Spiritual Maturity Creates Unity Pt.2

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Thank you for joining us today as we continue our study through 1 Corinthians. In today's message, Raul will look at the difference between living according to the Spirit and living according to the desires of the flesh. As believers, God has made His home within us through the Holy Spirit, and He calls us to live in a way that reflects that union. Here is Raul Ries with part two of our message, "Spiritual Maturity Creates Unity."
Raul Ries: Now Paul, in chapter three, verse one, he begins, "And I Paul, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people but as carnal and as babies in Christ." Notice that. I couldn't talk to you the way I'm talking to mature people. And the reason is because you're a carnal person. You haven't developed. You haven't grown. You're still sucking on milk. You can't eat solid food. If I give you solid food, you'll choke on it. You're just a little infant baby. And you know that the majority of a lot of churches and the majority of most of the body of Jesus Christ today is immature and it's carnal? A very small amount of people in the church are spiritual today as in the Old Testament times. Seriously. That's why there is so much immaturity and carnality in the church. Why? Because churches are not teaching God's word systematically, Genesis to Revelation, to have the full counsel of God. And these infants in the body of Christ are people that have never read through the Bible, never read the word of God. So it's really important that Paul is exhorting these people that are not developing, they're not growing, and they're immature, and they have one foot in the world and have one foot in Christ, and they're totally divided when it comes to the unity of the body of Jesus Christ. They're the ones that are constantly causing problems in the church. They're the ones because they are not spiritual. They don't hear God's voice. They grieve the Holy Spirit of God because of their sin. But notice what he says here at verse one again: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people but as carnal and as babies, as infants in Christ." Infants in Christ because they're not mature in the word of God. Verse two, he says, "When I gave you to eat, I fed you with milk and not with solid food." Wow. Because you would choke on it. He couldn't give to them what I'm giving to you tonight, the word of God like that. They couldn't study it because they couldn't. They didn't have a hunger for it. They didn't want to know about it. And Paul tells them here, "You guys, if I were to give it to you," he said, "you would have grown spiritually but instead of growing spiritually, you're growing more to the world than to Christ." And yet in the book of Hebrews, chapter six, he really gets a warning, and in Hebrews, chapter 10, pretty heavy warnings. Read them when you go home. It'll blow your mind. And then he goes on: "I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even to the present time you are still not able." Notice that. That's the problem. They could not receive the word of God. Spiritually, they were having a tough time. They couldn't receive God's word in their own lives. And again, notice verse three: "For you are still carnal. For where there is—" here's the fruit of their carnality, these are the works—"For where there is carnality still, for where there is envy, strife, divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" Notice that. Behaving like mere men. The signs of carnality are shown here in verse three. They cause divisions. They're envious, they're strifeful, and they just don't have the unity in the body of Jesus Christ. They don't understand the things of God and they don't want to know the things of God. They're just enjoying the world and at the same time they want to get spiritual, but they can't get spiritual. So they happen to be just a bunch of babies in the church. Never fully developing spiritually. And this is what they were saying, verse four. He says, "For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another one says, 'Well, I'm of Apollos,' are you not carnal?" This is the beginning of denominations here. Well, I'm a Baptist. Well, I'm a Pentecostal. Well, I'm a Lutheran. Well, I'm of Calvary Chapel. No, we can't do that. That's carnality. Paul the Apostle wants to make sure that we understand that division kills a church. Think of how many little churches, 25-50 people, someone comes into that church and begins to cause division and those 50 little people, now 25 people leave with that troublemaker and they start another church somewhere else. They bring a split into the church. Those are signs of carnality. Building their own kingdom. Stealing sheep from another church. That's the signs of carnality. And God doesn't put up with stuff like that. He's going to teach us in a moment here. He says, "For one says, 'I am of Paul.' Another says, 'I am of Apollos.' Are not you yet fleshly, carnal?" Notice that. Carnal in every way. And then notice verse five: "Who then is Paul?" And Paul's talking to himself. Who's Paul? Who's Apollos? But ministers, servants through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one of you. I got saved with Billy Graham. I got saved with Chuck Smith. I got saved with Greg Laurie. I got saved here, I got saved there. Who cares? God used them as instruments to save you. But you don't start worshipping them. We need to really be careful because Paul here is really warning what's going to happen concerning this divisions that come. And I think it's important the way Paul's bringing us here because the greatest problem in the ministry are people that are not only using God as a crutch, but they get puffed up. And as they get puffed up, what do they do? They start not only being carnal, but think about how when people start praising other people, then some people that are in the ministry, when they start being used by God and their churches start growing and developing and they start getting out for the radio in nationwide around the country, around the world, they become superstars and they forget where they came from. Because people are worshipping them. "Oh, let me have your autograph. Or take a picture and sign my picture or sign my Bible." I hate that. I hate that when I go speak. I told them, "Hey, I don't do stuff like that." And the reason for that, that's what I was taught by Pastor Chuck Smith. By the grace of God we're teaching the word of God. By the grace of God we are what we are. And sometimes people forget where they came from as God begins to anoint you and use your life and begins to prosper you in every way in the ministry. All of a sudden, you're untouchable and you don't talk to people and you stay away from people. You have all these bodyguards around yourself like that. That's carnality. That's not spirituality. And so it's really important that we understand that Paul never, ever, ever, ever had somebody protect him. Never, ever said, "You're untouchable, Paul." Paul was always with the people. Always with the people teaching them, caring for them, loving them because he was a minister. He was a servant of Jesus Christ. He was living among the people and like the people. And that's why here he rebukes and look what he says. He says, "Who then is Paul? And who's Apollos? But servants through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one of us." Notice that. He says, "I Paul planted, Apollos watered, but who gives the increase? God gave the increase." Some of you here, you go out and you talk to your friends. What are you doing? You're sowing seeds. Somebody else comes along and speaks to them and they water. And then all of a sudden they get saved. Who gets the credit? The Lord. The Lord. You were just an instrument used by God. That's it. Bottom line. You don't take the credit for anything that God does in your life. We cannot do that. It's the Lord the one that is doing the work. He brings glory and honor to His name. We don't give glory to man at all. It belongs to Jesus Christ. So Paul here is giving us great insight. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave what? The increase. Notice that. God gets the credit, not men. "So then neither he who plants is anything." I love that. He that plants is nothing. "Nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase." I love it. God gives the increase in this church. Whenever a church grows, it's by the teaching of God's word. God brings the people that He wants and God takes away the people that He wants. All the credit, all the glory goes to Jesus Christ. It is not built upon any personality. It is Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and if there is not that foundation the church will not last. It cannot be built on a personality. It has to be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ in order for God to get the credit and all the honor. And then he goes on to say this, verse seven again: "So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, the same." Notice that. "And each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor." Notice that. We are instruments of God. And one day when you stand before the Lord, you're going to stand before God at the Bema seat of Christ, Romans chapter 14, verse 10; 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10. And here Paul's going to give us some really good insight. Because here in verse eight, he's telling you that you're going to receive according to your own labor. Every person will be tested individually. You won't be there with your mom and dad or mom and dad with their kids. Every individual person will stand before God and God is going to take everything you've ever done, He's going to throw it into the fire, and He's going to test it to see what value it has.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We are so grateful for the opportunity to open God's word with you every day. Visit somebodylovesyou.com to discover Bible studies, devotionals, and teaching resources, all designed to help you grow as a Christian. Later on, we'll tell you how you can get Raul's entire 11-part series, "Unity, Holiness, and Love." Now, back to more with Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: Verse nine: "For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building." Notice that. You're God's building. "According to the grace of God which was given to me Paul, as a wise master builder, I Paul have laid the foundation, another came along and built on it, but let each one take heed how he builds upon it." Hey, what's your foundation? Remember, sand or the rock? If you build upon the sand, your house is going to fall. Nothing's going to last. But if you build your house upon the rock, when the trials and temptations and the situations and problems of life, when the wind and the waves begin to beat upon it, it stood, it didn't fall. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the rock. The rock of my salvation. He's the one that has set me free. And then he says this in verse 11: "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is who? Jesus Christ." Not the Catholic church, not the Lutheran church, not the Methodist, not Calvary Chapel, not any church can say, "We are the truth." Jesus Christ builds the foundation. "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid by Jesus Christ." Notice verse 12. "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and 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." What is he talking about? He's talking about the Bema seat of Christ. Romans 14:10, 2 Corinthians 5:10. The Bema seat of Christ is not for non-believers. It's for believers. Why? Because we're never going to stand at the White Throne judgment. Our sins have been judged on Calvary, at the cross, by Jesus shedding His blood. But what's going to be judged is not your sins. What's going to be judged is your works. Your works. The value of your works. Reading your Bible, praying, witnessing, giving to God. You see, those are the values. And when you get to the Bema seat of Christ, the Lord is going to say, "Okay, let's see your Christian life. In your giving, in your reading, in your praying, in your witnessing. Let's throw it into the fire and see what value it has." And when He throws it in, gold, silver, wood, hay, and stubble, whatever comes out of the fire, that's going to be your reward. And if nothing comes out of the fire, you're going to be saved by the grace of God and you'll inherit the kingdom of God, but you'll never be able to rule with Jesus Christ as kings and priests like He talks about. You can't because you never really truly came to that place where God says that we're supposed to bring fruit in our lives. So it's really important that you check yourself out and say, "What kind of a fruit am I bringing before the Lord?" One day I'm going to be judged. I'm going to stand at the Bema seat of Christ and I'm going to have to evaluate my life before God in the area of giving, reading, praying, and witnessing to people. And then whatever you do in the kingdom of God will be evaluated by the fire. That's what he's talking about here in verse 13. And then look what he says, verse 14: "And if anyone's work which he has built on endures, he will receive a reward." Notice that. "But if anyone's work is burned in the fire, he will suffer the loss, but he himself will be saved, yet as through the fire." It's crazy how God works. You'll get to heaven, but you have nothing to show concerning in this world what you did for Christ. Salvation's a free gift of God. It's not of works lest any man should boast. But when there's real true faith, there's true real works that endure in the kingdom of God. And then he says this, verse 16: "Don't you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" He wants to remind you that who you are as the instrument of God, your body—listen carefully—your body doesn't belong to you anymore. Doesn't belong to you anymore. Your body has become the temple of the living God. In the Old Testament was a tabernacle. And in the tabernacle, they had the Holy of Holies and the outer court. And there were the priests who would go and wash themselves, bring the sacrifice, kill the sacrifice, and then offer it to the Lord. And nobody could go into the Holy of Holies where the two cherubims were covering the ark of the covenant. Only once a year the priest was to go in with a chain wrapped to his right ankle and the pomegranate bells at the bottom ringing. But if any kind of a sin was in the priest's life, the bells would stop ringing and with that rope, nobody could go in, they pull him out. They pull him out. Now if the Holy of Holies was only for the priest once a year, what did Jesus do when He died on the cross? Remember the rent on the temple? It rent in half. He broke the place where in the Old Testament you could only go once a year and now He says you can enter into the Holy of Holies anytime you want to. That's why He came. And what does He say? "You are now the temple of the—what?—of the living God." And where's the Holy of Holies? In your heart. You are God's instrument. You are God's temple. And that's why Paul constantly says you really need to be careful how you use your body because it's God's temple. Watch what he's going to say. This is pretty heavy. "Don't you know that you are the temple, the Holy of Holies of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Not outside. The Holy Spirit, the triunity person of God is where? In your hearts. And if anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. You're having sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend, the temple of God. You're stealing from work, the temple of God. Whatever you're doing in the flesh, remember you are the temple of the living God and God is dwelling in you. And when you hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in your life because the Holy Spirit's a person, what does He do? He can't really do effectively any work in your life until you repent and you make things right before God. We are the temple of the living God. This is not the temple. This is a place to keep the rain out and the heat out and the sun. But every single person that sits and everyone that speaks becomes a temple of the living God if they're born again of the Holy Spirit of God. You have to be a Christian in order to be the temple of God. So when you look in the mirror, you're looking at your—what?—at your flesh. But going past your flesh to the soul and to the spirit, that's where God dwells in your life. That's where God dwells. The spiritual man, the spiritual woman. And that's why Paul wants to make sure they understand here. Then he says in verse 18: "Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may become wise. That he may become wise." Why? Because no fornicator, no liar, no whoremonger, no homosexual, no lesbian, no liar will ever inherit the kingdom of God. You don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Paul the Apostle in Romans chapter 12, verse one and two, he says, "I therefore beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God." And "be you not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind." That's what Paul says. And then in Galatians chapter five, Ephesians chapter five, you can read it, 1 Corinthians chapter five, and 1 Corinthians chapter six, he says that we are not to desecrate this body in the works of the flesh. And if anybody continues to practice in the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. Will not inherit the kingdom of God. So Paul here wants to make sure that we're understanding that as believers we may be deceived about being secure and living a life of sin and thinking that God has forgiven me and I'm still going to go to heaven when He says no fornicator, practicing homosexual, or fornicator, or liar, if you continue in that sin, you'll never see God. You'll never see eternity in heaven. You'll end up in hell. Paul wants to make sure that we understand this tonight.
Guest (Male): Today's lesson serves as a great reminder that the Christian life isn't simply about knowing biblical truth, but allowing that truth to saturate every one of life's decisions. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If something in today's lesson has touched your heart, we hope you'll consider getting the unedited version. For a donation of $5 or more, we'll send you the message, "Spiritual Maturity Creates Unity." To get your copy, just call 800-634-9165. To help you continue exploring the practical wisdom found in 1 Corinthians, we'd like to offer you Raul's 11-part series, "Unity, Holiness, and Love." Available on CD and USB, these studies address everyday issues believers face, including relationships, stewardship, conflict resolution, spiritual gifts, and Christian liberty. To order "Unity, Holiness, and Love," visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send Raul's 11-message study on CD for $23 or on flash drive for just $14. Again, the number is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765. Whether you're at home, at work, or traveling this season, biblical teaching is always within reach. Browse iTunes and Spotify for podcasts of previous programs, or download the mobile app for live streamed teaching, Bible studies, and additional content. The Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel also features a library of messages, along with Straight Talk with Raul every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. West Coast time. Don't forget, this is a listener-supported ministry, and we are thankful for your partnership. Every contribution makes it possible to continue sharing the good news of the gospel with the world. And we hope you'll join us again next time as our study of 1 Corinthians continues. Together, we'll consider what God desires from those He calls to serve Him, and we'll discover why humility is essential for anyone seeking to honor Christ. Now with a closing comment, here's Raul once again.
Raul Ries: Look what he says in verse 19: "For the wisdom of this world is—what?—is foolishness with God." Notice that. What's foolishness? The preaching of the cross, where we start in chapter one, verse 18. Notice that. "For it is written"—where? Job 5:13—he says, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness." And again, Psalm 94:11: "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are empty." Empty thoughts. "Therefore, let no one boast in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world or life or death or things present or things to come are all yours." Check this out: "And you are Christ's and Christ is God's." I love it. So Paul the Apostle wants to make sure that we understand our position in Jesus Christ. Are you a natural man, or are you a spiritual man, or are you a carnal person? You have to make up your mind who you want to serve. You can't serve two masters. You'll love the one and you'll hate the other.