THREE KINDS OF MEN
1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4
INTRO: The world is made up of over 6 billion of people. By the year 2040 we will peak at 7.2 billion people, and by 2050 we will be losing 150 million people a year. All sizes, types, shapes, colors, etc. But there are only THREE KINDS OF MEN. Everyone falls into one of these three categories. Let’s look at these three categories.
I. THE NATURAL MAN (v. 14).
A. This man is the lost man.
B. He does not receive the things of God. He values only what he can see, feel, and count.
1. Things of God seem foolish to him.
2. He has man’s wisdom (knowledge of the things of the world).
3. He is like a man in a foreign country who can’t speak the language.
ILLUS: John Foster Dulles, in a speech he once gave at Princeton, refereed to the Holy Spirit being needed in Politics. A lost man in the audience asked “What does he mean by the Holy Spirit?”
C. Reforming the Natural Man.
1. The cross is the only way to change him.
2. He needs to seek God’s wisdom — forget man’s wisdom.
II. THE CARNAL MAN (3:1-4).
A. He is a babe in Christ.
1. The similarity between spiritual and mental retardation.
a. He has the mind of a baby but the strength of a man. He lashes out and tries to destroy.
b. He can be gentle and easy to love. But he requires constant attention and makes no productive contribution.
2. Some spiritually retarded remain in the church and act like the babies they are.
B. He is fed on milk instead of meat.
C. He has the principles of Christianity but hasn’t progressed. He has the medicine bottle, but he can’t open it.
D. The carnal man is very proud of his spiritual knowledge. He is the one who has the answers to all the questions.
E. Christians should grow to be spiritual adults.
1. As a child grows, so must we.
2. A sign of carnality — quarreling, fighting, pride..(Galatians 5:19-21).
3. Few rewards in heaven. Many Christians mistake the beginning of the Christian life as the end of it.
III. THE SPIRITUAL MAN (2:15-16).
A. One who is spiritually grown.
1. He is a spiritual giant.
2. He is one who doesn’t get upset at everything.
B. He can judge all things.
1. Not to condemn — but to choose.
2. He is a stranger to the carnal man.
C. He is the only man to whom God immediately communicates the knowledge of His will.
1. By the way his life is led.
2. He doesn’t compromise his principles.
D. How can we become this Spiritual man?
1. If we are the Natural Man, by coming to Jesus.
2. If we are the Carnal Man, by giving up the milk for the meat.
