Lessons from the Corinthian Church Part 7

CCI Fellowship's podcast discusses the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. These gifts are diverse, but all come from the same Spirit. The gifts mentioned include the word of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, and speaking in tongues. The podcast emphasizes that believers are one body in Christ, regardless of location. Interesting facts about the human body are also shared. The importance of having the Holy Spirit within and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit is highlighted. The sermon encourages listeners to come to Jesus and drink from the rivers of living water that flow from within believers. Welcome to CCI Fellowship's podcast. Thank you for joining us. At CCI Fellowship, we are reaching God, reaching each other, and reaching our community. We pray that this week's message challenges you in your walk with the Lord, causes you to grow in your faith, and encourages you in your love for the Word of God. Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for the opportunity to gather together, Lord. Lord, please talk to us. Speak your word. Speak life to each one of us, Father, that after going over this session, over this scripture today, Lord, that your spirit may flow, Father, from us. The Lord says that those who believe in you, they will flow rivers of living water, Father, and that your Holy Spirit may guide this sermon, this reading of scripture, Father, that we may be nurtured and growing as a body, Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Pastor John made a small introduction about the spiritual gifts. He made a difference over them. It can be activities, spiritual gifts, and coins that the Holy Spirit gives to us. But all these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one just as He determines. It says in verse 11. If you have your Bibles, we're going to be around 1 Corinthians 12, and then we're going to move to Acts chapter 18. So if you want to go back and forth to read over the chapter, you can go there. It will help you to go over this scripture. So what does chapter 12, verse 5 to 10 say? It's about the gift that the Holy Spirit gives to each one of us for the profit of all. It says, There are differences of ministry, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it's the same Lord, the same God, who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one of us for the profit of all. It says, For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. So I'm just mentioning them, but next Sunday Pastor John is going to go deeper into each one of these topics and to search the most important things that it's love. So I'm doing a spoiler alert here, but today what the Lord put in my heart to share to you guys is to say that we are one body. And that's what Paul approaches in the next verses. In verse 27 says, Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. Guys, do you feel that you're part of the body of Christ? I'm not asking you if you feel part of CTA Fellowship. I'm asking you if you're part of the body of Christ as one. For example, if I go to China right now, I'm completely sure that I'm part of the body of that people who believed in Jesus Christ, who rose on the third day from the grave and defeated death, and believe in this good news that now our relationship with the Lord is restored. So basically when we know this and the Spirit is in us, we're going to go over the Scripture in a while, but I'm part of that body. If I go right now to Australia, if I go right now to Canada, it's the same body. Okay? Here, who likes to know interesting facts about things? So I'm going to give you some interesting facts about your body. Do you know that the average adult male human has around a number? How many cells do you have in your body? A number? A male human has around 36 trillion cells in your body. Trillion. There are different types of cells. Women, females, have 28 trillion in their bodies, and 10-year-old children have about 17 trillion cells in their body. Also, do you know how many organs do you have in your body? No? No? 78 organs in the human body. You have 78 organs in your human body, and they perform vital life-supporting functions like pumping blood or eliminating toxins together. Remember this word, together. These structures keep us alive and make us who we are physically. Do you know how many systems are working, the major systems in your body? There are 11 major systems working together in your body. I'm going to just say some of them. Skeletal system, muscular system, nervous system, endocrine system, cardiovascular system, lymphatic system, respiratory system, digestive system, urinary system, and reproductive system. Eleven major systems working right now like a Swiss watch, like specific time in your heart. Everything is working. I love to meditate over this and how perfect is God, His creation, and the way that He built our bodies and created our bodies is amazing. Another, I'm going to do three more, or maybe four. Do you know how many liters of saliva your body produces daily? Almost one. Almost one liter of saliva. Almost. Do you know that your brain is sometimes more active when you're asleep than when you're awake? That's amazing, right? This, I need to Google it and do more research about it, but I found this amazing. Do you know that bodies give off a tiny amount of light that's too weak for the eye to see? We're basically producing a small amount of light that our eyes can perceive. I'm just telling you, I read this somewhere. I need to go deeper into this, but while giving a sermon, this calls my attention. I would love to think that that amount of light is the presence of the Lord in our bodies. How amazing is that? Let's Google that. That's not written in a rock. Let's Google more, but it's amazing. The average person has 67 different species of bacteria in their belly button. Next time you take a bath, wash very good your belly button. That's funny. The human heart beats more than 3 billion times in an average lifespan. More than 3 billion times. That's amazing. You were thinking that I was going to make a conference here. We're not doing that. I just was popping some curiosities that I love these kind of things and having conversations. Now you've got some material there. Let's go again to 1 Corinthians 12. I'm going to read from verse 12 to 14. It says, The body is not made up of one part, but of many. It calls my attention that Paul here is approaching that. He's not saying we're part of this group of Christians. We're not part of this society or specific group of people. He's saying that for we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body. He's not saying if you're a part of Corinth, you're a part of the church of Corinth. You're a part of the church in Ephesus. He's saying that if you are baptized by one spirit, that same spirit that lifted Jesus Christ from the grave is the one that abides in us. It says Romans. So we are part of that body. I was meditating over this. This may sound a little bit strong. I don't want you to feel excluded or that I'm condemning you, but I'm just motivating you that if at this point you don't know, if you have the Holy Spirit abiding in you, you just need to believe. I remember Pastor John teaching about this. There's a lot of questions. Do I have the Holy Spirit? Do I already receive the Holy Spirit? That's basically what you need to do. We've been over this the last month, over this year. We've been over the early church in Acts 2. But we just need to believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him, and definitely He will answer you that question. But again, with that advertising that I made, it may sound strong, but not necessarily if you're coming to church at TCA Fellowship at the service of 4 p.m. in Tegucigalpa, that doesn't mean that you're part of the body of Christ. As I said, you're part of the body of Christ if the Holy Spirit is abiding in you. There are, we can say, fruits of the Spirit, but also in Galatians, it's not in the notes, maybe if you want to take note over this, in Galatians 5, from verse 16 to 24, we can see a contrast between the works of the flesh and the works of the Spirit. So here it says, So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh decides what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. And then here's a list of acts of the flesh that are obvious, for example, sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like, similar to this. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But here it comes, here's the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And even when I try to get mad, I want to remember the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Control yourself, control yourself, specifically now when we're in traffic in Tegucigalpa, last day. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. So it's important to remember ourselves. But why did I write this in this sermon? If we are in one spirit, if the Holy Spirit abides, the fruit of the Spirit will be in us. And this doesn't mean that we cannot get mad or that we sin, but the Spirit will lead us not to condemnation, but to the cross always. So that's the most amazing part. In John 7, verse 37 to 38, it says, On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. So if there's someone here who is thirsty, come to Jesus. Who is thirsty, come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. Which are these rivers of living water. Not dead water, it's living water. It's the fruit of you coming through you. Every word that you speak, anything that you're doing, it's the work of the Spirit in you if you believe. So there's this invitation today, that today if you're having some doubts, if you're having troubles, if you are with burdens right now, maybe you had a very tough week, I invite you to connect to this body of believers. This doesn't mean that maybe, yeah, we know and we've heard this, that church is like a hospital to people that need to be healed. And yes, I want to remember this. If we're here, we're not here because we have all arranged in our lives. We're here because we're willing to come to the house of the Lord, to praise Him, to learn from Him, to share Scripture. But it's not the same. And I think that we live this while we were during the pandemic, that we live how it was, like living a virtual life. And when we came again together to have our relationship with our church and everything, it's not the same. For example, as for me, I felt a difference coming from virtuality to be here, to move. I must recognize that once I said to Pastor John before pandemic, I said, John, I'm having a good time today. I think that in church right now is not a good place. My heart is not in the right position today to go to church. And Pastor John just told me, well, you're feeling like that? I think that church is the best place that you can be right now. And I was, you know what? I'm going to go there. Give me five minutes. So it was amazing. So I'm inviting you today to be part of this body. So I think that while John, Paul, writing this letter, he made a lot of examples. Like, for example, we're going to go over them, but I tried to divide them into two parts. One as a personal view of a believer in the body. What's the first thought that I said? Like, no, I'm not in the right position to be there, to go to church, to be part of that body. So it says, verse 15, chapter 12, verse 15 says, Now if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it will not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, it will not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? So when we're coming to Christ, and we are recent converters or recent believers, and sometimes we can be trapped in these thoughts. I'm not in the greeter's team. I'm not in the worship team. I'm not in the procession team, or the different kinds of ways that you can serve at church. We feel, well, I'm not necessary. There's no need for me to go to church today, so I'm going to stay home. Or maybe we are having some troubles. And these examples, maybe I just quoted them because those are things that I was fighting with these things. When we're part of a body of Christ, when we're connected to a group of believers, there are things that the flesh needs to deal with at the beginning. And not only at the beginning. We need to be aware of it, but at some point the Lord needs to work with this. And it came to mind, what are the things that I started fighting when I came to Christ and be connected to a body of believers? Jealousy, haughtiness. Haughtiness means altivez in Spanish. Lack of submission and lack of obedience. And the list may continue. And I just quoted four things that maybe at some point I started thinking, well, I'm not good enough. Or maybe one of my leaders tried to correct me. Even in love, I didn't receive it with the same heart. So these are things that we need to work in. So I think that Paul, and this is a personal insight about this. This is a person saying, because I'm not the hand, I do not belong to the body. Because I'm not a servant, I don't belong to the part of the church or the believers. In verse 18 says, but in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as we want them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. So let's go to the other side, the other view, the leadership view of the body. In verse 21 says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I do not need you. Do you see the contrast here? For example, the example that Paul is saying, the hand saying, I do not belong to the body. But here the example that he says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you. Like saying, I don't want you to be part of my body. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. And the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty. While our presentable parts need no special treatment. I've met a guy named Simon. I've met very few people so passionate as that guy. He's part of the body of Christ. And I've seen that guy. He's almost in his 60 years old, I think. And I've served with him a long time ago. And he was very passionate. Telling about Christ and later on in Acts 13, we're going to see a guy also that was very passionate about bringing the word of God. And at some point he was diagnosed with, I think it was diabetes, I think. And he had some troubles with his smallest finger, toe finger. And they need to cut off the small finger. And you may say, the smallest finger in your toe. It doesn't matter. But you know what? By his experience, I'd never thought how important was that small, tiny toe in your feet in order for you to balance and to give. He needed to start to learn how to walk again. So here it's a, every little tiny, any part of your body that you may think that it's insignificant, it's very important. And it's there because God placed them there. And as I read at the beginning, we had 36, almost 36 trillion cells in our body. And each one of them is very important for our body to be working. So my invitation today is to get connected. Start doing something today. You may think I am not ready. I am the tiniest cell of this body. But still, get connected. Get connected. The Lord wants to use you. I felt very identified with this part in verse 27. It says, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before Him. As I said before, if you're feeling weak or that you don't qualify to do something specific for the kingdom, if you're feeling the small finger of the toe, the Lord wants to use you for His glory. One of the things, and it's my personal testimony, it doesn't need to be the same testimony as the same as you guys, but I remember that one of the things that kept me connected to the body was serving. Was serving. The Lord changed my heart. I never thought of moving miles and miles to go and pick up someone that is going to serve. And the Lord changed. And I'm not boasting about this, but the thing is that the Lord changed my heart. And by serving Him was the way that He brought me nearer and nearer to Him. Every session, every time that we get together with other Christians for, I don't know, in a logistics meeting or something like that, we need to pray. We confess the Lord always and invite Him to be part of it. So every prayer, every meeting was adding to my relationship with Christ. And at this point, I've learned that I don't want to lose any meeting. I don't want to lose to be part, to get connected and also to serve the Lord. So my invitation today is that if you are not serving in any team, my invitation was, they didn't ask me, do you know how to pray? Have you ever read the whole Bible? Or are you ready to serve? They just asked me, do you know how to serve beverages? And I was like, yeah, I can do it. Well, welcome to the service. And I was like, really, is that it? Yes, that's it. So I want to ask if someone wants to, I don't know, serve coffees in the cafeteria or do something, but is willing to get connected. Returning to verse 24, it says, but God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. We are one body and you are not alone. And I'm going to continue repeating this. So 1 Corinthians 12, 27 says, now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is part of it. Amen? There's one practical example in what Paul is approaching in chapter 12. Let's go now to Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. And this is the part where Paul came to Corinth and met Priscilla and Aquila. After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus. I don't know if that pronunciation is correct, but I'm just reading it. Who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Call my attention. There was an instruction from all Jews to leave Rome. And then we can see Paul there going to bring the good news, the gospel. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tent maker, I love to read this, as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he risen in the synagogue trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. And at this point in time, I can read a Paul. And for those of you guys who are in the marketplace, maybe at this point you are not in a full-time ministry at this point, and maybe the Lord, maybe in the future, will call you. Or maybe he would love you to be in the marketplace and get to grow the kingdom of God here on earth. But I love this fact that Paul, he was a tent maker. He was producing, and we can read to him that he didn't want it to be a burden to the church. And he was working there, and he was building. But in the Sabbath, he went to the synagogue trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching and testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed to Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads. I am innocent of it. From now I will go to the Gentiles. And praise God for it, because there's a lot of truth going to the Gentiles and it was part of the perfect plan of God for humanity. Verse 9 says, One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision. Hear this. Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you. And we can read this verse. The Lord said to specific people this over and over again. Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you. And no one is going to attack or harm you. Because of what? Because I have many people in the city. At this point, it may be, yeah, there were a lot of angels there, but the message was there was a body of believers. There was one body in Corinth at this time. So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. And this is amazing, because at this point we can read about the start of the church in Corinth. And Paul was there a year and a half, and we can see how Paul was nurturing. And the letters that we are going over right now is part of the fruit of Paul building this church. As a leader. So in verse 19 it says, They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. Paul left them. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. So in 1 Peter we can read that, I'm going to paraphrase it, if someone asks you why do you believe in what you believe, we need to be prepared to defend why we believe in what we believe, to give a reason of our faith if they ask them. So right now in the early church we can see Paul doing this. We can see Priscilla and Aquila doing it. We can see these guys that we're going to go over right now, the Apollos. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native from Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor. He spoke with great fervor. He was very passionate and thought about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he came out of Alexandria, and still he was part of the body. He was fervently preaching about his Lord. Do you know who was there hearing Apollos bringing this message? He began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Priscilla and Aquila heard him. They invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. What happened here? Here in Acts we can read that he had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and thought about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. So what was the teaching that Priscilla and Aquila added to Apollos and explained to him the way of God more adequately? What comes to your mind? About the Holy Spirit. And it caught my attention that today the media team sharing today in the story, Holy Spirit, what is the Holy Spirit speaking, and that caught my attention because it wasn't in my notes at all. And what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us. That's amazing. So right now we are living in a society in which the preacher is not speaking about what we like. And I'm not saying specifically about CCI Fellowship, but still it can happen in CCI Fellowship, but it can happen to us. We live in that we cancel society. Oh, you're not teaching? Well, I cancel you. I'm going to silence you. I'm not going to learn more from you. And here Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos to her home with love and built him up to be more, I want to say productive is the first word that comes to my mind, more violent to the kingdom of God in this earth. So he was taught about the Holy Spirit. And I've heard this verse maybe in a different context, but it says, united we stand, divided we fall. And I've heard also this phrase that says that Christians are the only army that shoot against it. It's same soldiers. You know what? I really hate this. I really hate this. But there's been things happening around the world or even in our society, I don't know. But I would love that this phrase may be buried once and for all and that in these last times, definitely we are living in the last times, and that Jesus is coming at any time. And instead of bringing desperation or you being worried about this, I'm inviting you to be part of the revival that the Lord is bringing to the world right now at this moment. And I definitely want to be part of that revival. I want to be part of that revival that the Lord is bringing to Honduras, and I want to be part of it. I remember in the anniversary, CCI anniversary, I forgot right now the name of this Argentinian evangelist that came here. And at the end, he made a call, and he just said, you know what, Jesus, the only thing that the Lord needs to bring revival to our society, to our country. And everyone was asking themselves, what? Jesus, the only thing that needs is the people that hate sin. He didn't call perfect people. He only is calling people that hate sin, that will be if they are confronted with sin, that they can come to the cross. But that's the message today, that if you want to be part of the body, make sure that you are being filled with the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is present in your life, and that he is part of your daily life, not only on Sundays, but on your daily life, taking decisions, and that you may have power, the power of the Holy Spirit in you. The worship team may come here to the front. Here are some points to meditate on. Number one, we are part of one body. We are not called to be lone rangers, llaneros solitarios, as we say in Spanish. Number two, you don't know who you are building. See the person right next to you. You don't know if that person will cause a revival in Honduras. Maybe he is going to be called to somewhere else. Maybe we don't know if you are building the next Billy Graham, or if you are building the next Apollos, or if we as a church are building a revival in our country. I love to think about that. Number three, if you need to hear this, if at some point you felt that you are excluded, or that maybe you came to church and even if no one said hi to you that day, maybe you are feeling excluded, I want to tell you that you are important in this body. You are important in the body of Christ. If these thoughts come to your mind, just quiet them, because that is not the voice of the Holy Spirit. Because the voice of the Holy Spirit will tell you, will invite you to be part of this, to be part of his body. And the last point is, opening to what the Lord is bringing to us next Sunday, whatever we do, we do it in love. I just feel to pray to close this sermon in a way that if your heart is with a burden right now, if there is something against a brother or a sister, not only blood, but in Christ, that if there is something that is bothering you, that if there is something that is coming to your mind and brings guilt, that you need to speak to someone today, please do. Even if you want to confess something to a brother or sister, please do. Because what the enemy wants is to divide the body of Christ. And whatever we do, we are going to do it in love. That is the way that Lucille and Aquila feel the Apollos, in love. So that is what we are doing here. So let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the example, Father, that you brought today, Lord, that we may build each other, Lord. Father, if we need to confess at this moment with you, Lord, that we may come to your altar, Lord, and just humbly ask for forgiveness that you have already granted in the cross, Lord. And Father, that we may build the body that we, if someone is suffering at this point, Father, the whole body is suffering, Lord. But also when someone is exalted for your glory, Lord, also we are going to be happy with that person in celebration, Lord. But we are one body, Father. If someone is suffering today, if someone is feeling excluded, if the enemy is bringing thoughts and wants to have that person in the deep for the rest of his life, right now I pray in the name of Jesus that all division falls. Father, that we may come humbly to your presence. Father, that you are in complete control of every relation, of every word that is coming out of our mouth. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. If you are ever in the Tegucigalpa area and looking for an English-speaking congregation, please join us on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the main auditorium of Iglesia CCI in Colonial Trepichi, just off Boulevard Sollapa near Una. If you would like prayer or more information about our church, contact us at fellowship.cci at gmail.com. That's fellowship.cci at gmail.com. Or follow us on social media. We hope to see you or hear from you soon. Blessings.