Message 7 - By Leroy Surface

Until Christ be Formed

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, ….

Galatians 4:19

The church of the Galatians is a classic example of a church that fell from grace.  Paul told them in Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Paul had warned this church before hand against turning to the Law of Moses for justification; “If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” Just as baptism in the name of Jesus Christ in Acts 2:38 had been a public announcement by the Jews that they had turned to Jesus for justification, so circumcision was a “public announcement” that these Gentile “Christians” had turned to the Law of Moses for justification.  Paul did not mince words with them; they had “fallen from grace;” Christ would “profit them nothing.”

The Galatian church did not “backslide” in the sense we might think of today.  They did not move away from Jesus into a life of sin and immorality.  All those things would come later as the last effect of their falling from grace.  These Gentile Christians believed a message that very subtly said that Jesus Christ is not enough.  “Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses,” their teachers said, “ye cannot be saved.” In fact, according to the gospel Paul preached, they were circumcised.  “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:10-12). They had the “circumcision of Christ.”  It was a “circumcision made without hands.” It was the “circumcision of the heart” (Romans 2:29). Sin, that entire “body of sin” (Romans 6:6), the “sin nature” (Ephesians 2:3; II Peter 1:4) was cut out of their hearts by the “faith of the operation of God.” The emphasis of the message these false teachers brought to the Galatians was in the words “after the manner of Moses.” It was not enough that Jesus Christ had circumcised their heart and taken sin out.  It was not enough that He had given them a “new heart” and a “new spirit;” they must also submit themselves to the hands of a man to mutilate their bodies with his knife.  That same “spirit” is working in a thousand different ways through many “teachers” in the church of this twenty first century.

The Galatian church did not consider that they were “backsliding.” In their view of things they were “growing,” even “maturing.”  They still believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross for the sin of the world.  They also believed that God raised Him from the dead the third day, but they became convinced that the work was not finished at Calvary; that there was some other thing they must do beyond repent and believe the gospel.  I have seen a parallel thing work among the churches of today.  Consider water baptism for a moment.  It was John the Baptist who instituted water baptism in its present state.  It was Peter who continued its use on the Day of Pentecost as an initiation of the Jew into the faith and doctrine of Jesus Christ.  We hear the words of Jesus in Acts 1:5, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence,” but the importance of the spiritual baptism over the physical is lost on most believers today.  The “baptism with the Spirit” is the reality of which water baptism is only the symbol.  “Circumcision after the manner of Moses,” which involved the literal cutting off the “foreskin of the flesh,” was but a symbol of a true circumcision to come.  The reality of circumcision is the “circumcision of Christ,” which is made without the hands of man through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Physical circumcision had been given to Abraham as the “token” or “evidence” of the covenant between God and Abraham.  In the same way, circumcision of the heart, made without hands is the evidence of the gospel covenant that was confirmed in the shed blood of the Son of God.  The fact that sin has been cut out of the heart of a believer is proof they have been brought under the covenant of grace.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Galatians 6:15

Paul tells the Galatians that in Christ, under the covenant of grace, it is not about being circumcised, or not being circumcised.  Neither condition has any spiritual value whatsoever, but “a new creature.” In Christ the issues are a “new heart,” a “new spirit,” and being “filled with the Holy Ghost.” These are the promises of God to the “new creation.”  Symbols have no value, for the reality has come to those who will receive it.  Paul reveals this in his words to the Colossians; “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).  Those Jews from the Jerusalem church not only preached the necessity of physical circumcision to the Gentiles; they also required them to keep all six hundred and thirteen commandments and ordinances of the Law of Moses.  Paul saw these ordinances to be damning things to the child of God.  He told the Galatians, “Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain” (Galatians 4:10-11).  These things were symbols; only “shadows” of something good to come, and that “good thing” is Jesus Christ and His redemptive work at Calvary.

Two Spiritual Baptisms

I am certain that if you were to ask people at random if they were saved, the great majority would tell you when they were baptized in water.  There is no relation whatsoever between the question asked and the answer received, but sadly, in the minds of the majority there is.  Few people would want to “stand before God” without that baptism that man can give, but the vast multitudes in the church today have little if any concern for the spiritual baptism of which water baptism is only the symbol.  There are, in fact, two “spiritual baptisms,” the first of which is an absolute necessity if a person is to be saved, and the second is that which Jesus commanded every believer to wait for and receive.  The first is found in Romans 6:3; “Know ye not, that so (as) many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” Jesus Himself counted His death on the cross to be a “baptism” to be baptized with.  Consider His answer to James and John when they asked to “sit with Him in His glory.”  Jesus’ answer is eye opener to those who can see.  “But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with” (Mark 10:38).  The “cup” Jesus spoke of was His sufferings, and the “baptism” He spoke of was His death on the cross.  It is a baptism made without the hands of man that brings a person into Jesus Christ.  It is “baptism” into the death of Jesus.  It is only in His death that any person is joined to Christ.  Water baptism is only the symbol of that reality.  The “symbol” can never fulfill the reality, but the “reality” does fulfill the symbol.

Paul continues in Romans 6:6-7, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.” It is His death on the cross that crucifies our old man.  It is our death with Him that frees us from sin.  It is only that “baptism into His death,” administered without the hands of man that has the power to save the soul of man.

The second spiritual baptism that fulfills the “symbol” is the baptism with the Holy Ghost.  John the Baptist told of the symbol and foretold the reality in Mark 1:8, “I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.” Jesus agreed with John over three years later on the day of His ascension into heaven, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:5).  It is the “promise of the Father” Jesus spoke of in Acts 1:4.  It is of such importance that Jesus told them not to depart from Jerusalem (they were all from Galilee), but to “wait for the promise of the Father….”  If Jesus told them not to go home without it, it must be of the utmost importance.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 3:1-3

The Galatians had received the gospel with joy and gladness.  The message of “Christ-crucified” had been “evidently set forth” among them.  They had believed and received the Holy Ghost without the works of the law, but by the “hearing of faith.”  They had begun in the Spirit, why would they now turn to the flesh to complete them? Their religion was vain.  It could do nothing for them.  That which had once issued out of “life” was now but a human effort to maintain a “life style.” Their pursuit to perfect themselves through fleshly means would take them through circumcision to do the “whole law,” as Paul had warned them, “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:3-4).

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Romans 8:3

Paul tells us that the law is only as strong as the one who keeps it; it is “weak through the flesh.”  Jesus did not come to strengthen the flesh to keep the law; instead, He came to “condemn (pass the death sentence on) sin in the flesh.” The gospel of Jesus Christ is not the “gospel of the strongman;” it is the “gospel of the freeman.” Jesus did not give me power over sin; He made me “free from sin.” Those who trust in the “strength of the flesh” to perfect their salvation through the law will always be condemned by the law.  It is in the fifth chapter of Galatians that Paul compares the “works of the flesh” with the “fruit of the Spirit.” All who trust in the flesh’s ability to keep carnal ordinances for the completion of what the Spirit has begun will always have their end in the works of the flesh.  They will end up in the same sins that Jesus Christ saved them from in the beginning.  Those who “walk in the Spirit” will always increase and abound in love, joy, peace, and all the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit.

A “Fair Show in the Flesh”

As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.

Galatians 6:12-13

The “church” as we know it in the world today is an “organization” put together by man.  It does not “live,” and it does not “breath.” It has become “user friendly,” and a favorite entertainment center for many.  It is filled with programs for every age and problem of man, and every one of them has the “fingerprints” of man upon it.  Salvation and redemption has become a “man-made” product.  Christ alone is not enough.  Deliverance is through a step program, and sanctification is a lifelong process.  The “cross” is no longer foolish, and the blood of Jesus no longer has the power of sanctification.  Christianity as an organization of men has become just another religion in the world, and a very weak one indeed.  This was certainly the state of the Galatian church in Paul’s day.  There was a lot of excitement in the churches (Galatians 4:17-18).  Paul said they were “zealously affected.” Their preachers held large crusades to “make a fair show in the flesh” (Galatians 6:12).  They were riding the crest of whatever was popular at the time.  Paul said they “constrain you to be circumcised, lest they should be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” Many of them preached circumcision only because it was popular, and would keep them from the persecution that was against the true church of that day.  It was against such a backdrop that Paul cried, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” It was a church that for all its popularity, excitement, and show, had fallen from grace.  Jesus Christ was no longer present.

I almost wept as I read the words of Paul concerning those he said had determined to “make a fair show in the flesh.” You might take your children to a circus and say, “that was a good show.” You may consider a rodeo, or a sporting event to be a “good show.” You may even see a “good show” on TV, but to see the church taken over by those who determine to “make a fair show in the flesh” grieves this preacher.  Perhaps a majority of the churches across America are moving in that direction.  The drama teams, the music, the dance teams, the colored lights, the glitter and the glamour are all brought together for a “good show.” Youth sanctuaries have been converted into the appearances of an ungodly nightclub, complete with the strobe lights, vapor machines, and black lights, all for the “good show.” Professional musicians and singers and dancers are hired to entertain the people and stir them to excitement.  It makes a “good show” with the choreographed dancing and the banners waving.  Many churches today come complete with coffee shops, weight rooms, sport teams, bowling alleys, game rooms, aerobic classes, and God only knows what else, all to “make a good show in the flesh.”

Betty Jean Robinson had a vision of a church that was once a place where Christ dwelt.  The church had been passed to the next generation and became much like those I have spoken of in many ways.  An old man of God was called to minister in that church, where he had also ministered in years past.  The man of God came to the Sanctuary and saw the games that were being played.  He turned, picked up the “cross of Christ” and sadly carried it down the road, away from that church.  Betty said did not understand the vision until she later visited that same church, and found that Christ was no longer there.

In many churches today there are still those individuals who know and love the Lord.  Even in those churches that are, as Paul called them, nothing more than “a fair show in the flesh,” it is amazing to find a few who hunger for the reality that is Christ.  If it were not for their personal fellowship with the Lord they would perish.  It was not the case even in Galatia that every individual was “backslidden,” or “moved away” from Christ; there must have been many who grieved over the condition of the church while not partaking of its error.  Paul’s concern was that Christ was no longer “formed” in the churches.  There was no longer the living, breathing body of Christ in the regions of Galatia.  The Holy Ghost was not “breathing” life into the church.  The presence of God had long since departed, and for the most part, the congregation did not even know it.  Some of the saddest words in the bible are spoken of Sampson in the day he lay his head in the lap of Delilah while his enemy shaved the locks of his hair;  “He wist (knew) not that the LORD was departed from him.” It is sad that the Spirit of God is departed from so many formerly great churches, and they do not even know it.  They have found substitutes for the Spirit that all too many cannot discern.  I heard a very good gospel singer say, “I found that if I could only make people cry.” Salvation is more than that.  Michael Landon found that he could make people cry with his TV series, but no one was ever saved just because they got emotional and cried.  There are singers that have what is called “soul.”  You can “feel” what they sing.  One of the most beloved was “Ray Charles.” Ray had “soul,” but no one ever got saved and freed from sin by listening to Ray.  “Soul” and “Spirit” are at opposite ends of the spectrum of spirituality.  Many churches have “soul,” and they often fill to capacity because people love the “show.” There are very few remaining that have the Holy Spirit of God. 

The World Knew Him Not

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

John 1:10

Jesus Christ was thirty years old before the Holy Ghost came upon Him.  He was the virgin born Son of God, the eternal Word of God made flesh.  The creator of all things lay in a manger that night in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes.  Philippians 2:6-7 says He was “in the form of God... equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation….” According to the Greek words used in this text, the creator “emptied Himself out” of His creative power.  He “took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” The Apostle John says, “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14).  Again, John said, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not” (John 1:10).  Who could believe that the creator of the universe was a tiny baby in a manger, or a toddler playing in a carpenter shop in Nazareth?  At twelve years of age He amazed the doctors (teachers) at the temple with the wisdom and understanding of His questions and answers, yet who among them could have believed He was their Messiah, the Son of the living God?  For those thirty years of His youth He never sinned, for there was no sin in Him, yet who would have believed this teenage boy was the Word of God made flesh?  Or the young carpenter that took such pride in building the best cabinets and chairs, would anyone believe that it was He who was appointed to judge the world in righteousness?  The world could not possible know who He was before that day at John’s baptism when the Holy Ghost came upon Him.

And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.  And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John 1:33-34

Still speaking of Jesus, the Apostle John has already told us, “...the world knew Him not.”  Now John the Baptist is telling us, “...I knew Him not.” According to the flesh, Jesus and John were cousins.  Of course they knew each other, but John did not know his cousin was the Christ; the creator of all things.  In that respect, he “...knew Him not.”  It was only after God sent John to baptize with water, that he found out who Jesus actually was.  God had told John how he would know who Jesus, the Christ (the Messiah; the Son of God) was.  When the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus, John immediately knew who He was.  He said, “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.” The record of the Father in heaven was heard that day as the “voice from heaven” spoke, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Soon people everywhere knew who He was.  Within days Phillip is telling Nathaniel, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, (He is) Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45).  Luke 4:34 gives record of a demon crying out against Jesus during His first service at the synagogue in Capernaum, saying, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.” Demons knew who He was, and He cast them out.  Two verses later, the congregation at Capernaum is saying, “What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36).  In Matthew 8:27 Jesus had just spoken to the storm and the sea, saying, “Peace; be still.” Immediately the winds and the waves ceased and the men, in the boat with Him, marveled, saying, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” In the seventh chapter of John the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Jesus and bring Him in, but they returned empty handed.  When asked why, they answered simply, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46).

None of these events happened before the Holy Ghost came upon Jesus.  No one would have ever known Him if the Holy Ghost had not come upon Him.  Jesus speaks clearly in John 5:19, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” Again, in John 5:30, He says, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge….” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is clearing the record.  Without the Holy Ghost, He could do no more than any other man.  He addresses this again in John 14:10, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” Even the words that Jesus spoke were not His own; it was the Father that dwelt in Him that did the miraculous works.  Jesus continues in the next verse, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”  Both His “words” and His “works” were of His Father.  If they did not believe His words, surely they must believe His works.  All His works were manifest to be of God and were wrought by the Holy Ghost which was in Him.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

John 14:12

If Jesus had ended His discourse with the eleventh verse it would be plausible to think that Jesus was unique in the words He spoke and the works He did.  He did not, however, but continued to tell all who believe on Him that we will do the same works He did, “...because I go unto my Father.” For the rest of His discourse He told His followers about the “Comforter,” which is the “Holy Ghost,” the “Spirit of Truth;” which, in Matthew 10:20, He also calls the “Spirit of your Father.”  In John 16:7, Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” The only contingency given as to whether the believer will do the works that Jesus did is that He must go to the Father, and He must send the Holy Ghost to us.  Did Jesus ascend to the Father?  Yes He did!  Did He send the Holy Ghost to the believers? Absolutely! And the record of that great event is given in Acts 2.  What were the results of the hundred and twenty being filled with the Holy Ghost?  Jesus speaks of the coming of the Holy Ghost (The Comforter) in John 16:8, saying this, “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin….” On the same day the Holy Ghost filled the hundred and twenty, thousands of Jews were convicted of their sin (their rejection of Jesus).  Three thousand of them repented and were added to the church on that first day.  The disciples went everywhere, speaking the word, and doing the same works Jesus had done before them.  Peter said it was through no special power or holiness of his own (Acts 3:12).  It was the Spirit of God in them, upon them, and working through them, to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ, and confirm the “...faith which is by Him…” (Acts 3:16).

The World Knoweth Us Not

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

I John 3:1-2

John establishes a great truth in this text; “Now are we the sons of God.” Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God made flesh, the only begotten Son of God for almost thirty-four years on this earth, became the “firstborn among many brethren” through His redemptive death and glorious resurrection.  We who believe were “...begotten again unto a lively hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  We are “born again” through death and resurrection with Him.  “Now are we the sons of God,” but just as the world did not know Jesus, the world does not know us.  Just as the world could not know Jesus until after the Holy Ghost came upon Him, neither can the world know us.  The church may be good.  It may do charitable works.  It may have favor with the world because of its goodness, just as Jesus had favor in the synagogues and with the priests, scribes, and doctors until the Holy Ghost came upon Him.  After the Holy Ghost came upon Him, it became evident who He was.  The sick, the oppressed, the blind, the lame, and the poor; people with every manner of need came to Jesus. Many came crying out to Him, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” They knew who He was; He was the Messiah of Israel, the Son of the living God. They knew because of the Spirit of God that was upon Him.  They knew because of the works He did.

Tell the world that we are sons of God and they will get a good laugh, because the world does not know us.  We desperately need a fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost.  The world will never know us until that refreshing comes.  John spoke to those who were the born again sons of God saying, “and it doth not yet appear what we shall be….” John concluded that we will “be like Him” when He returns, but what about that span of time between now and then?  We must be filled with the Holy Ghost.  The world will never know what the church really is until its many members are full of the Holy Ghost.

Christ Formed

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you….

Galatians 4:19

The true Church of Jesus Christ is not an organization.  It is an “organism.” It is the living, breathing, Body of Christ upon this earth.  It is “formed” of many members, each of which is baptized into that living body through the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost.  Each member of the living body of Christ is full of the Spirit, and receives the manifestation of God by the Holy Ghost that is in them.  That “body” is to increase unto the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).  When this is the case, the church will be “Christ” to the world around it.

When God made man in the beginning, He had a pattern.  God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”  God Himself was the pattern He used when He made man.  Genesis 2:7 says, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” This man was the image of God, and breathed the breath of God.  He was clothed with the glory of God and enjoyed continual fellowship with God.  All this continued until such time as he disobeyed, and sin entered his heart and nature.  Now man was fallen.  He was no longer the image of God; he no longer breathed the breath of God, nor was he clothed with the glory of God, hence his “nakedness” (Genesis 3:7).   Fellowship with God was a thing of the past for man in that fallen state.  Then came Jesus, the Son of God, in the image of God, the brightness of God’s glory.  The writer of Hebrews says He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26). He was “crowned with glory and honour, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9). In His death and resurrection, Jesus redeemed man with His own precious blood.  He offered the only sacrifice that could ever “take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  The “sin nature” that had entered through the transgression of the first man Adam was taken away by the sacrifice of the Son of God, whom Paul called “the last Adam” in I Corinthians 15:45.  Redemption was made available to everyone who would believe.

On the Day of Pentecost there were one hundred and twenty believers.  Out of all the thousands of people who had followed Jesus, these were the ones who believed His words and waited for the “promise of the Father” as He had commanded (Acts 1:4).  The blood that was shed by the Son of God had washed them from sin.  The precious blood of Jesus had been sprinkled upon the altar in heaven for the remission of sins for the entire world if they would only believe upon Him. These hundred and twenty believed.  They were redeemed unto God.  The hundred and twenty, redeemed, and born again by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (I Peter 1:3), came together in “one place with one accord.” Their “accord” was to receive the Holy Ghost just as Jesus had promised them.  Without it they were only the “form” of a church.  Jesus had commanded them to “wait for the promise of the Father.” They would wait until they were “baptized with the Holy Ghost.” Just as God had formed Adam from the dust of the earth and “breathed” the breath of life into him, God would “breathe” the “breath of life” into the hundred and twenty.  This is what He did on the Day of Pentecost.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:1-4

“...a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind….” The Greek text literally says something like this; “...a sound from heaven as of a violent heavy breath….” When God poured out His Spirit on the hundred and twenty, He was breathing upon a “body” that was “formed” of many members.  They were all in “one place” with “one accord” when “suddenly” it came from heaven.  They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and those “many members” became one body, made alive by the breath of God.  It may have been an “organization” until God breathed upon it, but now it was a living “organism.”  It had become the living body of Christ upon earth, breathing the very breath of God Himself.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

I Corinthians 12:12

Paul uses an analogy of the human body to explain how Christ is formed on earth.  There is nothing mysterious or mystical about this verse.  He speaks of something every one of us know about: our own bodies.  We have many members.  We have hands, feet, fingers, toes, arms, legs, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, etc.  There are two hundred and six different bones in the human body.  None of these have the same function, but all of them together form one body.  Paul concludes, “So also is Christ.” Notice, he did not say, “so also is the ‘body’ of Christ,” but simply, “so also is Christ.” Each “member in particular” (I Corinthians 12:27) of Christ is an individual just like you or me that is full of the Holy Ghost and surrendered to His purpose.  No single one of us is “Christ,” but many members, each of them full of the Holy Ghost, form one body on earth, and that body is Christ.

Notice the words of Paul in Ephesians 1:22-23, “...and gave him (Jesus Christ) to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Let’s walk through this verse slowly.  Jesus is the head of the church.  The church is His body.  His body is the “fullness” of Him that “filleth” all in all.  There is something wonderful hidden in the words “fullness,” and “filleth.” The first word, “fullness,” means “completion.” The second word “filleth” means “to complete.” The church that is “filled with the Holy Ghost” is His body.  The “body” completes “head.” It is the “fullness” of Him that “filleth” all in all.  The head completes the body.  It is Jesus that “filleth all in all.” Jesus, our head sits on the throne of God while His body, the church, is on earth.  The Holy Ghost is the living link between the head and the body.  God has purposed His church on earth to be all that Christ is, and to do on earth all that Christ does.  It can only be so as the church is filled with the Holy Ghost.

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.

I Corinthians 12:13

Notice how we are brought into this body of Christ.  It is through “baptism.” It is the “promise of the Father” that we would be “baptized with the Holy Ghost” into this living, breathing body of Christ.  Without the baptism with the Holy Ghost, the church can only be a “form” of a church.  Every work of the church will be nothing more than a human effort until such time as the Life of God is breathing in the church by the Holy Ghost.

It is God’s will that “Christ be formed” in every church across the land.  This message is not a denominational message, or a message only for a certain group.  If you are born again, a child of God, it is His will to form Christ in your church.  Man cannot do this.  Man has learned how to organize a church, but man cannot breathe life into it.  Only the Holy Ghost can form Christ in a church.  All of us are often guilty of thinking that we are the “body of Christ” simply because we are a member of some certain fellowship.  We try to get every “member” to function in the body, but most often everything we do is still just a human effort.  Paul said in I Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body….” That “one Spirit” is the Holy Ghost.  Jesus promised on the day of His ascension that He would baptize us with the Holy Ghost.  He taught that it is “expedient” that we receive and be filled with the Holy Ghost.  Jesus made it clear in the days of His flesh that He could do nothing without the Holy Ghost: how much less can we? No one should even attempt to do the works of God without first receiving the “baptism with the Holy Ghost.” It is promised to every child of God.  When Jesus baptizes a believer with the Holy Ghost, they are brought into that one of Christ on earth.  We become “members in particular” of Christ.  It takes many members to make a body.  No one of us are, or ever will be, all that Jesus was upon this earth, because the “fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily.” It is the will of God to fill His church (His body) with that same fullness, with each member manifesting a portion of that fullness.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

I Corinthians 12:7

Jesus told us in Acts 1:8, “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Obviously the promise of the manifestation of the Spirit is given to “every man (or woman)” that the Holy Ghost has come upon.  It is to them that the “manifestation of the Spirit” is given.  Paul lists nine of these manifestations.  Most people today speak of them as the “gifts of the Spirit.” I prefer to know them as the “manifestations of God” which are given to men and women by the Holy Ghost.  Paul said they are given to us “to profit withal.” The Greek words translated “to profit withal” actually mean, “to have to give.” They are not our “gifts,” as though we could receive them and do with them as we please.  These wonderful manifestations of God are given to us so we will “have to give” to the lost and perishing world Jesus died for.  Paul said, “All these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing severally to every man as He will.”

It is a mistake to believe that a person with the Holy Ghost could speak in tongues at will, or prophesy, discern, or operate any spiritual “gift” at their own will.  Speaking in tongues “as the Spirit gives the utterance” is just as much a miracle as moving the mountain (Matthew 21:19-21), or withering the fig tree with only a word.  Only God can do it, but He chooses to do His wonderful works by the Holy Ghost, through His people.  The man or woman who is full of the Holy Ghost is a “conduit” through which God can minister to the needs of a lost and dying world.  God will heal the sick, deliver the captives, save the lost, and heal broken hearts through the many members of Christ.  When the Holy Ghost forms that one body with each member in particular connected with Jesus Christ our head through the Spirit, it will be known by all; that body is Christ.  This was the travail of Paul in Galatians 4:19, that Christ again be formed in that church.  Let it be our travailing prayer in this twenty-first century that once again God would so pour out His Spirit on the churches “...until Christ is formed…” in us.

Message 7 - By Leroy Surface - Until Christ Be Formed

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