More Milk or Meat The Choice is Yours
Corinthians I 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Corinthians I 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
Corinthians I 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Corinthians I 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
Corinthians I 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Corinthians I 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Corinthians I 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
I would like to use for a topic this evening more milk or meat
When a child is born, their digestive system is such that milk is the only thing they can handle. As they continue to drink the milk, they begin to grow and before you know it they want more milk, and all of a sudden they come to a point where milk just will not satisfy their hunger, it won’t satisfy their needs, any longer so you start to put some cereal in the milk, and as they grow and their appetite increases until the point where milk won’t satisfy, milk with cereal won’t satisfy, and mama finally says this child is ready to start eating real food or meat.
Now parents out there we know what a hungry baby sounds like. And we know when its time to graduate that child from milk to meat.
And we also know if that transition from milk to meat does not happen then something is wrong. I have not seen a strong healthy teen-ager living off of just milk. No in order to grow and mature the child must move from the milk to the meat. Milk is a great start but a prolonged diet of milk will equate to starvation.
If you had a child that the only thing they would take is milk and they were not growing and your concern for your child got greater to the point of outrage, this is the state of mind we find Paul as he writes to the church at Corinth.
This is Paul’s emotional state as he wrote his first letter to the church at Corinth. In Jesus’ sacrificial death, our Lord made possible the wonder of His church. He intended it to be beautiful and attractive to outsiders. He wanted it to be a wise and Godly representation of its Lord, and to be filled with His glory. The church at Corinth, however, was anything but beautiful, glorious and wise. Paul wrote that there was hardly anything about the Corinthian Christians that distinguished them from the world around.
They had taken the work of art that was the church and, to put it in modern terms, allowed it to be trashed. The church of Jesus Christ at Corinth, which ought to have taken people’s breath away by its beauty and attractiveness, had become instead an irritant and an eyesore.
There is an element of tragedy in Paul’s writing. His purpose is to help the Corinthians see who they really ought to be; to encourage them to throw off what was hindering them in their walk of faith.
We can sense the apostle’s frustration in these opening words of chapter 3.
The Corinthians should long since have progressed beyond infanthood. But that was what they were demonstrating to the world by their fleshliness, jealousy and strife. They were dividing up into factions, pridefully attributing their salvation to Paul, Apollos, Peter and others. This fan-club mentality was causing all kinds of problems in the church. That is why Paul calls them "babes in Christ." Their behavior was infantile. Their concept of Christian leadership was painful to the apostle.
Here in lies our scripture this evening.
One of the greatest frustrations that Paul must have felt was the lack of spiritual maturity in the Corinthian church. It must have been difficult for him to watch this church grow numerically, but not spiritually. It must have grieved him to see a church w/so much possibility doing so little for God.
Our born nature is sin. We are born in sin and shapen in iniquity.
Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
This means from birth we are evil. We are selfish, jealous, we fight and the list goes on. For this reason Jesus answered Nicodemus when asked how could he be saved:
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Man was created in union with God and in God’s grace and favor. When Man sinned, he fell from this position and now has to be born again to get back into God’s grace.
Now what is being born again?
Being born again is to die to self and let Jesus Christ live through you.
Being born again you realize that it is not about you, it is about Jesus. It’s not about what you want it’s about what God wants you to do.
Being Born again means that you are not led by the flesh which is yourself but you are led by the Holy Spirit.
Being Born again is proclaiming through word and deed that Jesus is Lord of your life.
Being born again means that you have begun to take in the milk of the word.
Now what is the milk of the word?
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
A knowledge, believe and acceptance that Jesus is Lord and that He died for your sins, for you to have the opportunity at everlasting life with the father and was raised from the dead by God the Father. This is the milk of the word.
Now why is this the milk of the word? Because this is the basis, the foundation of Christianity. Without this belief, there is no growth because Christian by definition means follower of Christ. Without this milk there is no re-birth only spiritual death. Now this belief being the foundation for all Christians it is considered elementary, basic because upon this foundation, this belief, is what our Christian lives are built upon.
After this foundation is set the new Christian is at this point they have come to a crossroad, they can either build upon this basis belief or they can choose to be content with just a foundation.
This is where the Corinthians were when Paul penned this letter. They had the foundation, they accepted Christ, they believed but instead of growing and building upon that believe, they became carnal.
Instead of maturing from the milk and feasting on the meat of the Word they were content on a spiritual diet of milk. Now what is a carnality? Now the word carnal comes from the Greek work Sarkikos (sar-kee-kos) which mean pertaining to the flesh.
Now it is important at this point that I clear something up. There is no such person as a carnal Christian. By definition, carnal means lead by the flesh and Christian means follower of Jesus, therefore the context of the term carnal Christian implies that one can serve two masters and we know from the gospel of
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Therefore a carnal minded Christian is the proper term for one who has allowed the flesh to prompt his actions.
So to be carnal is to be led by the flesh. So we have already established that being a born again Christian means to die to the flesh and be led by the Holy Spirit. And because these Christians have become carnal minded it was difficult to distinguish them from the unsaved who are also fleshly minded.
When Paul first came to Corinth, he had to speak to these pagans as to “natural men,” that is, as unbelievers, who did not possess the Spirit. Spiritually speaking, he proclaimed the gospel at an elementary level. Even after they were saved, Paul still had to speak to the Corinthians as babes, as brand new believers.
Christians who have become carnal are little babies who stay babies; they never grow up. Now there is a difference between a carnal minded Christian and a new Christian. A new Christian is a baby in spirit because he is new and ready to grow, but a carnal minded Christian has chosen not to grow.
You and I know that new Christians, often put us to shame. They have a zeal for the lost, and they share boldly about their new-found faith. They realize what they have been saved from. They have a hunger for the Word, often devouring it as they discover its riches for the first time. Who brings most new members into the church, new Christians? Who is often the most fired up and want to work for the Lord, new Christians.
Paul is not critical of the Corinthians for being immature after their conversion at the time he first came. We must understand that Paul is not calling New Christians carnal. Paul’s criticism it toward those Christians who have remained children spiritually. They have not grown up and matured into adult-serving saints. Growth is normal and natural, and when children do not grow up, it is considered a tragedy.
The carnal minded Christians of Paul’s day rejected the doctrine, as they do today. They do not want any diet which requires study, hard work, and thought.
They are infants still and display their wretched immaturity even in the way that they complain if you give them more than milk.
They don’t want solid knowledge of Scripture;
They don’t want mature theological reflection;
They don’t want growing and perceptive Christian thought.
They want nothing more than another round of choir songs and a ‘simple message’—something that won’t challenge them to think, to examine their lives, to make choices, and to grow in their knowledge and Love of the living God.
Carnal minded Christians are dangerous. Not only are they content with their stunted spiritual growth, but they become as Paul stated later in this letter to the Corinthians a stumbling blocks to them that are weak.
Now you might say how can someone not growing in the word affect someone else. Well if you are not being led by Christ, you yield to the flesh because you cannot serve two masters. And if you yielding to the flesh your actions will show that.
I like to call them Fake ID Christians. Those who walk around with their Christianity in their wallet or purse and only when it is convenient pull out their Christian ID. You have seen then you have come in contact with them. They come to church and pull out that ID and I can say that they will fool you. On Sunday their shout is loud, their prayers seem heart felt, but Monday through Saturday you might see them and you say to yourself “Is that Sister, Is that Deacon, Is that minister?”
No, “that could not be them after I just saw them Sunday, I’m confused.” You will have the weak and those who are new Christians thinking that your carnal actions are normal.
We must understand that Christianity is not merely a tool that can be used when you need it and then thrown back into the toolbox. Christianity is not a part of one’s life but it is a way of life. A Christian does not live to be glorified by man, but he lives to glorify Jesus.
Now in verse 4 Paul gives some characteristics of being carnal. He uses envy, strife, and divisions. Now I am pretty sure he did’t have to stop there, he could have went on and on describing the carnality, but let’s analyze this.
Envy is definitely a characteristic of carnality because envy comes from the Greek work Zelos with is the same word that the word Jealous comes from. Envy is looking at another person’s status or situation and instead of being happy that God has blessed them, we sit there and want what they have for ourselves. Envy is also being discontent with what God has blesses you with and you want more. In general envy is the state of being dissatisfied.
Now there is no place for dissatisfaction in the life of a Christian for the Lord promised in His Word to supply all not some, but all of our needs, He also said that His grace is sufficient.
If someone is blessed with a new car, “what did she do to deserve a new car” is not the Christian response. If God has blessed someone with the gift of song, “He think he something cause he can sing” is not a Christian response. This had become the attitude of the church at Corinth and sadly it is the attitude of the church today. Instead of rejoicing with someone because God has blessed them, we try to tear them down because we are envious of what they have received.
Being envious causes another carnal characteristic that Paul stated and that is strife. Strife is defined as fighting or arguing about something. Now if you are envious of what someone has, if you want it bad enough, you will eventually fight or argue over it. The Corinthians went so far as to take each other to a court of law to settle their quarrels. They could not settle the dispute themselves so they turned to non-believers to do it for them. Church we have a Bible, what ever problem you have with me, or among each other, the answer is in the Word of God.
The third carnal characteristic stated by Paul is divisions. This is further defined in verse 4. Now what was happening as a result of this carnality spawned competitive divisions. Some of the believers championed Paul, some Apollos and some Cephas. They were dividing themselves and actually became hostile toward one another based on which teacher they had.
They assumed that their particular teacher and only their teacher possessed the truth. Instead of realizing that they all belong to Christ and should be following Christ, they were worshiping the men who introduced them to Christianity. Paul is saying that man should not be worshiped; He is also saying that they are not in competition with one another but workers together for Christ. What is this saying to us. We should not worship the pastor of the church, ministers of the church or any man, but our worship is for God and only God.
Being carnal minded will have you declaring “because I don’t like the way the money is being spent in the church I going to stop tithing.” Now this carnality has blinded you to the fact of who instructed you to tithe in the first place. It was not the pastor, it was not the ministers but it was God Himself. And He told you to do it out of obedience to Him.
This verse is also saying that we should all be working together for the glorification of Christ. No matter what denomination, a follower of Christ is a Christian and we are working in concert with them and not against them. This message also holds true for the individual church. We are all working together; we are not in competition with one another. Every ministry and member in this church makes up the church body, now the parts of my body work in concert with one another. My right hand does not look down on my left hand just because I’m right handed.
Each hand has a responsibility to the body to work together. Just as each person and ministry of this church has a responsibility to God to work together. “I wish she would just leave this church” is not a proper attitude for an atmosphere of working together. What if your right hand said I have had enough and picked up a knife and cut off the left hand? Now what shape would that leave the body in? This is why each ministry in this church is important and each member is important because together we make the body stronger divided we weaken the body. We are not in competition we are in cooperation.
In all of this Paul asks a question, “are you not carnal?” Are you not walking as men? Are you not walking after the flesh? Don’t you see that what you are doing is spiritual immaturity? Don’t you know that believers are not to act like this?
God’s desire is for us to grow, mature and become more like Christ. We cannot fulfill the desire of God with being satisfied with just the milk of the Word. In order to understand and carry out God’s plan in our lives we must wean ourselves from the milk and begin to feast off of the meat of the Word.
God equips us to grow though His Word, though the local church and through other believers. There is no excuse for spiritual immaturity. There is no excuse for the spiritual starvation of a milk diet. The only way you will grow to feast off of the Word of God is by studying your Bible and coming to bible study and Sunday school. You know the number one excuse that people use for not coming to Bible Study and Sunday school.
I don’t have time. If you don’t mind lets talk about time for a moment. What is time? Time is a gift from God. God blesses each one of us with time; every second every minute every hour, day and year is a gift from God. Think about this for a moment. Why would God bless you with a gift in order for you to use this gift as an excuse not to serve Him?
God gives you time and you stand in His present with a straight face and lie and say no God it don’t have time for Your work. The time you gave me I’m going to use it all on me, and I won’t have any left for you. You tell God, I don’t have time to serve you, I don’t have time for bible study, and I don’t have time to come to church or to Sunday school. The devil is a liar and if you are using time as an excuse you are too.
So as Christians our desire should be to grow, we should have a burning desire to know more, learn more about God though His word. We should not be satisfied with the milk of the word but look to feast upon the Word of God. And where does this feast take place, in Bible Study.
Bible Study is where God’s purpose for your life will be revealed to you.
Bible Study where you grow spiritually and avoid carnality.
Bible Study is where you find your way out of no way
The Word of God has saving power
The Word of God has healing power
There is peace in the Word of God
There is Joy in the Word of God
All Truths are in the Word of God
Marriage having problems, the answer is in the Word
Kids wont act right, the answer is in the Word.
Worry too much; the answer is in the Word
Need Patience, it’s in the Word
Questions about eternal life, its in the word
What does day of the Lord Mean, it’s in the word
What did the Lord Promise Abraham; it’s in the word
Am I a part of that Promise, its in the Word
How should I treat other people, its in the Word
Why do bad things happen to good people, its in the Word
What is the bread of life,
Did they really eat flesh and drink blood at the last supper,
How do I pray, What is sin?
what is repentance,
Is hell a real place,
Do I need to follow the ten commandments
How many times do I have to forgive my brother,
Who is Satan, where did he come from
Why do I need to be baptized?
What is the trinity?
Does God look like me?
What is a false prophet?
What was the perfect sacrifice?
Is Christ coming back? What is the Judgement seat?
Is it the same as the White throne?
What does the Lord want me to do?
It is in the Word of God.
It is no accident that the bible has always been and always will be the number one selling book in the world. Through the years the have been several attempts to destroy the bible but it lives on.
And you might say “how would I know that all of this and more is in the Word of God.” How would I know that the Word of God has that much power, Well one of the first things that I learned in Bible Study came from.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
You know that is the reason that it can’t be destroyed, that is the reason that you can read a scripture over and learn more each time, because the more you study, the more God reveals himself to you.
That sparked a hunger for the Word that milk could not satisfy, I hunger for more and still continue. The more meals of the Word of God I eat, the more I grew spiritually. Spiritual growth equals closeness to God. As Christians we claim to Love the Lord. Well in any love relationship, it is going to take time, commitment. The more time you spend in the Word of God, the More committed you will be to fulfilling His will on your life.
This is why I take personally that charge that Jesus gave to Peter. Jesus was talking to Peter but you can insert your name in there because it applies to all Christians.
Jesus said to Peter do you Love Me, yes Lord, then feed my Lambs. Jesus said again, Peter, do you Love Me, Yes Lord I Love you, then feed my Sheep. The Lord said again Peter Do you Love Me, Peter said once again Yes Lord I Love you then Jesus said FEED MY SHEEP. Now how is what Jesus saying to Peter apply to us?
We must first taste and see that the Lord is good. As we grow in the help in the growth of others, and if I learn something, I share it with whom ever has ears to hear
And the cycle never ends the more I know the more I want to share, If it’s that good to me, I’m going to tell somebody. Even Jeremiah tried not to speak of the Lord tried to hold it all in, but Jeremiah said the word was in my heart and as a burning fire shut up in my bones. We have had two outstanding quarters in Bible Study and in Sunday school; I pray that you continue to feast on the Meat of the Word of God.
Cedric A. Portis
email:cedque8@cs.com
