1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 love something in my house. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,220 There's an object in my house that is really dear to me. 3 00:00:08,220 --> 00:00:13,140 My wife made it when right after our kids, 4 00:00:13,140 --> 00:00:14,980 our first child, Milana, was born, 5 00:00:14,980 --> 00:00:23,980 she took a piece of wood and decorated it, painted it, 6 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:26,780 and then measured it. 7 00:00:26,780 --> 00:00:28,380 Can you see that there? 8 00:00:28,380 --> 00:00:32,000 And she measured what it would be off of the floor 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,100 to give us this ruler. 10 00:00:34,100 --> 00:00:37,100 And basically what we do with it each year 11 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:39,440 is we measure our kids' height. 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,940 Anybody ever do this at your house? 13 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:45,540 I've been in houses where they did it on a door post 14 00:00:45,540 --> 00:00:46,580 or something like that. 15 00:00:46,580 --> 00:00:49,660 And she thought, man, if we ever change houses, 16 00:00:49,660 --> 00:00:50,640 we want to keep that. 17 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:51,840 So she just made her own. 18 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:53,720 I saw it probably on Pinterest or something, 19 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,280 but made her own. 20 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,380 And I'm up there at the top. 21 00:00:57,380 --> 00:01:00,700 I'm six foot three, so we measured that part too. 22 00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:02,660 But I love watching. 23 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:04,900 And one of the cool things is doing it with the different kids, 24 00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:06,500 and you've probably done this with a door post. 25 00:01:06,500 --> 00:01:08,980 You can compare what different kids were at different ages. 26 00:01:08,980 --> 00:01:12,140 So on their birthday, we mark their height at that birthday 27 00:01:12,140 --> 00:01:14,180 if we remember to do it. 28 00:01:14,180 --> 00:01:17,740 And that's kind of a neat thing. 29 00:01:17,740 --> 00:01:24,060 We get to measure what goes on with our kids as they grow. 30 00:01:24,060 --> 00:01:26,100 You've all done that too, I'm sure. 31 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:30,460 We love watching our kids grow inch by inch. 32 00:01:30,460 --> 00:01:31,660 It's a fun thing to see. 33 00:01:31,660 --> 00:01:33,940 Everybody's done that. 34 00:01:33,940 --> 00:01:36,940 Every parent has celebrated at some level. 35 00:01:36,940 --> 00:01:40,780 And also, your heart kind of is hurting a little bit 36 00:01:40,780 --> 00:01:43,900 whenever you see your kids get to the next stage, right? 37 00:01:43,900 --> 00:01:46,180 And when they start growing, you're like, man, 38 00:01:46,180 --> 00:01:48,660 my time is growing smaller and smaller 39 00:01:48,660 --> 00:01:49,620 to have them in the home. 40 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:51,620 And sometimes we celebrate that too. 41 00:01:51,620 --> 00:01:55,780 But we celebrate when they outgrow their clothes, 42 00:01:55,780 --> 00:01:59,100 when they graduate from baby food to solid food, 43 00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:01,340 from crawling to walking. 44 00:02:01,340 --> 00:02:03,540 It's just an amazing thing. 45 00:02:03,540 --> 00:02:05,340 But imagine if you're 10-year-old, 46 00:02:05,340 --> 00:02:10,180 imagine if you're 15-year-old, imagine if you're 17-year-old 47 00:02:10,180 --> 00:02:17,380 was still crawling or still only drinking milk 48 00:02:17,380 --> 00:02:19,620 or still wearing onesies. 49 00:02:19,620 --> 00:02:22,980 Don't imagine that too much, right? 50 00:02:22,980 --> 00:02:23,900 Something would be wrong. 51 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:24,500 Who agrees with me? 52 00:02:24,500 --> 00:02:25,940 Something would be wrong. 53 00:02:25,940 --> 00:02:27,580 In fact, you probably won't make it that long 54 00:02:27,580 --> 00:02:30,420 if you're just living on milk. 55 00:02:30,420 --> 00:02:33,940 You see in our physical lives, we expect growth. 56 00:02:33,940 --> 00:02:34,820 And we measure growth. 57 00:02:34,820 --> 00:02:37,540 Even like today's Veterans Day, we 58 00:02:37,540 --> 00:02:39,660 could probably take some times with all our veterans 59 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:41,860 and say, OK, what rank were you at? 60 00:02:41,860 --> 00:02:43,940 Did you start out at the rank you ended up at? 61 00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:47,060 You start out at boot camp as a private. 62 00:02:47,060 --> 00:02:48,140 Am I right? 63 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:50,420 Is private where you start? 64 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:52,620 Some people maybe start differently because of how 65 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:54,540 they were brought in. 66 00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:58,300 But the point is we have an expectation of growth, 67 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:02,100 an expectation of going from one place to another. 68 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:04,620 In our physical lives, we expect growth. 69 00:03:04,620 --> 00:03:07,740 Yet Paul tells the Corinthians and us 70 00:03:07,740 --> 00:03:13,420 that many Christians are perfectly content to not 71 00:03:13,420 --> 00:03:18,220 grow, to stay spiritual babies. 72 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:23,180 And so today my message, and I've already talked to Molly. 73 00:03:23,180 --> 00:03:27,380 Molly is in charge of our nursery. 74 00:03:27,380 --> 00:03:29,540 And I thought she might be a little bit worried 75 00:03:29,540 --> 00:03:32,140 about the name of my sermon today. 76 00:03:32,140 --> 00:03:36,220 The name of my sermon is Get Out of the Nursery. 77 00:03:36,220 --> 00:03:37,140 Get out of the nursery. 78 00:03:37,140 --> 00:03:41,820 Now, if you can volunteer and go help in the nursery, 79 00:03:41,820 --> 00:03:42,980 we would love for that to happen. 80 00:03:42,980 --> 00:03:43,740 Go talk to Molly. 81 00:03:43,740 --> 00:03:45,580 She would love to have you volunteer in there. 82 00:03:45,580 --> 00:03:47,620 In fact, I think there are some people that would grow 83 00:03:47,620 --> 00:03:49,300 and get out of the nursery spiritually 84 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:52,660 so that they can go volunteer and be in the nursery physically. 85 00:03:52,660 --> 00:03:53,740 So that's a whole other thing. 86 00:03:53,740 --> 00:04:02,940 But my point is this, that God wants us to grow. 87 00:04:02,940 --> 00:04:06,500 God wants us to grow physically, but he also 88 00:04:06,500 --> 00:04:09,180 wants to grow spiritually. 89 00:04:09,180 --> 00:04:11,220 While our physical growth and physical maturity 90 00:04:11,220 --> 00:04:14,420 can be seen by these markers of growth, 91 00:04:14,420 --> 00:04:17,020 Paul has been giving the Church of Corinth 92 00:04:17,020 --> 00:04:19,620 some indication as to where their maturity was 93 00:04:19,620 --> 00:04:23,220 when he wrote them in this first letter at Corinthians. 94 00:04:23,220 --> 00:04:24,580 And as far as Paul was concerned, 95 00:04:24,580 --> 00:04:29,220 these believers were still in the nursery spiritually speaking. 96 00:04:29,220 --> 00:04:33,100 His argument to them was that they were not spiritually wise. 97 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:36,860 They weren't spiritually thinking in the wisdom of God. 98 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:42,900 And in fact, he started this kind of admonition of them 99 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:44,180 back in chapter one. 100 00:04:44,180 --> 00:04:46,980 If you have your Bibles, go back a couple of chapters. 101 00:04:46,980 --> 00:04:50,060 And to chapter one, verse 10, where he says, 102 00:04:50,060 --> 00:04:51,940 I beseech you, now I beseech you, brethren, 103 00:04:51,940 --> 00:04:53,980 by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 104 00:04:53,980 --> 00:04:55,700 that you all speak the same thing 105 00:04:55,700 --> 00:04:57,980 and that there be no divisions among you, 106 00:04:57,980 --> 00:05:01,780 that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind 107 00:05:01,780 --> 00:05:04,740 and in the same judgment for it to have been declared unto me 108 00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:08,580 of you, my brethren, by them which are the house of Chloe, 109 00:05:08,580 --> 00:05:11,140 that there be contentions among you. 110 00:05:11,140 --> 00:05:13,340 Now this I say that every one of you say it. 111 00:05:13,340 --> 00:05:18,340 I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ. 112 00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:21,900 And then he asks this really important question. 113 00:05:21,900 --> 00:05:23,540 Is Christ divided? 114 00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:27,020 And we answered that and you get to answer with me. 115 00:05:27,020 --> 00:05:28,860 Is Christ divided? 116 00:05:28,860 --> 00:05:30,260 No, he's not. 117 00:05:30,260 --> 00:05:33,060 Was Paul crucified for you? 118 00:05:33,060 --> 00:05:34,300 No. 119 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:36,420 Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 120 00:05:36,420 --> 00:05:37,340 Of course not. 121 00:05:38,620 --> 00:05:40,980 So he's calling them out for the contention, 122 00:05:40,980 --> 00:05:44,060 the division that was there between them. 123 00:05:44,060 --> 00:05:46,900 He was saying that they're still thinking like the world 124 00:05:46,900 --> 00:05:48,380 and using the world's wisdom, 125 00:05:48,380 --> 00:05:50,820 even though they were believers. 126 00:05:50,820 --> 00:05:54,420 And then he begins to lay out this argument in the text, 127 00:05:54,420 --> 00:05:57,180 that's what we've been going over the last few weeks, 128 00:05:57,180 --> 00:05:58,860 that we don't need to think like the world, 129 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:00,100 we don't need to think in the flesh, 130 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:04,700 we don't need to think in ways that divide, 131 00:06:04,700 --> 00:06:07,020 we need to be thinking spiritually wise. 132 00:06:07,020 --> 00:06:09,300 We don't need to think like a natural man 133 00:06:09,300 --> 00:06:13,220 who only deals in what can be seen, heard, felt, 134 00:06:13,220 --> 00:06:17,420 tasted, the flesh, we need to operate in the spiritual, 135 00:06:17,420 --> 00:06:20,620 we need to operate in faith. 136 00:06:20,620 --> 00:06:23,820 He wants these Corinthians to grow up 137 00:06:23,820 --> 00:06:26,540 and get out of their immature way of thinking. 138 00:06:26,540 --> 00:06:29,380 And that's what the Holy Spirit wants for us as well. 139 00:06:29,380 --> 00:06:30,220 Who agrees? 140 00:06:30,220 --> 00:06:31,580 We need to grow up. 141 00:06:31,580 --> 00:06:33,460 That's what God wants for us. 142 00:06:33,460 --> 00:06:36,420 And so that's what he's talking about in chapter three. 143 00:06:36,420 --> 00:06:38,460 And so here's how this can help us today. 144 00:06:38,460 --> 00:06:41,860 We have to fight immaturity in ourselves. 145 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:44,620 And we need to fight immaturity among ourselves. 146 00:06:45,660 --> 00:06:49,140 So we need to fight immaturity individually. 147 00:06:49,140 --> 00:06:51,260 I need to grow up, 148 00:06:51,260 --> 00:06:53,700 but I need to be a help to people around me 149 00:06:53,700 --> 00:06:56,540 that we all grow up. 150 00:06:59,460 --> 00:07:01,340 Yeah, it's not just on me, 151 00:07:01,340 --> 00:07:05,940 it's not just on me to grow, just me. 152 00:07:05,940 --> 00:07:07,300 You are helping me to grow. 153 00:07:07,300 --> 00:07:10,780 Some of you are helping me more than others to grow, right? 154 00:07:10,780 --> 00:07:15,020 And I'm helping you to grow and we do this together. 155 00:07:15,020 --> 00:07:17,980 We fight immaturity in ourselves and among ourselves 156 00:07:17,980 --> 00:07:21,700 by making three corrections that Paul kind of brings up here 157 00:07:21,700 --> 00:07:26,460 as he argues about a mature way of thinking and living. 158 00:07:26,460 --> 00:07:30,820 So here's the first way, the first correction. 159 00:07:30,820 --> 00:07:34,620 Number one, recognize immature thinking about others. 160 00:07:34,620 --> 00:07:38,540 If we're gonna mature, we need to see how we think 161 00:07:38,540 --> 00:07:39,900 in an immature way. 162 00:07:39,900 --> 00:07:42,260 Chapter three, verse one, he says this, 163 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:47,260 and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as spiritual. 164 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:50,860 Of course, he's just laid out an argument 165 00:07:50,860 --> 00:07:53,100 that there's a spiritual way of thinking 166 00:07:53,100 --> 00:07:58,100 and then there is a carnal way of thinking. 167 00:07:58,420 --> 00:08:01,620 He said, I couldn't talk to you as a spiritual person, 168 00:08:01,620 --> 00:08:06,260 but as unto carnal, even as unto, what's the next word? 169 00:08:06,260 --> 00:08:07,780 Babes in Christ. 170 00:08:08,740 --> 00:08:10,820 Paul has made the case that there's a way of thinking 171 00:08:10,820 --> 00:08:13,980 that is limited just what can be sensed physically. 172 00:08:13,980 --> 00:08:16,460 This would be the opposite of living by faith. 173 00:08:16,460 --> 00:08:18,700 Paul says that he cannot speak to them 174 00:08:18,700 --> 00:08:20,300 as if they were doing a good job 175 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:23,260 comprehending those things that are spiritually discerned. 176 00:08:23,260 --> 00:08:25,980 He knows that they are believers in Christ. 177 00:08:25,980 --> 00:08:28,700 These people are saved. 178 00:08:28,700 --> 00:08:30,100 This is the church at Corinth. 179 00:08:30,100 --> 00:08:34,740 He calls them in the third word in chapter three, 180 00:08:34,740 --> 00:08:37,140 and I, what does he say? 181 00:08:37,140 --> 00:08:41,300 Brethren, these are people who are in Christ. 182 00:08:41,300 --> 00:08:42,980 They have the Holy Spirit's end dwelling, 183 00:08:42,980 --> 00:08:46,660 yet they think more like unbelievers than like believers. 184 00:08:46,660 --> 00:08:49,420 They think like people who have not grown spiritually, 185 00:08:49,420 --> 00:08:51,140 they're immature. 186 00:08:51,140 --> 00:08:53,780 Immature people must eat basic food, 187 00:08:53,780 --> 00:08:55,220 and that's the illustration that Paul gives. 188 00:08:55,220 --> 00:08:59,940 Look at verse two, I have fed you with milk 189 00:08:59,940 --> 00:09:02,540 and not with meat. 190 00:09:03,860 --> 00:09:06,940 For hitherto you were not able to bear it. 191 00:09:06,940 --> 00:09:09,260 The idea of bearing it is almost like the idea 192 00:09:09,260 --> 00:09:11,340 of digesting it, to process it, 193 00:09:11,340 --> 00:09:13,340 to actually take it in and live it out. 194 00:09:14,540 --> 00:09:16,900 That's what we do with food, right? 195 00:09:16,900 --> 00:09:18,540 You ingest it. 196 00:09:18,540 --> 00:09:22,820 Hopefully you ingest only what you need, not too much, right? 197 00:09:22,820 --> 00:09:26,180 Cause that makes you fat, correct, fat. 198 00:09:27,300 --> 00:09:29,180 You take in what you need and you use it 199 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:30,100 and you live it out. 200 00:09:30,100 --> 00:09:33,380 He says the immature to hear is shown, 201 00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:35,500 but they're not even able to take meat in, 202 00:09:35,500 --> 00:09:37,540 they can only take milk in. 203 00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:40,140 You're not able to bear it, neither now you're able. 204 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:44,260 The truth he gives them is basic, 205 00:09:44,260 --> 00:09:46,260 because that's all they can handle. 206 00:09:46,260 --> 00:09:48,020 You don't give a baby a T-bone, 207 00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:50,900 because they can't digest it. 208 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:52,660 They have no teeth. 209 00:09:52,660 --> 00:09:55,380 They have little ability to digest some things, 210 00:09:55,380 --> 00:09:57,980 and this is where he says they're at spiritually. 211 00:09:57,980 --> 00:09:59,380 Who agrees Paul's bold? 212 00:10:00,540 --> 00:10:04,420 Paul's bold, he's like, you guys are a bunch of babies, right? 213 00:10:04,420 --> 00:10:06,300 Now I'm just in chapter three, 214 00:10:06,300 --> 00:10:08,860 because last week I was in chapter two, okay? 215 00:10:08,860 --> 00:10:11,500 I'm not calling all of you babies. 216 00:10:11,500 --> 00:10:13,340 But this is where they were spiritually. 217 00:10:13,340 --> 00:10:14,980 They still think like unbelievers, 218 00:10:14,980 --> 00:10:17,580 acting as if the natural is all there is, 219 00:10:17,580 --> 00:10:20,540 or at least giving the, or that the natural is primary. 220 00:10:20,540 --> 00:10:23,300 They are saved, but they haven't grown, they're immature. 221 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:26,540 And Paul has to deal with them in that way. 222 00:10:26,540 --> 00:10:29,460 And the reason he says he knows they're immature, 223 00:10:29,460 --> 00:10:31,740 as we're gonna see, is the division 224 00:10:31,740 --> 00:10:33,260 that he talks about in the coming verses, 225 00:10:33,260 --> 00:10:35,580 born out of how they saw leaders. 226 00:10:35,580 --> 00:10:39,820 Now, when we think without faith, 227 00:10:39,820 --> 00:10:43,940 when we think only about the temporary here and now, 228 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:45,820 we're carnal. 229 00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:48,540 Let me give you an illustration. 230 00:10:48,540 --> 00:10:53,100 If you think that all of our problems went away this week 231 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:54,740 because you're candidate one, 232 00:10:54,740 --> 00:10:56,420 you're thinking carnally. 233 00:10:57,620 --> 00:10:58,820 Are you with me? 234 00:10:58,820 --> 00:11:03,420 Because our problems are not primarily political. 235 00:11:03,420 --> 00:11:05,980 Our problems are spiritual. 236 00:11:05,980 --> 00:11:09,980 Now, if we're spiritual, we should impact politics, amen? 237 00:11:09,980 --> 00:11:12,140 And there's a lot of good things that happen. 238 00:11:12,140 --> 00:11:14,980 But my point is this, we need to think more 239 00:11:14,980 --> 00:11:17,020 than just the here and now. 240 00:11:17,020 --> 00:11:19,580 We think by faith, amen? 241 00:11:19,580 --> 00:11:20,420 You guys agree? 242 00:11:20,420 --> 00:11:22,780 I feel like I just let you down. 243 00:11:22,780 --> 00:11:24,780 We think spiritually. 244 00:11:24,780 --> 00:11:26,700 When we think about what satisfies the flesh 245 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:30,100 at the cost of what satisfies the spirit, we're carnal. 246 00:11:30,100 --> 00:11:34,100 When our appetites cause us to sin against God, we're carnal. 247 00:11:34,100 --> 00:11:38,100 The word carnal has this idea of carnae or flesh, right? 248 00:11:38,100 --> 00:11:39,500 It's the idea of the flesh. 249 00:11:39,500 --> 00:11:40,700 We talked about this last week. 250 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:42,340 What's in the world, the lust of the flesh, 251 00:11:42,340 --> 00:11:44,620 the lust of the eyes and the pride of life? 252 00:11:44,620 --> 00:11:47,540 It's all about what can happen right here and right now. 253 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:49,780 And so, we're talking about the idea of the flesh. 254 00:11:49,780 --> 00:11:52,860 We're talking about what can happen right here and right now. 255 00:11:52,860 --> 00:11:57,140 And so, when we think about our sin nature, 256 00:11:57,140 --> 00:11:58,700 when we're sinning against God, we're carnal. 257 00:11:58,700 --> 00:12:02,420 When we're carnal, it's a sign of spiritual immaturity. 258 00:12:02,420 --> 00:12:06,060 To grow, we must think and act in the spirit. 259 00:12:06,060 --> 00:12:08,980 To do that, we need milk, then we need bread, 260 00:12:08,980 --> 00:12:10,260 and then we need meat. 261 00:12:10,260 --> 00:12:13,980 And all of it is found right here in the Word of God. 262 00:12:13,980 --> 00:12:16,260 So he says, look at verse three. 263 00:12:16,260 --> 00:12:18,820 For ye are yet carnal. 264 00:12:18,820 --> 00:12:19,980 How do you know we're carnal, Paul? 265 00:12:19,980 --> 00:12:22,540 How do you know we're just thinking in the flesh? 266 00:12:22,540 --> 00:12:23,380 Well, here's what he says. 267 00:12:23,380 --> 00:12:28,380 For whereas there is among you envying and strife 268 00:12:28,780 --> 00:12:33,780 and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? 269 00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:35,620 What is it? 270 00:12:35,620 --> 00:12:37,500 Of course, some of you might say, well, I'm a man, 271 00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:39,660 I'm a woman, what do you mean walk as men? 272 00:12:39,660 --> 00:12:42,500 Meaning, what he's saying is, are you walking only as people 273 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:45,780 who have only their natural senses going on, 274 00:12:45,780 --> 00:12:47,420 who are not thinking in faith? 275 00:12:47,420 --> 00:12:51,460 He says, there's envying and strife and divisions. 276 00:12:51,460 --> 00:12:53,660 Verse four, for while one says I'm of Paul 277 00:12:53,660 --> 00:12:57,660 and another I'm of Apollos, are ye not carnal, 278 00:12:57,660 --> 00:13:00,060 living in the flesh? 279 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:01,900 What is he saying? 280 00:13:01,900 --> 00:13:04,620 What he says is the expressions of their immaturity. 281 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:06,860 Enveying, what's envying? 282 00:13:08,060 --> 00:13:10,900 Enveying is wanting what other people have. 283 00:13:10,900 --> 00:13:14,620 Being upset over the success or progress of another person. 284 00:13:14,620 --> 00:13:19,620 He says strife, strife is fighting and conflict 285 00:13:20,260 --> 00:13:22,140 with each other, division. 286 00:13:22,140 --> 00:13:24,620 Division is choosing sides against others 287 00:13:24,620 --> 00:13:26,780 based on that envying and strife. 288 00:13:26,780 --> 00:13:30,220 What Paul's saying is, you guys are all dividing up 289 00:13:30,220 --> 00:13:32,460 over who you like the best. 290 00:13:32,460 --> 00:13:34,380 Like, I like this guy, I like that guy. 291 00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:38,020 You're fighting, you're mad when one's doing well 292 00:13:38,020 --> 00:13:40,540 and you're not doing well, you're not doing well, 293 00:13:40,540 --> 00:13:41,860 you're mad when you're doing well 294 00:13:41,860 --> 00:13:43,980 and the other person's not doing well. 295 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:47,020 You're proud of that. 296 00:13:47,020 --> 00:13:50,300 This is the way babies think. 297 00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:51,540 This is the way toddlers think. 298 00:13:51,540 --> 00:13:53,260 Has anybody ever served in the nursery 299 00:13:53,260 --> 00:13:55,220 and seen kids fight? 300 00:13:55,220 --> 00:13:56,300 Right? 301 00:13:56,300 --> 00:13:58,420 You ever seen your kids fight? 302 00:13:58,420 --> 00:14:00,460 Have you ever been to the place with your kids? 303 00:14:00,460 --> 00:14:02,340 Now my kids are much better now. 304 00:14:03,980 --> 00:14:06,500 But have you ever been to the place where you're like, 305 00:14:06,500 --> 00:14:08,220 what are you fighting over? 306 00:14:09,100 --> 00:14:10,100 Why are we fighting? 307 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:15,100 Just help, just give, just be careful with one another. 308 00:14:16,260 --> 00:14:20,340 Paul refers back to that first part of where he started. 309 00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:23,220 They were thinking like men. 310 00:14:23,220 --> 00:14:25,020 They were thinking like men do who do not have 311 00:14:25,020 --> 00:14:26,820 the revelation of Christ crucified. 312 00:14:26,820 --> 00:14:29,940 And what's ironic is, they were thinking this way 313 00:14:29,940 --> 00:14:32,300 about spiritual realities. 314 00:14:32,300 --> 00:14:33,780 What they admired about Paul 315 00:14:33,780 --> 00:14:36,340 and what they admired about Apollos and Peter 316 00:14:36,340 --> 00:14:39,060 were that they had been helped by them spiritually. 317 00:14:39,060 --> 00:14:41,820 Now they were fighting over which guy they liked 318 00:14:41,820 --> 00:14:46,820 based on personality, based on experience, 319 00:14:46,820 --> 00:14:48,820 based on popularity. 320 00:14:48,820 --> 00:14:50,340 What they were fighting, I like that guy 321 00:14:50,340 --> 00:14:51,540 rather than that guy. 322 00:14:51,540 --> 00:14:53,420 Or this is the guy who baptized me. 323 00:14:53,420 --> 00:14:54,660 So this is the guy who led me to Christ. 324 00:14:54,660 --> 00:14:55,540 So he's the best. 325 00:14:55,540 --> 00:14:58,460 Or they were dividing over popularity. 326 00:14:58,460 --> 00:15:02,140 They get more notoriety based on which team they were on. 327 00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:05,700 I'm better than you because I'm on this other guy's team. 328 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:07,180 And so here's what this means. 329 00:15:07,180 --> 00:15:09,420 When we fight for our own popularity 330 00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:12,980 at the expense of others, we're acting carnally. 331 00:15:14,740 --> 00:15:18,980 When we envy others for what they have, that's immaturity. 332 00:15:18,980 --> 00:15:21,820 When we divide on things that do not matter 333 00:15:21,820 --> 00:15:26,820 because we're being selfish, this is a sign of immaturity. 334 00:15:27,460 --> 00:15:30,580 It's the natural man. 335 00:15:30,580 --> 00:15:32,780 It's what you see in the nursery 336 00:15:33,980 --> 00:15:36,020 that nobody has to teach kids to do. 337 00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:37,940 It's what you see in the middle school hallway 338 00:15:37,940 --> 00:15:41,220 that today has floated over to social media and beyond. 339 00:15:41,220 --> 00:15:44,700 Unfortunately, you see this sometimes in the office 340 00:15:44,700 --> 00:15:45,540 or in the boardroom. 341 00:15:45,540 --> 00:15:48,580 In some churches, you may even see it between the pews 342 00:15:48,580 --> 00:15:50,740 and at the deacons meeting. 343 00:15:50,740 --> 00:15:52,740 It's a sign of immaturity. 344 00:15:53,940 --> 00:15:56,980 And what he's saying is we don't need to divide over that. 345 00:15:56,980 --> 00:16:00,860 We need to see human leaders the way 346 00:16:00,860 --> 00:16:03,220 that they're supposed to be seen. 347 00:16:03,220 --> 00:16:06,340 We must live in the spirit and not in the flesh. 348 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:08,420 And he goes on to explain what that looks like. 349 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:11,620 So the first thing we have to correct is we have to not be 350 00:16:11,620 --> 00:16:13,900 immature in our thinking of others. 351 00:16:13,900 --> 00:16:16,780 We need to put others ahead of ourselves 352 00:16:16,780 --> 00:16:19,620 and not to fight based on them. 353 00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:23,620 Number two, we need to replace immature thinking 354 00:16:23,620 --> 00:16:26,020 about leaders. 355 00:16:26,020 --> 00:16:29,380 He says, the fighting, the division, 356 00:16:29,380 --> 00:16:34,380 the arguing, the putting down others to put yourself up, 357 00:16:36,060 --> 00:16:37,300 that's immature. 358 00:16:37,300 --> 00:16:38,300 You gotta stop. 359 00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:40,900 And doing it around leaders, 360 00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:43,500 you gotta think differently about these leaders. 361 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:46,380 You gotta think differently about them. 362 00:16:47,380 --> 00:16:48,460 Look at verse five. 363 00:16:49,380 --> 00:16:50,380 Here's the question. 364 00:16:51,380 --> 00:16:53,460 Who then is Paul? 365 00:16:54,460 --> 00:16:55,500 Who's writing this? 366 00:16:55,500 --> 00:16:56,340 Paul. 367 00:16:56,340 --> 00:16:57,180 Paul. 368 00:16:57,180 --> 00:16:58,020 Paul. 369 00:16:58,020 --> 00:16:58,860 Paul. 370 00:16:58,860 --> 00:17:01,180 Who's writing this, by the way? 371 00:17:01,180 --> 00:17:02,020 Paul. 372 00:17:02,020 --> 00:17:03,580 He's doing it through the power of the Holy Spirit. 373 00:17:03,580 --> 00:17:04,780 Who then is Paul? 374 00:17:04,780 --> 00:17:08,260 And who is Apollos? 375 00:17:08,260 --> 00:17:11,780 But ministers by whom you believed, 376 00:17:11,780 --> 00:17:14,580 even as the Lord gave to every man. 377 00:17:14,580 --> 00:17:18,940 I have planted Apollos watered, 378 00:17:18,940 --> 00:17:22,740 but God gave the increase. 379 00:17:24,180 --> 00:17:27,020 For maturity to happen in the life of the Corinthian church, 380 00:17:27,020 --> 00:17:29,660 there had to be a new way of thinking about these leaders. 381 00:17:30,900 --> 00:17:32,940 Paul had already pointed to the wisdom of God. 382 00:17:32,940 --> 00:17:34,300 What is the wisdom of God? 383 00:17:34,300 --> 00:17:35,340 Two words. 384 00:17:36,740 --> 00:17:38,660 You guys are on it. 385 00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:41,900 Christ crucified, that's the wisdom of God. 386 00:17:41,900 --> 00:17:44,900 The wisdom of men is carnal, it's fleshly. 387 00:17:44,900 --> 00:17:48,020 It's looking at human leaders and thinking, 388 00:17:48,020 --> 00:17:51,300 anything good that comes out spiritually for me, 389 00:17:51,300 --> 00:17:53,140 anything good that happens to me, 390 00:17:53,140 --> 00:17:54,820 happens because of those men, 391 00:17:54,820 --> 00:17:58,580 because men are the ones who help me spiritually. 392 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:01,300 That's what they were thinking. 393 00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:02,940 That's what it had gotten to. 394 00:18:02,940 --> 00:18:06,900 So therefore, I like my guy more than I like your guy, 395 00:18:06,900 --> 00:18:09,980 and because I like my guy, and you like your guy, 396 00:18:09,980 --> 00:18:11,380 I'm gonna fight with you, 397 00:18:11,380 --> 00:18:14,140 and I'm gonna keep doing what I'm supposed to be doing. 398 00:18:15,340 --> 00:18:17,540 Well, what I wanna be doing. 399 00:18:17,540 --> 00:18:20,380 And what Paul says is that is the wisdom of the world 400 00:18:20,380 --> 00:18:24,340 about people who helped you spiritually. 401 00:18:24,340 --> 00:18:28,100 That's not good, it had crept into the church. 402 00:18:28,100 --> 00:18:32,020 Paul had already pointed out that that wisdom of God 403 00:18:32,020 --> 00:18:35,100 that prioritizes man's humility and God's glory, 404 00:18:35,100 --> 00:18:38,620 and Christ's ministry was what they oughta been thinking. 405 00:18:38,620 --> 00:18:40,820 Once they realized that this is the right way 406 00:18:40,820 --> 00:18:43,260 to think about the power of the gospel, 407 00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:45,860 then there will be a mature thinking about leaders. 408 00:18:45,860 --> 00:18:50,860 Godly leaders are only godly because of Jesus Christ. 409 00:18:50,860 --> 00:18:55,860 Godly leaders are only effective because of Jesus Christ. 410 00:18:57,700 --> 00:18:59,300 Effective leaders are only effective 411 00:18:59,300 --> 00:19:01,260 because of the goodness, and here it is, 412 00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:06,260 the grace of God, the unmerited favor of God. 413 00:19:06,260 --> 00:19:09,780 Yes, Paul and Apollos had been obedient to minister 414 00:19:09,780 --> 00:19:14,780 as God led, but that ministry was only made possible 415 00:19:15,260 --> 00:19:16,580 by the Lord. 416 00:19:16,580 --> 00:19:20,780 Paul uses the illustration of how God 417 00:19:20,780 --> 00:19:22,260 how we get fruit. 418 00:19:23,260 --> 00:19:28,260 For a seed to grow, it has to be planted, right? 419 00:19:28,980 --> 00:19:31,620 For a seed to grow, it has to be watered. 420 00:19:31,620 --> 00:19:35,500 Both of these realities are about stewarding the conditions 421 00:19:35,500 --> 00:19:38,660 that are needed for the seed to grow, 422 00:19:38,660 --> 00:19:42,780 but the actual growth comes because of the design of the seed. 423 00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:47,140 That didn't blow your minds. 424 00:19:47,140 --> 00:19:51,660 Farmers put a seed in the ground. 425 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:56,260 Farmers steward the conditions of the crops, 426 00:19:56,260 --> 00:20:00,500 but you don't see farmers go out, Matthew Bain, 427 00:20:00,500 --> 00:20:03,500 and go, all right, grow! 428 00:20:04,940 --> 00:20:05,780 Grow! 429 00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:08,340 I gotta do my grow dance. 430 00:20:10,660 --> 00:20:12,340 Do farmers make it grow? 431 00:20:12,340 --> 00:20:16,780 No, they grow because God designed seeds to grow. 432 00:20:17,740 --> 00:20:20,060 And what do farmers do? 433 00:20:20,060 --> 00:20:23,620 They put the right seed in the right soil, 434 00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:27,700 and then they pray for rain, right? 435 00:20:27,700 --> 00:20:30,860 If there's no rain coming, they do their part to water, 436 00:20:30,860 --> 00:20:33,740 but who makes the seed to grow? 437 00:20:33,740 --> 00:20:36,300 God, now you say, well, I can give you a process 438 00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:38,700 as to why that is, I can tell you the science. 439 00:20:38,700 --> 00:20:40,860 At the end of the day, God designed that process, 440 00:20:40,860 --> 00:20:42,140 and He makes it to grow. 441 00:20:45,540 --> 00:20:50,540 The actual growth big comes because here's the thing. 442 00:20:51,460 --> 00:20:56,460 If you take a rock and you go plant a rock in the ground, 443 00:20:56,460 --> 00:21:00,060 good soil, and you water that rock, 444 00:21:00,060 --> 00:21:01,820 you make sure that rock gets lots of sun, 445 00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:02,860 what's gonna happen? 446 00:21:03,780 --> 00:21:04,780 Nothing! 447 00:21:04,780 --> 00:21:09,780 Because rocks don't plant, they don't plant. 448 00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:13,860 They don't create fruit. 449 00:21:16,340 --> 00:21:19,300 God didn't plan for rocks to grow, He designed seeds to grow, 450 00:21:19,300 --> 00:21:22,380 and it's the same with the wisdom of God, 451 00:21:22,380 --> 00:21:24,660 the proclamation of the word of God. 452 00:21:24,660 --> 00:21:28,620 Godly leaders recognize the potential in the word of God 453 00:21:28,620 --> 00:21:31,580 to transform others, but they themselves 454 00:21:31,580 --> 00:21:32,900 don't create the spiritual growth 455 00:21:32,900 --> 00:21:35,380 anymore than the farmer makes the corn to grow. 456 00:21:35,380 --> 00:21:37,420 No farmer ever made anything grow. 457 00:21:37,420 --> 00:21:40,620 All they can do is steward the conditions for growth. 458 00:21:40,620 --> 00:21:44,340 The seed grows because it's designed to grow 459 00:21:44,340 --> 00:21:46,700 in the right conditions. 460 00:21:46,700 --> 00:21:48,580 It's important that we steward these conditions 461 00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:51,860 for spiritual growth and life and maturity. 462 00:21:52,860 --> 00:21:54,100 Here's what I know. 463 00:21:55,100 --> 00:21:56,580 I don't know how it happens. 464 00:21:57,940 --> 00:22:02,380 I know that it happens, and I'm by faith 465 00:22:02,380 --> 00:22:06,540 work to see it happen, but the word of God 466 00:22:06,540 --> 00:22:10,020 that gets into people's hearts is what grows them spiritually. 467 00:22:11,020 --> 00:22:13,940 The word of God received by people 468 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:18,060 is what God uses through the Holy Spirit 469 00:22:18,060 --> 00:22:20,340 to bring about a work of regeneration 470 00:22:21,580 --> 00:22:23,100 and to grow them spiritually. 471 00:22:23,100 --> 00:22:25,060 Has that happened to you? 472 00:22:25,060 --> 00:22:27,340 Has the word of God grown you? 473 00:22:27,340 --> 00:22:28,820 He has. 474 00:22:28,820 --> 00:22:31,500 We should proclaim Christ crucified, 475 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:33,140 which could be referred to as planting. 476 00:22:33,140 --> 00:22:35,380 We should be faithful to preach and teach 477 00:22:35,380 --> 00:22:37,780 the principles of God's word to our friends 478 00:22:37,780 --> 00:22:39,740 and to our family, to our kids. 479 00:22:39,740 --> 00:22:41,940 But at the end of it all, if there's growth, 480 00:22:41,940 --> 00:22:44,140 it's because of God. 481 00:22:45,380 --> 00:22:47,300 He sent his son to die for us. 482 00:22:47,300 --> 00:22:50,060 He poured out his wrath for our sin on Jesus. 483 00:22:50,060 --> 00:22:52,260 He sent the Spirit to regenerate the heart 484 00:22:52,260 --> 00:22:53,660 of those who believe. 485 00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:56,140 He gives spiritual gifts to people to use 486 00:22:56,140 --> 00:22:59,740 for gospel proclamation by his enabling. 487 00:22:59,740 --> 00:23:04,740 In other words, he gives the increase. 488 00:23:05,740 --> 00:23:06,900 It isn't us. 489 00:23:08,060 --> 00:23:11,060 How exciting is it to be a part of what he's doing though? 490 00:23:12,820 --> 00:23:16,220 How amazing is it that he gets to use us? 491 00:23:16,220 --> 00:23:17,540 Not because we're great, 492 00:23:17,540 --> 00:23:20,020 but because his word is so powerful. 493 00:23:20,900 --> 00:23:22,740 That's an amazing thing. 494 00:23:22,740 --> 00:23:25,060 So when it comes to leaders that minister to us, 495 00:23:25,060 --> 00:23:27,100 we should be thankful for them. 496 00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:30,580 We should honor their obedience and their impact. 497 00:23:30,580 --> 00:23:32,420 Yeah, we should also not venerate them 498 00:23:32,420 --> 00:23:34,420 beyond what any of them are. 499 00:23:34,420 --> 00:23:38,060 Sinners saved by grace. 500 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:42,540 Billy Graham, sinner saved by grace. 501 00:23:42,540 --> 00:23:46,140 Gene Milione, sinner saved by grace. 502 00:23:47,020 --> 00:23:49,900 Ben Jennings, I'm not even remotely in the category 503 00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:51,740 there's other two, but I'm telling you, 504 00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:55,020 I'm just a sinner that's been saved. 505 00:23:55,020 --> 00:23:58,780 Have you heard that song, my worth is not in what I own? 506 00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:01,700 We sing it around here sometimes. 507 00:24:01,700 --> 00:24:05,020 I love this phrase in that particular passage 508 00:24:05,020 --> 00:24:07,180 and it relates to Christ crucified. 509 00:24:08,180 --> 00:24:11,020 To wonders here that I confess, 510 00:24:11,020 --> 00:24:14,820 my worth and my unworthiness, 511 00:24:14,820 --> 00:24:19,820 my value fixed, my ransom paid at the cross. 512 00:24:19,820 --> 00:24:21,940 You know what that's saying? 513 00:24:21,940 --> 00:24:24,500 At the cross I realize that I have worth, why? 514 00:24:24,500 --> 00:24:26,700 Because God sent his son to die for me. 515 00:24:27,700 --> 00:24:29,500 But at the cross I also understand 516 00:24:29,500 --> 00:24:31,500 that I could not save myself. 517 00:24:32,500 --> 00:24:35,460 The all consuming work of Christ and his worth 518 00:24:35,460 --> 00:24:37,220 is what I long to. 519 00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:40,100 My value is fixed there, my ransom is paid there 520 00:24:40,100 --> 00:24:42,100 at the cross. 521 00:24:42,100 --> 00:24:44,860 When we get to heaven one day, no one will say 522 00:24:44,860 --> 00:24:46,820 I'm here because of my own. 523 00:24:46,820 --> 00:24:49,980 When we get to heaven one day, no one will say 524 00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:52,220 I'm here because of Ben Jennings. 525 00:24:52,220 --> 00:24:56,100 They'll say I've come by the way of the cross of Christ, 526 00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:56,940 Jesus. 527 00:24:59,660 --> 00:25:03,220 And so we gotta think differently about our leaders. 528 00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:07,380 All of our leaders are just men. 529 00:25:07,380 --> 00:25:09,180 And if they've made any impact on your life, 530 00:25:09,180 --> 00:25:12,900 it's by the grace of God working through them to you. 531 00:25:12,900 --> 00:25:17,900 Number three, last one, we reflect mature thinking about God. 532 00:25:21,780 --> 00:25:23,660 We must fight immaturity in ourselves 533 00:25:23,660 --> 00:25:25,700 and among ourselves are making three corrections. 534 00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:29,700 One, recognizing immaturity, immature thinking about others, 535 00:25:29,700 --> 00:25:32,140 replacing immature thinking about leaders 536 00:25:32,140 --> 00:25:34,700 and reflecting mature thinking about God. 537 00:25:34,700 --> 00:25:36,340 Look at what he says in verse six. 538 00:25:38,860 --> 00:25:41,380 Repeating verse six again, I have a plan at Apollos water 539 00:25:41,380 --> 00:25:43,340 but God gave the increased. 540 00:25:43,340 --> 00:25:46,740 So then neither is he that planteth anything. 541 00:25:48,060 --> 00:25:53,060 Neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. 542 00:25:56,060 --> 00:25:58,260 Think about what he just said. 543 00:25:58,260 --> 00:26:02,620 What Paul said is, I am nothing. 544 00:26:04,020 --> 00:26:09,140 Apollos is nothing. 545 00:26:09,140 --> 00:26:12,020 When it comes to this process of spiritual regenerate, 546 00:26:12,020 --> 00:26:14,700 who gets the credit? 547 00:26:14,700 --> 00:26:17,700 God gets the credit. 548 00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:19,860 God gives the increase. 549 00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:22,100 It doesn't mean Paul is not saying here 550 00:26:22,100 --> 00:26:25,540 that it is not important for him to be obedient 551 00:26:25,540 --> 00:26:26,980 and to plant and to water. 552 00:26:26,980 --> 00:26:30,100 Is it important to plant and to water? 553 00:26:30,100 --> 00:26:33,660 It is absolutely critical that we plant and we water. 554 00:26:33,660 --> 00:26:34,500 But at the end of the day, 555 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:36,180 anything good that happens from it happens 556 00:26:36,180 --> 00:26:39,700 because God gives the increase. 557 00:26:39,700 --> 00:26:42,260 The supernatural power to transform lives 558 00:26:42,260 --> 00:26:45,980 comes because God sent the sun, the sun died for our sins. 559 00:26:45,980 --> 00:26:48,460 And when the gospel is received, the Holy Spirit 560 00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:50,820 supernaturally regenerates and transformed. 561 00:26:50,820 --> 00:26:53,380 He gives the increase. 562 00:26:53,380 --> 00:26:55,180 God gets the credit then. 563 00:26:55,180 --> 00:26:56,700 God gets the glory. 564 00:26:56,700 --> 00:26:58,900 Praise the Lord that he allows us to be a part of that. 565 00:26:58,900 --> 00:27:00,500 Paul continues in verse eight. 566 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:06,620 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. 567 00:27:06,620 --> 00:27:09,140 And every man shall receive his own reward 568 00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:14,180 according to his own labor. 569 00:27:14,180 --> 00:27:16,500 Are you guys excited about that? 570 00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:23,020 Hey, we're not fighting each other when we water and we plant. 571 00:27:23,020 --> 00:27:27,700 We're working together when we water and plant. 572 00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:31,580 And when you give it, when you water, when you plant, 573 00:27:31,580 --> 00:27:33,620 who sees that? 574 00:27:33,620 --> 00:27:38,340 God says, have you ever served and other people didn't notice? 575 00:27:38,340 --> 00:27:41,100 When you serve, God always notices. 576 00:27:41,100 --> 00:27:43,980 And in fact, when you serve, God knows what you did, 577 00:27:43,980 --> 00:27:48,420 but he also knows why you did it. 578 00:27:48,420 --> 00:27:50,460 He says, you're going to get your reward for your labor. 579 00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:52,660 Verse nine, for we are laborers together with God, 580 00:27:52,660 --> 00:27:54,100 you are God's husbandry. 581 00:27:54,100 --> 00:27:57,740 You are God's building. 582 00:27:57,740 --> 00:28:00,420 When we think rightly about God, then we think rightly about others. 583 00:28:00,420 --> 00:28:03,140 He has given us mature thinking about leaders, 584 00:28:03,140 --> 00:28:05,660 and that reinforces mature thinking about God. 585 00:28:05,660 --> 00:28:08,340 Paul continues this planting illustration. 586 00:28:08,340 --> 00:28:10,700 The one that plants and the one that waters are one. 587 00:28:10,700 --> 00:28:11,700 What does that mean? 588 00:28:11,700 --> 00:28:14,020 Both are essential parts of farming. 589 00:28:14,020 --> 00:28:17,180 In the spiritual realm, it's less clear than it is in farming. 590 00:28:17,180 --> 00:28:18,900 When you're planting the seed of the word of God, 591 00:28:18,900 --> 00:28:22,060 and when are you doing that, and when are you watering? 592 00:28:22,060 --> 00:28:24,020 These are not physical objects that we're talking about. 593 00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:26,140 This is the word of God that we're stewarding. 594 00:28:26,140 --> 00:28:30,100 When I preach, I may be breaking new ground with some, 595 00:28:30,100 --> 00:28:33,500 and reminding people of what they've heard and know with others 596 00:28:33,500 --> 00:28:35,060 at the very same time. 597 00:28:36,300 --> 00:28:39,340 And here's what I've noticed in ministry. 598 00:28:39,340 --> 00:28:41,820 Over the years, I've shared the gospel 599 00:28:41,820 --> 00:28:44,100 with enough people who've received Christ, 600 00:28:44,100 --> 00:28:46,140 and as I've gotten to hear more about their story, 601 00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:48,660 and have found out about, what I find out about 602 00:28:48,660 --> 00:28:53,660 is a VBS worker 20 years ago, or a Sunday school teacher, 603 00:28:54,300 --> 00:28:58,380 or a praying grandma, or a praying aunt, right? 604 00:28:58,380 --> 00:29:02,180 I found out about a friend on a football team 605 00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:03,740 who invited somebody to church, 606 00:29:03,740 --> 00:29:07,060 and when they crossed the line of faith and got saved, 607 00:29:07,060 --> 00:29:08,900 I found out that I wasn't the only one 608 00:29:08,900 --> 00:29:11,500 that ever shared the gospel with them. 609 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:13,860 I found out that there were other people 610 00:29:13,860 --> 00:29:15,780 who had shared the gospel and invited 611 00:29:15,780 --> 00:29:17,660 and lived a godly life in front of them, 612 00:29:17,660 --> 00:29:20,980 and that when they did that, and when I did that, 613 00:29:20,980 --> 00:29:24,180 we got to work together to see people come to know Christ. 614 00:29:25,700 --> 00:29:29,340 Just because someone's there when someone receives Christ, 615 00:29:29,340 --> 00:29:31,340 as Savior does not mean that they were the only one 616 00:29:31,340 --> 00:29:33,380 instrumental, humanly speaking, 617 00:29:33,380 --> 00:29:36,580 of stewarding the conditions for that saving faith. 618 00:29:36,580 --> 00:29:39,940 The planter, the laborer, and the harvester 619 00:29:39,940 --> 00:29:43,580 are all doing the necessary work by the grace of God. 620 00:29:43,580 --> 00:29:47,700 And yes, praise the Lord, there's reward for that labor. 621 00:29:49,260 --> 00:29:52,020 I'm excited about people coming to know Christ. 622 00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:54,340 I'm excited that there's gonna be people in heaven 623 00:29:54,340 --> 00:29:58,380 that are there because they heard the gospel 624 00:29:58,380 --> 00:29:59,420 that was preached. 625 00:30:00,540 --> 00:30:04,540 But notice, we're not the only ones doing the laboring, 626 00:30:04,540 --> 00:30:06,020 not just human beings. 627 00:30:06,020 --> 00:30:07,380 Verse nine, here it is. 628 00:30:07,380 --> 00:30:13,540 For we are all laborers together with God. 629 00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:18,660 You're God's husbandry, you're God's building. 630 00:30:20,260 --> 00:30:23,140 Anybody here have someone that you just have a heart for 631 00:30:23,140 --> 00:30:24,500 that doesn't know Christ? 632 00:30:25,700 --> 00:30:26,540 I hope you do. 633 00:30:26,540 --> 00:30:29,340 If you don't have somebody like that in your heart, 634 00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:32,060 you're probably immature, okay? 635 00:30:32,060 --> 00:30:32,900 Grow up. 636 00:30:33,820 --> 00:30:36,460 It's not about your life, it's about others, right? 637 00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:37,820 And it's about the Lord being. 638 00:30:37,820 --> 00:30:40,780 So who is on your heart that needs Christ? 639 00:30:44,260 --> 00:30:45,740 I want you to know something. 640 00:30:48,180 --> 00:30:51,820 No matter how much you think you care about that person. 641 00:30:51,820 --> 00:30:52,660 And I hope you do. 642 00:30:52,660 --> 00:30:54,380 Maybe it's a kid, maybe it's one of your kids 643 00:30:54,380 --> 00:30:56,100 that doesn't know yet, yet know Christ. 644 00:30:56,100 --> 00:30:57,420 Maybe it's someone to neighbor, 645 00:30:57,420 --> 00:30:59,540 someone or friend that's been a friend for a long time. 646 00:30:59,540 --> 00:31:01,100 If you have a heart for them and you love them 647 00:31:01,100 --> 00:31:03,460 and you wanna see them be saved, 648 00:31:03,460 --> 00:31:05,220 this is what I need you to know. 649 00:31:05,220 --> 00:31:06,460 You need to know this. 650 00:31:06,460 --> 00:31:09,020 God cares more about that person than you do. 651 00:31:11,420 --> 00:31:12,660 God loves them. 652 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:17,820 He is not willing that any should perish, 653 00:31:18,740 --> 00:31:21,380 but that all should come to repentance. 654 00:31:21,380 --> 00:31:26,380 And so, like the short, slow, 655 00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:30,940 amateur basketball player walking up 656 00:31:30,940 --> 00:31:34,980 with Michael Jordan to the playground. 657 00:31:36,220 --> 00:31:37,620 You've got a great teammate. 658 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:42,820 In fact, he's the only one really doing the job. 659 00:31:42,820 --> 00:31:45,140 You just get to be a part of what he's doing. 660 00:31:46,140 --> 00:31:49,540 We are labors together with God. 661 00:31:50,380 --> 00:31:53,580 We are God's husbandry, we are God's building. 662 00:31:53,580 --> 00:31:56,980 We work with him, but salvation is his work. 663 00:31:56,980 --> 00:31:59,260 Sanctification is his work. 664 00:31:59,260 --> 00:32:01,300 We disciple, but ultimately, 665 00:32:01,300 --> 00:32:04,460 he's the one that grows people. 666 00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:08,140 We're his work, we're his vineyard. 667 00:32:08,140 --> 00:32:12,020 We are what he is building. 668 00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:14,020 So, you guys got your Bibles? 669 00:32:16,540 --> 00:32:17,380 Grab them. 670 00:32:18,380 --> 00:32:20,140 Look at chapter three, 671 00:32:23,340 --> 00:32:24,180 verse one. 672 00:32:25,620 --> 00:32:26,980 I'm gonna read this passage together 673 00:32:26,980 --> 00:32:29,380 and I'm gonna ask you some questions. 674 00:32:29,380 --> 00:32:30,220 Okay. 675 00:32:31,580 --> 00:32:33,020 And I, brethren, 676 00:32:34,700 --> 00:32:39,700 who made the people in Corinth brothers and sisters 677 00:32:41,620 --> 00:32:43,060 with Paul, who did that? 678 00:32:44,300 --> 00:32:46,020 Christ did that, who else? 679 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:47,500 God did that, right? 680 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:48,340 Okay. 681 00:32:49,260 --> 00:32:51,540 Verse two, I have fed you with milk. 682 00:32:51,540 --> 00:32:53,020 Who provided the milk? 683 00:32:53,980 --> 00:32:54,820 God did. 684 00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:56,460 I did not with meat. 685 00:32:56,460 --> 00:32:59,500 When they get to meat, who provided the meat? 686 00:32:59,500 --> 00:33:00,340 God did. 687 00:33:03,500 --> 00:33:05,140 Verse three, for you are yet in the carnal, 688 00:33:05,140 --> 00:33:08,180 for there's among you envying strife and division, 689 00:33:08,180 --> 00:33:09,940 you're not carnal, walk as men. 690 00:33:09,940 --> 00:33:13,140 For while one says, I am of Paul, who gave them Paul? 691 00:33:15,660 --> 00:33:18,740 And another say, I'm of Apollos, who gave them Apollos? 692 00:33:19,980 --> 00:33:20,860 Are you not carnal? 693 00:33:20,860 --> 00:33:22,180 Who then is Paul? 694 00:33:22,180 --> 00:33:23,180 And who is Apollos? 695 00:33:23,180 --> 00:33:28,180 But ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave 696 00:33:30,780 --> 00:33:33,980 to every man, who gave the salvation 697 00:33:33,980 --> 00:33:35,460 that they proclaimed about? 698 00:33:37,260 --> 00:33:38,660 God did, Jesus did. 699 00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:41,980 I have a planet of Apollos water, but God, 700 00:33:41,980 --> 00:33:44,180 who gave the increase? 701 00:33:44,180 --> 00:33:45,660 God. 702 00:33:45,660 --> 00:33:47,300 So then neither is he that planets anything, 703 00:33:47,300 --> 00:33:50,500 neither he the water earth, but God who gives increased. 704 00:33:50,500 --> 00:33:54,300 Now he that planets and he that water earth are one. 705 00:33:56,260 --> 00:33:59,020 And every man shall receive his own reward 706 00:33:59,020 --> 00:34:00,380 according to his own labor. 707 00:34:00,380 --> 00:34:05,380 When we plant and water, who gives us reward? 708 00:34:07,540 --> 00:34:09,100 What part of this is us? 709 00:34:11,340 --> 00:34:12,700 What part of it's us? 710 00:34:13,740 --> 00:34:16,380 The whole thing's about God. 711 00:34:16,380 --> 00:34:19,940 When we make it about us, we're immature. 712 00:34:21,580 --> 00:34:25,540 When we make it about God, we're growing in maturity. 713 00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:30,820 Your life is not about you. 714 00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:34,660 You are not the main character. 715 00:34:37,780 --> 00:34:39,780 Who's the main character? 716 00:34:39,780 --> 00:34:40,700 God is. 717 00:34:40,700 --> 00:34:45,700 Yet not I, but Christ in me. 718 00:34:47,100 --> 00:34:50,300 It's all about him. 719 00:34:50,300 --> 00:34:54,540 So what does it look like to be mature 720 00:34:54,540 --> 00:34:57,980 in my thinking about ministry? 721 00:34:59,180 --> 00:35:00,260 It's all about God. 722 00:35:01,780 --> 00:35:04,020 It's all because of God. 723 00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:06,820 Anything that happens good happens because God allows it. 724 00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:08,220 It's called his grace. 725 00:35:08,220 --> 00:35:09,060 Right? 726 00:35:09,060 --> 00:35:11,660 People have a responsibility to receive it. 727 00:35:11,660 --> 00:35:14,140 God's given them a capacity to do that, 728 00:35:14,140 --> 00:35:15,460 but it's all about God. 729 00:35:15,460 --> 00:35:16,460 What about my marriage? 730 00:35:18,340 --> 00:35:22,140 If my marriage is all about me and what I want, 731 00:35:23,140 --> 00:35:24,460 it's immature. 732 00:35:27,180 --> 00:35:29,860 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church 733 00:35:29,860 --> 00:35:32,020 and gave himself for it. 734 00:35:32,020 --> 00:35:35,980 Wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord. 735 00:35:35,980 --> 00:35:38,300 It's not about you. 736 00:35:38,300 --> 00:35:39,660 It's not about your spouse. 737 00:35:39,660 --> 00:35:41,900 It's all about God. 738 00:35:41,900 --> 00:35:43,260 What about your kids? 739 00:35:44,260 --> 00:35:47,420 Fathers, bring your children up in the nurturing 740 00:35:47,420 --> 00:35:50,460 and admonition of the Lord. 741 00:35:50,460 --> 00:35:52,100 It's not even about your kids. 742 00:35:52,100 --> 00:35:53,980 It's about God. 743 00:35:55,980 --> 00:35:58,980 Mature people recognize that this whole thing 744 00:35:58,980 --> 00:36:06,340 is about God and not about us. 745 00:36:06,340 --> 00:36:07,980 So let me ask you a question. 746 00:36:08,980 --> 00:36:10,980 What part of your life is all about you? 747 00:36:12,980 --> 00:36:15,980 What part of your life is all about you? 748 00:36:15,980 --> 00:36:19,980 What I want to tell you is, get out of the nursery. 749 00:36:20,980 --> 00:36:23,980 It's not all about you. 750 00:36:23,980 --> 00:36:26,980 It's all about him. 751 00:36:26,980 --> 00:36:30,980 Would you bow your head to close your eyes with me this morning?