Paul said in verse 2 to the church
of Corinth, I fed you with milk and not with meat. Milk and meat. Now Paul says in verse 1 of chapter
3, and I, brethren, He was speaking to brothers and
sisters in Christ. He was not speaking to unbelievers.
He was speaking to brethren and he acknowledges them as such. Brethren having the same father. You know, I love the way the
Lord teaches us to pray our father. We're all part of an hour. That's
the brethren. our Father who art in heaven. We have the same Savior. Brethren
have the same Savior, don't they? We have the same hope. And he says to these brothers,
and I, brethren, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. Now, he had been speaking of
the natural man and the spiritual man. In chapter two, we considered
that last week, natural or spiritual. And he says, the way I'm having
to speak with you, I'm not able to speak with you as spiritual
men, but as carnal. Now in chapter two, the spiritual
man was the saved man. The natural man was the lost
man. In chapter three, He's dealing
with spiritual maturity. He says to these believers, I
could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
as unto immature babies is what he calls them. Your babes, your
infants. Now, Spiritual maturity. Don't you want to be spiritually
mature? Whatever that means. Don't you want to be able to
feed on the meat of the word and not the milk only? Spiritual
maturity. Now he says to these people,
you're acting like lost men and women. Men and women who don't
know God. That's what you're acting like.
You're carnal. You're acting contrary to how
a believer should act. You ever do that? Sure you do. Do you ever act like an unbeliever?
Do you ever think like an unbeliever? Do you ever talk like an unbeliever?
Sure you do, I do. And he's addressing the church
of Corinth in this light. Now, he's actually picking up
where he left off in chapter one. Let's look at these verses
again. Verse 10, now I beseech you brethren
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that is what has
power with a believer. I'm asking you to do this for
Christ's sake. This is the name that I'm calling
upon to move you. I beseech you brethren by the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing. And there be no divisions among
you, but you'd be perfectly joined together in the same mind and
in the same judgment. Is that possible? Yes. Believers believe the same thing. It should be that way right now. Everybody in this room, and perhaps
it is, we all believe, we all speak the same thing. That's
the way it ought to be. Remember when Peter spoke in
his general epistle, writing to them that have obtained like
precious faith. It's just a lie. We have the
same belief. And if we differ on something,
something's wrong. Either one of us or both of us
are wrong. Paul says, I beseech you in Christ's
name. You can be sure this is displeasing to him. When we're
not all speaking the same thing, that's displeasing to the Lord
Jesus Christ. When we're not all speaking the
same thing. With no differences, if we're not speaking the same
thing, that means there are divisions and that is wrong. The gospel is one gospel. We're called to bond, as Paul
said, to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and
in the same judgment. That does not mean cookie cutter
Christians that all look alike. That's not saying that at all.
That is not speaking of being brainwashed to conform to something
some man says. It means true agreement. True unity. Not uniformity, but unity. Being one in heart, one in mind. having the mind of Christ and
if that's not the case, it's wrong. If I hold to something
that I believe the scriptures teach that the scriptures do
not teach, there is always a sinful motive behind it. Now that's just true across the
board. If there's something that the scripture teach And I don't
see it. I see it in another way. And
I believe something that the scripture does not teach. I always
have a sinful reason for holding that position. There's something
wrong with me. Anything I believe is contrary
to the scripture. If I hold to that, I've got some kind of motive. I've got some kind of agenda.
It's not innocent. It's not, I might not realize
it, but it's not innocent. There is something. Now, he says in verse 11 to the
church at Corinth, it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren,
by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions
among you. And I'm sure Paul was grieved
by this. I'm sure Chloe and his house
were grieved to tell Paul about this. They were brokenhearted. There's contentions among you.
That ought not to be. Everybody is to be on the same
page, Christ. And the house of Chloe was grieved
over this. Now he gives us some idea what
this looks like in verse 12. And this, I say that every one
of you says you have one group that says, I'm with Paul. I believe
you profit more under Paul's ministry. I think you grow more
under Paul's ministry. I think you understand more over
Paul's ministry. Paul's a better preacher. And I get more out
of Paul. Now, I realize, let me say this,
everybody's got a preacher you'd rather hear than somebody else.
I realize that. Somebody says, it's not me. I
don't believe it. Yeah, you do. Someone says, who's yours? I'm
not telling. You're never going to know. I'm going to keep that
quiet. But everybody thinks like that to some extent. But when
you start pitting one against the other, well, Paul's got a
clear grasp of the truth. And what you're saying is, I've
got a clear grasp of the truth. I've got a more judicious ear. I have more discernment. I have
more understanding. There's some competition going
on at that time. Somebody promoting the flesh
is what it comes to. I'm a Paul. Somebody says, not
me. Paul's, he's just not a very
good speaker. I'm not moved by his preaching. You know, the
scripture says his bodily presence is weak and his speech is contemptible.
Now, Apollos, he's an eloquent man. He's a powerful speaker.
And I'm moved when I hear him preach. I get much more out of
Apollos' preaching than Paul's. Paul's too logical. I like to
be moved. Somebody else says, Peter's been
around longer than either one of them. And you'd get a lot
more benefit from hearing Peter. You'd be better off. You would
be a better believer by, he's been around longer. I mean, he
was with Christ during his earthly time. You're better off with
Peter. And then you have somebody that's real pious, says, I don't
follow any man, I'm a Christ. I follow Christ, not a man. I
follow Christ real pious person. I don't need to listen to a man.
I follow Christ. Now that is a contentious spirit. That's making divisions. That
is spiritual competition. That I know something that you
don't know, and that gives me a leg up on you. That's exactly
what that kind of thinking is. Like I said, I'm sure the house
of Chloe was grieved when they told Paul about this, the arguing,
the debate, the lack of agreement. And there's always, this is always
a contentious spirit. Now listen to this scripture
from James chapter three. The wisdom that's from above
is first pure. It's got to be true, or it's
not from above. After that, peaceable, gentle,
easy to be entreated, full of good fruits, without partiality,
without hypocrisy. And if it's not that, it's not
the wisdom that's from above. At first it's pure, it's true.
But after that, it's peaceable. Gentle, not trying to hold people's
feet to the fire. Easy to be entreated. And if it's not like that, it's
not from above. Now this, I say, verse 12, every
one of you say, if I'm a Paul, I'm a Paulist, I'm a Cephas,
I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Are there
divisions within the body of Christ? Are there different denominations?
I think it's so. I don't want to get all soapbox
about it, but denominations are purely manmade. Baptists, Methodists,
Catholics, Presbyterians, Church of Christ, whatever it is, there's
nothing like that in the body of Christ. Those are man made
divisions. There's nothing about them in
the Bible. Is Christ divided? No. You know, every denomination,
this is a competitive thing. Every denomination says I've
got a little bit better handle on the truth than that denomination.
A little bit closer, a little bit truer. Now all that does
is diminish the fact that Christ is all. No, my denomination has
got a better hold on things. Is Christ divided? Now who is? Christ. Well, he's God. He's God, the Son, the second
person of the Trinity. God is one God in three distinct
persons. God, the Father, God, the Son,
God, the Holy Spirit, all God, one God in three distinct Here,
O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. He's not three gods,
he's one God. But he said, let us make man
in our own image. He spake as one God in three
persons. I think of the scripture in John
chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word. And the
word was with God. Face to face with God. as a distinct
person. The Word, Jesus Christ, was with
God and the Word was God. The same was. He eternally was. He's the great I am that I am. He's the one who spoke to Moses
from the bush. I am that I am. Now God is simple. And what do I mean by that? It
means he's not made of parts. He's not part this and part that.
He's not part just and part holy and part gracious and part merciful. He's not made of parts. He is always all that he is all
the time. That's our God. He's immutable. He is always, all that he is,
all the time. He's not made of parts. He's
not like us. Me and you are made of parts.
We're complex. And the complications that arise
from being sinners makes it a real issue. But we're made of parts.
Part this, part that, not God. He's simple. Colossians chapter 3 verse 11
says that Christ is all. All cannot be divided. If all is divided, it's no longer
all. Is Christ part God and part man? No! He's all God, just as if
he were not man at all. Equal with the father. Equal with the father. He's all man, just as if he were
not God at all. This is talking about the two
natures of Jesus Christ. All God, 100% God and 100% perfect
humanity. The two natures of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's blasphemous to think of
him in the end of the way. He's not half God and half man.
He's got two natures, perfect, absolute deity in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, what was Paul concerned about
with the Corinthians? We'll turn over to second Corinthians
for just a moment. Verse 11, would to God you could bear with
me a little in my folly and indeed bear with me. What folly that he always had
to defend himself with these people. And he said, bear with
me for I'm jealous over you with a godly jealousy for I've espoused
you to one husband that I may present you a chaste virgin to
Christ. But I fear. lest by any means
as the serpent beguiled, deceived Eve through his subtlety. So
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity, the onlyness of Jesus
Christ. What does that mean? Not Christ's
end, Christ alone. That's what that means. Not dividing
up Christ. Christ alone in everything that
that means. Christ only. Christ only is the
message of scripture. Christ only is the ground of
salvation. Christ only is the object of
my faith. Christ only is my motive. Whatever Christ only the simplicity
that's in Christ, not Christ and Christ alone. Christ and
is a divided Christ. Is Christ divided? No, no, he's
not like his father. He's not like his father. He
is. He said, either seen me as seen the father. I'm making a
wrong statement. If I say he's like God, no, he's
not like God. He is God. He's not like God at all. He's
God, the son. God is simple. Jesus Christ is
simple. He's pure Godhead. Simple. There's no mixture there. He's
simple in this sense. He's pure, perfect manhood. He cannot be divided. Now, back to 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 13, he asked the question,
is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or
were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized
none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I baptized
in my own name. I baptize also the house of Stephanas.
Besides, I know not whether I baptize any other, for Christ sent me
not to baptize." Now, he's not saying we shouldn't baptize.
Baptism by immersion is my confession of Christ. He's not saying that's
no longer relevant. He's saying, I didn't come to
do anything to baptize people. I came to preach the gospel.
to preach, to declare the gospel, not to explain it away, not to
try to make it understandable, but to declare what God says. Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, trying
to make the gospel less offensive or more appealing. lest the cross
of Christ should be made of none effect. And then he goes off
into what is one of my favorite passages of scripture of all,
there, this second half of chapter one and chapter two. And then
in chapter three, he's picking up where he left off. And I love
the way Paul does that. He'll just go off into this glorious
statement with regard to the gospel. And now back to what
I was dealing with, chapter three. And thy brethren, remember, he's
talking to them as brethren, And our brethren could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes infants in Christ." Now they're infants and they're adults.
And there's, you know, John says there's little children, there's
young men and there's fathers. There are different levels of
maturity of a believer. Now we love babies. We love babies. Haven't you loved seeing, I think
there's five or six babies being born last year here and we love
babies, but if they stay babies, it's problematic. If they're
20 years old and you're still having to change their diapers
and feed them bottles and all the care that's involved, we've
got problems, don't we? We want people, I want to grow,
I want to mature, but he says to these people, I could not
speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as into carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ, you haven't grown up. He says, I fed you
with milk and not with meat. For hitherto, you were not able
to bear it. Neither now are you able." Now here's where I got
the title of this message, milk and meat. I fed you with milk
and I haven't been able to give you the meat of the word. What
in the world does that mean? Well, we've got a scripture in
Hebrews chapter 5 that tells us what it means. So, you know,
the best way to look at what a scripture means is look at
some other scripture that's dealing with it. So turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 5. Hebrews chapter 5. Now, the writer was talking about
Melchizedek, Called of God, verse 10, called of God and high priest
after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to
say and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing. For when for the time you ought
to be teachers, you had need that one teach you again. what
be the first principles of the oracles of God, and have become
such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. Now there
we have it, milk and meat. You've become such as you can
only handle milk and you can't handle strong meat. Now he begins
by saying, you become dull in hearing. Dull. What do we mean when we
say somebody is dull? We're not merely talking about
a dull personality, but we're talking about just, the word
is obtuse. I know what that word means,
obtuse. Everybody know what that word
means? Obtuse. Here's how I learned what the word means. I think
this is funny. I was talking to a preacher.
This had been a couple of years ago. We were having lunch together
and I said, you're not preaching the gospel. And he said, you're
obtuse. And I thought, I know that's
not good. I don't know what it means, but
I know it's not good. And when the lunch was over and
there wasn't any pleasantries exchanged, to be honest with
you, but he said some other things to me. But I won't go into that.
But I got in the car and I said, I turned on my Siri. What does
obtuse mean? Dull and slow. And I should have
never told Lynn that because I've heard a thousand times after,
you are obtuse. He was right. Well, okay. But dull and slow. Dull of hearing. Dull. Not discerning. For when for
the time you ought to be teachers you have need that one teach
you again what be the first principles of the oracles of God and are
have such as have need of milk and not strong meat. Now what's the milk? What's the
milk? We have to have milk. What's
the milk? Look in verse one of chapter
six. Therefore leaving the principles The ABCs. That's what that means. The ABCs. The elements. Leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. Maturity. Not laying again the
foundation. Now, he's not saying you don't
preach the foundation anymore, but if you're always laying the
foundation, Superstructure is not coming up, is it? The building
is not going to come up if you've got to lay the foundation over
and over and over again. If you don't learn the ABCs,
you're not going to become a proficient reader, are you? I mean, the
ABCs have to be automatic, as automatic as breathing. And he's
saying that these six principles, this is the milk of the word,
this ought to be with us as automatic as breathing. the milk of the word. And if
you always have to be taught this over, and this doesn't become
automatic as breathing, you're not going to be able to digest
the meat of the word. You're like a kid that's gonna
spit out anything but milk. Anything that's good for them,
they spit out. I remember when I was a kid, all the foods I
hated, most children are like that. Now, he gives six, this
is the milk of the word. Repentance from dead works. What's
that? Any work before God regenerated
you and birthed you into his kingdom was nothing more than
a dead work performed by a man dead in sins with no saving benefit. That's what a dead work is. Before
the Lord saved me, all I had was dead works. I couldn't believe,
didn't know how. Scripture says our righteousness
is our filthy rags. Now, before you're saved, before
the Lord saves you, now, if you're saved, the Lord saved you. And
you found that out in your experience. He did something for you. We
heard about it in that song that you sang, Ann. And, but before
he saved you and did something for you before you believe the
gospel. So he says, well, I was saved and then I learned the
gospel. No, no, that's impossible. Before God saved you, everything
you thought, everything you did was nothing more than a dead
work. And you repent of dead works. That's the first thing you do
when God saves you. That's the first thing he mentions here. Repentance
from dead works. You see that all of even your
works of religion were nothing more than dead works until you
believe the gospel. And the second thing that that's
the milk of the word. Babies need milk, don't they?
Milk's a good thing. Then the next thing he mentions
is faith toward God. That's the second thing. Faith
toward God. Well, that's talking about more
than believing in the existence of God. Uh, that's talking about
believing in God, our savior, Jesus Christ, relying on him
faith toward God. Now, when you have faith, it's
opposed to works. When you have faith, you know, you're not saved
by your works. You're saved by his works. You
know, that that's, that's the milk of the word. And then the
next thing he mentions is not laying again, the, uh, the doctrine
of baptisms. Now baptism is going under the
water and coming back up. That's what it means. It's a
mercy. But what is the doctrine of baptisms? When I'm baptized,
I'm saying this, when Jesus Christ lived, this is my hope of salvation.
I was united to him. I was in him when he kept the
law, I kept the law. When He died under the wrath
of God, I was with Him. I went with Him on the tree,
and I was crucified. When He was raised from the dead,
I was with Him. I was in Him. I was united to
Him. The doctrine of baptisms is the
doctrine of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the milk
of the Word. Now, it's the meat of the Word,
too. It's milk for babies, and it's strong meat for men, too,
this thought of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he
talks about the doctrine of the laying on of hands. Now, let
me assure you, this is not talking about some man laying hands on
somebody to give their approval for them preaching, like the
church is gonna lay hands on somebody, and now they're recognized
as a true gospel preacher. No, that's talking about the
priest laying his hands on the head of the scapegoat. What happened
when the priest laid his hands on the head of the scapegoat?
Sin was transferred. Not literally, but it pictured
what took place on Calvary's tree. My sin, Christ bore in
His own body on the tree. Listen to this, sin can't be
two places at once. I'm so thankful for that. It
can't be two places at once. He bore it, He put it away, and
He gave His righteousness to me. The transference of sin,
the transference of righteousness. Now this is the milk of the word. And then the next thing he speaks
of is the resurrection of the dead. There's the milk of the
word, the resurrection of the dead. The Bible knows of three
resurrections, the bodily resurrection of Christ. It does my soul good to think
of him laying dead that day. Darkness, and all of a sudden,
he breathes. Why was he raised from the dead? Because God was satisfied with
what he did. He didn't have to stay dead.
His soul never saw corruption. His body never went through the
process of decay because he completely satisfied God. He was raised
from the dead. And then there's the spiritual
resurrection that every believer experiences in the new birth,
dead in trespasses and sins. God gives me life. And then that
final resurrection, when I'm raised perfectly conformed to
the image of Jesus Christ, that's good milk, isn't it? That's the
milk of the word. And then he talks about eternal
judgment. And I don't miss that word eternally.
He didn't just say judgment. He said eternal judgment. This
is milk. Somebody says, that's deep. Well,
it's so. I guess it's deep, too. But everything
God does is eternal because God's God. Eternal judgment. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Hebrews 4.3 says, all the works
were finished. from the foundation of the world.
Everything God does is eternal. And I love the fact that it's
so eternal that I was in the purpose of God. I was saved before
I was ever born. He saved us. He called us for
the holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That's strong meat. Well, I wouldn't
deny that, but it's the milk of the word. You know, the milk
and the meat is pretty much the same thing in some respects.
I mean, when I talk about Christ being God, that's the meat for
children, isn't it? That's what the youngest child
needs to hear. Jesus Christ is God. But is that not meaty? How meaty is that, that Jesus
Christ is God Almighty? Now, what the writer's saying,
we shouldn't have to be laying these foundations again. You'll
never grow up, you'll never reach any kind of maturity until these
are automatic. Now, stay in Hebrews chapter
5, verse 12. For when for the time you ought
to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which
be the first principles. of the oracles of God, the ABCs,
and have become such as have need of milk and not of strong
meat. For everyone that uses milk is
what? Unskillful in the word of righteousness. For he's a babe, he's an infant,
but strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, who are
of maturity. Even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
They know the difference between good and evil. Now, let me give
you an example. And I've come across this with
many people, actually on numerous occasions. Here's an example
of somebody choking on meat. Christ said, these are the words
of Christ, if you forgive not men their trespasses, Neither
will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses. That's what
the Lord said. How many times has somebody said,
that sounds like works. That sounds like works. That
means my forgiveness is dependent upon me forgiving somebody and
I won't be forgiven if I, that sounds like works. That sounds
like a spiritual baby that doesn't have any maturity in the things
of Christ. That's what that is. That's choking
on the meat of the Word. Forgiving somebody, that's the
meat of the Word. Me esteeming you as better than
me, that's the meat of the Word. Loving your enemies. is the meat
of the word. Willingly taking the lowest seat
in the house, that is the meat of the word. Babes don't do that. There's always competition. I'm
of Paul. I'm of Apollos. I'm of Cephas,
but I am of Christ. Now, back to 1 Corinthians 30. Paul says, I fed you with milk
and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it,
neither now are you able. For you are yet carnal, for whereas
there is among you envying and strife and divisions. Are you not carnal and walking
as men, lost men and women? Now here's how immaturity and
childishness is seen in me. What a wicked base emotion. I've got it. I want to be promoted over you.
I want to be recognized over you. If I see the way the Lord's
blessing you, envy is that feeling of displeasure that the Lord's
blessing somebody other than me. I want that. Envy. What a base emotion. Instead of rejoicing in the gifts
and grace of others, there's envy and competition, strife,
debate. over what you think's true, contention,
a contentious, argumentative spirit. James said, if you have
bitter envying and strife in your heart, that's the word he
uses. If you have bitter envying and strife in your heart, glory
not, lie not against the truth, this wisdom doesn't come from above, but
is earthly and sensual and devilish. He said, there are contentions
among you. Divisions, dissension, where
that dissension and disunion is, he says, are you not yet
carnal and walk like unregenerate, unsaved men? Now, he's saying
a Christian, a believer, a brother acting carnal, acting fleshly,
acting like an unbeliever. Now, what came to my mind about
this is I thought, don't you love the Beatitudes? Where the
Lord tells us what a believer is. So beautiful. Blessed are
the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Now here's what I look like when I'm acting like
an unbeliever and thinking like an unbeliever. Not poor, but
proud and arrogant. Not meek before God, but haughty. Spirit of entitlement. I think
this should come my way and it's not right that I'm being treated
this way. Not mourning over my sin, but being angry over the
sin of others. Look at the sin in the church.
Look at the way people are treating me. Not hungering and thirsting,
but being satisfied. I'm okay. I'm all right. Like
the church that lied to see you rich and increased with goods
and having need of nothing. Not hungry. Not a peacemaker, but a troublemaker.
Not merciful, but holding people's feet to the fire. Not persecuted
for righteousness sake, being persecuted for self-righteousness
sake. Not being pure in heart, but being divided in heart. Are you not carnal, and walk
as men? For while one saith, I am of
Paul, another saith, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal?
Now, what is the way that me and you
can be a perfect agreement? Let's go back to this. If Christ
is all to me, I mean, He's all in my salvation.
Everything God requires of me, He looks to Jesus Christ for.
He's all in my salvation. I can't say that enough. He's
all in the Scriptures. He's all! If I believe He's all, and you
believe He's all, guess what? We're a perfect agreement. Perfect
unity. Find me somebody that really
believes Christ is all in their salvation. Oh, I'm right there
with them. Unity. And whenever there's disunity,
it's from leaving Christ is all and becoming competitive. Becoming
competitive and jealous and acting like an unbeliever. And that's
what Paul says to these people, you've become carnal. I want this forever believer.
I want it for me. I want it for you. I want it
for us all. Christ is all. And from that
comes true unity. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word and Lord, we would confess that we're so ready to promote ourselves. We're
so ready to be envious and strife and division. That's just part
of the natural man. We confess that, we pray for
forgiveness, and we pray that you might, by your spirit, cause
us to be consumed with thy son being all. And Lord, enable us
at all times to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. How we thank you for the simplicity
of your gospel. And Lord, we ask that you would
deliver us from being corrupted from the simplicity that's in
Christ. Bless this message for your glory and our good. And
as we face this week, we pray that we might be enabled to walk
by faith with you. In Christ's name we pray, amen.