We Are a Body, Part 1

These days with technology you can watch the services of many live streaming churches at home and that's wonderful for the sick and shut in.

That's not for the well and about to go out. The well and about to go out need to go out first to the house of God where you connect with other people. Taking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Sheppard. Well your walk with Jesus is meant to be both personal and corporate. It's only in relationship with other believers in Christ that our one on one relationship with him can thrive. Today Pastor Paul reminds us how crucial it is that we come together as the body of Christ to worship him in spirit and in truth. Stay with us here or visit pastorpaul.net to listen to Destined for Victory on demand.

You can also download the podcast at Google Podcasts or wherever you get yours. Here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, We Are a Body. We are covering the fact that we are a body. And let me just review what I've covered about us being the body in the previous message and pick it up from there. We looked at Romans 12 verse 5 which says we being many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. And I explained in the previous message that the body parts require connection in order to fulfill their purpose.

An ear laying on the ground can't do anything for you. A thumb, any body part disconnected from the rest of the members of the body will not accomplish their purpose. And as it is true in our physicality, so it is true in terms of the church of Jesus Christ, we have to be connected. This whole series is to help us understand the power of we. God designed that we would be most powerful when we are connected. And then I was making, as I ended the last message, I was making the point that when wounded, broken or diseased, body parts require specific treatment in order to heal. When something is wrong, broken or wounded or diseased in your body, that needs specific attention, specific treatment.

Do not believe the lying statement that unfortunately a lot of people echo, but it is not true. People say, well, you know, time heals all wounds. No, it does not. Time doesn't have a healing property for most things.

There might be a few minor things that if you just leave them alone, they'll be all right. But we're talking about woundedness, brokenness and disease, it doesn't just appear and then vanish on its own. More often than not, almost always in fact, you've got to give some specific treatment if you want to deal permanently with some woundedness, some brokenness and the diseases that plague our living from time to time. And when we left off, we were looking at an example in Mark chapter 10. We were looking at a guy named Bartimaeus who in Jesus' day was blind. He's sitting by the road begging and he hears commotion coming in his direction. And as it gets louder and he hears what people are saying, it became clear to him that Jesus was nearby. And he's heard enough about Jesus to know here is someone who is anointed from God. Here is the Son of God.

Here is the one who came from the power of God to work in our lives. And when he heard Jesus is nearby, he said, why sit here and just beg people for alms, for gifts, when I can ask God for what I really want, which is the healing I need. And with that, he began to cry out and we looked at it last time and he said, Son of David, have mercy on me. And then, of course, the usher with the hand behind the back came up to him and said, you're really making a little too much noise in the service and you need to calm down.

But thankfully, he didn't pay that usher any mind. In fact, when they told him to be quiet, he yelled all the louder. And I'm here to tell you, if you want to get some from God, sometimes you got to go after with everything in you.

And he yelled all the louder. And we looked at the fact that Jesus didn't respond the first time he yelled, but the second time when he got loud, we saw that Jesus stopped and then he said to the people near him, go command that man to come here. And I was making the point, I want to pick it up there, that Jesus is not out to give us convenience, he's out to reward those who are diligent in seeking life change. If you got stuff that's wrong with you, woundedness in not only your body, but in your mind, in your psyche, in your memory, a lot of us have memories we need purging, we need God to help us move forward because you got stuff that's still plaguing you from your past, wherever you are jacked up. It is time for you to decide, I don't want to live with this the rest of my life. You know, you got to make up in your mind that you want life change.

Life change isn't going to come easy, it's not going to be convenient, you're not going to wake up one day and say, I don't know, I'm not jacked up anymore. No, no, everybody who goes from jacked up to this, to deliverance, to help, to wholeness, I'm getting better in that area of my life, it's because they went after it. You got to go after it, for he is a rewarder, according to Hebrews, he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And so Jesus said, I'm not going to make this easy for him, Jesus likes giving tests. You see that throughout his earthly ministry. Remember that lady who came, her child was grievously vexed with the devil, she wanted her child delivered, and she wasn't a woman of Israel, so the first thing, he put her through a two-part test. The first part, he ignored her, he ignored her, and then she passed that because she just kept on asking, see some of y'all would have failed the first part, uh-uh, see you don't ignore me, I'm standing right here in front of you, nobody ignores me, I understand I'm not a woman of Israel. She didn't go through all of that because she wanted what she needed, so no need to get mad, she just waited, she passed the enduring part, then he put her through an insulting part. He said it's not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs. I've heard theologians try to clean that up, I've seen them try to work hard to clean that up, well Jesus wasn't, see you have to understand, I understand, she felt like she just got called a dog. Come on, now some of y'all really would have failed that part of the test, wait, hold up, wait one minute. See, I don't care who you are, I don't care who your forefather is, nobody, I'm not even here for myself, I'm here for my child, I believe the children are our future.

Teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside. That's where some of y'all would have went, you would have went to George Benson and Whitney Houston. Uh-uh, she didn't go through that, she needed healing for her child, so she said you're right, it's not right to take the children's bread and give it to dogs, but let's stick with your analogy. Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table, so I'm not a person of Israel, I might not be entitled to sit at the table, but you said you called me a dog, let me stay by the table so when your little raggedy children spill the food, when they take for granted what I want to do in their life, and they're sloppy eaters, just let me have at the crumbs, cause I believe there's deliverance in your crumbs, there's breakthrough in your crumbs.

And she got hers, so Bartimaeus is in good company, now he's being told, he's blind, and he's being told come to Jesus, now some of y'all with your welfare mentality I called it, where you think somebody's supposed to always take care of you, I'm not talking about being on financial welfare, if that's a means to help you, that's what it's for, but it's not supposed to be a lifetime, and most importantly it's not supposed to get in your head, so you begin to see your life as somebody owes me something. Coming up next, the rest of today's message, we are a body with Pastor Paul Shepherd, Senior Pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. If you've never stopped by our website, pastorpaul.net, I invite you to do so when you have some time. You'll find all of Pastor Paul's recent messages on demand, plus a host of great resources at our online store, including books and audio and video messages from Pastor Paul. It's also the place to learn more about the ministry and all about the great things friends like you are doing through your prayers and financial support.

That's pastorpaul.net. Well, your hands and feet wouldn't work at all if they weren't connected to the rest of your body. The same is true for the body of Christ, each part needs to stay connected to the rest. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message, we are a body. And some folk would have said, wait a minute, I'm blind, I'm sitting over here, I can't see where I'm going, he sees me, he can just come over here to me. Some of y'all would have missed your healing because you'd have been sitting there fussing. That's not right, call yourself a man of God and he won't even come over here and take care of the handicapped.

See, that's where some of your minds would have gone, you'd have missed your blessing. Uh-uh, Jesus is testing his faith, said tell him to come here. And the Bible says he got up.

Did you notice what it said? It said he got up, verse 50, and throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. When he didn't rise and fuss, he rose and said, y'all help me find where Jesus is, and let them guide him to Jesus. And Jesus waited until he got there. That's what some of us need to figure out, that if the Lord is putting you through a test, quit fussing about it and pass it.

Stop being insulted and pass the test. Stop feeling like God owes me more, I gave a tithe and an offering. No, no, no, you don't deserve anything from him, this man said have mercy on me. Grace is when I get what I don't deserve, mercy is when I don't get what I do deserve. This man said I'm not going to act like I deserve something, but I'm just counting on you to not give me what I really do deserve, instead to give me a blessing I'm not entitled to. Anybody here need some mercy every now and then in your life? I'm not entitled to that, I'm not going to act like God owes me something, but I'm just counting on his goodness and his grace.

He is full of mercy and compassion, and I'm just looking to God to do for me what I don't deserve, which would only show how great he is. And so Bartimaeus passed the test, I came to tell somebody make sure that instead of fussing about the test you're going to, I don't know why God let me go through this, I don't understand it. I've been going to church, I've been faithful, I've been serving him, I've been praying, I don't understand why God. Okay, you're on the record, you don't understand.

Now, get over yourself and say now, even though I don't understand why he would allow this, I got to be like Job, he knows the way that I take, and when he has tried me, I just want to come out of this like gold. See, when you don't know where God is, you got to be content that God knows where you are. When you're not seeing answers to prayer, just be content that he's hearing me.

He might not be coming when I want him to come, but I'm going to believe that when he shows up, he'll bring the blessing I stand in need of. And so that is the benefit of being the kind of person who goes after getting healing. When you have a wounded area of your life, you got some brokenness in your life, or as I said, you have jacked up to this in your life, you need to go after the Lord with everything in you to get it, because we can only be effective in the world as we get ourselves together. No need of telling the world about it, Jesus, you're not trusting to get you through your stuff.

And so we have to be on the mend, we have to be on the healing side when we have brokenness in our lives. Now let me pick it up and say just a couple of other things that I'll be done with the fact that we are a body as the church of Jesus. Go with me now to Mark chapter 2. We were just in Mark 10.

Now I want you to go with me to Mark chapter 2. There I want you to look first at the first five verses. Mark's gospel, chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. And again, he entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately, many gathered together so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. So picture this, Jesus is in a house. Remember, there were no churches in the New Testament since, because this is before the church has been established through the death of Jesus Christ. This is in the time when there are no church buildings anywhere. And so they gather even in Jesus' day before the church was established when there were going to be gatherings.

They often took place in houses in the gospels. And so folks have crowded into this house to be where Jesus is, to hear what he is sharing, and to see what he's going to do by way of ministry, whether it's healing or deliverance or whatever. They've crowded this place so there's no more room to receive people, not even near the door.

Folk have spilled outside the door. Okay, so everybody understands, here's what's going on. Next verse, then came to him a person who was paralytic, and he's being carried by four men. See, the power of we. There are some things you can't do for yourself.

Let's just be honest. I know we love being self-sufficient in today's world. But there are some things you cannot do for yourself. And that's why God wants you to be connected. That's why you need to be in a fellowship of believers who can help you pray when you can't pray right for yourself, who can put the power of spiritual synergy together, and we can collectively believe God. In this case, it's physical help that's needed.

He wants to get where Jesus is. He's paralyzed so he can't walk to Jesus, but he has four friends who can walk. They may have some other area of jacked-upness, but thank God they're able to walk, and they'll use their strength to overcome his weakness.

Do you have the right people in your life who help you overcome your weakness because they add to your life their strength? These four people carried him. Verse four. And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, again, the house is completely full, and people have spilled out, and even at the door, there are people trying to hear through the door. So they can't even carry him into the house the normal way, through the doorway. Too many people.

But not to be denied. Look at what happens. So they uncovered the roof where he was. And I've heard preachers describe, well, you know, there were certain types of roof where you could fold it back, and they built some so that you could literally fold it back. And I don't know whether it was a fold-back roof, because they don't tell us. It could have been nice and neat, or it could have been very messy.

How many know the other possibility is that they just climbed up there and bust through? Come on, I need some of y'all to just be real with me. You can't always get a neat blessing is what I'm trying to tell you. You can't always get it where everybody thinks you are so nice and demure and proper. There comes a time in your life where proper and demure goes out the window, because I walked too far. I got carried here. Now, these people went through some changes, because to get up the roof level with a paralytic man, they had to strategize. They had to figure out, okay, I'll get you up there, and then we got to figure out how we going to get him up there, and then I got to get up last. And they worked it out. I don't know how they did it, but at the end of this, all of them, all five, are on the roof.

The four that walked him there and the paralytic man himself, all up on the roof. And I came to tell you, I need some folk who are ready to get your breakthrough, even if it gets messy. Even if it gets a little messy, even if you got to yell like the other man, or you got to bust up somebody's roof and say, I'm going to get healed first, and I'm going to send you some money, help you out, get your roof back together. I'll be glad.

That's fine. You can take me to Judge Judy after I get healed. They are all five making up there, and they let him down into the house. We didn't get through the door, but now that we up here and have created an opening, whether it was neat fold back opening or busted up opening, we created the opening and now we going to lower him down. That's one way to get in the house.

Just go above everybody and just, there you go. And when Jesus, look at the language, when Jesus saw their faith, what do you mean when he saw their faith? Faith has to be in action to be valid.

Don't tell me what's only in your heart if it doesn't get into your mouth, if it doesn't get into your body, if it doesn't cause you to say certain things and do certain things, it's not a faith that will bring change. He saw their faith. He said, now this is faith.

Here he comes down here because they were going to make sure he got my attention and whatever they had to do, and Jesus saw their faith. So I'm asking you, when we're looking at you, where is the evidence of your faith? Is your faith in your words? Is your faith in the way you're going after God, going after your healing, going after getting your life together?

Don't sit around hoping one day you'll get yourself together. Make sure that you put faith to work in your life. When Jesus saw their faith, then he said to the paralytic son, your sins are forgiven you.

Your sins are forgiven you. In other words, Jesus wants to make sure because he's got all these people around him and he wants to make sure that he clears up the fact that spiritual things are just as important. In fact, in priority, they're more important than physical healing or deliverance. Spiritual first, then healing, then deliverance, then financial blessing, then miracles of feeding of the multitude, all of that. But first, take in the word of life that will save your soul and give you an inheritance among those that are sanctified. So the first thing he says is, your sins are forgiven you. Since I see your faith, I know your heart is ready, so I give you forgiveness of sins.

Let me tell you something. God is looking for faith. It is faith that saves you when you put your trust in who Jesus is. That is what saves you, saved by grace, but through faith. Faith is the vehicle that brings the salvation to you. Satan not only wants to isolate you from the rest of the body of Christ, he wants you to think it's healthy to live that way.

Don't buy the lie. You need the other members of the body in order to be your best, and they need you. In Psalm 107, King David writes, Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. So if you need prayer today, the Destined for Victory ministry team would like to join you in prayer. On the home page at pastorpaul.net, use the contact feature and let us know how we can pray for you. While you're there, be sure to ask for Pastor Paul's monthly letter of encouragement.

It comes at no cost or obligation. And we have a great gift to share with you today, Pastor Paul's booklet, Finding Strength in Tough Times. Based on his messages when destiny seems delayed and finding strength, this booklet will help you learn to deal with a time period between God's promise and its fulfillment.

As you follow along, you'll discover three lessons from David's years as a fugitive that will help you handle your season of waiting in a way that prepares you for the promise God has ready for you. That's Finding Strength in Tough Times, our gift to you by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory today. Call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And you can always mail your gift to Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

One more time, that address is Destined for Victory, box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. Well that's why we got to be a functional body, because we are not just called a body, we are called the body of Christ. And in the body is all the healing there ever was in Him. And we have the responsibility of being in this world what He was. Amen. That's next time when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, We Are a Body. Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.