1 Corinthians 3, verse 21. Therefore, let no man glory 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 ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's. Now this is God's glorious promise
to believers. All things are yours. If God gives us the grace to
enter into the fullness of what that statement means, all things
are yours. we'll find it utterly absurd
for any of us to strive with our brethren. What reason is
there for brethren to strive against brethren when the Holy
Spirit says to us, to the believer, all things are yours? Many speak of wanting a model
or speak of wanting to model the church, their church, where
they are. I want it to be a model of one
of the first churches, one of the early churches. I hear men
say, our church, if you ask me, I think we most resemble one
of the early churches. Well, here's one of them. We
find in Paul's letters to the Corinthians that they were carnal.
Some judged God's servant, the apostle Paul, and called him
a false prophet. There was incest among them.
They were going to law with one another. They were judging one
another according to the flesh. They were frugal and miserly
in spirit and providing for the needy. They were abusing the
Lord's table, arguing with one another about spiritual gifts,
questioning the resurrection. That's one of the early churches.
And still the apostle Paul addresses them as the elect, redeemed,
regenerate vessels of God's mercy, love, and grace. He doesn't approve
of their ungodly behavior, but as he endeavors to correct them,
he does so by directing their affection from things below to
the throne of God. He begins his letter by reminding
them that it's by the free grace of God that they've been made
the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and gifted with grace by
Christ. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. See how he begins
this letter. Sometimes it might do you well
to read the whole letter. and then go back after reading
of all the things that he's dealing with here and read how he starts
the letter. He starts it like this. Verse
2, he says, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them
that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints. That's what it is to be sanctified
in Christ Jesus. With all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now listen to this. I thank my
God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given
you by Jesus Christ, that in everything you are enriched by
him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you. so that you come behind in no
gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom
you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Then he reminds them that it's
God who made Christ all to them, who has built them up together,
and who keeps them. Look over at verse 30 of chapter
1. He says, But of God are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Then in chapter
2, verse 12, He reminds them that what we have, the understanding
we have of these things that have been freely given to us
in Christ Jesus is by God the Holy Spirit. And he says in verse
12, now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. And then back in our text in
1 Corinthians 3, he says, therefore, let no man glory in men, all
ending, all strife, all division is the result of our carnal flesh. When we exalt ourselves over
one another, when we exalt one brother over another, we're glorying
in the flesh. It's that worldly wisdom of the
old nature, that corrupt, deceitful, sin nature that came from Adam. It hasn't been quickened. It
hasn't been made alive. It is what it always has been
and it will remain what it is. But that old nature desires gain
for self. And the only thing that's going
to subdue that carnal nature and make us cease from the evil
of fleshly craftiness is for the Holy Spirit of God to bring
the believer into the realization that all things are yours. What I want you to see here tonight
is that God's children, His servants, His preachers, all His brethren
alike, have no reason to strive with one another or against one
another. because by the grace of God freely
given to every believer in Christ Jesus, all things are yours."
Now, the first thing Paul begins with in verse 22, he says, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas, all are yours. Gospel preachers are
yours. Look over with me at Ephesians
chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. True God sent pastors are
the gift of Christ Jesus to his people. Look at Ephesians chapter
four, beginning in verse eight. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended
up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is
it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? That is, this is Jesus Christ. This is the man Christ
Jesus we're talking about, who was born, who was formed in the
womb of a virgin. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill
all things. And these are some of those gifts
He gave unto men. He gave some apostles and some
prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. He gave them. And He gave them
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of His body, the body of Christ. The Corinthians
had become divided into all these different cliques. And the reason
they had become divided, the way they'd become divided, is
because they began to exalt one preacher over another preacher.
They were following men, Paul said. They were following the
preacher instead of the one whom the preacher was declaring to
them. False prophets love it to be
that way. Men who haven't been sent by God, men who haven't
been sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, love to have a following. They love to have men choose
them over other men. They love to have men exalt them
over other men. They love it because they want
the following for themselves. And not only this, but they promote
it. They promote this division. They
encourage this division because this way they keep you under
their thumb because they're fearful of God's true messengers, of
his true prophets. Well, God's servants don't do
that. God's servants exalt Christ.
God's servants promote the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. Here in chapter 3 and verse 5, listen to Paul. This is one of those that Christ
gave. He says, who then is Paul? Who
is Apollos? But ministers by whom you believed. even as the Lord gave to Ephraim. He gave Apollos. He gave Paul. He gave Cephas. And he said,
we're just vessels that he used to preach the gospel. And through
the gospel, he quickens you, made you alive so that you believe.
And he said, who are we? I've planted Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth, but God that gives the increase. Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one. You have a preacher coming up
here to preach to you this weekend. He and I are one. We're one. You go on Free Grace Radio and
look at any one of those pastors on there and listen to their
messages. I'm one with them. I'm one with them. I'm not promoting
myself. They're not promoting themselves.
We're one. One a plant, one a water. But it's God that gives the increase.
Now, he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every
man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor, for
we are laborers together with God. But now mark this, you're
God's husbandry, you're God's building. Now look over chapter
4 in verse 6. Chapter 4 in verse 6. And these
things, brethren, I have in a figure, in a type, I've transferred to
myself into a polis, and I've done it for your sakes, that
you might learn in us not to think of men above that which
is written. that no one of you be puffed
up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ
from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it,
why glory as if you didn't receive it? You see, my prayer for you,
brethren, is this. I pray that God would be pleased
to raise up a pastor for you. That Christ Jesus will be pleased
to give you a pastor. And knit your hearts together
with that pastor. But be sure you get this. Be
sure you get this. The Lord will give His man for
His people in the place He would have that man to be. Christ will
receive all the glory for doing so. You won't have to exalt one
pastor over another before your brethren in order to get the
pastor that you prefer. Did you hear me? You won't have
to exalt one pastor over another to get the pastor you prefer.
To do so will only divide and will only prove you to be carnal. Listen to this, when you start
hearing pastors, when they start coming and preaching the gospel
to you, wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Trust the Lord
to give as He's promised to give. And what you'll find is, if He's
pleased to give you a pastor after His heart, He will give
you a heart for that pastor. And the Lord will give the one
sitting next to you a heart for that pastor. And He'll give that
pastor a heart for you. And without you making any political
maneuverings, engaging in any strategy to get who you think
ought to be the one, God will work grace in the hearts of you,
you, you, you, and He will make it known. that you're of one
mind for one man and that man of one mind for you. And he'll
receive the glory for it. Pastors are a gift from the Lord
Jesus Christ just like every other spiritual gift that we
have from God. You wouldn't dare try to use
the arm of your flesh to make one of your children believe.
to coerce them into a profession, to claim that they're justified
because something you got them to do, to claim that they've
been made righteous by something I made them do or by some preacher
made them do. Well, just in the same manner
that those are spiritual gifts given by the grace of God through
the blood and righteousness of Christ, so are his pastors. Whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas, All are yours. Now, look at the second
thing Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 3, 22. He says, and the world
is yours. The world is yours. Now, every
believer has been separated by the sovereign, irresistible grace
of God from the world. The Holy Spirit teaches us, love
not the world. The Spirit teaches us, love not
the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. But when God gives a believer
an understanding, the peace of knowing that everything he works
in this world is for you, Joshua Dees, for you. When He gives you that peace,
you can stop fighting with your flesh and using the arm of our
flesh and using our strength And we can rest in the Lord. We can rest in the Lord. Everything
our sovereign King does in this world, everything He does in
this world is woe to the wicked, but it's well for the righteous.
Everything. The sun, the moon, the stars,
the times and the seasons, they're all ordered by our Father for
the care of His precious children. Every king, every kingdom. Every
persecution, every trial, every wicked man in his rage is all
under the power of the sovereign of heaven and earth for the good
of his saints. When God's elect remnant in Judah
found themselves surrounded in Judah by self-righteous, self-exalting,
self-seeking people, God used whole nations entire nations
for the good of His elect remnant in Judah. He said of the king
of Assyria and of the Assyrian nation in Isaiah 10 that they
were nothing more than a rod in His hand." Sometimes my son,
he's six, and he already thinks he knows more than I know. And
he gets out of line. This may be politically incorrect
with some folks, but when he gets out of line, I correct him.
And sometimes I'll use a belt to correct him. And once I've
finished and I've talked to him and made him to see that what
I'm doing for him is to teach him to trust me, to look nowhere
else but to me, to depend upon me. So much so that when he has
a problem with his sister, Instead of taking matters into his own
hands, bring it to his father. That's what God teaches you.
That's what God teaches me. You have a problem with your
brother. You have a problem with your sister. Don't take it into your
own hands. Go to your father. But when I'm finished correcting
him, I take that belt and I just toss it aside. He's told the
king of Assyria, he's a rod in my hand just to use as I lovingly
chasten, lovingly correct my people, my elect remnant whom
I've everlastingly loved." A whole nation and a king raised up for
that purpose. And he said, and when I'm through
with him, I'm going to cast him aside just like I cast that belt
aside when I'm done correcting my child. And he said, I did
it for this purpose. In Isaiah 10, 20, he said that
they might stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. Now, we see it most in the crucifixion
of our Savior, don't we? The kings of the earth stood
up, the rulers were all gathered together against the Lord and
against His Christ. Apostles Pilate, Herod, the Gentiles,
the people of Israel all gathered together to do whatsoever. His hand had determined before
to be done. And what was the result of all
that? God was glorified as being a
just God and a Savior. Christ Jesus the Lord redeemed
His people, bought them with His own blood, and raised to
the right hand of the Father on high, and His people were
brought home with Him to heaven's glory in Christ. Did it stop
God from fulfilling His purpose? It accomplished His purpose.
Did it stop God from being glorified? It glorified God. Did it stop
His Son from being exalted? It exalted His Son. Did it stop
His children from being edified? It's all our salvation. All our
salvation. So His gospel preachers are yours
and the world is yours. What do we read in Romans 8?
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose. Do they just,
all things just sort of work here and there and it all sort
of turns out? It's all worked together by His
purpose, according to His purpose. He works everything together.
He's faithful by whom you're called into the fellowship of
His Son, Christ Jesus. Here's the third thing. There
in verse 22, Paul says, Gospel preachers are yours, the world
is yours, and life and death are yours. All that pertains
to life in this world belongs to God's people, to His elect,
to those that have been called into the fellowship of His Son.
Just as He clothes the lilies in the field, He clothes me and He clothes you. He gives
bread. He gives a shelter. He does all
those things providing for His people. Why do we fight with
one another? Why do we even attempt to strive
to get, strive to keep it, strive to have? If we could just understand Everything
that pertains to life for God's sheep is yours. It's yours. Everything. We could spend less time worrying
about our day-to-day affairs and more time seeking the kingdom
of God and Christ Jesus, His righteousness. But Paul speaks
of something more here than just physical life. It's just temporal
life. Our life is Christ. And those
who have been born of the Spirit of God have life eternal. Eternal
life was promised to each elect child of God before time ever
began. Eternal life was purchased by
Emmanuel shedding His own blood. Eternal life has been given to
us by the irresistible power and grace of God through the
Holy Spirit. So then also, if eternal life is ours, death is
ours. If there's one thing that you'd
be more afraid of, we could be puffed up and striving to have
our way right now in some temporal thing amongst our brethren. And
the one thing that would cause us to lose sight of that is if
your doctor told you, you're going to die in about six months.
All of a sudden, all those things that were so important in the
moment, they've become a whole lot less important, a whole lot
less important. One thing that terrifies us more
than having our own way, or should I say terrifies the flesh more
than having our own way? is death, is death. The carnal
man is scared to death of death. And we were. We were frightened
of death. We were all our lifetime subject
to bondage. We were. The sting of death is
sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Satan, his ministers,
our own flesh, used sin, our sin, to terrify us of death. The strength of sin is the law.
Satan's messengers, Satan himself uses the law. He uses the law
in a two-fold manner. He uses the law not to show a
sinner his sin so that he'll flee to Christ. He uses it to
show him his sin, to uncover his sin, and then turns around
and uses the law, urges him to flee to the law, to try to do
something to cover his sin. And it's this treadmill that
won't ever end. And because of the fear of death,
that bondage was constant in our life. But Christ Jesus came
and He was made sin. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
He put away our sin. He fulfilled the law and answered
law's demands against His people. And when he did that, brethren,
he took away the sting of death, which is sin. He took away its
power. He satisfied the law. He put
away sin. And now death has no claim on
his people. Death. I walked in and I opened
up that door and I walked in here and you were all smiles. And I said, it's good to see
you all. That's what death is for the
believer. That's exactly what death is for the believer. It's
a door whereby we go from the cold world that we're in right
now into the warm embrace of our Savior and our beloved. That's
what death is. Thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then fourthly,
look here, he says, Apollos or Cephas, gospel preachers are
yours, the world is yours, life and death are yours, and things
present and things to come are yours." Now, you sit here without a pastor,
and you think of the things that have happened in the past, wondering
what's to come, what's going to happen. Next, but if we be the children of
God, it's by God's grace that we sit here presently. Presently. You've been tried and you've tried. You may have
tried with all your strength, with all your power, with all
your might to prevent the current state of things, to prevent things
from coming to where they have come to. But you sit here presently,
hopefully, by His grace, realizing it's beyond your power. Do you
know that? Do you realize that? And yet presently, If we're children of God, if
He sanctified the trial to our hearts, He's made us to know
that nothing is out of His power. Nothing is beyond His power. And yet presently, as we sit
here realizing these things are beyond our power, He lifts our
eyes through this Holy Spirit in the inner man away from ourselves,
away from our flesh, away from the flesh of our brethren, away
from those things that have been, away from worrying about what
shall come. And he brings us into the present
realization that right now, all things are yours. If things present are pleasant,
it's because by His Spirit, by His grace, He's made Christ all. He's made Christ altogether lovely. If things present are sorrowful, it's to turn us from everything
else but Christ. If things present strengthen
us, It's because we've been made to know Christ is our strength. If things present make us feel
like we're utterly foolish in ourselves,
it's to bring us to the present realization that Christ is our
wisdom. If things present are health
or if they're sickness, is to bring us into the present reality
that our life is Christ. And as we presently are reminded
that all things are ours in Christ, we are assured that all things
to come are ours in Christ. What things to come? What things
to come. Look beyond tomorrow. Look beyond
the next day. Look beyond the day after that. Our entrance into heaven's glory. Awaking in the likeness of Christ. Beholding His face. Embracing
Him and have Him embrace us. Singing praises to Him for all
eternity. All those things to come are
yours. They belong to the Lord's people.
They belong to those who trust Christ alone. For all the promises
of God, all the promises of God are in
Christ, yea, and in Him, amen. to the praise of the glory of
God. David said, I was young, and
he said, I'm old now. And he said, I have yet to see
the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. Paul says here in verse 21, Therefore
let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death. Are things present? Are things
to come? All are yours. Now here's the best part. Here's
the fifth thing. Verse 23. And ye are Christ's. And Christ is God's. You see, everything that we've
been talking about is Christ's. It all belongs to Him. And if He's heir of all things,
and He is, and if you, by the grace of God, have been made
joint heirs with Christ, then all things are yours because
ye are Christ's. Before you were ever conceived,
before your parents ever came into being, God the Father gave
His elect chosen children as a gift to His Son, Christ Jesus. And those children became Christ
then. They became His in eternity past. They are called Christ's Bride,
Christ's Children, Christ's Sheep, Christ's Portion, Christ's jewels. You're Christ's because He purchased
you with His own blood. We're bought with a price. The
price, the precious, precious blood of Christ. Let no man ever
tell you that the blood of Christ is common. Let no man ever tell
you that Christ shed His blood for all men without exception.
Christ shed His blood for those God gave Him in eternity, and
He bought them. He bought them with His blood. They are His. They are rightfully
His. They are His purchased possession. And all those who have the earnestness
of the Spirit have the firstfruits. We have the first tasting of
what's to come. because He's coming again for
His purchased possession. That's why Scripture says He's
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
He's not willing that any for whom He died, any for whom God
gave Him, any for whom He shed His precious blood, any for whom
He is now tearing without destroying this world, He's not willing
that any of them should perish, but that all shall come to repentance.
Let me ask you something. Has God ever willed anything
that He did not bring to pass? He willed to create the heavens
and earth. He didn't have a problem bringing it to pass, did He?
He willed to purge His elect remnant in Judah from all those
that were hindering them from trusting Christ. He didn't have
a problem doing that, did He? He willed that His Son come to
this earth and He walk for 33 years and then go to the cross
and lay down His life as a sacrifice and an offering for sin that
He might redeem His people unto Himself. Did He accomplish it? You think He's going to have
a problem bringing one that He bought with His own blood, one
that He's loved everlastingly, one that He's moved everything,
all things together for their good under the sound of the gospel
of His grace and quicken their hearts by His Holy Spirit and
bring them to repentance and faith in Christ? Not at all. You know why? Because they belong
to Christ. They're His purchased possession.
Christ is our glory. He's our glory. He's the only
one we glory in. Paul begins this here and he
says, let no man glory in men. Let's just stop glorying in ourselves. Let's stop glorying in our brethren.
Let's stop glorying in one another by exalting ourselves over another,
by trying to force our hand and have our way. Let's stop doing
that. Because Christ is our glory. He's seated at the right hand
of God. He's on the throne. He's the king. All power in heaven
and earth has been given to Him. Either we believe Him and trust
Him, or we don't. But you know, more assurance
can be had, not only that He's our glory, but here's where I
find more assurance than that. You're His glory. You understand
what that means? Listen to Isaiah 43. You could
turn there with me. This would be good for you to
see. Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, verse 7. Listen to this. And I encourage you to read the
whole first half of this chapter, the whole chapter for that matter.
Let me read something to you. Verse 7. Read verse 6. I will say to the
North, give up, and to the South, keep not back. Bring My sons
from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by My name. For I have created him for My
glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. Drop down to verse 13. Yea, before the day was, I am
He, and there is none that can deliver out of My hand. I will
work, and who shall let it? Thus saith the Lord God, your
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent to
Babylon, I have brought down all their nobles, to Chaldeans, whose cry is in
the ship. I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King. He says, I do all things for
the glory of my Israel. They're my glory. You see, when
He calls His sheep out and He gives them grace, He gives them
eyes to see, He gives them hearts to believe Him, to see what all
He's done for them, they behold that He is their glory. But He
brings glory to Himself because He's able to save wretched, helpless,
useless, vile sinners like you and me. And give us eyes to see.
And bring us to behold Him. We're His glory. And He's our
inheritance. I rejoice to know that all things
are mine because Christ is mine. He's my inheritance. He's all
I want. You ask me about rewards in heaven.
You can have anything men talk about as far as rewards go. The
reward in heaven is Christ. I want Him. That's who I want.
I don't care about anything else. I want Him. Well, even more assuring
than that, we're His inheritance. That's what ye are Christ means.
You're His inheritance. The Lord's portion is His people.
Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. Look at Romans 8. We're almost
to the end here, but I want you to see this. Oh, Romans 8. Look here. Verse 32, He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? He didn't spare his son. You
think he's going to spare giving his people a pastor? You think
he's going to spare putting bread on your table, clothes on your
back, keeping you in a job, keeping you from starving in this world,
keeping you walking day to day, keeping you, by his power, trusting
him along? He gave his son. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth.
Who is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
We're killed all the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. But in all these things, In all these things, all distress,
persecution, famine, all these things, we're more than conquerors. Not just conquerors. More than
conquerors. Through Him that loved us. Now, here's the last thing. Back in our text. Here's the
last thing. And you've got to see this. Ye are Christ's and Christ is
God's. Now this is something we need
to meditate upon constantly. We need to think on this right
here constantly. I'm Christ and Christ is God's. Paul has been exhorting the brethren
not to look upon the temporal, not to look with these carnal
eyes, not to deal with one another according to the flesh. He says
later, we know no man after the flesh, but after the spirit. But rather, if you would truly
deal tenderly, kindly, graciously with one another, with love for
your brethren, You've got to be brought by God's grace to
see God's love for his only begotten son. That's where we gotta be
brought. Then, then, we'll see things
like they really are. Ye are Christ, and Christ is
God's. What's that mean? What's that
mean? John said this. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment, because as Christ is, so are we in this
world. He is Christ, God's Son. You see that brother, that sister
who is all puffed up and they said unkind things about you,
exalting themselves, causing others to speak bad about
you. Is Christ God's Son? So are they. Is Christ justified in the flesh? You see that sister who's determined that she's going to
go her own way, have her own way, offend you in every way? If she's Christ, so is she. She's right where Christ is,
justified in the flesh. Is Christ raised to newness of
life? When you behold your brother,
your sister, overtaken in a fault, like these brethren at Corinth
were, you come to them like Paul came to them. Because you know,
as Christ is raised to newness of life, so are they. Is Christ
accepted of God? Is He seated at God's right hand?
Is He eternally, everlastingly secure in the presence of God? So are you. If you're His, if
He bought you with His blood, if you're looking nowhere else
but to Him, if you trust Him and Him alone, you're right where
He is. As He is, so are you in this
world. Well, but that means that verse
is talking about how we ought to treat our brethren. Well,
how else are you going to treat them? The Lord Jesus Christ said, as
much as you've done it unto one of these, the least of my brethren,
you've done it unto me. If we are so vitally in inseparable
union with our Lord, so that all things are ours, and that
we are Christ's and Christ is God's, then as Christ is, so
are you right here where you sit in the presence of God. That's how it really is. So you
see, when you look at those things with these eyes and you see those
outward things, that's what it looks like it is. That's how
it appears like it is. This is how it really is. Christ's
brethren are complete. Christ's brethren are sanctified.
Christ's sheep are justified. They are eternally secure in
Him. Where He is, that's where they
are. Read Colossians 3.1 on through 4 or 5 there. Your life is hid
with Christ in God. Set your affection on things
above, not things on earth. That's what Paul meant when he
said, we don't know any man after the flesh anymore. We don't look
at the things of the flesh anymore. That's what it is. That's how
if your brother's overtaken in a fault, that's how you're going
to restore him in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself
lest you also be overtaken in a fault. Get puffed up. Get high and mighty. Think you
can fix him. You're right there in the same
boat with him. When you start thinking that, you're right there
in the same boat with him. You've fallen into a worse fault. How
do you restore him? How did Paul restore him? He
corrected them, He told them, but He did so declaring to them,
you're sanctified, you're justified, you're righteous. All things
are yours. I can think of nothing else that'll
make you lay down all your carnal weapons like knowing I own everything. It's all mine. I'm as near as
God's own son is. If I know that and I trust that,
I can rest. Here's what he says. You're not
your own, you're bought with a price. What did he say after
that? Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. They're God's. Now let's read it together again.
1 Corinthians 3.21. Therefore, let no man glory 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 ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's. Amen.