 Right good morning everyone welcome to a new week. Let's begin this time with the word of prayer. So could any one of us please lead us in prayer Kennedy? Let's pray. I'll have any father. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for this opportunity that you've given to us to come and study your words. Thank you for our teacher, Mr. Emmanuel. We pray God that will give him the wisdom of the agents, dispense. Thank you for using him as a teacher, the truth and the knowledge about you. And that Jehovah will commit all the students by hands. You pray again as anything that is going to disrupt our studies by the Jehovah. Pray and trust in the mighty name of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you Kennedy for leading us in prayer. All right before we go ahead let's just look at a quick review of what we did last week. Last week we did 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and we covered some of the important points. Paul says, I came to you in wisdom. Not of the wisdom of the world but the wisdom of the spirit, right? And he says in the first few verses of that chapter he says, I came to you in fear and in trembling. Not with, you know, persuasive words, which means not words of intellect or high knowledge, but he said he came with fear and trembling and he came with a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. Right? Then he goes on in chapter 2 talking about the wisdom that we have in the Spirit. We saw that, you know, he reveals how the Holy Spirit reveals the purposes and the plans of God to people and we completed in chapter 2. So we'll move into chapter 3. Now let me see if I can just put the notes up before we start. Chapter 3, right? So in chapter 3, Paul now, he's turning his attention to the first issue of the Corinthian Church, right? Now we know that there were plenty of problems, right? But one of the most important or radical problem in the church was the whole point of division, right? One is saying Apollos, one is saying Paul, one is saying Cephas. So he gets to the root of the problem, right? So let's begin from here. Chapter 3 was 1 to 4, right? So we'll just begin from there. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as 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 are still not able. Right? Verse 3, for you are still carnal for where there is envy, strife and divisions among you. Are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says I am Paul, another says I am Apollos, are you not carnal? Now we see that Paul is not wasting any time. Chapter 1, chapter 2, he tells the believers, hey, this is your standing in Christ, right? He calls them dearly beloved. He is exhorting them. He is letting them know their identity. But in chapter 3, he begins and he says, hey, you have the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You are speaking in tongues. There's, you know, the entire church is flowing the gifts of the Spirit. But Paul here in verse 3 he says, are you still not carnal? Right? So this is really strong words for believers who are hearing it, right? Paul is saying, are you still not carnal? You, what is the meaning of carnal? The word carnal means to be ruled by the flesh or sense ruled. In the sense, you know, doing things out of the flesh is nothing but carnal. Now, we know that the, you know, the Holy Spirit was actively functioning in the church in Corinth. The gifts of the Spirit, he says later on in the later chapters, he says, no, I like, you know, I'm glad that you all are speaking in tongues and there's all these gifts. But you all are still carnal, right? Now, he goes on to say, that is why I'm feeding you with milk and not with solid food. Now, doesn't mean that Paul is really feeding them milk. It only means that in terms of the Christian faith, in terms of his teachings, right? He's just giving them the basics, right? It's like just, you know, he's trying to let the church know, see you all may be puffed up with all your gifts and all of that, but you all are still carnal. Now, this is very important for us as believers, right? I'm going to say this, right? Our gifts and our anointing which God places in our life is not a sign of spiritual maturity, right? So I'm going to repeat that. Our gifts and our anointing that the Holy Spirit bestows upon us is not a sign of maturity, right? Just because somebody can prophesy, just because somebody can speak in tongues or maybe somebody has the working of miracles does not mean they are matured, right? God has given that to us. The Holy Spirit has bestowed it upon us, but if we are still living life in strife, in jealousy, envy, you know, competition, hatred to one another, it is nothing but we are living a carnal life which is a life of immaturity, right? So these are strong words. Paul is just hitting the nail on the head, he's saying, see, all this is good, it's wonderful to flow on the gifts, but you all are still carnal, you're a root by the flesh, right? And when we say spiritual, right, if we conduct ourselves as spiritual, that means spirit led, spirit empowered, we become mature believers, right? So look at this picture. You can have a person who is, you know, speaking in tongues, prophetic word of knowledge, healing and miracle, working of healing and miracles, greatly anointed by God, but you can have him still being immature and carnal, whereas you can have another believer who is, you know, maybe not flowing in the gifts of the Spirit at all, but highly matured in Christ, living a life that is pleasing to God's eyes, right? So which one should we choose? We must choose to, of course, walk in the Holy Spirit, right, walk in the gifts, but also walk in maturity, right? That means don't walk in the carnal, in the flesh, right, saying that, you know, now it could happen to any one of us if we are bitter against somebody and we cannot forgive that person, we are acting carnal, right? Now is the gifts of the Holy Spirit inside us? Yes. Is the anointing there? Yes, but we still hate the other person, right? So we must be careful. Then he goes on, verse 5, says, Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one? I planted Apollos waters, but God gave the increase. Verse 7, So then, neither who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters a one and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor, right? Let me stop there. Now I'm sure many a times we've heard this, right? One plants, one waters, but God makes it grow, and many a times we've heard this, right? And this is a best example of how you and I as believers must relate to each other as well as ministries, how they must relate to each other. Now in a world that we're living in and when we look at Christendom all across the globe, we have different kinds of ministries, right? We have the prophetic ministry, we have the apostolic ministry, the you know evangelistic ministry, the healing ministry, so so many ministries around us. Now this is a good example to follow because it's very easy to come to a place of competition, strife and comparison, right? I can come to a place and say, hey, but mine is a prophetic ministry, so mine is better than yours. We may not say it, but if we think it, it's already being carnal, right? Now Paul is clarifying certain things here, right? And this entire portion here, he's clarifying and I've marked it there, right? First one he says, all of us are ministers of God and the Lord has appointed each one his assignment. So if God has called you to maybe prophetic or evangelistic ministry, it is God's appointment on us, right? It's not our choice. God has appointed that for us. So it was for he saying, who then is Paul? Who is Apollos? Now we know that Paul was apostolic in nature. He would always go out. He's a pioneer, right? So he would go out to different places. Apollos was more of a teacher, right? He was a wonderful teacher, wonderful orator. Now both had different ministries, but both were appointed by God. So what is Paul trying to say? Who are they? They are nothing but people whom God has chosen to advance God's kingdom, right? So he goes on verse 6, some plant, some water, but God gives the increase, right? So all growth, all fruit comes from God, right? I've always used this example. Imagine I give you five seeds, right? Maybe apple or mango seeds. So you can go into the garden, put it into the ground. So you put it into the ground, you put it on fertile soil, right? And then you have somebody who keeps watering it. Now what happens if it doesn't grow? Are we 100% sure that all the five seeds will grow into five apple or mango plants? We're not sure, right? Because it is God. Now, of course, we have to do the practical things of putting it into fertile ground, watering it, making sure that it's looked after, this gets the plant or the seed gets appropriate sunlight and all of those things. But it is God who brings the fruit. Now, when we walk in this mindset, the way we do ministry will change, right? So we can say, God, I'm just putting the seed into this person's heart. Maybe somebody else will water it. But Lord, you make it grow. You make it come, let fruit come from their life, from his or her life. So there's no place of pride. There's no place of saying, Hey, because I shared the gospel with him, he's become a believer. Or because I started this ministry and now ministry is so big because I came in, right? So the whole thing of I is removed in this, in this one verse, because neither he who plants nor he who waters, but it is God who gives the increase, right? So we do not exalt who plants. We don't exalt who waters. We exalt God. We say, God, thank you for doing this. Thank you for the increase. Thank you for the fruit. And as ministers, we are to work together in this, right? Now, it's very sad to see around us, you know, there's so much of strife and division within the church, right? And that must not be so, right? Because if it is so, then what is Paul saying? We are carnal, right? But God, I'm a pastor for 15 years. No, you're still carnal. Why? Because there's division. You're not able to grasp the things of God still being immature, right? So these are strong words. Now, each minister was eight, like we did. Each minister will receive their reward from the master according to what he has done, right? Now, this is an encouragement for us, right? But it's also a reminder to us, right? So whatever work that we do, whatever work that has been assigned to us as ministers of God, our reward comes from God, right? Yes, there will be times when, you know, in the ministry, when we do well, people see the fruit. God will bless us. Even people, you know, leaders will, you know, bless us and they'll appreciate our work. But true reward comes from God. It could be somebody who's coming to church and just wiping the chairs Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. Nobody knows it, right? But church people come, they sit in the church and they go off. Nobody acknowledges, nobody, nobody in the church, the pastor is not going to say, Oh, let's give a clap to this person because he wiped all the chairs in the morning. Nobody's going to do that. But your reward is on the master, right? God is going to reward that. God is not going to overlook even the smallest task you have done for his kingdom, right? So isn't that a encouragement? So it's not always, you know, going on the pulpit preaching and, you know, or a worship leader and, you know, leading the worship. It's good. God has given us those gifts and called. That's good. But be willing to do even the smallest of tasks because your reward is from the master. And then he goes on verse nine. Let's read verse nine and 10. For we are God's fellow workers and you are God's field. You are God's building verse 10. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. Right? So verse nine, he's saying all of us are God's co-workers. We are co-workers God. Now, just because I am teaching here does not mean that, you know, I am in a higher level than you. No, right? We all are co-workers with God, right? You can do something more than what I can do. Right? So we must understand that, you know, we're all working together to build God's kingdom. Right? And then he says, God's people are the field. So, you know, he wants them to be nurtured. He wants them to be watered. And God's people are his building. Right? So what is this? What can we understand from this? All true ministry is about nurturing and building up God's people. Remember the book of, I think it's Colossians, where Paul says to the believers that he says, you are my crown in heaven. You are my rejoicing. What is my rejoicing? You, you people, when I see y'all in heaven, that is the rejoicing. I'm not going to rejoice in the works that I have done, but my rejoicing is that you are living a carnal life. You're living in sin, but God brought you out and God gave me the opportunity to sow into your life, to nurture you, to water you and to build you as God's people. And so that is my rejoicing. Right? So, so imagine this. You and I, if we are ministering to one person and maybe just encouraging that person or building that person in the faith, what you're doing is you're watering and nurturing God's field. Right? You may think, okay, one person, no. The field is so big, one person. No, that's okay. One person is as much as important as thousand people. Right? Remember what Jesus did in the parable of the lost sheep? What did he do? He went, one sheep was, went away, ran away, it was lost. He left the 99 and he went for that one. So there may be million people, right, around. But if there's one person that you are ministering to, that one person counts. Right? So as we serve God, our heart must be set on nurturing and building God's people. Right? The moment my focus in ministry changes to, oh, I wish, you know, we had a better sound system or I wish we had a better production team or I wish, you know, all these other things which are important, right? It's good. God wants us to have all of this. But our main focus should be people. That ministry is about people. Right? So our focus should be towards that. We see ourselves as God's co-workers. Right? Then whether we get prominence or we don't get prominence, that doesn't matter. Right? You can be in children's church. You can be in teen church. You can be a parking, helping in the parking. You can be serving coffee after church. You can just be somebody who's, you know, welcoming people into the church. As small as you could be, somebody who's standing near the restrooms and leading people to the restroom if they want to use it. Now the task doesn't look very interesting or very, you know, encouraging on a Sunday morning. But if you're doing this to help God's kingdom, you're co-working with people, you're building God's kingdom. Your reward is in heaven. The Master, the Lord Jesus will reward you for that. Will people reward you? May not be. But God will reward you. Now each one of us have a grace in our life. It's just a side note. Each one of us have a grace in our life. Right? So for example, when you look at people in this world, let me think of an example. Mother Teresa. God gave her the grace that she must, you know, be with the lepers. Right? No, not everyone can do this. Right? It is, it is a special grace. She pressed in for more and she was able to do it. Right? So all of us have a certain grace. Right? Some of them may have a grace in, in, you know, just talking to the, to those who are in difficult situation. Right? Maybe it is, somebody has a grace to be a wonderful parent. They just know how to, you know, be a good parent, a good father. Right? Or somebody else, he just, he or she just knows how to, you know, teach the children. They, their life, they know they are called for children's ministry. Right? So every one of us have a certain grace and we must press on for more of that. But Paul here he's saying, he's recognizing the grace God has given him. He's saying in verse, verse is, as a master builder, he says, yeah, verse 10, he says, right? According to the grace of God, which is given to me as a wise master builder, like the way he starts, verse 10, he says, according to the grace of God. So it was not Paul's, you know, he was excited to travel to places. Not so. He had a choice. He could have, he's about 50 years old. He could have been, you know, doing his tent work and share the gospel there near Tassus and been happy. But he says, but the grace of God, by the grace of God, he was a master builder. Why is master builder? Which means he, he lays the foundation of the work of God. He was, he was a pioneer in, in, in, you know, starting so many churches. And we look at it, right? His first missionary journey. When he went into Galatia, you know, churches were just planted. His second missionary journey, churches were just planted. He just was able to do it. Now, can everyone do that? No. It is a grace of God. Whenever he went, he planted churches. Now, if we read the book of Acts, I'm sure there are plenty of other churches which have started, which he started, but he's not written a letter to them, right? So he says, as a wise master builder, I laid the foundation. But whoever builds on it must be wise how to build on it. How to build on this foundation. So to the readers, Apostle Paul is, you know, think, just picture this, you're sitting in Corinth and they're reading this to you and he's saying, now I laid the foundation to that church. We must be wise on how to build on it. Now, looking at what's happening, things are not going right. You're building, the foundation is good because I came, I shared the gospel, you became true believers. But you're building on good foundation. You're building, you know, probably sand or you're building just clay, which is going to melt away when it rains. It's just going to demolish. It's not strong enough. Why? Because you're building on, you know, the carnal things. The foundation is good. I assure you, you know, Paul is saying, I, as a wise master builder, built a good foundation. But you have to be wise how to build on it. Now, this is a very, very important point that we must understand in ministry. Right? Even as you're here studying, preparing yourself, God may call you to pioneer something or maybe even to build on something that somebody has already pioneered. Right? We must be careful how we build on it. Right? And then he talks about building material. This is very interesting. And I, I really, every now and then I come to this verse so that, you know, I get an understanding, you know, what is ministry all about? Right? So build with the right materials. Let's look at that. Right? Feel free to ask any questions. If you have any questions, just posted on the chat and where you can also unmute and ask your questions. Right? Okay. All right. So build with right materials. So now Paul is saying, the foundation is done. You're going to build. Let me tell you what to build, how to build. What is the material that you must use? Right? So verse 11 onwards, for no other foundation can anyone laid than where that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. Right? Verse 14, if anyone's work which has been built, which he has built on it, endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Now, this is very, very interesting how Paul is, you know, just bringing out the entirety, like whatever he's thinking of, he's put it as a picture to the readers. What a brilliant way of writing an epistle. He says, there's one foundation, Jesus Christ, and on that foundation, I am standing on it and we have built this church. Right? Now, we must be careful how we build. And he goes on to say, it is possible that, you know, if we see here, the things that he says, you can build with gold, silver and precious stones. Right? And then there is wood, hay and straw. So three gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw. Now, he says there, it will be revealed by fire. Now, what will happen to gold, silver and precious stones when you put it into the fire? Nothing. It does not lose its value. Gold melts, the value remains the same. It actually even purifies. Silver, put it in fire, it melts, the value remains the same. Precious stones, values remain the same. Now, what about wood, hay and straw? What will happen if fire comes on it? It's going to become ashes. And I always picture it this way, right? Wood, hay and straw is big. You can see it. Right? It's very easily noticeable. Right? You don't have a big pile of gold. Right? You have little gold. Right? Because it's very expensive. It's very precious. But you can have a big pile of wood or hay and straw and all of it. So when people look at it, oh, so big, so wonderful. But when the fire comes, it will all become ashes. So what is the understanding that we must gain from this? Don't look at people's work and judge them or judge their ministry. Oh, this ministry is really great. Or this person has done achieved so much. Now, it could be wood, could be they're building on wood, hay and straw. If they are not, then that's good. Right? It is possible to do the right things out of the wrong motives. Right? I'm going to repeat that. It's possible to do the right things in the wrong motives. Right? Now, if you look at the, in Philippians, you know, there were people who shared the gospel, right? Remember, he says there are some who are sharing the gospel out of, sorry, I think it's Book of Acts says there are some who are sharing the gospel out of strife and envy. Right? Now, they are sharing the gospel. Good? Very good. It's the right thing to do. But the motive is wrong. If I want to become a worship leader and my intention is God, I want people to experience your presence when I lead worship or help me to take them to your presence. That's the responsibility of a worship leader to encourage, to exhort the believers. Now, it's good to become a worship leader, but if my motive becomes I want to be on the stage and everyone should clap for me because the song sounds good and everyone should call me or this good worship leader. Now, how long will that last? It may last for five years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, eventually when we, the day, you know, he says then verse 13 for the day, the day of judgment. God will say, okay, Paul come. Now, you've been a worship leader for so many years and everyone recognized you as a worship leader. But here's the thing, I'm going to test it by fire. If it's wood, if it's hay, it's only just so that you gain your attention for yourself, it'll burn. But if it's something to glorify God, if it was to glorify Jesus, when I burn it, it will stay. Now, isn't this very, you know, when you think of it, it's like, it's not only encouraging, but it's also scary. Because as believers, we may get caught up in the things that are happening around and we forget that what we are doing must be done for the glory of God. So Paul is saying here, he gives a perfect example. He's saying later on, he talks about the gifts of the Spirit and how you don't have, if you don't have love, it's of no use. But he's building, he's trying to make them understand that whatever you have, if you're building it with wood, hay, and stubble, it's going to burn. Oh, we are a church, the Corinthian church is known for miracles, signs, wonders, prophetic. When God tests the church, or he burns the church with fire, tests it with fire, it's just ashes. Remember in the book of Revelations, what does Jesus say? He says, to one of the churches, he says, you have a reputation of being great or being good. You have a reputation. It's just a reputation. People say, oh, this is a good, wonderful church. But I see you as dead. So what is important? What people think or what God thinks? Obviously, what God thinks. We are not to be motivated by the flesh. We do not choose methods that appeal to the flesh. What does Paul say in chapter two in the beginning? He said, I come with fear and trembling. I'm not going to talk out of my own knowledge or my own intellectual speech. Was he intellectual? Very intellectual. He says, no, no, no. What I want to do is, I want to preach the gospel, good foundation, build on good ground. Now, there will be times when we have resorted to carnal methods of reaching out to people or carnal ways of doing ministry. Let's ask God to stop us or add our track. God is merciful. He's faithful. He's willing to forgive. He's willing to bring us back on track. So we can pray. We say, God, you know, even before you ask of it, it's so beautiful. He knows. Say, God, the last time I preached or I led the worship, I felt I was being led just so that I can led by the flesh and not by the Holy Spirit. So please forgive me. Help me to be led by your Holy Spirit. He forgives us. We need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to do the things out of the spiritual, in the spiritual. We need the anointing. Now, in the flesh, if we are trying to do something, we don't need any anointing. Anybody can do it. Now, look at people in the world, you know, the great businessmen, great leaders. They don't have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, but they're great. They're doing it out of the flesh. So it's possible to do big things, to do great things being led by the flesh. But we must make sure that we are building on good ground. Any questions? Any thoughts? Should we continue? No questions? Anything okay? Right. Okay, let's continue. Okay, verse 16. Now, do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are? Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. Right? Let's just look at these verses one by one. Right? Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Now, Paul is using this word temple. The Greek word there says naos. Now, we don't now picture this, right? In the old covenant in the tabernacle. So you have the outer court, the inner court, and the most holy place. Right? And the most holy place was when, where the high priest would go in and offer the sacrifice. Right? It was the skull, the sanctuary of the temple. Right? So only the priest could go there. Now, Paul is referring to that. He's saying, you are the sanctuary. Right? You are the place, you are the temple, the sanctuary in the temple where the Holy Spirit dwells in you. Right? So he's trying to paint a picture for them. Right? That you are the temple. Now, even if they were Gentiles, the Gentiles knew what is the temple? What is the temple? Right? There was in Corinth, it was the temple of Aphrodite. Right? They knew the temple is where God's presence is. So he's trying to say, hey, you are the temple. That means God's presence is in you. God is in you. He's sitting. He's residing in you. Was seven. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him because the temple is holy. Now, the word defile here in Greek means Praterio, meaning corrupt, spoiled, to ruin, to waste or to destroy. Now, how can we defile a temple? And when you're talking about our body itself, the temple of God, how can we defile it? Every time I am carnal or I do things out of the flesh, I am defiling the temple of God. Right? So, for example, if I have jealousy on somebody, if I'm jealous about somebody, if I have, you know, I'm angry, I've fought with somebody and I'm unable to, you know, to bring forgiveness or I feel that, you know, just there's so much of pride maybe in my heart. But outside, everything looks nice. I'm showing myself as good. What does it mean? It means I'm being ruled by carnal immature behavior. Right? And what does that do? That defiles the temple of God. It corrupts. It spoils. It ruins. It wastes. It destroys the temple of God. And he goes on to say, God will destroy him. Right? So, here's the question. In what sense and in what way will God destroy those who defile his temple, the local church community? What will God do? He will bring a stop. Right? Now, if you look at the Old Testament, every time there was a certain amount of grace, right? And then God brought a stop. Right? Remember the prophets in the Old Testament? God sent prophet after prophet to the north of, you know, Israel, to the south of Israel, that is, and prophet after prophet. Then at one point, God said, enough. I'm not going to send any more people. For 400 years, there was silence. Right? So, God's house must be kept holy. Right? So, you are God's house. It must be kept holy. Many a times. Now, is this easy? It's very, very difficult. But when we try it on our own flesh, we will fail. Right? But when we try it and we ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, you help me. Now, let me give you this example. It's happened to me. Right? There are many times, you know, we're talking to our friends. Many times, when I felt, you know, I just had to, they were talking about somebody and they were talking and then I wanted to say, Hey, yeah, you know, what about this person? Many times, I've said it, but then I've gone home and I, and you know, during the prayer time, the Holy Spirit reminds me, you should not have said that because you are the temple of God. You, you need to be holy. Your words, your thinking need to be holy. I say, God, you know, that moment, I said it, Lord, I'm sorry, what to do. But there were many times people, you know, my good friends or even people in ministry, they've been talking about some other ministry or some other pastor. Many times, I thank God the Holy Spirit has said, Paul, keep your mouth shut. Walk away from here. I've done it. Just kept quiet. They've called me. Paul, come with us. You know, we're discussing. I said, No, it's all right. I just need to go. They may have felt offended. They may have thought, Oh, what is this? Oh, it's okay. But I was obedient to the Holy Spirit. And what am I doing? I'm keeping my temple clean. I'm keeping the temple of God holy. Holiness is simply staying aligned to who God is, the expression of his nature in us and through us. So there will be, that's why, that's why there will be times, you know, in our lives, we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us, to remind us many times, right? I must have said something. And as I'm saying, if the Holy Spirit has said, stop, don't say that. Or you say this, you know, as a as a pastor and one of the church, many people come and share their, you know, challenges. Now, I may not have gone through those challenges, but I need the Holy Spirit. I say, God, please tell me, give me the right word to say to this person, right? They're going through problem after problem after problem. And it's been not one month, two months, but it's been years. What can I say to them? Or this couple comes up and says, my daughter has leukemia, cancer. Please pray. What can we say to them? We need the Holy Spirit. So by depending on the Holy Spirit, we are keeping the temple of God holy, right? Now quickly, let's go to verse 21. Therefore, let no one boast in men for all things are yours. This is powerful, right? Verse 21, Paul is saying, okay, so because of all these reasons, don't boast in man. So our value, our identity is not from any man or woman of God, right? Everything has been given to us by God and everything is God. So everything we do is for him and for the glory of God. So we don't derive our value from people. Or our identity. We've come to a day and age when ministry where being called pastor or apostle or prophet is something very fancy. People get demotivated or discouraged when we don't call pastor or prophet and all of that. Paul is saying, see, don't derive your identity from all these titles and this man of God did, that man of God did. There are many, it's sad to see this very many people, truly believers in Christ, but they have put so much of their identity on the preacher or the pastor. If he says I will do it, if he says do this, I will do it. So it's not about what God says, it's about what this leader says and it's not right. Our identity flows from Christ. Everything that we do must honor him and glorify him, right? So we see in this chapter, one Paul is saying we need to be spiritual and we should leave out being carnal, learn to be co-workers, work together to build God's kingdom. Very important, choose to build with right materials. Are we going to build with gold, silver or precious stones or are we going to build with wood, hay and stubble? So we need to choose what we're building on. Don't go by the outward appearance, don't go by the looks, but go by what you see, by the fruit of the work in ministry, right? Then fourth one, understand that we are God's temple and envy, strife and division is something that will only defile the temple of God and so we must keep these out and we must always, in everything that we do, glorify God and not man. Amen. So this is so true for each one of us that we must walk in as well. Right, any questions? There's no questions. We can take a break and we can come in 10 minutes. Any questions? No questions. Okay, let's take a break. We'll come back at 10 o'clock. Thank you.