Can We Be With Christ Apart From His Body?
We cannot be one with Christ without being connected to his body, which includes all believers.
David Wilkerson emphasizes the interconnectedness of believers as members of the body of Christ, drawing from Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians. He illustrates that just as a human body cannot function with only one part, Christians cannot be truly united with Christ while isolating themselves from one another. The sermon highlights the importance of community and mutual support among believers, asserting that each member is vital for the body to function effectively. Wilkerson reminds us that we are all nourished by Christ, the bread of life, and that our relationships with each other are essential to our spiritual health.
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The apostle Paul instructs us, "Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually" (1 Corinthians 12:27). In another place he says more specifically, "The body is one and has many members, but all the members ... are one body, so also is Christ" (12:12).
Paul is telling us, in essence, "Take a look at your own body. You have hands, feet, eyes, ears. You're not just an isolated brain, unattached to the other members." It is the same with Christ. He is not just a head; he has a body and we comprise its members. We are connected to Jesus, our head, but we are also joined to each other.
Paul drives this point home, saying, "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17). Simply put, we are all fed by the same food: Christ, the manna from heaven. "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33).
Some Christians do not want to be connected to other members of the body. They commune with Jesus but they deliberately isolate themselves from other believers. But a body cannot be comprised of just a single member and Christ's body cannot be made up of a head alone. We simply cannot be one with Christ without being one with his body.
Believers are knit together not only by their need for Jesus, but by their need for each other. Paul states, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you'" (1 Corinthians 12:21).
Our head says we are all important, even necessary, to the functioning of his body. This is especially true of members who may be bruised and hurting. The Lord himself says, "I have need of you. You are a vital member of my body and absolutely necessary for it to function."
Sermon Outline
- The Body of Christ
- Communion and Unity
- The Importance of Connection
- The Value of Every Member
- The Head's Perspective
- Necessity for the Body's Functioning
- Connected to Jesus and Each Other
Key Quotes
“The body is one and has many members, but all the members ... are one body, so also is Christ.” — David Wilkerson
“The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” — David Wilkerson
“For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” — David Wilkerson
Application Points
- Recognize the importance of being connected to other believers in order to be one with Christ.
- Understand that every member of the body is vital and necessary for its functioning.
- Seek to build relationships with other believers and work together as a unified body.