1 Corinthians 3 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00We're in Paul's first [music] letter to
2. 0:01the Corinthians.
3. 0:03And his
4. 0:06overarching burden
5. 0:08is
6. 0:10that there are divisions among them.
7. 0:13And [music]
8. 0:14he starts by acknowledging that they
9. 0:18are enriched in speech
10. 0:21and in all knowledge
11. 0:24and in all gifts.
12. 0:26But there are divisions among them and
13. 0:29he's [music] commanding them
14. 0:31to resolve the divisions so that they
15. 0:34can be complete
16. 0:36as if the divisions are making them
17. 0:38partial, as if they won't [music] be who
18. 0:40they're intended to be until they come
19. 0:42together.
20. 0:45And then
21. 0:46in chapter two
22. 0:48>> [snorts]
23. 0:48>> he really focuses on a contrast
24. 0:53between moving in and by the spirit
25. 0:57versus trusting in cleverness
26. 1:00in excellent [music]
27. 1:01speech
28. 1:02and human wisdom.
29. 1:05So that's the framework that he's
30. 1:07setting up, the Holy Spirit the movement
31. 1:10of the spirit. And whenever he refers to
32. 1:13the cross
33. 1:15he does not conceive of the cross
34. 1:17outside of the resurrection.
35. 1:20I'll just simplify it like this. For
36. 1:22Paul, the wisdom of God is this.
37. 1:27That God would use something so weak,
38. 1:31something so vulnerable so naked, so
39. 1:35bare, so mocked to demonstrate his
40. 1:38power. So it's this hidden secret wisdom
41. 1:42that God uses weak things to reveal his
42. 1:45power. That's the essence of the wisdom
43. 1:48[music] that he's talking about here.
44. 1:50And so
45. 1:52>> [clears throat]
46. 1:52>> he finishes by saying the natural man
47. 1:54does not accept the things of the spirit
48. 1:56of God for they are foolishness to him,
49. 1:58and he cannot understand them because
50. 2:00they are spiritually appraised.
51. 2:02And then in chapter 3, it begins like
52. 2:04this.
53. 2:07And I, brethren, could not speak to you
54. 2:10as to spiritual men,
55. 2:12but as to men of flesh,
56. 2:14as to infants [music]
57. 2:16in Christ.
58. 2:18I gave you milk to drink, not solid
59. 2:20food,
60. 2:21for you were not yet able to receive it.
61. 2:25Indeed, even now, you are not yet able.
62. 2:29For you are still fleshly.
63. 2:31For since there is jealousy and strife
64. 2:35among you,
65. 2:36are you not fleshly?
66. 2:38And are you not walking like mere men?
67. 2:43This is an astounding statement. Paul is
68. 2:45telling them that
69. 2:47he could not speak to them
70. 2:50the things of the Spirit because
71. 2:53he's just told them the natural man does
72. 2:55not accept the things of the Spirit. So,
73. 2:58there are
74. 2:59insights, there is wisdom and revelation
75. 3:01and help that Paul wants to give them,
76. 3:04but he knows it will bounce right over
77. 3:06their heads because they do not know how
78. 3:09to think spiritually.
79. 3:11They're infants in Christ, and he
80. 3:14regrets that all he gave them was milk.
81. 3:17Now, Peter says that we should desire
82. 3:19the pure milk of the Lord of the word.
83. 3:23And that's a great place to start as an
84. 3:24infant, but if you never have anything
85. 3:26but milk, you stay a baby. You stay a
86. 3:29child in your walk with God.
87. 3:32So, he is not complimenting them for
88. 3:34this.
89. 3:35And he says that the proof that they are
90. 3:37fleshly
91. 3:39is that there are there is still
92. 3:41jealousy and strife among them.
93. 3:44>> [clears throat]
94. 3:44>> As if the essence of carnality
95. 3:48is a competition.
96. 3:50Is a rivalry, jealousy, and strife, and
97. 3:54tension, and friction.
98. 3:56It starts with Cain and Abel,
99. 3:58and it is still the essence of what it
100. 4:01means to be carnally minded.
101. 4:05And then he says,
102. 4:07"Are you not acting like mere men?"
103. 4:11Now, that's what we would give as an
104. 4:12excuse. Well, God, I'm just a mere man.
105. 4:16But Paul is saying, "No.
106. 4:18You were born of the Spirit.
107. 4:20You were You were begotten of the
108. 4:22incorruptible seed of the word of God.
109. 4:25You're supposed to be a new man.
110. 4:27You're supposed to be able to do all
111. 4:29things through Christ who gives you
112. 4:31strength. He's given you everything you
113. 4:33need for life and godliness. Stop acting
114. 4:36like being a mere man is an excuse, and
115. 4:39acknowledge that it's an admission that
116. 4:42you're not living in the grace that God
117. 4:44gave you. You're not living up to your
118. 4:46potential."
119. 4:47>> [sighs]
120. 4:48>> And then he says, he shows them in the
121. 4:50next verse what it looks like to be mere
122. 4:53men, to fall short of the glory of God.
123. 4:57"For when one says, 'I am of Paul,'
124. 5:01and another says, 'Well, I am of
125. 5:04Apollos,'
126. 5:06are you not mere men?"
127. 5:10He's saying, "You You're picking even
128. 5:11the elders, and you're saying, 'Well, I
129. 5:13I agree with so-and-so.'
130. 5:15And the other, 'I agree with so-and-so.'
131. 5:18He says, 'Is this not how the world
132. 5:20divided? Was this not the foundation of
133. 5:23the wrong kind of world when Cain and
134. 5:25Abel started the rivalry between them?
135. 5:30What then is Apollos? And what is Paul?"
136. 5:34We have to remember, Paul is the one
137. 5:35asking.
138. 5:37"Servants through whom you believed,
139. 5:41even as the Lord gave opportunity to
140. 5:43each one."
141. 5:45So, we're just servants to help you
142. 5:47believe in something so much bigger than
143. 5:49us. And God is even the one who gave the
144. 5:51opportunity.
145. 5:55I planted,
146. 5:57Apollos watered,
147. 5:58but God causes the growth.
148. 6:01So, Paul's saying, we we're part of the
149. 6:03story. I planted something, but Apollos
150. 6:06needed to come along and water it.
151. 6:09If my planting had been left unwatered,
152. 6:11there'd be no fruit. So, Paul's saying,
153. 6:14Apollos didn't start this, but my start
154. 6:16wouldn't have finished it. So, we need
155. 6:18each other. But, he says, ultimately,
156. 6:20it's God who provides the growth.
157. 6:25Now, he who plants and he who waters are
158. 6:27one.
159. 6:30But, each will receive his own reward
160. 6:32according to his own labor.
161. 6:35For we are God's fellow workers.
162. 6:37You are God's field, God's building.
163. 6:42We're God's fellow workers. He just sent
164. 6:44us out into his field, but you're the
165. 6:46field, you're the building.
166. 6:49According to the grace of God which was
167. 6:51given to me,
168. 6:52like a wise master builder,
169. 6:55I laid a foundation,
170. 6:58and another is building on it.
171. 7:01But, each man must be careful how he
172. 7:04builds on it.
173. 7:06For no man can lay a foundation other
174. 7:08than the one which is laid,
175. 7:10which is Jesus Christ.
176. 7:13Now, if any man builds on the foundation
177. 7:15with gold, silver, precious stones,
178. 7:20wood, hay, straw,
179. 7:22each man's work will become evident.
180. 7:26For the day will show it because it is
181. 7:28to be revealed with fire.
182. 7:32And the fire itself will test the
183. 7:34quality of each man's work.
184. 7:37So, Paul is saying, I was the one who
185. 7:39started this work.
186. 7:40And I, as an apostle, as a wise master
187. 7:43builder, which is what an apostle is, I
188. 7:45laid a foundation. And others are going
189. 7:48to come pick up where I left off. And
190. 7:49amen to that. We're all one. But he said
191. 7:52they did they do need to be careful how
192. 7:54they build. Now, who is the building?
193. 7:56He just told the Corinthian church, you
194. 7:58are the building.
195. 8:01And he says, now the question is going
196. 8:02to be, what were you built with? How
197. 8:05were you joined together?
198. 8:07Was it quick and easy?
199. 8:09Was it cheap and expedient?
200. 8:12Or was it costly and precious and
201. 8:14careful?
202. 8:16And he says,
203. 8:17there are two kinds of building
204. 8:18materials.
205. 8:20There is
206. 8:23a foundation, but then there's gold,
207. 8:25silver, precious stones, and there's
208. 8:27wood, hay, and straw.
209. 8:29Those two things are represent two
210. 8:31categories of how to build a church.
211. 8:36The gold, silver, and precious stones
212. 8:38all refer to the temple.
213. 8:40This refers to how the temple was built.
214. 8:43But the wood, hay, and straw, that
215. 8:45refers to a hut that you stand up
216. 8:47quickly.
217. 8:49And he says,
218. 8:50we're not going to be able to tell
219. 8:53what the building is made of until fire
220. 8:55comes, until persecution and tribulation
221. 8:59and trials that nobody thought they
222. 9:00could handle are going to come. And when
223. 9:03those trials come, when that fiery trial
224. 9:06comes to test your faith,
225. 9:09will it be found to praise? Will it be
226. 9:11proven gold refined in the fire? Or will
227. 9:14it burn up?
228. 9:16Will it go up in flames? Because that's
229. 9:19what happens with straw
230. 9:21and wood and hay.
231. 9:25So, he's saying there's a kind of
232. 9:26there's a way to build the church that
233. 9:27is expedient, but it doesn't last the
234. 9:30fire.
235. 9:31The fire itself will test the quality of
236. 9:33each man's work.
237. 9:35If any man's work which he has built on
238. 9:37it, remains, it will receive a reward.
239. 9:40So, the question between the two kinds
240. 9:41of building is how long does it last?
241. 9:45How long does it remain?
242. 9:47Ministers can be flash in the pan. They
243. 9:50can do great things. They can create
244. 9:53revolving door ministries where they
245. 9:55fill the church with a thousand and they
246. 9:57boast about that. But in 10 years, all
247. 9:59thousand are gone.
248. 10:01So, whether it remains is the question.
249. 10:04If any man's work is burned up,
250. 10:07he will suffer loss, but he himself will
251. 10:09be saved, yet as through fire.
252. 10:12He says, "There are ministers who are
253. 10:14going to make it. They're going to be
254. 10:15saved before God.
255. 10:17But everything they built, their
256. 10:18ministry,
257. 10:20is flash in the pan ministries.
258. 10:22And and it's just fuel for the fires
259. 10:24that are coming."
260. 10:26Do you not know
261. 10:28that you are the temple of God
262. 10:31and that the spirit of God dwells in
263. 10:33you?
264. 10:35If any man destroys the temple of God,
265. 10:39God will destroy him.
266. 10:41For the temple of God is holy and that
267. 10:44is what you are.
268. 10:46Let no man deceive himself. If any man
269. 10:49among you thinks that he is wise in this
270. 10:51age, he must become foolish
271. 10:54so that he may become wise.
272. 10:57For the wisdom of this world is
273. 10:58foolishness before God. For it is
274. 11:00written, "He is the one who catches the
275. 11:03wise in their craftiness."
276. 11:05And again, the Lord knows the reasoning
277. 11:07of the wise that they are useless.
278. 11:10So then, let no one boast in men.
279. 11:13For all things belong to you,
280. 11:16whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
281. 11:19or the world or life or death,
282. 11:23things present or things to come, all
283. 11:26things belong to you.
284. 11:28And you belong to Christ and Christ
285. 11:30belongs to God.
286. 11:33So, he's trying to finish this section
287. 11:35by telling them,
288. 11:37"You need to replace your jealousy with
289. 11:39a sense of belonging.
290. 11:42God has given you so much.
291. 11:44And all of it belongs to you. It's
292. 11:47[music] yours. Don't fight it like it's
293. 11:48your enemy. It's yours.
294. 11:51Because what God is trying to build here
295. 11:53is a temple. And he tells them, "You all
296. 11:56are that temple."
297. 11:58But he says, "If you destroy that
298. 12:00temple, God's going to destroy you."
299. 12:05And how would they destroy that temple?
300. 12:07Through their rivalry, their jealousy,
301. 12:09their words, their divisions.
302. 12:12If you break apart the stones of the
303. 12:15wall, or one wall from another wall,
304. 12:18God's going to destroy you.
305. 12:20Because he is more interested and
306. 12:22invested in his temple than in anything
307. 12:25on this planet. God wants the church to
308. 12:28be whole. God wants the church to be
309. 12:31united. And if you are the
310. 12:33instrumentality through which division
311. 12:35frays the members of the house, [music]
312. 12:38God's going to destroy you.
313. 12:41But if you build
314. 12:43build with
315. 12:45precious stones, [music] silver, and
316. 12:46gold,
317. 12:48things tried in the fire,
318. 12:50things that come from God. Don't build
319. 12:52with wood, hay, and stubble. But even if
320. 12:53you build with wood, hay, and stubble,
321. 12:55if you're not trying to destroy it, you
322. 12:57may be saved even while your church is
323. 12:59lost. But if you intentionally try to
324. 13:01destroy it through your jealousy and
325. 13:03strife, you're going to be lost.
326. 13:08>> [music]