 Here we are in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Let's begin together here at verse 1. We'll read verses 1 through 4 and We'll get into our study. I'm going to be looking at the subject of The true foundation and that'll be obvious as to why I chose to entitle it as we get to that portion But let's begin here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 at verse 1. I'll read verses 1 through 4 and we'll get into our study Paul writes and I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people But as to carnal as to babes in Christ I Fed you with milk and not with solid food For until now you were not able to receive it and even now you're still not able For you are still carnal for where there are envy strife and Divisions among you. Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says I am of Raul, oh, excuse me. I am of Paul and Another I should have said that and another I'm of Apollos Are you not carnal in reality? That's true. That's a practical application for what could take place today I'm of this church or I'm of that church is very common, isn't it? Well, I go to this church here and it's got the best pastor, you know, when you say that I've got the best pastor That's kind of well, that's That's not a proper way to think because Paul makes it very clear that he's simply a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ There's only one who is important in the church and that's Jesus himself And so when we get caught up saying I'm of such and so Well, what Paul would say and that's what he's saying and we'll look at that closely In just a moment. What he is saying is that is carnality That is a full-on act of carnality. So what we have here in chapter 3 is Is an open rebuke? He's he's writing a word of rebuke for the Christians Now these are Christians he's speaking to remember that in the city of Corinth These are people who have received Christ. These are people who have Bought their need to him and declared him to be their Lord. These are people who who have received forgiveness They've been washed by his blood These are those who have enjoyed the forgiveness that is provided through faith in Christ But they were they were guilty of living fleshly lives Notice how he says I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal Well, one he says brethren So he's speaking of people who are related in Christ and two he says I could not speak to you as as if you were Spiritual when he says I cannot speak to you as to spiritual I cannot speak to you as those who are spiritually mature is what he is saying there You are you are living as if you have not received the Holy Spirit You're living as if you've never been saved as a matter of fact He says you're living as if you are no notice verse verse one here as if you are carnal and that word carnal is a Greek word sake not sin and it literally means fleshly ones or those who are ruled by Fleshly desires so what Paul is doing here in this introduction of chapter 3 is Basically rebuking them and it's interesting that he's rebuking them for something. They are personally responsible for he is rebuking them for spiritual Immaturity I am personally responsible for my walk with Christ. I can't blame somebody else It's my responsibility and if I'm walking in a carnal fashion It would be easy especially here in the 21st century where we've learned to blame everybody else for our problems things We've done somebody else really foisted upon us and therefore it's not really my fault It's the way I was raised or it's a society that I'm part of or it you can name a thousand and one different reasons Why I can excuse my behavior But in reality fact is if I'm walking as a carnal individual, that's my responsibility I'm walking spiritually immature. I am the one who's ruled by my fleshly desires and so what he's doing here is He's rebuking them these Corinthians for their spiritual immaturity He's actually being forced at this point to speak to them as if they were newborn babies in Christ those who would be Really ignorant of the word of God The day you got saved unless you were raised in a Christian home had been raised with devotions and knowledge of scripture Simply rejecting it all your life If you were anything like me the day you got saved was the day that you began to become acquainted with the Bible That's the day. I became acquainted started to become acquainted with the Bible up to that point It was a closed book a mysterious Manuscript I didn't know anything about it The only time that I can remember ever trying to read the Bible was when I was loaded on on magic mushroom or psilocybe I forget it wasn't psilocybe. I forget what it was. I'm so old and I'm supposed to forget those things anyway I was loaded Mescaline sorry I remembered and I tried to read the Bible and I was 19 or 20 years old and It was obviously a closed book to me. I thought that the Bible was like any other story book I'd ever read. I thought it began with once upon a time and Concluded with the words the end. I really did. I didn't have a clue. I'd never read it it had never been taught to me and So you can't imagine I mean the first time I picked up the Bible as a believer Well from that point on I'm supposed to be adding to my faith daily through my study in prayerful meditation on Action on the word of God. That's how it's supposed to be if I'm going to mature. That's my responsibility But the fact is Paul is speaking to a group of people who should know better Because they've been Christians long enough to know better And he's saying I have to speak to you as if you're brand new believers in Jesus Christ I have to speak to you as if you were babies your babies in Jesus Christ because you're ignorant of the word of God You've been saved But you're reducing what God has for you because you're not walking in his spirit Again, it is possible to be saved But to live as if you're ignorant of the Spirit's presence in your life And you can actually begin to live in such a way that you begin to forget about your your need For the power of God in your life That's why in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6 Paul said for this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the lane on of my hands Rekindle it because an unwatched flame will go out so rekindle it remain strong in the things of the Lord and and Sometimes we need to be reminded of that at conversion when you were born again Every person born again Becomes the temple of the Spirit of God you see that in this chapter in verse 16 In chapter 3 verse 16 it says do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God Lives or dwells in you So at conversion the day you got saved you became the temple of God God does not dwell in a temple made by human hands God actually fashioned his own temple when he created us when he created man and When you get saved the Holy Spirit now takes residence in you That is a cardinal doctrine that really makes the difference between whether or not we simply practice a religious philosophy or Actually are born again You can have a religious philosophy that is even based on what you understand scripture to say But you haven't received the Spirit of God into your life. You haven't been born again When you're born again the Bible says you become God's temple his spirit begins to dwell within you Again in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19 Paul asks the question Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own That's something the church of the 21st century probably needs to be reminded of often No man lives unto himself or for himself. We are bought at a price We belong to God he owns us and because he owns us and because he fashions us in the way that he does We don't have a right to say to him. Why are you doing this in my life? Now? That may sound revolutionary to some, but that's the fact. I don't have the right to question God How he works in my life. I don't have that right because you see I'm not my own I Am owned by him and because he has bought me with a price I simply learned to yield to him because there was an old show when I grew up. It was called father knows best Well, cuz father knows best Cuz cuz he knows what is best for me and therefore I yield to him and he does the right thing on my behalf And so when I got saved when you got saved you became a temple of the spirit of God But it's possible to quench the Holy Spirit and to begin to live as if the Holy Spirit doesn't even exist That's what Paul would be speaking of when he speaks of that which is fleshly or that which is carnal in Romans chapter 8 verses 5 and 6 he says They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh But they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnaly minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace and so you can be carnaly minded or you could be spiritually minded and So even believers have the option to Do the right thing to make the right choices or to quench what the Holy Spirit wants to do in your life So Paul is writing to them and he's saying to them. I can't speak to you as mature people I have to speak to you as if you weren't even born again I have to speak to you as if you were just babies in Christ and he says in verse 2 I fed you with milk not with solid food For until now you were not able to receive it and even now and even now You are still not able your babies born you bring the baby home. You don't cook a steak for it, right? Chop it up or hand it to the baby of course not the baby is always going to drink milk because that's what babies do Is they drink milk it requires a certain maturity to be able to to eat the meat and So what he's saying is when I originally came to you and after you had been converted I fed you I fed you with milk because you were babies Now when he speaks concerning milk, there are those who speak about the meat of the word and the milk of the word The milk of the word are the basics when you hear the thing the term I fed you with milk It speaks of the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ You know the writer of Hebrews speaks about it like this the elemental things of faith would include repentance from dead works faith towards God the meaning of baptism The meaning of resurrection eternal judgment. These are all basic things that every baby has heard and Should have some basic rudimentary understanding of New believers should be aware of these basic doctrines, but it seems as if the Corinthians are staying in this infant stage They don't have that internal drive that would motivate them to grow deeper in the Lord Jesus Christ Listen if you want to grow You need to have a drive within you Maturity in the Lord is not an automatic never never ever Convince yourself otherwise Maturity in the Lord is something you progress in It comes through experience with God it comes to a faithful discipline pursuing of the Lord. I have met people Who are 20 years old in Christ? Who are less mature in their faith than others? I know who are three or four years old in the Lord? Those who are 20 years in the Lord in the Lord sometimes have failed to grow They just they haven't been in the word. They don't go to Bible studies. They're they're not serving God They're none of those things are part of their everyday kind of life. Then I've met these young believers Who who basically are just progressing and and maturing and I and the Lord works through them and in marvelous ways and and There are people that you're aware of that That fit into what I'm saying in terms of the category of being young but being used by the Lord One of the best-known ones that I could just off the top of my head speak about would be somebody like Greg Laurie Who gets saved when he's around 17 or so but begins to teach and minister before he's 20 He's like 18 19 years old. He's being used by the Lord He's a Christian of a couple of years and he's already doing things for the Lord And you see what the Lord has done with him from that point on God has moved in wonderful ways through him and Quite a number of others. I was 23 years old when I began to minister as a teacher of the word of God I'd been saved for less than three years But I made a decision that I wanted to progress in my faith And one of the ways that the God had that God had for me to grow was to give me the the opportunity to teach which Encouraged my discipline to study the word to learn to communicate what God was teaching me on a personal level And so there are things that you can progress in and you can do so sometimes rapidly now experience comes over time Information can come through a session what you have to do is get both of them together and Practice that and as you take the information in and you practice that you gain experience and an experience you grow in your maturity But if you don't If if the only teaching you ever get is when somebody else opens the book and speaks to you Then it's a good habit to get into feeding yourself It's a good habit to to have your devotions to spend time in the word to pray meditate learn to memorize to do those things and You'll see that you'll grow well problem here is is they haven't really been progressing They seem to be content to stay in in the baby stage They didn't have that drive for some people salvation is All there really is to Christianity But salvation is is is the starting point For the work that God wants to do to produce a deeper life in him Again, that's something we desire and that's something we're disciplined to Philippians chapter 3 verse 12 Paul said it like this He said not that I have already attained or am already perfected But I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me Not that I have fully matured, but I still have a road to travel I'm still moving on and that humbles me just to read that this is from the Apostle Paul And he says I haven't arrived If Paul hadn't arrived, I know for sure I haven't If Paul hadn't arrived and he said I still press on that tells me I'm supposed to do the same So he says I fed you with milk and not with meat or with solid food because you're not able to receive it They were putting they were refusing to put into practice what they'd been taught and as a result They remain spiritual infants. They had become what is called spiritually dull dull of hearing and so what is he doing? Well, he's exhorting them. He's exhorting them to progress. He's exhorting them to press on. He's exhorting them To find out what God wants to do in their life By disciplining themselves into a strong and steady pursuit of the Lord In Hebrews in chapter 5 very powerful portion verses 12 through 14 The writer said in fact Though by this time you ought to be teachers You need someone to teach you the elementary truth of God's word all over again You need milk not solid food Anyone who lives on milk being still an infant is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness But solid food is for the mature who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil Babies drink milk Mature people require meat And he says and the writer of Hebrews is saying the sad thing is you've been Christians long enough to be teachers But you still need to be taught basics You go to College in two years you can receive your associates degree We'll just say a regular schedule Four years you get your bachelors Six years you can get a master seven years you might get an MDiv Eight nine years up to ten you can get a PhD That comes through discipline that comes through regular attendance that comes through a variety of things that requires you to Pursue a goal to its conclusion Anybody who's been in the Lord for four years Should have the equivalent to a bachelor's kind of degree in the walk in the Lord Why not? Why why wouldn't we? Six years we should be learning to master the things of of our walk of faith Ten years we should be gaining such experience that young people will approach us and ask for direction in spiritual Council because we've spent ten solid years in the word of God So one of the things you can ask yourself the question I ask myself is how far have you progressed in your walk with the Lord? Well, the writer of Hebrews would say listen you could be teachers But because you haven't put into practice the elementary things you're still infants. I have to give you milk Instead of meat. I'll meet I've been asked in the Lord to please Help me to digest the meat And the meat of the word by the way I should say this very quickly Isn't simply having a solid systematic theology where you can speak from A to Z concerning the doctrines of the Bible Though that's a good thing But the meat of the word is learning to not only understand but to practice What God's word has to say because that's how you gain? Insight as well as experience with God's word. That's how Jesus Manifests himself to you is through the obedience to the word of God The best way in other words to know a passage is to read it with a determined will To follow that which you understand to put into practice what the Bible says so in instead of accumulating information like the Greeks We're supposed to put information into practice like the Jews Because the Greeks thought that accumulation of information was equivalent to knowledge But the Jews said no if you know these things this Jewish man by the name of Jesus said it If you know these things he said blessed are you if you what? If you do them So the way that you grow in your understanding of the word of God isn't simply by just read-read reading Reading praying asking for insight direction and understanding and then Practicing what the Lord gave you today, and if you do that today You're gonna grow if you do that tomorrow you grow even more if you do that the next day on and on and on you grow in your maturity and wisdom and experience or Or you don't Paul is speaking to a group of people. He says I can't even speak to you as spiritually mature I have to speak to you as babies. He says and there's a reason for this and We'll get into that He says verse 3 you're still carnal For where there are envy striping divisions among you Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men for when one says I'm of Paul and another I'm of Apollo's Are you not carnal? You're still under the domination of your flesh It's interesting how he's pointing out that the mark of carnality is that they are filled with envy strife and division envy strife and division the church was filled with envy and and and and The divisive mentalities that churches can have and and that bickering attitude, which is all part of the flesh Galatians 5 19 through 21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious sexual immorality impurity and debauchery idolatry and witchcraft hatred discord jealousy fits of rage selfish ambition dissensions factions and envy drunkenness Orgies and the like I warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God Once again, I was visiting with somebody just this last week and we were visiting about the things of the Lord and it was a younger person and Everybody's the younger person out to me and and as I was speaking to them. I was saying, you know the 50s the Pagan in the United States in the 50s very often lived a more Outwardly righteous life than many Christians in the 21st century Some of the things that you see on TV or in movies today that are so acceptable They would have never ever been shown and we're never shown to us in the 50s of the 60s never never never You'd have never had comedies with homosexuals in it Never that was just an unheard of even in that classic I Love Lucy It was always mysterious how she became pregnant because she and Ricky actually slept in two different beds And they didn't you have them in the same bed because it was against the standards of morality in the 50s It was an entirely different kind of atmosphere at one time even Pagans knew line was wrong And the Pagans knew that stealing was wrong. Where'd they get that idea from? Well They got it from the Bible Because a lot of people actually knew what the Bible had to say Because the Bible was still a book that was venerated by Americans. It wasn't denigrated the way that it is today Many pastors today, and I can speak as a pastor on this many pastors today Don't even want to teach the Bible or speak through the Bible because it says things that cut to the heart and Causes people to to be turned off and offended And so what happens is instead of giving messages just by going through the word and seeing what God has to say They give messages for the uplifting effect so that they can have people show up in the church services next time they preach and There are churches filled with people who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ who are deceiving themselves And to believe in that they know him because they're going to church somewhere And Paul is speaking here very simply and he's saying listen The the evidence of your carnality is the fact that there's no unity But there's really envy. There's really strife and there's really division Envy speaks of a contentious rivalry. It's a strong jealousy Strife speaks of the the wrangling for position a desire to put yourself in front of somebody else and and Division speaks obviously of the dissensions that can occur between people in a church And these all obviously run contrary to God's plan for for the unity of the faith Unity is an important thing by the way unity on the essentials is a very important thing You know, there are times when believers will disagree because we have to because Doctrically speaking perhaps somebody's teaching something that's error. It's not scriptually solid and therefore there needs to be a Discussion a strong discussion over that to make sure that whoever it is that's teaching error is brought into line with scripture That sometimes has to take place the essentials have to keep us together Sometimes people are willing to compromise so many things just so they have an appearance of unity and that's that's wrong Also, what we need to have is is a unity on the things that really really do matter And it's so important that Jesus himself prayed for it Jesus in John 17 verses 20 and 21 said it like this He said I do not pray for these alone But also for those who will believe in me through their word That they all may be one as you father are in me and I in you that they also may be one in us That the world may believe that you sent me So one of the purposes of salvation is to establish a new community a community called the church that is known by peace and harmony and That's one of the airmarks of the kingdom of God Romans 14 17 the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit unity of faith the unity of faith is formed on proper teaching and And that's how it works in Acts 2 42 It says it continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayer So according to verse 46 of Acts 2 continuing daily with one accord in the temple breaking bread from house to house They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart And so that's really what we want to have is the unity in the essentials and a unity that is built on Apostolic doctrine and so when Paul is writing here to the Corinthians He's simply saying to them listen what you've done is you become carnal and one of the ways to to show that You have is how you have broken up yourselves into little groups and subgroups Verse 4 because one is saying I'm of Paul and the other I'm of Apollos Something that you might find interesting and I'm considering possibility of going right into 2nd Corinthians after we finish first But what you might want to do if you read 2nd Corinthians You might want to find the at least 21 accusations that were lodged against the Apostle Paul that he actually responds to in 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians is the most heartfelt open-hearted letter Paul ever wrote Because there were those who had entered into the church who were undermining his ministry and were calling into question his credentials and They from chapter 1 to the conclusion basically had one thing lodged against him after another and and my studies in the past and Through the use of commentators and those who were pointing these things out I began to notice that there are at least 21 different accusations that you find Paul Dealing with in 2nd Corinthians things that were said about him things that were like He's not even worthy of pain or this is a double-minded kind of man His yes is yes and his yes is never really yes and his no is never really no or this is a man who writes weighty letters But in reality in presence, he's weak and and he has to respond to all of they even said Paul isn't worthy of Compensation they said Paul is is basically even said this you'd see this read it I encourage you and you'll see it where they basically say he's ugly. I mean They did everything from the fact that he's so boring. We don't even want to hear him speak to his his presence Is contemptible which another way of saying is he's ugly to look at so it's bad enough that you have to hear him But looking at him speak is twice as bad and so he has to respond to that through 2nd Corinthians Because what they had done is they began to say we prefer Apollo's and you see right here Why Apollo's well when you're introduced to Apollo's you discovered that he was a very eloquent very learned young man He was a kind of guy that when he spoke people stopped to listen And they wanted to hear what he had to say Apollo's Paul on the other hand was a theologian Paul was one of these men who whenever he concludes the message. He usually says You know, I'm concluding now four times before he actually does Because he had one more thing inspired by the spirit to say and he'd give you that then he have and as we're about to close But then again, then he'd do it again Apollo's on the other hand This was somebody who stood up. He had a silver tongue people thought he was Excellently eloquent and so what there's always this this is so common in church is you'll have the the one speaker that people prefer and That they pit against the other speaker Well, I like it when this person speaks but when that person speaks I just don't get that much out of it I Like this person's humor. He's so funny that other person's so sober all the time and you have this conflict You have and Paul's dealing with it and he says, you know, he says that's really the mark of carnality The minister's job is to present Jesus Christ to the people and not themselves And no matter how effective or important their work may be Their work is not the real work. The minister is to present Jesus to people not themselves to people and Paul is making that very clear. That's what he says in verse 5. Who then is Paul? Who is Apollo's but ministers Through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one I planted Apollo's watered But God gave the increase so then Neither he who plants is anything Or he who waters But God gives the increase You know wherever I teach I always fear that I can Not be clear and I'm gonna say what I'm wanting to communicate and hope that it's clear Because there are people who don't teach and they don't they don't sit behind a pulpit They don't give Bible studies. And so they're very good at kibitzing. They're good at being out there critiquing But they've never taken the time to study for a Bible study and never given one in their life They simply know what is good and what is not good. And so they sit back. They're saying all that wasn't that good Oh, yeah, that was good. And but they don't do it. They don't put into practice anything. They're here in anyway But what I find interesting today That is something we have to be aware of is this unbelievable unbelievable Desire for entertainment in Everything that we do Technology is a good thing But I find it interesting That it is so rampant that even in church services people text one another. I Find that interesting during church services people are busy texting I've had people complain to me and say that to me pastor where you're teaching there's people out there Just making sure they get there too. Sometimes it may be an emergency We have people who are professionals in here who they're on call that we have nurses and doctors and and they have they have to respond I understand that and and and I'm good with that. I understand that but sometimes what we have is simply an addiction to communication We have an addiction to it. We can't be away. I mean if somebody took your cell phone from you You know, some people would faint dead away. They'd almost die. I mean you got that's my lifeline, man You know, it's my cell phone, you know, your cell phone goes out. Oh, no, it's not charged up You know, it's it's freaky weird to me and and but we've become addicted to that See I come from a generation that has watched some incredible things happen You know from from telephones that used to have what was called a party line I use that phrase before and younger people go. Oh, yeah, I know what the party No, no a party line isn't what you think the party line is see the party line that I'm talking about is when you had a telephone and It had a big old handle that weighed about 10 pounds and you would lift this thing up to your face And you had these little things that were rotor dials you actually put your finger and you dialed it that way and then you waited forever and God forbid that that number should have nines and eights in it because it just took forever for you to get your phone You know call made you pick up the phone sometimes and you would hear people talking That's the party line because you had a shared line And so you might pick up the phone wanting to make a phone call, but there were people talking and And as a little boy I can still remember picking up the phone and I could hear people talking on it and then you'd hear some woman Who's talking to her friend say corn has ears Which was their way of saying someone's listening in and I'd say I'm not listening and hang up, you know See so we we have we have So far We didn't have color TVs Amazing huh and and and a big TV was 19 inches That was huge. I mean if somebody got a 19 inch color TV That was that's Bill Gates, man. That got that person is rich that person's got money Families may not have They most families had a car But not everybody had two cars Two cars that was you were rolling. I mean if you had two cars amazing It was just a different time guys and so we've seen it from the rotor phone and Party lines to people getting mad because they're dialing long distance from some foreign country calling home and It's not going through fast enough and it's taken five seconds for this to actually get and and people freak over that And I'm thinking that that you haven't got it There's a signal going to a satellite That is now shooting down to another phone 9,000 miles away and you're mad because you have to sit there for five seconds and that's what has happened We didn't even have fast food Fast food fast food is when you ran to the dinner table. That's fast food We only had a couple of restaurants in our in our town We never went out to eat for us. It was a big treat to get a hamburger And so it's just an entirely different world. And so people today are addicted to amusement addicted to entertainment addicted to instant gratification in every way They even won't have instant spiritual maturity They think well, I went to church three times this week. How come I'm not on TBN or whatever? Thank God you're not bottom line is Maturity takes time Problem is When we start getting personality addicted When we start thinking that I'm of Apollo's No, I'm of Paul We're in trouble because What we really need to be is growing up spiritually and not fighting about our favorite teachers But the church in Corinth was doing that and so Paul is saying you need to understand something All we are is workers God gets all the glory That's how it works You should never feel nervous ever Feel nervous about talking to a spiritual leader You should never feel nervous doing that. You should feel comfortable doing that you should You should feel comfortable because a spiritual leader ought to be a loving person a welcoming person Not an intimidating person People can use intimidation to keep people at an arm's length Jesus didn't do that And we should never do that and I say this Doesn't matter to 99% of you, but sometimes in this church some people can get nervous talking to me I don't see the reason for that There's never been a reason for that And in the Lord there never will be a reason for that Because I'm one of you I'm a member of this church. I may be called the pastor But that doesn't make me any better I'm just one of the church always remember that so when you talk to me you never have to feel Oh intimate it please don't I'm only saying that because some people have no I'm not saying walk up and be rude to me and disrespectful. I don't like that either and I'll let you know I don't like that either But let's treat each other with love and respect right and that's what Paul's talking about That is what Paul is speaking about who is Paul who is Apollo but ministers when he speaks of being a minister by the way The word minister there is a word that you've probably heard before Diakonos it speaks of a table waiter Diakonos is one who executes the commands of somebody else and So he's saying this he says we're busboys We're waiters in the kingdom of God and so don't be intimidated We're only the instruments not the source of salvation and we are the ministers through whom you believed But we're not the ones who died for you and we certainly did not redeem you The one who did that is Jesus Christ. That's what he's saying verse 6. I planted Apollo's watered But God gave the increase when he says I planted it's because he planted the church as is recorded in Acts 18 When he says Apollo's watered that means that Apollo's ministered to an already planted work He irrigated that that work with the word of God. So what is he saying? He's saying teamwork is involved One person plants another person irrigates But it's God who gives the increase You go to a harvest crusade You see that field filled with people who got saved And you say to yourself Man pastor Greg sure gave a powerful message and indeed he did But Greg will be the person who says to you I could go out there and speak all day long But if you didn't pray for this if you didn't invite friends if you didn't come it would have been me and a microphone That would have been it There are people in parking lots helping us to park. There are people who were ushering us helping us to find a Place to sit down There are people who got up on a stage and sang worship to Jesus Christ. It's a team effort It's not a single person and that's what Paul is making clear He's saying it's a team the body of Christ is a team and we work together So verse 7 so then neither he who plants is anything Nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase God is the one doing the real work God who God is the one producing increase. That's why we don't give glory to the vessel That's why we give glory to the one who does the work He says in verse 8 now he who plants and he who waters are one And each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor for we are God's fellow workers You are God's field You are God's building According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder I've laid the foundation another builds on it But let each one take heed how He builds on it We are one in the labor The one who plants and the one who waters will always work together If no one planted watering would be useless because there'd be nothing to water But the bottom line is he says in verse 8 Each one receives reward for faithfulness and service Salvation is a gift Rewards come through faithful service In revelation 223 We read I am he who searches the minds and hearts and I'll give to each one of you according to your works Revelation 2212 behold. I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work 2nd Corinthians 5 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of christ So that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body whether good or evil And so salvation is a gift, but you get rewarded for faithful service And there have been people who have said oh, I just want to get into heaven And and I understand that but I don't want to just make it into heaven I want to come into heaven battered and bruised from the battles that I've been in for Jesus's sake bottom line I mean There are some who are on a team who feel good sitting on the bench wearing a nice clean crispy uniform I've never been one of those who wants to sit a bench I I did plenty of that when I was nine years old in little league And uh, frankly, that's not a good place to be sitting on the bench chewing your glove That that was before it was mandatory for every kid to get some playing time And so out of 20 regular season games And three or four practice games In the entire Year when I was nine years old playing On a particular team in norwalk I played 10 innings 10 innings and six of those innings Was the last game when it didn't matter whether we won or lost I played the whole game six innings So up to that point out about 22 or 23 games I had accumulated four innings of play and I sat and I watched like 18 or 19 games And uh, it did a lot to form my character. I have to tell you But I I I did not want to sit the bench then And in god's team, I don't want to sit the bench now And so I want to be somebody who puts it all out on the line for the lord So that when I see him I can see him knowing I did my best But there are those who say, oh, I just want to get in No, I want to get in Triumphant in the lord. I want to I want to enter in Um As as somebody who who who the lord can say well done my good and my faithful Surphant I've shared this before it's been a while But there are some people that remind me of wily coyote You remember wily coyote in the road runner and for all he he'd have a stick of dynamite And it would explode and all you'd see is wily coyote with smoke coming off of him There are some people who are going to enter into heaven like that You know with just smoke, you know, and I was I used to work at this particular company And there was a guy who Worked on these blast furnaces and they were they were the kind of blast furnaces that were used to heat metals and things like that And it was they were gas and so I remember I was standing about 10 feet from him one day when he turned on the pilot And he used to have to have a long tube With a match on the end and he would slide that He'd like the match and slide it down the tube to ignite the pilot. That's what he did But he got caught up talking to some people myself included and was standing there for you know, two or three minutes The pilot lights on and this is a big blast furnace with huge hinges And I still remember that he lights that the match Slides this tube down To ignite But the gas had built up and it exploded and when it exploded it knocked the heavy door off the hinge And when it knocked this heavy door off the the hinge all of the flame Came blowing out the side where the man was standing When it ignited and exploded it was like a starter pistol for a hundred meter dash. I was out. I was gone I was in the parking lot And I remember turning around coming back in and looking in the door and he was still standing there And smoke was coming off his body on that and when I got saved the lord said that could be you When you go into heaven if that's what you want And so I don't want to be like that And we'll see that as we get later on next week as we look at verse 11 following But the bottom line is We can enter in and receive reward. There is nothing wrong with desiring rewards from the lord when god offers them He says i'm going to give to a man his reward according to his works So I I would like to receive rewards from the lord These are rewards by the way that we basically are in hand back to him Because everything that we did for him was through his power and his grace anyway So we did these things for him and for his glory But I'd like to exhort and encourage us as a church To take to heart even what we were looking at for those who were with us this morning How that james made it very clear that if you have living faith, it's a working faith And it produces fruit And so from my perspective You know, we don't have that many years that god has allotted to us Why not use them for him? Eternity's in front of us And I promise you when you get into eternity in other words when you step into heaven There won't be any regrets because all the tears are left outside But I certainly want to walk in saying I did what I could for my lord And paul is making it very clear that there are rewards that we receive In verse nine, he says we are god's fellow workers, but you are god's field You are god's building We we are god's fellow workers. That's interesting. We cooperate Together in the work that god is performing God is using you To do his will but he says to them you're god's field You're where god produces his fruit You are god's building You are where god inhabits And then finally he says according to the grace of god, which was given to me as a wise master builder God gave me he's saying the grace Of the ministry of evangelism And god used me to lay the foundations in your life Now paul's saying I laid the foundation But there are other teachers who came and they have built on this foundation And that's how it works. I'm the wise master builder I've laid the foundation another builds on it, but notice how he says at the end But let each one take heed how he builds on it We're going to pick up on this next time, but let me share a couple things about this He is warning those who aspire to be teachers And he is saying to them Be careful how you build Over the years on a few occasions and please try and understand I speak with 38 years of experience as a teacher So I I I have some experience when I'm saying this I have encountered more than once over the years Young people who have a very careless attitude when it comes to dividing the word They don't they they don't put the time into the studies that they should and they rely on their personality Or what we call newspaper exegesis meaning they read the newspaper and then bring it into the pulpit And what they end up doing is They end up building groups of people that regard them as great teachers When in reality They're not teaching the word they're teaching their opinions See, I know it can sound bad to you even as I say this I am uncomfortable I can say this at pastors conferences and and I do and My peers understand my heart in this but it could sound Like a criticism of people that is unintended. I'm not intending to communicate criticism What I'm saying is as I'm as a minister I get concerned when a young person has a A lax attitude towards the study and teaching of the word of God and yet wants to go out there and lead people in the things of God Paul made it very clear in 1st Timothy chapter 3 that if a man is going to be a minister He cannot be a novice He has to be experienced in the things of God. Why because he has the responsibility as a spiritual Overseer to give an account For those people that he influenced in the things of God And when I stand before God you can see this in Hebrews 13 verses 7 and 17 when I stand before God I give an account for you I give an account for the church that God gave to me to pastor I take that seriously Because I cannot Go before the Lord. I do not want to go before the Lord And and have blood on my hands and so Paul is simply saying listen I laid a foundation there are other teachers who've come to build on it. That's just the history of the church But to the aspiring teacher You be careful how you build on it You be careful how you build on that in James 3 verse 1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers my brothers because You know that we who teach will be judged more strictly And so that's what he's saying Now this basically is really answering those who are claiming to be followers of the apostle peter He's saying The apostle peter isn't the foundation Paul isn't the foundation Jesus is the foundation So be careful how you build Isaiah 28 16. This is what the Lord says. Behold I lay a stone in Zion a tested stone A precious cornerstone for a sure foundation and the one who trusts will never be dismayed If you're going to be opening up the word and sharing with people don't do it like it's a hobby Don't do it like oh, let's see don't do that Never do that The Lord says I regard the one who trembles at my word When you have a healthy fear of God It keeps you honest in your studies and it keeps you honest in your communication So paul is saying this Why are you dividing over apollos and paul and even ciphers? Why are you looking at us as if we are so important? All we are is God's table waiters We are working alongside of God One may so another man may water But it will always be God Who gives the increase If you have a saw and you're cutting some wood And you're building something and somebody walks in and they look at that saw And to see how straight the cuts are and how nice the building is that you're making If that person walked up to the saw and said what a great saw you are You are the best saw I have ever seen. Look at what you've done Well the individual who was using the saw doing all the building would have a right to look at you and say I think there's something wrong with you Because the saw is only a tool It's the craftsman who did the work I used the right tool to perform my function But you ought to be giving credit to the one who does the work and not to the tool itself Well then the church is the same way guys Instead of building up the pastors and the teachers and thinking they're superstars There's only one superstar And it's Jesus Jesus gets all the glory and that's what Paul is saying