the Lord's body. The Lord's body is a body of love.

[4:33] And this is that that is not deserved. Principally, the Lord's body can be set before us in the fullness of the Lord itself.

[4:45] Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and so on.

[4:57] And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

[5:07] And that is a comprehension of the Lord's body. The Lord Jesus in his life, in his death, set forth love.

[5:25] Love for his church, which was his body. In that sense, he loved that which was most proximus to himself. And that was the body as it is connected and close to the head.

[5:45] The Lord discerned that body himself in his life and in his death as he laid down his life for his body, the church.

[6:00] Now, first of all, in discerning the Lord's body and relating it to what we read in the description of the Lord's Supper, Take eat, this is my body which is broken for you.

[6:21] This do in remembrance of me. We should consider The love that the love that the Lord himself had to his church when he died upon Calvary.

[6:35] It was for this reason that he instituted the Lord's Supper, That his love that his love in dying for his body, the church, should not be forgotten.

[6:53] How easily we do forget. How easily we shall forget. And maybe we shall not go, have to go outside of ourselves to know how quickly these things have forgotten.

[7:12] But, there is also a discerning of the body of the Lord in this sense, As it refers to the church of God.

[7:26] The next chapter tells us very much about the composition of the body. For the body is not one member, but many.

[7:43] 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 of the eye, I am not of the body, Is it therefore not of the body?

[8:03] And so he goes on To show the necessity Of one member to another. For, and also says this, For by one spirit, Are we all baptized into one body?

[8:21] Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, Whether we be bond or free, And have been all made to drink Into one spirit.

[8:35] Discerning the Lord's body. Now if we discern the Lord's body, Each member of his body, Are we a member of that body?

[8:48] We make our profession, But are we a member of that body? Then, There will be love in our heart To Lord, Every member of that body.

[9:03] But that love, Is to be distinguished, From a carnal love. In the present day, There has been a great deal of degeneration.

[9:15] And, People's love is the love of the world. That is, The, Word of God is discarded.

[9:29] It's not what God says, And thinks, It's what we think. And there is no discerning, Of the Lord's body, In a spiritual way.

[9:43] We may well turn to, The Ephesians. Or we may turn to, Any part of the word of God. And particularly, Paul's epistles, As he enlarges, Upon the importance of, Love to, The body.

[10:01] And, To the head also. In the Corinthians, He speaks of, The, Head of the church.

[10:15] But speaking the truth in love, May grow up into him, In all things, Which is the head, Even Christ, From whom, The whole body, Fitly joined together, And compacted by that, Which every joint supplieth, According to the effectual working, In the measure of every part, Make it increase of the body, Unto the edifying of itself, In love.

[10:49] So then we see, The principle, Of, The working, And the edifying, Of the body of Christ, Which is the church, And which we need to discern, That it is bound together, In love.

[11:06] Now that being so, Our necessity, It will be needful, For us to, Put ourselves, Last.

[11:18] Last. And certainly, We shall have to put Christ, First. Now, We might just refer, Your attention, To further verses, In the fourth chapter, Of Ephesians, This I say therefore, And testify in the Lord, That ye henceforth, Walk, Not as other Gentiles walk, In the vanity, Of their mind, Having the understanding, Darkened, Being alienated, From the life of God, Through the ignorance, That is in them, Because of the blindness, Of their hearts, Who being past feeling, Have given themselves, Over unto lasciviousness, To work all uncleanness, With greediness, But ye have not so, Learned Christ.

[12:18] Now, If we have learned Christ, There will be a discerning, Of the body of Christ, If so be, That ye have heard him, And have been taught, By him, As the truth is in Jesus, That ye put off, Concerning the former conversation, The old man, Which is corrupt, According to the deceitful lusts, And be renewed, In the spirit of your mind, And that ye put on, The new man, Which after God, Is created in righteousness, And true holiness, Wherefore putting away, Lying, Speak every man, Truth with his neighbor, For we are members, One of another, Be ye angry, And sin not, Let not the sun,

[13:19] Go down upon your wrath, Neither give place, To the devil, Let him that stole, Steal no more, But rather let him labor, Working with his hands, The thing which is good, That he may have, To give to him that needeth, Let no corrupt communication, Proceed out of your mouth, But that which is good, To the use of edifying, That it may render, Minister grace unto the hearers, Now it is because, There is such little attention, Paid to, These parts of the scriptures, That the church of God, Is as it is today, It's no use people complaining, About the low state of Zion, When they themselves, May well be a contributor, To the low state of Zion,

[14:22] Because of, A lack, Of deep concern, Of the exercise of grace, And faith in their hearts, To this end, Now the word before us, Not discerning the Lord's body, Because, These things, And the things which I have read to you, From Ephesians, Speak to us about, Love to one another, You see if we love one another, Discerning the body of Christ, The church of God, Then, We shall want to do those things, That will promote, Our spirituality, And if we are guilty, Of doing those things, Which, Do not promote, Our spirituality, Then we are responsible, For the low state of Zion, As it is today, Now the apostle goes on to say, Not discerning the Lord's body, For this cause, Because there is,

[15:23] A failure to, Discern the Lord's body, A failure to, Consider, Consider, With loving one's heart, To the Lord, Many, Are, Are weak, And sickly among you, And many sleep, It is, It is, Very noticeable, In the present day, That there are many, That are weak in the faith, They do not seem, To get any farther, Than, Being, Babes, As it were, And so, The apostle found it, In, The church at Corinth, And I, Brethren, Could not speak unto you, As unto spiritual, But as unto carnal, Even as unto babes in Christ, I have fed you with meat, With milk, And not with meat,

[16:24] For hitherto, You were not able to bear it, Neither yet now are ye able, For ye are yet carnal, For whereas there is among you, Envying, And strife, And divisions, Are ye not carnal, And walk as men, Well, The word of God, Will speak to us, And does speak to us, We do not have to add anything, To the word of God, To show us where we stand, And the reason, Of why, The church of God, Professedly, Is as it is today, For this cause, Many are weak, How little, There is in the present day, Of that faith, Which takes hold upon Christ, Why is it?

[17:16] It's because, There is not a discerning, Of the body of Christ, The Lord's body, Love in the church, Love to Christ first, And love to one another after, Not with a natural love, But with a spiritual love, It is said, And rightly so, We love him, Because he first loved us, And the church of God, Loves the church of God, Because, They were first, Each individual member, Were loved of God, And that's why, They love one another, And they desire, To do those things, Which God has, Set down in his holy words, And there are many, Are we, Oh how sad it is, That this, May appear broadly, And we cannot be free, From ourselves, We should be foolish indeed, If we were to say, Well we're all right here,

[18:16] Because we're not, Are we? You've only got to examine the matter, It fills my heart, With sadness, Many a time, Because I can see, This work, This very word, Move work down, In some of you, And I feel sad, Oh that the Lord, Would wonderfully appear, And arise, And grant, That we may be, Truly built up, A spiritual house, Offering spiritual sacrifices, Unto God, Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, So then, For this cause, Many are weak, Weak, Weak in faith, And they are weak, In hope, And they are weak, In love, And because they are weak, In love, They are weak, In love, To the church of God, They are weak, In love, To the Lord, Jesus Christ himself, And therefore, There is a division, In the mind, There are those, That will, Love the world,

[19:17] And also love Christ, And we can't have it, That way, Because if, This is what, We attempt to do, Then, Without any doubt, We shall be weak, The things of God, Will, Be held with a light hand, And we shall not be able, To, Do those things, Which, We would desire to do, Because we are weaker, The world, The flesh, And the devil, Are the three, Three, The trinity of evil, That weakens, The church of God, And the apostle here, Uses this word, Many, For this cause, Not discerning, The body of Christ, And all that that means, The love which joins it together, For this cause, Many are weak, And many, Are sickly among you, Now you see, Dear friends,

[20:19] It does not say, Sick, But it says, Sickly, Now this is, What we might call, An intermediate stage, We may be, Sick, Naturally, But there are many times, When we are sickly, That is, We are out of sorts, We, Have a loss of appetite, We are not exactly sick, But we are sickly, Now, When we are not discerning, The body of Christ, We shall find, In coming to, The word of God, In coming to the house of God, We shall have no appetite, You see, It doesn't matter, How good the table is spread, Naturally, If we have no appetite, We are sickly, And how many,

[21:20] In the professing church of God today, Are in this place, They say, There is no power in the ministry, There is no power in the few, You see, The gospel may be set forth, But, If you have no appetite, If you are sickly, Then, You will have no, No desire for it, You will turn aside from it, Or you will pick at it, Many, Says the apostle, Are sickly among you, And if we have, No appetite, That soon has an effect upon, The rest of our being, Because, Eating is essential, To the activity, And the general movement, Of every part of our bodies, Sometimes, And this of course, Is in the extreme stage, People, Have not been able, To see so clearly,

[22:23] And it's often been because, They have neglected themselves, In their appetite, They have not eaten enough, And therefore they've, Automatically as it were, Become weak, And have not been able to see, Now then, If we have no appetite, For the word, If we have no appetite, For the preaching of the gospel, Whatever we may say, Then we shall, Not be in a position, To discern, The body, Of Christ, And you see, What is it, That has caused us, To have, No appetite, For the things of God, Has somebody, Has somebody slid in some poison, Somewhere, Has somebody, Brought her, A very tasty dish, Which is, Nevertheless, A worldly dish, Though a lordly dish, And we've thought, This looks nice, This looks nice,

[23:24] And it does look nice, To the natural eye, The carnal mind, And, It does appeal, To the fleshly, The fleshly, Part of us, But, That, Makes us sickly, Toward, That which is, The, Body of Christ, The church, Of the living God, And you see, You'll soon find, That, This being so, Your love, To the people of God, Will diminish, And you'll make, All sorts of suggestions, That you don't like them anymore, Why have people, Gone away, From the church of God, Why have they departed, Because, They've been critical, Of those that live, Near the Lord, Of those that love, The Lord Jesus Christ, With mind and heart, They've been critical, That only because, They are themselves, Sickly,

[24:24] Having, No appetite, And that, Lack of appetite, Affecting the whole, Of their own being, So that they cannot, See rightly, They do not hear clearly, And their heart, Is affected, And, Their heart, Is divided, So that they, Cannot, Enjoy anything, Oh isn't it a sad day, When, We should, Sing so loud, Maybe because, Of all the work, Of the devil, And he does, All he can, To prevent, You and me, From discerning, The body of Christ, Discerning, The glory of Christ, Discerning, The happiness, That is in Christ, Discerning, The beauty, Of the church of God, Bound together, In love, Holiness, Communion, Oh he certainly, Does that, But, For this cause,

[25:27] Many, Are weak, And sickly, Among you, So, This is not the end, And many sleep, Oh it is a sad, Sad sight, When, People sleep, Naturally, In the, In the pews, Whatever they say, You cannot say, They've got an appetite, They may try, To make you think so, But we've got to, Believe what we see, And actions speak, Loud in the words, What is the situation, There is no discerning, Of the body of Christ, For he does eat it, And, For this cause, Many are weak, And sickly, Among you, And many sleep, But there, We do not have to go, To that extremity, Of being, Actually asleep,

[26:27] Under the hearing, Of the words, We can be asleep, With our eyes open, And, Maybe, We should be able, To bear our personal testimony, At times, Where, We've been at the house of God, We've gone through the service, But we've been asleep, Because, As soon as we've got outside, Or as soon as we've got home, Perhaps somebody said, Well what was the service about, What was the text about, What did the minister say, And we've been asleep, Because we couldn't say, We couldn't tell, And there are many, Sickly, A weak, And sickly among you, And many sleep, Well now, How solemn it was, For the church at Corinth, How solemn it is, For the church anywhere, And how solemn it is, For us, If this could be leveled at us,

[27:29] For, This cause, Many are weak, And sickly among you, And many sleep, Now you see, The cases before us, Are such, That, Speaking broadly, Unless the Lord intervenes, The weak, The sickly, And the sleep, And the sleepers, And the sleepers, Will be the last, To say, Is it I?

[28:03] When, Question came up, As to who, Had betrayed the Lord, All from some, There was a ready, Enquiry, Lord, Is it I?

[28:16] And Judas, The guilty one, Was the last one, To say, Is it I? And so it is always, Those that are most guilty, Will be the, Last, To say, Is it I?

[28:30] Because, They are, Weak, And sickly, And, Asleep, Nevertheless, Coming to the next verse, For if we judge, Would judge ourselves, We should not be judged, We read, Elsewhere, Examine yourselves, Whether you be in the faith, Now how often do you do that?

[28:57] You do take it for granted, That you're in the faith, When John Newton penned those lines, To the point I long to know, After it caused his anxious thought, Do I love the Lord or no?

[29:12] Am I his or am I not? He had been many years in the faith, It was not an experience that, Attaches to, The beginner, It is that which attaches to, Those that are drawing near the end of their journey, Why?

[29:34] Because there was some, Cross examination, If I am, Why am I thus? Why this, Cold, And lifeless frame, Hardly sure could they be worse, Who have never heard his name, And what was, What was John Newton doing?

[29:55] Well, surely, He had heard a word like this, For this cause, Many are weak, And sickly among you, And many asleep, And he began to feel, Yes, That's just where I am, And yet he himself was lively, Because he was anxious to know, The thing that was right, He was anxious to know, That, He was not deceived after all, And the end of that hymn, Shows, Clearly, The, Life of God was in his soul, He wasn't sleeping, Neither was he sickly, Neither was he weak, Though he thought he was, And felt he was, See, There were two points, That he had to consider, Consider the lifelessness, And dullness of his own heart, And frame, And then he saw, The darkness, And the vanity, And the wildness, And the unbelief,

[30:56] And the sin, That he felt so acutely, And brought him to the point, Can I deem myself a child? But then, Comes to this point, Yet I mourn my stubborn will, Find my sin a grief and thrall, Should I grieve for what I feel, If I did not love at all, Could I joy as saints to me, Choose the ways I once abhor, Find a time for the promise sweet, If I did not love the Lord, Was he sickly, Was he weak, Was he asleep, And yet he was deeply concerned, And hearing a word like this, Pronounced to him, He would immediately say, That's me, That's me, I'm sickly, I'm weak, And I've often spent,

[32:00] But, There was something that he felt, And he was so confused, That he came to God, And said, Lord, Decide the doubtful case, There who art thy people's son, Shine upon thy work of grace, If it be indeed begun, And now you see, Discern the Lord's body, Let me love thee, More and more, If I love at all, I pray, If I have not loved before, Help me, To begin today, This is discerning the Lord's body, Loving the Lord, And the Lord says, To his disciples, And to us, If he love me, Keep my commandments, And in keeping of thy commandments, There is great reward, Now the commandments of the Lord are many,

[33:03] And one of the principal ones, Is just this, By this, Shall all men know, That ye are my disciples, When ye love one another, Now then, To love one another, Will be, That loving one another, When, We have a single eye, To the glory of God, When, There is a, A coming, Before God continually, When, We meet with one another, That we may, Seek to do, Only those things, That are convenient, That we may, Uh, Come to the sanctuary, We may bear our head in prayer, That, There may be a flowing together, To the goodness of the Lord, In the land of the living, And then again, When, We may meet with one another,

[34:06] Whether it is, Uh, Uh, By arrangement, By arrangement, Or, Suddenly, Then, Will it not be, That a prayer may go up, Lord, Bless us together, Now then, This is important, Among Christians, Discerning the body of Christ, We meet together, Does our heart go up, Or, Are we sickly, Or, Are we weak, Or, Are we asleep, Or, Do we disregard, The love of God, All together, And say, Well, We'll cut that out, At the time being, No, If we are healthy, If we, Seek, To love the Lord, With mind and heart, There will be, There will be a secret prayer, Which goes up, Lord, Bless us together, Let thy presence be felt, Let thy name be glorified, Let us speak of the good things, Of the kingdom, Deliver us from every evil thing,

[35:08] I have a carnal heart, Let me not be a hindrance, To the others, Of those that shall, Destroy, One that shall destroy, All the good, That we might enjoy, By my own carnality, Some of God's people, Have known what it is, To sit silent, Lest, They might say something, Which would spoil, And a blessing of God, Upon the gathering, Of, Those that profess his name, All them, We should also, Remember this, That, There is, A striking word, In the acts of the apostles, They took knowledge of them, That they had been with Jesus, Now then, We can only, Walk in that way, If we are discerning, If we are discerning, The body of Christ, Now,

[36:09] Can people take knowledge of you, Every day, And say, That person's been with Jesus, You see, This is the distinguishing mark, Of the church, And the world, They've been with Jesus, And they are blessed, With a humble spirit, And they acknowledge God, At every turn, They've been with Jesus, This is good, For us to consider, The world, Took knowledge of them, The world, Takes knowledge of the church of God, And that's the only way, In which they can, Take knowledge of the church of God, By, Observing, That they have been with Jesus, If we turn to, One of the Psalms, We shall find, When the Lord, Turned again, The captivity of Zion, We were like them,

[37:10] That dreamed, Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing, Then said they among the heathen, The Lord, Have done great things for them, That's what the heathen said, I said, That's what the heathen said, The Lord hath done great things for us, Whereof we are glad, And that being so, Unless we are weak, And sickly, And asleep, There will be those things, That we shall want to tell, In connection with just those few words, The Lord has done great things for us, Has he done great things for you?

[37:53] And are you going to, Put it all under a bushel, And say nothing about it? Surely it is strange, Surely it is because, There's something wrong, For if ye would judge yourselves, Where we should not be judged, Now this self-judgment, Is a very important matter, In Christian experience, Is a very important matter, In Christian experience, We shall be, Blessed indeed, If we judge ourselves, Now, Now, We are guilty, We are bound to be guilty, We are sinners, But, If we judge ourselves, Then we shall have already assessed ourselves, Guilty, Before the Lord comes to us, So that when the Lord comes to us, We shall say, Yes Lord, I'm guilty, I'm guilty unto me, For along its shame, And confusion of faces,

[38:54] I'm guilty, This is one, Of the great benefits, For this cause, Many are weak, And sickly among you, And many sleep, Nevertheless, If we judge, If we would judge ourselves, We should not be judged, I might just take notice of this word, If we would judge ourselves, Now, Some of you may feel, Yes, If only I could, I need grace to judge myself, I believe, It is quite true, That, There is a case against me, That I am weak, In the faith, In love, And in everything, Because I, I haven't the clarity of sight, To discern the glory of the, Body of Christ, The body of the Lord, And I am sickly, Because I've got the appetite, That I should have, And I do sleep,

[39:56] Yet, Lord, Give me grace to repent, And to turn to the Lord, And to seek, That I may have a lively spirit, That I may have a good appetite, That I may long, To sing the praises of him that died, More fully, More clearly, For this cause, Yes, For this cause, But, For, If we would judge ourselves, We should not be judged, And we shall not be judged, By other people either, There was a case, Some years ago, When, A minister was placed over, A certain congregation, And after a time, There were some in the congregation, That brought various charges, Against him, And the meeting was called, And the independent, Minister was asked,

[40:56] To take the chair, And then, The, The prosecution, Got up, And they laid all these charges, Against the minister, And then the chairman, He said to, The accused, He said, What have you got to say?

[41:15] Well he said, All I've got to say is this, If I haven't told you half, If they knew what I knew, I said, I haven't told you half, Why? They may have charged him, With, Weakness, With sickliness, With sleeping, But, He himself, Had been before, His own barn, For if we would judge ourselves, We should not be judged, And he said, You haven't told, They, They haven't told you half, I've brought myself, Being guilty, On the points, That they've said, But I've also, Brought myself, Being guilty, On many other points, As well, And the chairman said, There's no case, There's no case, The man pleads, And he seeks forgiveness, There's no case, There is therefore, Now, No condemnation, To them, That are in Christ Jesus, Who,

[42:16]  Walked in flesh, But after the spirit, We leave it for this morning, Amen.