I.　As members of the Body, we must allow ourselves to be limited by the other members, not going beyond our measure:

A.　God has placed all the members of the Body even as He willed—1 Cor. 12:18:

1.　The Head sets us in our special place in the Body and points us to our special function—Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:15-17.

2.　Each one of us members has our own place in the Body of Christ; it is assigned by God and should be accepted by us.

3.　Since such an assignment is according to God's will, every member is necessary—vv. 19-22.

4.　Every member has a definite place, a definite assignment, and a particular portion with which he serves the Body of Christ.

5.　Each member has his own characteristics, and each has his own capability; these characteristics constitute the place, position, or ministry of each member—Rom. 12:4-8.

B.　A basic requirement for the growth and development of the Body is that we recognize our measure and not go beyond it—Eph. 4:7, 16:

1.　We must be willing to be limited by our measure—Rom. 12:3, 6a.

2.　As soon as we go beyond our measure, we go beyond the authority of the Head and move out from under the anointing.

3.　When we go beyond our measure, we interfere with the order of the Body.

4.　To think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think without a sober mind is to annul the proper order of the Body life—v. 3.

II.　Like Paul we should move and act according to how　much God has measured to us, staying within the limits of God's ruling, God's measuring—2 Cor. 10:13:

A.　When we give a testimony about our work, experience, or enjoyment of the Lord, we must testify within measure, that is, within a certain limit.

B.　Although we expect the work to spread, we must learn how to be under God's restriction; we should not expect a spread that is without measure—vv. 13-15:

1.　If we spread the work according to the Spirit, there will always be a certain limit—cf. 2:12-14.

2.　Inwardly, we shall have the consciousness that the Lord intends to spread the work only to a certain extent; inwardly, we do not have the peace to spread the work beyond a certain point.

3.　Outwardly, in the environment, the Lord may cause certain matters to restrict the spread of the work; the environment does not allow us to go beyond a particular boundary line—cf. Rom. 15:22-24.

C.　In the church service, we need to realize that God has measured out only so much to us, and we should not overstretch ourselves—12:3-4, 6a.