Read Textual Sermon from John K. Jenkins Sr
The Body of Christ (Communion Series, Part 1)
I want to start a new series tonight that I’m going to do for communion for the next several communion services. I want to call it “The Body of Christ.” I’m going to do a series on the body of Christ.
Ephesians chapter 4 is where I’m going to start tonight—Ephesians chapter 4. I want to talk about this because there is a spirit in our country where people think that church is not necessary. There’s an attitude in our communities: “I can worship God at home.” And you can worship God at home, but you can’t become everything that God wants you to become isolated and by yourself. Thank all 17 of y’all for that rousing affirmation.
It’s critically important that, the way God designed the church, He has purposes associated with it. I want to try to kill the spirit and destroy the attitude where people think they don’t need the rest of the body.
If I stub my toe, something happens. The nerves in my toe send a message to my brain that says, “My toe is in pain.” My brain sends a message to the hands and my back to reach over and try to provide comfort. My brain tells my mouth to say something that expresses the pain that you’re in. My mouth opens wide, my eyes get wide, in an effort to bring some consolation to my toe. But if the toe had gotten cut off and wasn’t anywhere to be found from the body, it would not be able to appreciate all of the rest of the things that the body did to come to its aid. And the truth of the matter is, the way God designed the church is that we function better together than we do isolated.
As I look at the book of Ephesians, the church in Ephesus is a powerful church. I think you’ve heard me say this on multiple occasions. They accomplished much for the kingdom of God. They won souls to the kingdom. They tested and evaluated what preachers said—they didn’t just take what a preacher said as fact without evaluating it. They put the local idol makers out of business. They rebuked demons, cast out devils. They had a level of commitment and dedication that was honored by the Lord. The church in Ephesus was a profound, amazing church. If I could pastor a church like this, I would be happy. They were so amazing that others tried to imitate them and be like them. They tried to cast out demons out of people like they saw the church in Ephesus doing. It was a powerful church.
And I am persuaded that the church in Ephesus became a mature church because they recognized that the body needs each other. And as much as you don’t want to admit it, you need that joker sitting next to you. I know you ought to tell them you don’t—you don’t need them. When I was growing up, we used to sing a song that I have since learned and know that it’s an unscriptural song—it’s not true—and here’s how the song went: “I’ve been lied on, cheated, talked about, mistreated… Long as I got King Jesus… I don’t need nobody else.” That’s not true.
I mean, we sang that song, and we’d go to jumping and dancing. You need a doctor when you get sick. A whole lot of y’all have needed some lawyers in your day and time. You need a teacher to teach you the things that you need to learn. God never intended for the church to function with you being separated and outside of the body. You need the body. Tell that person sitting next to you, “I need you to be everything that God wants me to be.”
This choir—the Carter Legacy Singers—did I get that right? Now, y’all are graduated from college, right? Y’all were a little slow with answering that question. They sound beautiful collectively. You need the sopranos—girl, you is a singing soprano, let me just tell you. Where you live? Upper Marlboro—oh. And where you live? Suitland. Y’all local people. What church you go to? You have a church home? Okay, and you’re in between churches. We’re going to have to pray for you, girl; have to pray for you. They can’t function as a choir independently. They create the beautiful song because they work together. You did a wonderful job, sir. Let me take my hat off to you—wonderful, outstanding. Shoo—that you don’t need everybody else.
Equipped to Serve
Ephesians chapter 4—Paul is teaching the church in Ephesus something about the church, and I’ll spend just a couple minutes; I’ll be finished. Chapter 4. Here’s what he says—I’m going to pick up at verse 11. Can I pick up at verse 11?
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:11, NKJV)
So He lays out, first of all, some gifts that He’s given to the body. God put gifts in the body. He lists some of them—this is not all of them; this is some of them. Some are apostles, some are prophets, some are evangelists, some are pastors, and some are teachers. And then He tells us what the purpose of the gifts are. Here’s my point today—here’s the main thing I want to talk about: the purpose of the gifts. Verse 12—here’s number one; here’s the first purpose that He gives:
“For the equipping of the saints…” (Ephesians 4:12a, NKJV)
Somebody say, “For the equipping of the saints.” Because the saints need to be equipped. They need to be prepared. The word “equipped” means to be prepared—to get prepared.
This choir didn’t sing like this without rehearsing. They put in a whole lot of rehearsals, and they had to go over it again and again and again and again and again until they produced and did this beautiful music that they gave us tonight. And God says, “I want the church to function in the same beauty.” When everybody gets in their place and everybody does what they’re supposed to do, it’s a beautiful thing. There’s nothing on earth that matches the church.
He says, “I want the saints to be equipped,” and so we should not—we must not—engage in the work of ministry unprepared. There’s a group, there’s a spirit in this country, where people don’t think they need to be prepared. They think that they just wake up and just go—and that’s why people are confused. Somebody in your section has been confused, listening to somebody who has not been prepared. Go ahead and look around your group and see if you can figure out who it is. Go ahead, look around—they might be… And I’ll let you know: if it’s you, just look straight ahead.
He says, “I put these gifts in the body for the express purpose, number one, of equipping the church—for the role of helping the church to become what it is God wants them to become—to equip you, to prepare you, to get you prepared.” For what? The second thing: to get you prepared to do the work of ministry.
“…for the work of ministry…” (Ephesians 4:12b, NKJV)
That’s the second thing He said—so that you can do the work of ministry, so that you can carry out the task at hand. The work of helping souls, helping lives. Do you not know that people’s lives are transformed when the church functions the way God designed for it to function?
And I’m excited to know, and I’m grateful—and I give God the praise and I give God the thanks—because I’ve seen families come back together. I’ve seen people get their lives together. I saw people come off drugs. I saw women come off the streets. I saw marriages get healed over these 33 years that I’ve been here. I’ve seen God do the impossible in the lives of people, and He has done it through the work of the church.
We didn’t get people to join this church when I first came—we had 300, 400 people. We didn’t have all these people coming to this church week after week, Sunday after Sunday, month after month, and year after year just because it’s a nice place. People come here because they find help. They get delivered. They get answers to their issues and their problems. That’s why they come, and that’s why we need the church—and you need the church. Don’t let the devil convince you that you don’t need the church. That devil is after you, trying to tell you you don’t need the church—he’s a liar, and the truth is not in him.
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… but exhorting one another.” (Hebrews 10:25, NKJV)
Don’t let the enemy convince you you don’t need a church. We say in our covenant that if you should ever move from this place, you, as soon as possible, unite with some other church where you can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word. And God has made it such that even if you do move, you can still stay a member of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. You can still participate. You can still engage. You can still be in a ministry. You can still take classes. Thank God that technology has brought us a long way. There’s no excuse for anybody not to be a part of a church in this day and age. There’s no excuse. Don’t let the devil convince you that you don’t need a church. You need a church. You need a church. You need a church. You need a church. You need a church.
When I—on Sunday mornings, I try to come out, you know, before service starts and greet people and speak to them. One of the questions I ask people: “Do you belong to this church?” A lot of people that come to this church—they don’t belong. They’re not committed to the church. They like coming. They sit in the back—or most of them sit in the back. Visitors sit in the back; observers sit in the back; people who don’t want to be caught. Somehow people think that if they sit in the back, the Holy Ghost won’t speak to them. The Holy Ghost will talk to you—I don’t care where you’re sitting—because the Spirit of God is in this place.
And the devil wants to keep you in a noncommittal mode. You need to be involved, connected, engaged. That’s what the Scripture says—God put gifts in the church to help you become everything God wants you to become. I need the church for me to be the husband I need to be—I need the church. I need the church for me to be the father that I need to be to my children—I need the church. For me to be the pastor I need to be—without the church, I can’t be a good husband. The church helped me understand how to love my wife. The church helped me to understand how to understand my wife. I’m about to mess up right now—I’m about to need me another place to stay tonight if I… I better quit while I’m ahead. I need the church to teach me how to love my kids, how to help them become everything God wants them to become. I need help with that. I didn’t—by osmosis—learn how to do it. I need help, and the church helped me. I need the church to teach me how to be a good pastor and how to love the Negroes that get on my nerves. Let me talk to y’all right here for a few minutes.
Edifying the Body
I need—and you need—for you to become everything God wants you to become. He wants to equip you. He wants you to do the work of ministry. And there’s one more thing He says—let me close; this is my last point. This is my third and final point. It says right here in verse number 12:
“…for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12c, NKJV)
To build us up—to help build you up to be everything that God wants you to be. That’s what the purpose of the church is: for edifying the body—to help the body become and be everything God wants it to become. You cannot be everything God wants you to become isolated and by yourself. But the devil would try to convince you that you don’t need the church.
In just a few minutes, we’re going to celebrate 121 new people that have joined the First Baptist. As a matter of fact, those who are here—stand up; let me see who some of those 121 are. I’m celebrating you tonight—not just that you joined, but you’ve got to get involved and engaged.
Let me close with these final two things I want to say. Number one: you need the church because there are gifts here to help you become everything that God wants you to become. There are classes and workshops and discipleship groups and accountability groups—and we have all of that. We don’t just do church on Sunday; we are heavily engaged in the shaping of lives, and you need to be engaged and involved. I promise you that while you’re here, somebody’s gonna—somebody’s gonna irritate you. It’s just a part of when human beings get together. Don’t let them run you away. I would never let another human run me away from what God has assigned for me to do. There are people here to pour into you—to help you become everything God wants you to become—and we do that through classes, discipleship groups, and ministries. I want to challenge you to do that.
Second thing—and I’m finished—is: you have gifts and callings that God wants to use to help make somebody else better. We can’t be everything that God wants us to be without you being in place and doing what it is God has called you to do. He’s given you some gifts, and He’s given you some assignments to do. My job is to encourage you and motivate you to get in your place and get in your role and do what it is God’s called you to do. If you are not in a ministry, if you’re not participating, if you’re not a member—and even if you’re a member but you ain’t doing anything—you are missing out on everything that God intends for you to be. Amen.
Stand on your feet. I’m done. Thank you, Mark. Thank you. Thank all five of you for that affirming clap. Appreciate it.
If you’re here today and you’re not saved, now is the perfect time for you to come and get right with God. If you’re backslid, you need to rededicate yourself to Christ. Don’t let the devil make you think you have to wait till you get it all together before you come—no. You can’t get yourself together—come right now; we can help you. If you’re unsure of your eternal destiny, you need assurance—come. If you’re already saved, walking with God, but you need a church home—right now would be the time to come. You can get right with God right now. So if that’s you—you fall into any one of those—and you’re here, make your way out of the aisle. Just say, “Excuse me.” They’ll let you out, and we’re going to shout and give God glory the moment that you step out and come. Right now would be the appointed time.
Father, I thank You for sparing this young man’s life for such a time as this. I pray that You plant him in Your vineyard and fill him with Your Spirit for Your glory. In the magnificent name of the resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray—Amen. Give the Lord a shout. Give the Lord a shout.
Selected Scripture Quotations (KJV/NKJV)
- Ephesians 4:11–12 (NKJV): “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
- Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV): “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together… but exhorting one another.”
- 1 Corinthians 12:26–27 (KJV): “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it… Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Questions this sermon answers
- Why can’t believers become all God intends while isolated from the church?
- What gifts did God place in the church, and why?
- What does it practically mean to be “equipped” for the work of ministry?
- How does the church edify (build up) individual believers and families?
- Why is active commitment and involvement in a local church essential?
