Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Corinthians 12

For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Oh, what a sacred oneness that is which subsists between all the Lord's people! We are not simply brothers and sisters, but we are one; we are not allied by affinity, but by actual identity; we are parts of the same body; we are brought into spiritual membership with each other, as real and as effectual as the membership that subsists between the various parts of the body. Yet we are not all alike, although we are all of one body; some are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are bond, some are free; and yet, in some things, we are all alike, for we have all been baptized by one Spirit.

And, moreover, we have all been made to drink into one Spirit; we have had one spiritual baptism, and we have had one spiritual drinking. Oh, that we felt more one, that our hearts beat more in tune with each other; that we had a sympathy with each other in sorrows and sufferings; that we had a sense of fellowship with all who love the Lord; and could at all times weep with those who weep, as well as rejoice with those who rejoice.

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? (1 Corinthians 12:14–15)

Do not compare yourself with others, saying, "Ah! if I were such-and-such a person, I might then think myself to be part of Christ's body." No, you might not, even if you were just like him. Just as there are only certain kinds of members in a man's body, so, by the same reasoning, there would not be more than a certain number of members alike in the mystical body. We do not imagine that there will be many members of this body, the Church, of one class or of one character; so that, if you are different from others, you are filling a different office in the body. You may, from that fact, draw an inference of comfort rather than one of sorrow and despondency.

Even if you say, "Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, are you therefore not of the body?" Oh, no! You are still of the body, though you do not think that you are.

And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?

If we were all preachers, if we could all see into God's truth, and set it forth in a public manner, where should we get our congregations?

If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? (1 Corinthians 12:17).

There must be different members to fill different offices. If we were all so one that there was no distinction whatever, if we were all of one rank, all of one age, all of one standing, the body would be incomplete.

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Brothers and sisters, you sometimes think there are some belonging to the Church whom we could easily spare; but there is not one superfluous member in the whole body. If they are truly united to Christ, they all have their functions, all their places. There is not a poor old woman, who has not been able to come to the house of prayer for several years, who is not of some use to the Church; for she lies on her bed, and there she intercedes with God. There is not a member of the Church so humble, so uneducated, so untaught, who is not of essential service to the whole body.

There is some little part, my brother, which you are to take in the great Church of Christ; you may not always be able to tell what it may be, but still there is a place for you to fill. There is a linchpin in a chariot; who thinks much about that pin, or thanks it? Indeed, it is so very small and insignificant; who would imagine it is necessary for locomotion or speed? The wheels carry it around, but who would suppose that, if it were taken away, the wheel would fly off?

Perhaps you are like one of these little linchpins which keep the wheel right; you may not know of what use you are; but, possibly, you prevent someone else from turning aside. Let each of us keep to our station, endeavoring, with God's help, to exert the influence that He has given us.