HEAVENLY MINDED AND EARTHLY GOOD
I Corinthians 3:18-23
S: Perspective
Th: Live the Difference
Pr: WE NEED TO HAVE THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVE.
?: Where?
KW: Areas of concern
TS: We will discover in our study of I Corinthians 3:18-23 that we should have four areas of concern in order to have the correct perspective.
The _____ area of concern is…
I. OURSELVES
II. OUR LEADERS
III. OUR SITUATION
IV. OUR GOD
Version: ESV
RMBC 15 February 04 AM
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever noticed that some people have a hard time with perspective?
For example…
ILL Notebook: Heaven (pavement)
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.
An angel heard his plea and appeared to him, "Sorry, but you can’t take your wealth with you."
The man implored the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.
The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. Then the angel reappeared and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathered his largest suitcase and filled it with pure gold bars and placed it beside his bed.
Soon afterward the man died and showed up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. Seeing the suitcase Peter said, "Hold on, you can’t bring that in here!"
But the man explained to him that he has permission and asked him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, Peter checked and came back saying, "You’re right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I’m supposed to check its contents before letting it through."
Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!!!"
Well, that’s a good example of how easy it is to lose perspective.
What we think is valuable turns out to be much different than we think.
TRANSITION:
We have been studying the first letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and it is here…
1. We are encouraged to “live the difference” the Spirit makes in us (I Corinthians 3:16-17).
Last week, the passage we studied ended like this…
(16) Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (17) If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
We live with this amazing truth…the Spirit lives in us!
He has placed His very dwelling among us.
He resides here…in each of our hearts, individually and collectively.
And because that is so…it makes a difference.
We have a new perspective on life.
We think differently.
We see God at work in a way that we never saw or expected before.
But not everybody gets it, even as Christians.
Certainly the Corinthians proved that.
They thought that they had become superior to others as they investigated what they considered to be new mysteries and new truths.
And because of this, they became ineffective in their ministry.
You see…
2. Have you ever heard the phrase “heavenly-minded, but no earthly-good”?
Many of us have used that phrase from time to time.
We have used it when someone seems to have gotten what we call “over-religious” and they seem to have lost contact with the reality of what is going on here.
And I think this does happen…
3. We can consider ourselves so spiritual that we actually mess up life on earth.
I believe this is what happened at Corinth.
You know, Paul was excited about this church.
He loved these people.
He was their spiritual father as he was the one that had planted this church.
And it was a dynamic and gifted spiritual community.
But, it was the opinion of certain elements within this community that they had reached a level of superior spiritual insight.
And as a result, their capacity to impact Corinth was greatly weakened.
Their ability to minister to one another was injured.
Their effectiveness was undermined by their own jealousy, ambition and arrogance.
So what Paul is forced to do is make them confront the severity of their problems.
They were not in as good of shape spiritually as they had thought.
They needed to get better perspective.
And it is a lesson for us as well, for…
4. WE NEED TO HAVE THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVE.
But where does this need to happen in our lives?
Well…
5. We will discover in our study of I Corinthians 3:18-23 that there are four areas of concern we need to have the correct perspective.
(18) Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” (20) and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” (21) So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, (22) whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, (23) and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
OUR STUDY:
Well…
I. The first area of concern is OURSELVES (18-20).
You see…
We must understand the frailty of our thinking.
Paul begins this section with an exhortation about self-deception.
He does this because he understands our weakness in this regard.
We do not always possess a firm grasp of reality when it comes to developing the proper priorities.
For too often, we listen to the deceptive voices of the world that encourage us to have things, seek prestige and desire value among our peers.
This kind of wisdom belongs to the present age, and this age is on the way out, under the judgment of God.
It has no standing with God whatsoever, for it is purely foolishness to Him.
It is moronic.
It is my heartfelt belief that the Church is in great danger today, for we too often attempt to blend worldly wisdom into our life and witness.
We think that if we run the church like a business then we will be financially secure.
But the church is not a business.
The fundamental nature of the church is family.
We also run askew when we adopt church growth techniques.
We think that if just apply these certain principles, and we will grow like crazy.
But the church does not operate by formula.
It is a living organism that is given growth by the Spirit.
We are, in essence, a spiritual community, dependent on our relationship with the Spirit.
John MacArthur issues this warning in his commentary on this passage:
“When Christians start expressing and following their own ideas about the gospel, the church, and Christian living, the saints cannot help becoming divided.”
When we operate in the flesh, we are no wiser than unbelievers.
We are, in fact (and pardon me for saying so), stupid.
Let me pause for a moment and read you an essay by Bruce Cameron about being stupid…
ILL Notebook: Stupid (Sign Please – Bruce Cameron [I believe] [shortened])
Stupid people should have to wear signs that just say, "I’m Stupid." That way you wouldn’t rely on them, wouldn’t ask them anything. It would be like, "Excuse me...oops, never mind. I didn’t see your sign."
It’s like before my wife and I moved from Texas to California. Our house was full of boxes and there was a U-Haul truck in our driveway. My friend comes over and says, "Hey, you moving?"
"Nope. We just pack our stuff up once or twice a week to see how many boxes it takes. Here’s your sign."
A couple of months ago I went fishing with a buddy of mine, we pulled his boat into the dock, I lifted up this big ’ol stringer of bass and this idiot on the dock goes, "Hey, y’all catch all them fish?"
"Nope. Talked ’em into giving up. Here’s your sign."
I was watching one of those animal shows on the Discovery Channel. There was a guy inventing a shark bite suit. And there’s only one way to test it. "Alright Jimmy, you got that shark suit on, it looks good. They want you to jump into this pool of sharks, and you tell us if it hurts when they bite you."
"Well, all right, but hold my sign. I don’t wanna lose it"
We were trying to sell our car about a year ago. A guy came over to the house and drove the car around for about 45 minutes. We get back to the house, he gets out of the car, reaches down and grabs the exhaust pipe, then goes, "Wow! That’s hot!"
See? If he’d been wearing his sign, I could have stopped him!
Wouldn’t be great if someone would stop us when we are being foolish?
But it never seems to happen in time!
Have you noticed that?
You know, we are absolute fools if we do not take God’s view.
But we must recognize that with God, everything is turned upside down.
Wisdom is foolishness.
Foolishness is wisdom.
Weakness is power.
Power is weakness.
Leaders are servants.
Servants are leaders.
God’s people are nobodies who have nothing, yet possess all things.
To get this right, then, we must be fully dependent on God’s revelation.
We must be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit’s illumination of His Word, directing our lives.
This is why I get very uneasy when someone says they disagree with a portion of Scripture, because it doesn’t make sense to them.
That’s how it works.
Every bit of it is good.
Every bit of it is useful.
You see, when we wander from Scripture, we are unwittingly making a trap for ourselves in which we will eventually be trapped, because we are following the wisdom of the world as opposed to God’s.
Now, lets move to the…
II. The second area of concern is OUR LEADERS (21-22).
We must respect each one that God has given to guide the church.
You may remember that the Corinthians had divided up into factions, choosing their favorite leader – Paul, Apollos, or Peter – over the others.
But Paul wants them to be clear in their understanding that they were following mere men – which included himself.
They were, as he alluded to in our study last week, servants on the farm.
But instead of noting the teamwork, the Corinthians had become distracted by the differing personalities and emphases.
Instead of seeking unity, they competed instead.
ILL Notebook: Competition (explain to your mother)
At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you are out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?"
Again, the boy nodded yes.
"Good," said the coach. "Now go over there and explain it to your mother."
Well, have you noticed that competition has a way of getting the best of us?
Well this happened to the Corinthians, and they were not to let this happen to them any longer.
They didn’t belong to individual leaders.
No, Paul says, “All are yours.”
They all belong to all of you.
They were not to make claims of one over the other, for each of the teachers they were competing over was called by God.
Each one was sent by the Lord.
This meant that each one was to be listened to and respected.
Each had special gifts and abilities that God used to teach and lead these believers.
It was this variety of leadership that God ordained in order to enrich the church, not divide it.
In the same way, we should rejoice in and profit from all the faithful leaders God sends us.
And Scripture teaches us that if a teacher is faithful, he is worthy of esteem (I Thessalonians 5:12-13).
Paul writes to the Thessalonians…
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.
You will note that Paul says nothing about style.
He says nothing about preference.
No, those whom God calls are to be appreciated and loved.
If you do not, you are limiting God and His intentions for you.
Even here, you do not belong to any leader, teacher or pastor.
They are all yours, given to you by God, for your spiritual benefit.
Use them wisely.
Now let us come to…
III. The third area of concern is OUR SITUATION (22).
We must use each circumstance as a lesson from God.
Paul speaks of the world, life, death, the present and the future.
One commentator (Fee) describes them as…
“…the ultimate tyrannies of human existence, to which people are in lifelong bondage as slaves.”
As we look at the account of creation, we are well aware that the universe is a possession of God’s people.
It has been given to us to explore, to manage, and to rule over graciously.
It has been made for us.
Now, we also know that we live in a fallen world in which evil has a grip.
But the grip of the evil one is temporary, because it is ours forever, not his.
So in the meantime, we can appreciate the world like no unbeliever can.
We know where the world came from.
We know why it was made.
We know why we are on it.
And we know what its final destiny will be.
We also rejoice in life, for we have been given new life in Christ.
Note how Peter describes this (II Peter 1:3-4)…
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…
We now have a quality of life that will never tarnish, diminish or be lost.
We have this because God’s own very life, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, is in us now.
The next item that Paul brings to our attention is death.
This may sound strange at first, but consider this…because of the cross, the great enemy of mankind has been overcome.
We will pass through death.
We are not its slave.
Instead, we are its master.
ILL Notebook: Heaven (how to get there)
The pastor was talking to a group of young children about believing in Jesus and going to heaven.
At the end of his talk, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"Heaven!" they all piped up.
"And what do you have to be to get there?"
"Dead!" one boy yelled.
Well that may sound startling at first, but do realize this…
As a believer, all death can do is deliver the believer to Jesus!
You see, this present life is good – but death, which ushers us into eternal life – is even better.
Next Paul covers the present.
We must realize that our present, our now, is in God’s hands, and it serves us.
It makes us richer.
The good and the bad…
The pleasant and the painful…
Joy and sorrow…
Contentment and disappointment…
God works it all together for our good.
And then Paul points to the future…
Yes, this is ours as well…the heavenly blessings.
We only have a glimpse of them now.
But we know that these are the greatest blessings of all.
Thus, the future is no panic for us, for we are not bound to the whims of chance or the demands of life and death.
They are all ours.
Now…
IV. The fourth area of concern is OUR GOD (23).
All things are ours…
Why?
To get this…
We must understand who possesses us.
We don’t possess all things because of our great wisdom.
It is not due to our social standing or status.
It is the result of belonging to Christ.
Paul pronounces the ultimate theological truth – the unity of God.
God is one.
And as we study this verse, we see Paul gets to this point by telling us that Christ is God’s.
The Messiah came in the great plan of God.
So when Jesus was here as the Messiah, His coming as the Son was in submission to the Father.
It was a functional subordination, and not a matter of equality (not ontological).
Functionally, they worked together.
And as we back up in this verse, we realize that we are tied together into in an eternal oneness with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
So Paul directs the thoughts of the Corinthians (and us) to where they belong.
He directs us to our Creator, who is God over all.
APPLICATION:
Let us enter into a further moment of practicality, for…
1. We must have perspective about the body of Christ represented here at Randall.
We must always be aware of our fallenness and how it distorts our thinking.
I was thinking of the time that we were in the process of coming to Randall.
Both you and I were tempted to think of the process in worldly terms.
I could come into the process of looking for a job, demonstrating my talents and personality, and persuading you of my capabilities.
You could come into the process looking for someone to hire, to do the job of pastor, and to keep this place of tradition going.
And in our fallenness, we could inform God what our choice was to be.
“God, I pick Randall – it has a nice organ.”
“God, we pick Decker – he has a good sense of humor and he is not too tall” (oops, I guess that is not a reason to pick!).
But that’s not how it is done when the Spirit is involved.
For me, it is God’s call upon my life, His will for me moment by moment, the desire to glorify Him that are to be my chief concerns.
For the church, it is God’s sovereign direction as you perceive whom God would serve, lead, and shepherd this church.
We are to be Spirit-driven as we perceive God’s will.
And we are to submit to the Spirit, as He teaches us through the servants He has appointed for us.
It has been my experience in ministry that I have heard people come up to a pastor and say, “You are a much better teacher than so-and-so; I just can’t listen to that person; they are so…(and the description continues.”
While that may do something for that person’s ego, but it does nothing for their spiritual life.
It really is a bunch of hogwash when someone says they can’t learn from someone else that is not their style.
That’s really not how God works.
We have much to learn from all kinds of sources that God puts in our lives, and many of them are unexpected.
God is full of surprises and He even may choose to educate us from the strangest of sources.
Now, this does not mean that we are not to be discriminating.
We are not to be patient with people that abandon the gospel.
But, to be of Christ also means to be free from the tyrannies of our own narrowness.
We are free to learn even from those with whom we disagree.
Finally…
2. We must have perspective in order to glorify God and achieve unity.
As a church family, let’s work hard not to lose our perspective.
Whenever there is a lack of unity, it is because of this – we have taken our eyes off of glorifying God – and put it on our own interests.
Anytime we are suffering disunity, it is time to turn our eyes upon Jesus, and get our instruction from Him.
For this place is not about me.
And, it’s not about you.
It is about the glory of God.
It is about our common Possessor.
It is about our common Savior.
It is about our common dependence on Scripture.
And when we get this right – when we glorify God and achieve unity – we will be heavenly-minded and earthly-good.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Get the right perspective…realize that God has turned our worldly wisdom on its head – and that which seemed foolish and weak – Jesus dying on a cross – is truly the wisdom and power of God.
Get the right perspective…realize that God has given us all things to accomplish His will – He has given us pastors and teachers, life and death, the present and the future – so that we might live the difference by knowing Him, growing in His grace and enjoying Him forever.
Now may your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best; and may you be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Amen.
RESOURCES:
Blomberg, Craig, The NIV Application Commentary
Fee, Gordon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament
MacArthur, John, I Corinthians
Sermoncentral.com
Heavenly Minded, Earthly Good, Joseph Smith
A Call for Repentance, Robert Deffinbaugh
A Crisis of Trusting Worldly Wisdom, Doug Goins
How Much Do You Own? John Piper
How to Destroy a Church, Ray C. Stedman
