I Corinthians 3 (Click scripture reference for audio access)
"Christ From Bottom To Top!" •
9.16.12 • Sunday Morning Service, Calvary
Christian Fellowship
Intro.
- Paul has been
explaining his case for the gospel as it pertains to the Corinthians and the
church that had grown in their midst.
- An addiction
to philosophies and personalities had created deep division in the church.
Groups took sides on the best way to proceed.
- "Do we
seek to be more relevant and open the door to the average Corinthian or do we
stay with the simple proclamation that Paul established us in?"
- Paul will
spend this chapter continuing to expose the mission that he had when he was
among them, explaining both his role as their Pastor and their role as a
church. He will address
I. What They Had Been (1-4)
II. What They Were (v.5-17)
III. What They Should Be (v.18-23)
Text
I. What They Had Been (1-4)
•
I Corinthians 3:1-3a : "And I,
brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to
babes in Christ. I
fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to
receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal." : The Corinthians wanted great wisdom and powerful presentation,
but the problem was that they were not in the best condition spiritually to
receive it.
-
They were gifted brethren, but they were limited in what they could receive
from Paul. He could not speak to them in the way that he would speak to
spiritual individuals.
-
A spiritual individual is a Christian who is surrendered to the Holy Spirit,
open to His direction, seeking His wisdom. Because they were not oriented this
way, Paul spoke as he could to them.
-
Unfortunately, their condition dictated that he speak to them as carnal. The
word "carnal" refers to a person who remains conflicted between
serving God and serving their flesh.
-
A carnal person is governed not by the concerns of the Holy Spirit, but by the
concerns of their human spirit! Sadly, gifted Christians can be carnally
minded.
-
Paul had to address them as if they were babes. There is a vivid illustration.
-
How do babies act? They react to every bodily need. They are governed by
whatever pressing bodily need they have in that moment. For a babe, nothing
mattters beyond that.
-
They are completely self absorbed which is fine when you are two and under, but
a severe problem if one grows and remains that way!
-
There is a time in life when as a spiritual babe, you retain the old habits of
the unregenerate life. A lot of attention is given to you and you are subject
to many needs that you eventually outgrow.
-
The problem is that these Christians were not babes, but rather were grown
Christians acting like babes. Paul therefore treated them as such.
-
He fed them, but with milk and not solid food, literally with meat! Paul could
serve up a spiritual ribeye for them, but many of them could only handle a
milkshake!
-
What is spiritual milk? I feel that the best way to approach this is to
understand that there was a consistent need for one kind of food, which they
were unable to outgrow.
-
There are some in the body of Christ who hear the same message over and over
again, but will not apply it to their lives. In that way, there is no
graduation to meatier content.
-
Please do not misunderstand: Paul is not condemning the need for milk. There is
a time for that. What he is condemning is a refusal to grow beyond it! Growth
is necessary in our lives!
•
I Corinthians 3:3b,4 : "For where
there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and
behaving like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of
Apollos,' are you not carnal?" : Paul could
rightly diagnose their carnality because of the fruits that were being born in
their midst.
-
There was jealousy and strife, or variance among them. When you are looking at
another believer and comparing yourself to them in any way, you are opening the
door to jealousy.
-
That is at the root of strife, but in the opposite way. You are so
self-centered, that everyone has to think like you do, so you argue and contend
with them until they give in!
-
These inevitably lead to divisions, factions which pit men and women against
other men and women. Is that not the way that mere men behave?
-
Is there not a higher standard in the Kingdom? Are you not called to something
well beyond your own opinions?
-
This petty choosing of sides, either of Paul or Apollos, was the heart of their
carnality! They believed it to was sophistication, but Paul says, "It's
carnality!"
II. What They Were (v.5-17)
•
I Corinthians 3:5-7 : "Who then
is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the
Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is
anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." : In the original language, it says "What then is Paul or
Apollos?" They were into the "Whose who? Paul had it right!
"What are we!"
-
They were simple, common servants whose message brought the people of Corinth
to belief in Christ, both having a different function in their believing.
-
Ironically, what Paul was in Corinth, Apollos had been in Ephesus. When they
crossed paths, they switched functionally. Paul watered what Apollos planted in
Ephesus!
-
In Corinth though, it was Paul who had put the seed into the ground. He dug up
the ground and dropped the seed into it. He established the work.
-
When Apollos got there, he continued what Paul had started, which was probably
more fun!
-
When you put seed in the ground, you have to be ready for a whole lot of
nothing! But when one waters, there is a bit more action! However, neither man
made anything happen.
-
They were both stewards of the seed, ministers who helped to cultivate a
culture where the message of Christ could grow and flourish.
-
If anything spiritual and wonderful took place, it was because God did a work
that neither Paul nor Apollos could do. He brought the increase! He brought
growth!
-
That is the truth of any successful ministry. Whatever tool He uses, it is God
who has grown something lasting and wonderful in you! The tools are nothing
without the Farmer!
-
Our tendency is to elevate men to places that they neither want nor deserve! It
is God that deserves your glory!
-
It is God who has used that teacher, that sermon, that conference to grow you,
not the teacher or speaker!
•
I Corinthians 3:8,9a : "Now he
who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward
according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, " : God's workers have a common purpose.
-
Paul and Apollos were different people, with entirely different gifting, but
their goal was the same: To work for what the Lord wanted in human lives!
-
They both worked and God would give a reward to each of them according to the
labor that He called them to.
-
Differing skill sets employed at different times yield a different reward from
the Lord. Today, we see that in specialized labor. A specialist receives a
different reward than a regular worker.
-
How does God reward them? According to their own labor. That is what He is
going to reward you for. You have certain gifting and when you employ it to
build God's Kingdom, He will reward!
-
God is going to reward you based on your faithfulness to carry out what He has
called you to! - Paul and Apollos were
not divided. They were united in their work together. They were joined in it,
adding their strength to one another!
-
Nobody who is in ministry in their right mind, looks at another and thinks,
"Why is he stepping on my territory?" They think rightly, "Thank
you Lord for bringing someone to work with me!"
-
They were fellow workers, the Corinthians were God's field. The church was
God's husbandry, referring to a field that has been carefully prepared and
groomed for successful growing.
-
The fields has been cleaned and the irrigation has been thought of, the rows
have been dug. All that is left is the growing!
-
Do notice a very important distinction: They were GOD'S field. They were not
their own!
-
God planted His church, His field, so that it might yield fruit: Godly
character and new souls!
•
I Corinthians 3:9b-11 : "You are
God’s building. According
to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid
the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he
builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ." : He moves beyond the
agricultural reference to the architectural reference! The Corinthians were
God's building and the architect on the initial project was none other than the
Apostle Paul!
-
The field metaphor deals with quantity. The seed is thrown out en masse and
fruit appears. The building metaphor will deal with quality! What is built must
be up to code!
-
For any church, there is one foundation: Jesus Christ, crucified and
resurrected. Paul laid down the foundation of the supremacy and centrality of
Jesus Christ.
-
Apollos opened the scriptures and shared a new season of learning together,
building on and adding to the foundation, which never changed, even if their
emphasis was different.
-
Anyone else would have to be careful to build correctly on that foundation.
•
I Corinthians 3:12-15 : "Now if
anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw, each
one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be
revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built
on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will
suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." : The argument is simple. A building can be built with any kind
of materials, but how durable are those materials?
-
There is always a danger of shoddy workmanship! Building with gold, silver and
precious stones is costly, time consuming, but in the end very strong.
-
Wood, hay and straw are easily affordable and can take up space, but are
essentially very vulnerable. They had to make a conscious decision to choose the
materials which elevated Christ.
˚ "There is only one
foundation-Christ! And who He is controls the shape and quality of the church.
Not only is He at the bottom of it all, holding it up, His influence must be
utterly pervasive! Everywhere you turn in the church, wherever any one is
teaching anything or building anything, we must see the mark of Jesus Christ.
Whatever lifts up Christ and His true greatness is gold and silver and precious
stone. Whatever detracts from the fullness of His truth is wood, hay and
stubble!" John Piper
-
When it comes to God's building, the church, one cannot afford to take
shortcuts or present programs for quick growth because the day is coming when
it will be fire tested!
-
The Day will declare it! This refers to Christ's judgment, when all is opened
and He rewards some and rebukes others.
-
Folks, let's be very clear: There are materials that can be used to build a
church and a life, but the test isn't in the size of the building or
congregation. It's in the stability and fidelity of that group!
-
God will make it clear on that day what materials were used! I'm fairly certain
that Paul's thought is that they could not judge properly what the best
materials were!
-
They were looking at the world's materials and how pretty they were. They were
impressed with the technology and the wizardry and were not thoughtful of the
practicality!
-
The fire of judgment will be the standard! If the materials used were quality,
the work would stand and payment would be due. If not, there will be payment
due!
-
Here is an interesting verse: His work will be burned and he will suffer loss.
-
The NLT puts it this way: "But if
the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be
saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames."
-
He'll make it through because of the foundation, but the work he built will
crash around him!
-
A church which builds their lives on a steady diet of "What's Happening
Now" and "What Do I Need Right Now" will be saved because of
their foundation Jesus!
-
But all that they have built into themselves, everything that has held them
together for the moment, can't stand up on the Day, so their reward is lost,
even though they are saved!
-
Remember: Rewards given to us by Jesus become the gifts that we give to Jesus!
•
I Corinthians 3:16-17 : "Do you
not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you? If anyone defiles the temple of
God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." : The Corinthians were not just any building. They were the very
temple of God!
-
This is why one wants to be careful in terms of how one builds! We don't want
to use faulty methods or employ substandard contractors because this church is
the temple of God.
-
The local church where believers meet is the house of God, where the Holy
Spirit rules the group of people.
-
If anyone defiles the temple of God or introduces corruption into the assembly,
God will deal with that person severely.
-
What a vivid warning to you and I. We have the privilege of being a local
expression of the Lord's church. This place, when we meet together, is a place
where God condescends to meet us.
-
When people come in to visit, they will have the opportunity to be touched by
God. So, who would like to bring something that corrupts that atmosphere?
-
Who wants to be the one that introduces something that will distrurb what God
wants to do?
-
The temple of God is holy. It is to be considered sacred to us, separate from
"normal" activities, therefore, we are to stand vigilantly on our
guard!
III. What They Should Be (v.18-23)
•
I Corinthians 3:18-20 : "Let no
one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him
become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is
written, 'He
catches the wise in their own craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are futile.'" : What had been a corrupting
influence? The desire to be perceived as wise and to cater the message of God
to the current trends of the culture!
-
Don't deceive yourself! or as it would sound like this to us: "Stop
deceiving yourselves now!"
-
It is sad that self-deception is possible. "We are doing God's work, even
though Jesus is an afterthought and the Word is a pretext for our clever ideas.
Hey, numbers don't lie!"
-
For those who had built themselves on the wisdom of the world's philosophies,
who would appear to be wise in this age, let him give that reputation up and
become a fool!
-
In this context, the meaning would be to embrace the simple gospel message and
give up on the philosophies of the world. Ironically, only at that point would
a person truly be wise!
-
God looks at the wisdom of this world as foolishness. That is His assessment!
How sad that the Corinthians were looking at things in the opposite way!
-
What things do you respect today that God looks at as foolish? I pray not many!
-
God takes the wisdom of men and causes men to be caught in their craftiness,
according to Isaiah 44:25. He takes
them with His hand and manhandles them!
-
The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise and sees that they amount to nothing,
according to Job 5:13. He knows the
end of their deliberations, which He knows will end without any force!
-
Yet, it was in these philosophies and elevated words that the Corinthians were
exalting!
-
A church is to be committed to the message of the Cross and the centrality of
Christ.
• I
Corinthians 3:21-23 : "Therefore let no one boast in men.
For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or
death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is
God’s." : Corinthians, are you understanding
what is happening? Don't brag about men! Everything a person could want
spiritually was theirs, including the gifts of these men!
-
They Corinthians had it all backward. They were saying, "I belong to
Paul," "I belong to Apollos," but the reality was that THEY
BELONGED to the Corinthians!
-
God had moved upon these men to work among the Corinthians. What they were was
a result of God's working in them, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through
these men!
-
Everything belonged to them. There was no need to reach out to grab things
through the conventions of modern wisdom. It was all theirs! They belonged to
Christ and Christ to God!
Conclusion
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