Looking in 1 Corinthians, and
we're beginning here in chapter 3, and I want to read verse 16 as
we begin reading this chapter. This is 1 Corinthians 2, verse
16. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and
not with meat. For hitherto you were not able
to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you
envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal? and walk as
men. For while one saith, I am of
Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is
Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom ye believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth 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, year God's husbandry, year
God's building. According to the grace of God
which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take
heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man
build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the
day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire,
and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall
receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so
is by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man
defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple
of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may
be wise. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 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 you are Christ's, and Christ
is God's. Now, Paul, of course, began this
book to the Corinthians with the purpose of instructing them
in that which is spiritual versus that which is carnal. Now, when
a man is born again by the Spirit of God, he becomes a spiritual
man. That does not mean, however,
that he ceases to be a carnal man. It would be, in our estimation,
so much simpler Would it not if when we were born again we
just became spiritual men and carnality was left behind? Now
some denominations, teachers, I call false gospels, go out
and they actually purport such a thing that men become spiritual
and then they are no longer carnal. But the truth of the matter is
that the flesh of man does not change at all when he is born
again. He is still the same old wicked
man that he was when he came forth from his mother's womb.
And he will continue to be that same old wicked man right up
until the day that he dies and they put his body in the ground.
And in the day of the resurrection, that body shall be put off and
a spiritual body shall take its place. And so shall we ever be
with the Lord, not as those who are spiritual, mixed with carnality,
but those who are spiritual. But in this point in time, we
are indeed still wrestling and struggling day by day with carnality. And that's plainly set forth
throughout the New Testament as I see it. In the book of Romans,
in the book of Galatians, in Ephesians, these things are set
forth. The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary
one to the other. They don't mix. Oil and water
does not mix. And the flesh and the Spirit
does not mix. Now, having said that, Paul is
pointing out to these Corinthians that they are indeed new creatures. that they have been given the
knowledge of God. Now, the man who is in the world
and is not born again, he does not have any comprehension of
spiritual things. Now, he may be religious. You
see, a natural man can be naturally religious. You can teach people
how to be religious. You can join up with any religion
that you want. Pick one out and join it. You
can do it. You can go join a church tomorrow
somewhere and you can be a part of that and you can read books
and learn how to be religious. Anybody can do that. But what
Paul is talking about here to the Corinthians when he is talking
about the natural man received, if not the things of the Spirit
of God, there is a difference, however, between that man who
is spiritually awakened by God who has been born again by the
Spirit of God and made a new creature in Christ, between him
and that man who is nothing but a carnal man. Because the carnal
man, the Scripture says, these receive not a love of the truth
that they might be saved. They cannot be delivered because
they have not received, that is, they have not been given
a love of the truth. But you see, those who are in
Christ, they have been given the love of the truth. That's
what he just said there in verse 16. We read that. But we have
the mind of Christ. Now does that mean that 24 hours
a day we're sitting around thinking on spiritual things? No. Why not? Because we're not purely
spiritual creatures, but we are carnal creatures. We are moral
creatures. We are creatures of flesh and
blood. Now, if God was pleased to remove
that promise, He would. Paul prayed to have the thorn
in the flesh removed from whatever it was. Some have opined that
he was praying to be delivered from his sinful flesh. I don't
think that's actually what he was praying, but some have opined
that. But in any event, if that was
what he was praying, the truth of the matter is the Lord said
to him, My grace is sufficient for thee. And so the Lord's grace
is sufficient for us creatures who have been born again but
are yet carnal in our natural state. Now, having said that,
while the flesh has not changed one whit by the new birth, I
mean, the inclinations of our flesh
are the same, are they not? If somebody reviles us, what
do we want to do by nature? Revile them again. If somebody takes something from us, what
do we want to do? We want to do something to them
to get back at them. We don't like that. That's just
the natural tendencies of man. But you see, the man who is born
again by the Spirit of God, while he's not devoid of that natural
inclination, he is constrained by the Spirit of God in his mind
when these things are brought to his mind by the grace and
mercy of God. Now, oftentimes the Lord allows
us, and I use that word I don't really particularly like that
because the Lord really doesn't allow things. He causes things. But in our way of understanding,
we say the Lord allows us to go on our way from time to time
to teach us a valuable lesson that we might learn what we are
by nature. Because you know sometimes, like
you mentioned, we might get to thinking about ourselves as maybe
we're not quite as bad as we used to be or whatever. And the
Lord will bring something past and He'll make you aware, well,
you know, really, no, I'm just like I always was. I ain't changed
a bit except for the mercy of God. That restrains us and constrains
us. And so when we exhort the people
of God, we exhort them to reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God, recognizing that we are still prone to carnality,
but we are not carnal in the sense that there was a fellow by the name
of Bill Bright, and I think he's found to be dead by now. He'd
have to be 100 years old if he wasn't, but he probably is. But
he came up with a little booklet called The Four Spiritual Laws. I don't even remember what they
were, but anyway, it was a simplistic approach. You do this, this,
and this, and you're a child of God. Well, what happened is
people get They think, well, if all I've got to do is just
say this prayer, then I'll become a Christian. Well, I'm a Christian.
Well, he couldn't very well abandon his theory and say, well, no,
you're really not, because he had said, well, this is what
you've got to do to become a Christian. So he developed what was called
the carnal Christian theory. Now, that's not really a new
thing, because that's been around for a long time. But in the measure
in which he set it forth, he said that some Christians You
know, they're spiritual. But some Christians, they're
just as much a Christian, even though, you know, all they've
done is just said this prayer, but they've got their name recorded
in the Book of Life, but nothing really ever spiritual happened
to them, and so they're just carnal Christians. Now, when
Paul says to the Corinthians here, I speak unto you I cannot
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal." He's not
talking about the carnal Christian theory. He's not saying, now,
some of you who have been born again are just carnal and you're
not spiritual. There wouldn't be any point in
even addressing them if that was the case. He's saying you're
yet carnal in the sense that you are yet walking in carnality. You're thinking about these things
in a carnal way. And so he said, when you think
about who it is that came preaching unto you, you think that whoever
preached unto you had something to do with you coming to a place
of understanding the things of God. And so you say, well, I
like old preacher so-and-so and so I'm going to latch on to his
shirt tail because he has really got the goods. And so I like
him. And some of them were saying,
well, no, we like old brother so-and-so better. Well, of course,
in this case it was Paul and Apollos. Now Apollos was a great
orator and Paul was not. And so the contrast the Lord
put there in their midst was this. to show them this thing
that the truth of God does not come to men through the wisdom
of men or through great oration or through the ability of the
speaker. That is not the manner in which
God is pleased to communicate truth. Now, He may use that,
and He does use that, and He does raise up men to be able
to teach and do those things. But the error in carnal thinking
is that that really makes a big difference in whether or not
a man can come to an understanding of spiritual things, because
it doesn't have any meaning at all, because God doesn't need
that. And so he said to them, I, brethren,
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
even as unto babes in Christ. He said, you're like babies.
He says, you're just walking, just taking baby steps. Look,
when I was a child, Paul said, I thought as a child, but when
I became a man, I put away childish things. Now, this is the place
that we come and Paul comes to them speaking from. This is the
thing. He said, look, He said, you're
not like some little ignorant babies walking around out here
that don't know any better than this. Because you've been taught
and the Spirit of God has given you the mind of Christ. What
on earth are you walking around out here like a bunch of babies?
And saying, oh, I like this one, or I like that one, and then
causing division among yourselves over such foolish stuff. You see, carnal likes and dislikes
will divide people. And if we dwell upon those things
and allow those things to be the basis upon which our likes
and our dislikes or the things that would bring us together,
we'll be just like the Corinthians here that he's addressing. It's
not these things, dear brethren. It's not how we regard carnal
things. But it is that which is of the
Lord. He said, I couldn't speak to
you as unto spiritual, but unto carnal,
even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and
not with meat. He said, I'm taking baby steps
here. I'm going back to the first principle.
Just like he talks to the Galatians. He says, I'm in doubt of some
of you. He said, I was among you and I preached the truth
and you embraced it and now you've gone back to the old ways. He
says, I'm in doubt as to whether or not you ever came to a knowledge
of the truth at all. And so he says to them here,
I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you
were not able to bear it. He said, I've walked along here
with baby steps teaching you some things, but he says, I'm
tired of it. He says, I want you to wake up
and smell the coffee. I mean, it's time to realize
who you are in Christ and quit acting like a bunch of babies. Now, if you are indeed carnal,
you're carnal. If you've not been born again,
but he said, look, the Spirit of God is teaching His people,
and He is teaching His people. And the person that is not growing
in grace is studied. I mean, something's wrong there,
isn't it? I mean, if you've got a child and he's not putting
on weight or he's not growing or whatever, you'd take him to
the doctor, would you not? Same thing is true spiritually. Now, growing spiritually doesn't
mean that we no longer sin. Or we get to a place where we're
growing out of it. That's not what it means. But
it does mean that our thought process is changing, does it
not? How we think about things. Those
things which we know to be of value. Now, it may be difficult
for us yet to embrace it. I mean, we know we need to forgive
our enemies. We read that in the Word of God.
If we are spiritually minded, we would not argue the fact that
we ought to forgive one another. Lock, stock and barrel, across
the board, no questions asked. We know that, don't we? I mean,
the Lord said if a man sues you at the law to take away your
coat, give him your cloak also. He said if he smacks you on the
right cheek, turn to him the left. I mean, that's pretty straightforward,
is it not? Who would argue with that? Who
would say, well, Lord, we don't want to do that. We don't think
that's right. No, we know that's right, don't we? And so as we
grow in grace, we know those things to be true. By the grace
of God, He causes us to recognize and put those things into practice
to some measure. Now, we'll never like it. You'll
never get to the point where you like that. You know, when
somebody wrongs you, you'll never get to the point where you say,
man, I'm glad you did that because I was just looking for an opportunity.
No, it won't ever be easy. Why? Because the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and it's telling you, don't you do that.
You need to stake your stand right here, and buddy, you need
to show yourself here. It's always going to be telling
you that. It's never going to be easy, but by the grace of
God, He enables us by the working of the Spirit of God as He works
in us both willing to do of His good pleasure. There is a growth
in the spiritual understanding and application of the things
of God. Now, He said, neither yet now
are ye able, because He said, what you're doing is acting like
a bunch of babies. For ye are yet carnal, For whereas
there is among you envying and strife and divisions." Now, should
there be envying, strife and divisions among God's people?
Cannot the weakest of God's children answer that question? Of course
we can. No, there should not be strifes
and divisions among God's people. When there are strifes and divisions
among God's people, it's indicative of two things. of one of two
things. Either they are not God's people
or they are walking carnally. I mean, there is no ifs, ands,
and buts about it, is there? I mean, that is what He is saying
to them. He said, I have told you this stuff. And He said,
this isn't deep. I mean, when the Lord said, forgive
your enemies, that is not deep, is it? Is that deep? No, that is not deep. That's
just the basic stuff. He says, I'm just talking to
you in baby terms here. Are you not carnal and walk as
men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of
Apollos, are you not carnal? What would motivate you to do
that? Would a view that it's the work of the Spirit alone
that causes the Word of God to prosper, would that ever cause
you To think like that? No. So if you think like that,
guess what? It's a rising out of carnality. For while one saith, I am of
Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? So who is
Paul? Who is he, he said? What am I? He says, I'm an apostle, but
so what? Big deal. It doesn't carry any
weight with it in the kingdom of God. It's not some thing that
we hone in on and grab a hold of somebody because of that.
Who then is Paul? And who's Apollos? What are we? He said, We're not anything.
He said, We're just ministers, but we're ministers by whom ye
believe. We were those who brought the
message to you that the Lord showed you and you believed. How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall they believe in Him of whom they've not heard?
How shall they hear without a preacher? I mean, it pleases the Lord to
bring the message. You see, life and immortality
are brought to light in the gospel. Life is not brought by the gospel.
But life and immortality are brought to light. That is, it
is a thing where men are unable to see it. I mean, when Peter
stood and preached on the day of Pentecost, did Peter save
those folks? No, he just delivered a message
of salvation to them that the Scripture says, as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed it. That was what happened there. So who was Peter? Oh, the Lord
would have just closed up shop if He hadn't had Peter, no. If
He hadn't had Peter, He'd have raised up somebody else. He does whatever He wants to
do. And if Peter or nobody else was there, He'd have raised up
a stone. And the stone would have said,
you know, this is the truth. But it pleased God through the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. But it's not
through the preacher See, a lot of people don't get that distinction
there. When he says it's through the
foolishness of preaching, he didn't say it's through the foolishness
of the preacher, because the preacher is immaterial. It's
the message. You see, it's the Word of God.
It's the truth of God. Who is then Paul or Apollos that
accepts ministers even as the Lord gave to every man? Because the Lord is the one that
gives this. And if He doesn't give it, it
doesn't make a difference who the messenger is. Because you
see, this is a message that's not delivered by men. It's delivered
by the power of God. Oh, man might be the mouthpiece
through which the words are spoken, but you see, their words will
fall on deaf ears apart from the grace of God. and the work
of it. And so Paul lays this out and
he is plainly setting it forth in no uncertain terms so that
they can't mistake it. He said if you're thinking this
way, you're carnal and not spiritual.