Stand & Read - 1 Cor. 3:1-7
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. [2] I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, [3] for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? [4] For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? [5] What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. [7] So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
“Lose Some Weight!”
PRAYER…
Well…I know what you must be saying to yourself since you have heard this title today…
-“You are one to talk Pastor Tony!”
-“Speak for yourself chubby!”
-“What’s it to ya!”
But…I DON’T want you to misunderstand what I am trying to say this morning…
I want to propose to each of you today that we should “lose some weight”; but in a SPIRITUAL sense.
-In a SPIRITUAL fashion we all could afford to “Lose Some Weight” this morning.
What do I mean???
Well…we all have this problem with ourselves…
We may be Christians, BUT, we still live in this earthly body otherwise known as, “The Flesh”.
-This is something that is just a fact of our Christian life…however, we are not at one with the flesh; nor do we settle with its desires or conform to its ways.
No Way! Not at all!
That is what John 3:30 tries to tell us when it says…”He must increase, but I must decrease.”
-Rather, we are to struggle against our flesh and fight against its desires. Not allowing for it to have its way with us, because it is only God who is to have control of us…not the flesh.
Therefore…when we “spiritually lose weight”, what I am trying to say, is that we are gaining victory over the flesh…and the flesh loses it power over us.
-Otherwise…we are losing our carnality…
For the Christian, there is nothing attractive or appealing about the flesh. In fact, it is terribly distasteful and offensive when the flesh takes control of the Christian.
(I will explain more as we go…)
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Hear the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-19…
“For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. [16] But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. [17] So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin, which indwells me. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. [19] For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.”
What is Paul trying to say???
He is saying that he feels like a bit of a “spiritual” Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde at times.
-Why does he feel this way???
-Because of the flesh that he is struggling with and battling on a daily basis.
And the bad news is…that in these last days…it isn’t going to get any easier either because the world is growing more evil by the minute.
ILLUSTRATION:
Former secretary of Education, William Bennett, recently wrote:
“In the past thirty years we have drifted as a nation. Violent crime has increased 560%; illegitimate births increased 400%. There has been a tripling of the percentage of children living inn a single parent home. Teenage suicide has increased 200%, and there has been a drop in the SAT scores of almost 80%”
-Folks, we can all see the decline in our world today…sadly we know this is so…
ILLUSTRATION:
I heard that just this week in California, there has been a law that was passed making it illegal to preach against homosexuality in that state. If a preacher did still do it, the Church then runs the risk of no longer maintaining its Tax-Exempt status, among other consequences.
And the next state they want to do this in is…NEW YORK!
Friends…we are in a dilemma!
We need to LOSE SOME WEIGHT!
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Galatians 5:17
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
The Living Bible Translation says, “For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do. And the good things we want to do when the Spirit has His way with us, are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us. And our wishes are never free from their pressures.”
-Haven’t we found this to be true in us?
-Sure…we wish that it were different, but sadly, it is not.
-Not a day passes that we are not battling the desires of the flesh.
-And the tragedy of it all…is that our carnal natures will not get any better…
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I have always imagined the 2 natures within us as 2 dogs that live and war within us!
-The one that you feed the most will get the strongest and win the most.
-Which nature have you been feeding the most lately???
You may know Christ for more than 50 years, and it is possible that your carnal nature has not changed on bit within you.
-If it has been bent towards selfishness…then I can almost bet that you have struggled with that for a long time…
-If you used to be stubborn…then, it is possible that stubbornness and being ornery is still rearing it ugly head!
And becoming a Sunday School Teacher or a Board Member will not change that.
Because, unfortunately we carry the same old nature within us until we are changed in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye.
We may never be changed until the rapture of the Church…and then it will be finally conquered.
-This is not to say that we should just ignore it and not worry about it until then, but we must be aware that the battle never ends…so be on guard!!!
We need to LOSE SOME WEIGHT!
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So…let us look into our main text today and try to understand this problem of carnality that we all have troubles with.
As we do look into these verses, we will recognize 3 types of people on this earth…
-Three general types of people which any and all can fit into…
FIRST: THE NATURAL PERSON!
1 Cor. 2:14
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
So who is the natural person???
-He is the unsaved person…one not in the family of God.
-No being born again.
A couple things characterize this person…
1) The individual does not accept, or welcome in, the things of the Spirit of God.
In other words, the natural person does not welcome the things of God into his life.
Not saying to God, “teach me your ways, I welcome your truth.”
There is no welcome mat in the front of his heart’s door to the things of God.
2) The individual cannot understand the things of God.
You know what that means???
He does not have the capacity to grasp the significance of spiritual things.
Thus, the reason one can sit in church under that most dynamic preaching and still never grasp the things of God. Or they hope it gets over soon so they can leave…
Why is the person like that? Because they have NO capacity to understand the things of God!
3) The individual is foolish to the things of God.
The Greek word moros is where we get the word moron from…it means, sluggish or thick.
Therefore, the natural man cannot comprehend the things of God because they are utterly foolish to them.
That is why anyone with half a brain would never think that paying tithes is good. Why would living on 90% of your income be better than 100% of it? It makes no sense to the natural man…
It is foolishness to the world, but it is the wisdom of God!!!
THE SECOND PERSON IS: THE SPIRITUAL PERSON!
Not only is this persona Christian, but they are also dominated by the Spirit of God.
This is one who has been feeding the “spiritual” dog in the lives, rather than the fleshly one.
The Amplified version of I Cor. 2:15 reads…”But the spiritual man tries all things, that is he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things; yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one.”
Verse 16 goes on to say that the Spiritual Man has the mind of Christ.
The difference between the Natural Man and the Spiritual Man is remarkable…like night and day.
-We have the natural man who does not know Christ, in fact all that is foolishness to him, and then Christ can come into his life and now…he receives the mind of Christ!
-That spiritual man becomes turned on to the things of God!
And I wish that were it…but as I said…there are THREE types of people we are looking into this morning.
THIRDLY, WE HAVE: THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN!
Let’s read our texts first three verses very carefully…
1 Cor. 3:1-3
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. [2] I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, [3] for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere (unchanged) men?”
-That is convicting isn’t it???
Verse 3 indicates that you are not only in the flesh, but you are actually now under its control!!!
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Now…there are some theologians who do not believe in the concept of the Carnal Christian.
But, the problem with that kind of theology is that when we do make mistakes…and we will…we will think that we have fallen from grace and have become unsaved again…necessitating salvation again for our soul.
-Obviously and absurd thought…
-Therefore…we have something to be on guard of…
Now…the rest of this message, I want to dedicate to discussing this one type of person.
To those who are miserable, and are making others miserable within the Family of God.
-You are miserable because you are not who and what you know you should be!
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Now…I would rather not preach a message of this type.
I would much rather preach on grace, love and easy living, but if we are to ever be what God wants us to be, then we must rise above the morality of this world, and prove to be the Holy, Blood-Bought, Separated, and Sanctified Body of Believers that Jesus died on an Old Rugged Cross for!
For I am convinced that in this world that we live in…carnality is on the rise…and even within the Body of Christ it is gaining ground.
Now…Chapter 3 of I Corinthians gives us 4 characteristics of the Carnal Christian.
1) First, the Carnal Christian IS a Christian!!!
Verse 1, Paul addresses the crowd and calls them, “Brethren!”
Paul is writing the saved, and not the unsaved here.
Look back to the 1st chapter, and verse 2…
1 Cor. 1:2
“…to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours…”
The word “brethren” is a warm tern used to identify the Christian Family of God.
First thing to remember is that…
Carnality does not mean that you have lost your salvation.
You are a Christian…however, a Christian that is being controlled by the flesh and not the Spirit. And in need of loosing some weight…thus being less fleshly, and more spirit controlled!
For the Carnal Christian, he is under control of the flesh.
-His flesh is calling the shots, directing the mind, and pushing the impulses that help make your decisions.
This is the detrimental characteristic that clouds the Christian’s life…they are fleshly…and it shows!
And because the Carnal Christian is running his life in this way…the next is inevitable…
2) The Carnal Christian is Lacking in Spiritual Growth!
Again…looking at verse one of chapter 3…Paul refers to these people as, “mere infants, or babes in Christ!”
Do you know babies…I DO!!!
For us…the baby is now starting to eat cereal, and fruits and vegetables…she is about 4 months now…
-But before a baby can begin to eat solid food, they need to have an appetite for it, and a developed digestive tract so that they can handle the food adequately.
-And it takes time…just as it does take time for a Christian to grow and mature too.
And as wonderful as babies are…cute, cuddly, and fun…there are a few things that are NOT so cute and wonderful about them…
-They are dependant and demanding…
-They are unable to feed themselves…
-They are unable to not make messes…
-They love to be the center of attention, and often keep it…
-They are driven by their urges and needs…ie, hunger, pain, and sleep…
-They have no manners…no control…and they have a small attention span…
-They have absolutely no concern for others…
-They have no abilities, talents of skills to share with the world…
These are all just a part of being a baby…
Natural, and okay for babies…
But the tragedy is…when you see adults acting like babies!!!
When “should-be” mature Christians are demonstrating these characteristics.
ILLUSTRATION:
I have once heard a preacher say, “I don’t mind feeding the baby Christian the milk of the Word, but it is the parting of the whiskers to get the bottle in their mouth that bothers me!”
You see, when a Christian is acting as though he were a baby Christian, there is something that is so not funny that has happened!
-You see, the carnal Christian is not only not growing; but they are also not interested in growing.
-They want to be entertained…
-They want a light diet…
-They want to have their way, and are not ashamed of it…
-They are not worried about who they will disturb in order to get their way either…
-They are happy and content at being just where they are…
We know this is true…and hate to say it…BUT…
The most difficult people in the Church to live with are those who have grown OLD in the Lord, but yet they have not grown UP in the Lord.
-It is a sad and tragic thing that they have not ever grown up in the Lord.
No doubt, this subject was breaking Paul’s heart as he wrote to them in Corinthians…
As it does break our heart today.
3) Next, The Carnal Christian focuses on the Horizontal.
I Cor. 3:3
“...for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”
AS we look carefully at these verses…where you find carnality, you will find strife. And strife that is focused upon people.
Read on verses 4-7…
“For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? [5] What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. [7] So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”
When you are a Carnal Christian…it is very easy for you to look at people, and not to the Lord.
-You see here the people arguing over who they follow as opposed to who they do not.
-People they like…and People they don’t…
-People they want to follow…and People they do not want to follow…
-People who give them what they want…and those who don’t…
As a carnal Christian…it is easy to focus on people…but the problem is that it keeps our focus off someone very important…Jesus Christ!!!
We are told in the Gospels that we are to stay focused upon the Lord…
Not looking to the left or the right, but staying focused straight ahead if we put our hands to the plow…
Lastly, and most disturbing…
4) The Carnal Christian Resembles the Non-Christian!
I wish that we could convince the world of this truth…but it is hard.
When was the last time you heart a “natural” man say, “If it wasn’t for the way that so-and-so acts even though he thinks he is a Christian, I would become a Christian.”
-Though they shouldn’t focus on us, but on God…they know no better…we just don’t want the responsibility.
-Because we are supposed to be a example, and live a life that is upright.
Oh, I do know that we are mere men, and ordinary men as verses 3 & 4 tell us; but we also must remember that we have received a new nature when we received Christ as our Savior.
-A nature that IS NOT dominated by the flesh.
So…after all this…we know that if our flesh was given full reign in us…we would be acting as though we were not ever saved.
And each day the flesh is striving to have its way in us…and is often successful…
-That is why a Christian can steal and lie…
-How a Christian can lack in integrity…
-And it explains how one can go against everything that he has ever been taught in the Word of God…
Because the Flesh has grown and had its way…
Do we need to LOSE SOME WEIGHT? Oh Yes!
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So…how do I know if I am a Carnal Christian or not???
-Are you a Christian?
-Have you been lacking in Spiritual Growth for some time?
-So you focus on people, and fail to focus on God?
-Do you create strife in the Body?
-Are you jealous, and focus on what you don’t have, but should have?
-Do you conduct yourself as a mere man???
Carnality reveals itself in five ways…
Through the ways that we conduct ourselves, and the activities we engage in.
1 Cor. 5:1
“It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.”
-When there is carnality, there is very little that one won’t do…
We can tell we are carnal by the attitudes that we have.
1 Cor. 5:2
“And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead, in order that the one who had done this deed might be removed from your midst.”
-Rather than finding yourself in this sin and falling on your face before God in repentance…
-These folks were bragging about their sin!!!
How sad…
We can tell of our carnality by our indifference.
Paul says that these people should be mourning, and not bragging.
-They should be broken because of the shameful things that they are doing.
But this indifference says that things are just fine…A Okay!
An attitude that says…”awe…who cares!”
Next, we can tell if we are carnal by the associations that we have.
1 Cor. 5:9-11
“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; [10] I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world. [11] But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one.”
This doesn’t mean that you cannot eat with the unsaved…
But, you are not to eat with those church folks who are living two lives.
ILLUSTRATION:
WHY?
You have heard it said, “If you lay down with dogs, you will wake up with fleas.”
Who are your associations? Who do you hang with?
You show me your friends, and I will show you your character.
Your company will be reflected in your life.
1 Cor. 15:33
“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’”
Lastly, we can tell that we are carnal by our appetites.
1 Cor. 10:5
“Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.”
God was not pleased with most of the Children of God…you know why???
Because they were carnal…
Verse six goes on to say…
1 Cor. 10:6
“Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved.”
-What is it that they craved…
-Idolatry…worshipped false Gods
-Sensuality…the indulged in immorality
-Presumption…they tempted the Lord
-Grumbling…discontented and complaining
IN CONCLUSION:
Don’t be deceived to think that your carnality is just no big thing. It is serious, and it can affect the Body of Christ as well.
Do you find yourself in a carnal state this morning?
Have you come to the conclusion that your life represents carnality in some way today…and you want to loose the weight?
Do you want to guard against the same things that did the children of Israel in, in the wilderness?
I encourage you to shun the carnality in your life…feed the spiritual dog in your life…and gain some victories!
