WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:06.049 Most of all, the thing that will help is to just 00:00:06.049 --> 00:00:12.029 look up and remember to whom you belong. When 00:00:12.029 --> 00:00:14.929 you get discouraged, when you get despondent, 00:00:15.029 --> 00:00:21.489 when you feel defeated, and you feel like your 00:00:21.489 --> 00:00:26.410 nerves are shot and the bottom's dropped out, 00:00:26.550 --> 00:00:32.280 just stand. quietly. Stand still. Don't do anything. 00:00:33.939 --> 00:00:41.659 Be quiet. And for one full minute, just remember 00:00:41.659 --> 00:00:46.740 that God is still on his throne. Nothing has 00:00:46.740 --> 00:00:53.020 happened to him. He's intact. He still has all 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:58.299 power. He still has all things under his control. 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:04.560 He's still God Almighty. He knows no defeat. 00:01:05.859 --> 00:01:13.159 And no man, no woman, no person need ever be 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:19.219 defeated on a single score as long as he keeps 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:24.140 remembering to whom he belongs. Each morning 00:01:24.140 --> 00:01:31.459 when I wake, I say, I place my hand in God's 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:37.180 today. I know he'll walk close by my side, my 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:44.620 every wandering step to guide. He leads me with 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:50.719 the tenderest care when paths are dark and I 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:57.000 despair. No need for me to understand if I but 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:07.980 hold fast to his hand. My hand in his. No sure 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:13.960 way to walk in safety through each day. By his 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:19.819 great bounty I am fed, warmed by his love, and 00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:26.050 comforted. And when a day's end, I seek my rest 00:02:26.050 --> 00:02:34.129 and realize how much I'm blessed. My thanks pour 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:42.789 out to him. And then I place my hand in God's 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:50.620 again. Would you like to know why? That which 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:58.400 I have just given you means so much to me? I'll 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:06.319 tell you the answer. After Mama died and we were 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:11.360 home going through some of her most treasured 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:18.860 possessions, I opened her Bible. It was worn. 00:03:21.069 --> 00:03:27.210 A Bible that I had given her years before. It 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:33.069 was marked. I knew that there were tear stains 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:41.430 on its pages. But inside that Bible, I found 00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:47.669 a little card. And on that card were the words 00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:53.860 that I have just... read to you. This was the 00:03:53.860 --> 00:04:01.860 kind of life that my mother lived. The last time 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.819 I was in your home, we were discussing something 00:04:04.819 --> 00:04:11.419 that was most interesting. And I hope that you 00:04:11.419 --> 00:04:16.139 have your Bibles before you because I'm going 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:19.199 to continue that heart -to -heart talk today. 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:24.540 on the question as to what is the difference 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:31.639 between the spiritual and the carnal. And we 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:33.980 were discussing that portion of the Word of God 00:04:33.980 --> 00:04:38.360 as found in the third chapter of 1 Corinthians. 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:44.819 And Paul very clearly states that there's a difference 00:04:44.819 --> 00:04:49.240 between the carnal and the spiritual. And the 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.040 amazing thing is that he was speaking to those 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.480 who'd been born again. There can be no doubt, 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:59.660 there can be no controversy here whatsoever as 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:03.860 to whom he was speaking or the fact that they 00:05:03.860 --> 00:05:08.360 were Christians. They were born again. They were 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:13.639 in the church. He calls them brethren. Now remember, 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:19.350 whenever the Bible speaks of the nappies, or 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:24.930 the natural heart. It's always talking about 00:05:24.930 --> 00:05:29.269 the unregenerated. The one thing that we all 00:05:29.269 --> 00:05:35.589 have in common is the natural birth, if you are 00:05:35.589 --> 00:05:41.209 a part of humanity. You and I have that one thing 00:05:41.209 --> 00:05:46.209 in common. That's the one thing we all have in 00:05:46.209 --> 00:05:52.220 common. The first birth. The natural birth. The 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:59.980 natural man. But there is a second birth. The 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:06.139 new birth. The spiritual birth. And it is only 00:06:06.139 --> 00:06:11.579 after we've had that second birth that we are 00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:17.569 spiritual. And that God becomes our Heavenly 00:06:17.569 --> 00:06:23.250 Father as we accept Jesus as our Savior. Now, 00:06:23.250 --> 00:06:26.829 Paul here says nothing about the natural man. 00:06:28.370 --> 00:06:33.170 He calls them brethren. And yet, even though 00:06:33.170 --> 00:06:38.269 they are brethren, there's a difference. I could 00:06:38.269 --> 00:06:42.230 not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as 00:06:42.230 --> 00:06:46.100 unto... carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:53.000 Now, I left you yesterday having stated the fact, 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:56.480 proof having been given from the word of God, 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:01.399 that man is a trinity, body, soul, and spirit. 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:10.240 Paul so states it in his letter to the Thessalonians. 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:13.899 When he said in the 23rd verse of the 5th chapter 00:07:13.899 --> 00:07:18.720 of Thessalonians, And the very God of peace sanctify 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:26.199 you wholly. And I pray, God, that your whole 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:32.379 spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless 00:07:32.379 --> 00:07:36.779 unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:44.610 man is... body, soul, and spirit. But you see, 00:07:44.769 --> 00:07:49.930 we get into trouble when we get the idea that 00:07:49.930 --> 00:07:55.829 the most important part of man is the body. But 00:07:55.829 --> 00:07:58.209 when you study the Word of God, you'll find out 00:07:58.209 --> 00:08:00.870 that the essential thing in human personality 00:08:00.870 --> 00:08:05.529 is not the body. Neither is the important thing, 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:09.149 the essential thing, the mind. It's the spirit. 00:08:11.850 --> 00:08:16.290 And it's just like that. God is a spirit, and 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:19.470 man is made in the divine likeness, and man must 00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:28.790 worship him in spirit. This is what the Bible 00:08:28.790 --> 00:08:35.570 says about man, that God formed him out of the 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:42.179 dust of the earth. That's the body. But that's 00:08:42.179 --> 00:08:46.279 not really man. That which God formed out of 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:51.100 the dust of the earth is not the important part 00:08:51.100 --> 00:08:53.820 of man. That's not the important part of me. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:59.059 That's not the important part of you. Even though 00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:06.440 we may have felt as though it was all important. 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:14.049 But it isn't. Not really. The word of God says 00:09:14.049 --> 00:09:19.129 that God breathed into his nostrils the breath, 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:24.429 the very breath of life, that which he formed 00:09:24.429 --> 00:09:28.289 out of the dust of the earth. He breathed into 00:09:28.289 --> 00:09:32.309 that the breath of life. Now that's the spirit. 00:09:33.769 --> 00:09:39.720 And so man became a living, conscious soul. Here 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.480 we have three planes, the spirit, the mind, the 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.700 body. And every person living is either mastered 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:50.419 by the body, which is the lower plane, or by 00:09:50.419 --> 00:09:53.820 the spirit, which is the higher. And the mind 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:57.899 is affected by that part of personality to which 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:00.879 the mastery of the person gives himself over. 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:08.740 That's where I left you yesterday. We see, therefore, 00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:16.840 the reaction of these. The spirit or the body 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:23.559 dominant, and the mind or soul governed thereby, 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:28.980 either to carnal things, which is the lower plane, 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:33.679 or to the spiritual things, which is the higher 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:41.759 plane. Now we come right down to the facts. Writing 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:46.100 to these Corinthians, Paul says, I'll tell you 00:10:46.100 --> 00:10:49.460 exactly what's wrong with you Corinthian people. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.200 And he was not only writing to the Corinthians. 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:58.919 He was writing to you and to me. He was looking 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:02.299 down to the telescope of time and knowing human 00:11:02.299 --> 00:11:07.549 nature the way he knew human nature. He knew 00:11:07.549 --> 00:11:11.870 that there would be the same difficulties, we'd 00:11:11.870 --> 00:11:16.250 have the same trouble in our churches, in our 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:20.309 homes, and among the brethren, even in this 20th 00:11:20.309 --> 00:11:24.230 century. And he says, I'll tell you exactly what's 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:28.169 the matter with you. I cannot write unto you 00:11:28.169 --> 00:11:32.610 as unto spiritual, because you're not living 00:11:32.610 --> 00:11:35.450 in that realm. You're not living in the spiritual 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:41.779 realm. You're carnal. You are living under the 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:45.860 mastery of the flesh. Oh, you're children, all 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:48.039 right. You've been born again. You're Christians. 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:56.179 But you're babes. You've never matured. You're 00:11:56.179 --> 00:12:02.419 just little children. You have life. Paul did 00:12:02.419 --> 00:12:04.539 not say that they did not have eternal life. 00:12:05.610 --> 00:12:08.470 He did not say that they were not born again 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:13.710 or that they were not Christians. But he did 00:12:13.710 --> 00:12:16.710 say to them, you're yielding yourself to the 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.889 carnal side of your nature instead of to the 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:29.889 spiritual. In another place, he wrote, for they 00:12:29.889 --> 00:12:34.490 that are after the... flesh do mind the things 00:12:34.490 --> 00:12:37.690 of the flesh but they that are after the spirit 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:43.190 the things of the spirit for the mind of the 00:12:43.190 --> 00:12:47.090 flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is 00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:53.289 life and peace the whole trouble was just this 00:12:53.289 --> 00:12:57.529 these people had received the gift of life eternal 00:12:57.529 --> 00:13:02.539 life They were babes in Christ, but mastered 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:07.399 by the lower side of life. And their thinking 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:11.519 was under the mastery of that which was fleshly 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:18.039 and material and carnal. And they were still 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:28.100 just babes. Now a baby is wonderful. Any little... 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:34.049 Baby is wonderful, whether it has hair or not, 00:13:34.250 --> 00:13:40.230 whether it's pretty or not. A little baby is 00:13:40.230 --> 00:13:43.350 just the dearest thing, the most precious thing 00:13:43.350 --> 00:13:49.029 in the whole world. And you know, it is cute 00:13:49.029 --> 00:13:53.350 seeing a little baby with a bottle in its mouth. 00:13:55.580 --> 00:13:59.240 But is there anything more revolting than to 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:02.379 see a two -year -old going around with a bottle 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:07.419 in its mouth? Is there anything more revolting, 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:13.080 really more disgusting, than to see a three -year 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:17.860 -old walking around with a bottle in its mouth? 00:14:19.259 --> 00:14:25.899 There are some Christians five years old, 10 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:29.639 years old, 12 years old, you're still walking 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:35.899 around with a bobble in your mouth. You aren't 00:14:35.899 --> 00:14:40.440 in a position to be fed the deep spiritual truths. 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:47.480 You're not full grown. You haven't grown since 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:52.440 you were born. Born spiritually, I mean. Because 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:59.090 you have never allowed the spiritual to master 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:05.649 you. You have been living on the lower plane. 00:15:06.149 --> 00:15:12.370 You've allowed the flesh to master you. You're 00:15:12.370 --> 00:15:16.009 still undeveloped. You're still babes. You're 00:15:16.009 --> 00:15:22.070 still immature. You're not full grown. Neither 00:15:22.070 --> 00:15:28.519 were these people. And it's just like that. It's 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:32.639 just that simple. That is the reason they showed 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:38.200 what they had on the inside of them by that which 00:15:38.200 --> 00:15:43.059 came forth in their actions. It was jealousy. 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:47.919 There was strife. There was bickering. Oh, there 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:54.250 was quarreling. They were wrangling. More than 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.789 once they had a knock -down drag -out among them. 00:15:59.090 --> 00:16:02.710 Sure, it wasn't because they weren't Christians. 00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:07.149 It wasn't because they'd never been born again. 00:16:08.730 --> 00:16:13.809 But Paul says you're carnal. You've never grown. 00:16:14.049 --> 00:16:17.929 You've never matured. And you have never matured 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:23.919 because you have never come up. on the higher 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:32.639 plane and permitted the spiritual to dominate 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.779 you. And you as a Christian will be dominated 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:47.159 either by the flesh, the carnal, or the spiritual, 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:53.779 which is the spirit. There you are. Mm -hmm. 00:16:55.259 --> 00:17:02.659 Yeah. There were the signs. That was the fruit 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:09.000 of their carnality. Jealousy. Oh, if you could 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.099 have heard some of the language they used. What 00:17:12.099 --> 00:17:18.579 they called each other. Yeah. Sure, it's all 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:24.259 there. Read it. And... Paul just came right down 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:29.079 and faced facts. He said, Ye are yet carnal, 00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:33.779 for whereas there is among you ending and strife 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:38.359 and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:44.539 men? You walk and you act like the man who has 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:49.519 never been born again. For while one of you saith, 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:57.480 I am of Paul, And another, I am of Apollos. Are 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:00.779 ye not carnal? There were little cliques and 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:04.799 little divisions. One didn't like one preacher 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:09.420 and one didn't like the other preacher. And they 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.900 were finding all kind of fault with the preacher 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:18.019 and with each other. Probably one says, well, 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:22.490 I'll tell you just like this. If I can't... usher 00:18:22.490 --> 00:18:26.230 in the front of the church, then I'm not going 00:18:26.230 --> 00:18:31.109 to usher at all. And somebody in the choir says, 00:18:31.230 --> 00:18:34.690 if I can't sit in the front row of the choir, 00:18:34.910 --> 00:18:40.230 then I won't sing at all. And another prominent 00:18:40.230 --> 00:18:44.089 man says, if I can't be one of the deacons, then 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:47.309 I'm not going to pay a nickel into the church. 00:18:49.069 --> 00:18:52.829 And a woman says, if I can't be president of 00:18:52.829 --> 00:18:58.250 the missionary society, then forget it. I've 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:01.069 got more ability than the woman who has it now, 00:19:01.269 --> 00:19:04.390 and I'm not going to take a back seat to her. 00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:09.809 I'm not going to be the assistant to the pastor. 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:12.630 I'm going to be the pastor, or I'm not going 00:19:12.630 --> 00:19:21.740 to play at all. And so they are. Oh, dear me, 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:26.660 what a mess. But he never did say they were not 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:31.720 Christians. He said you're carnal, you're babes. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.339 You're going around with a bottle in your mouth. 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:41.460 Immature. Then he comes forth and says, and this 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:46.559 is thrilling, who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.299 but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the 00:19:50.299 --> 00:19:55.339 Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos 00:19:55.339 --> 00:20:00.819 watered, but God gave the increase. If you want 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:04.519 to see an example again of Paul's wonderful humility, 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:12.059 oh, I tell you, that Paul is a knockout. He stands 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:19.069 their head and shoulders above the whole. Mentally, 00:20:19.069 --> 00:20:25.450 he knew more than all of them. Ability? His ability 00:20:25.450 --> 00:20:31.009 was far greater than any of theirs. And yet, 00:20:31.069 --> 00:20:35.390 look where he places himself. Look at this example 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:41.109 of humility. Who then is Paul? This is what he 00:20:41.109 --> 00:20:47.059 said of himself. Sure, I have planned it. I have 00:20:47.059 --> 00:20:54.119 planted the seed. That's wonderful. But the planting 00:20:54.119 --> 00:20:59.059 is to no avail except there is life in that seed. 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:08.039 Apollos came along. He watered. All plants need 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:13.480 water to grow. The watering is as important as 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:18.500 the planting. But the planting is to no avail. 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:25.619 The watering is to no avail. Except there is 00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:30.839 life in the seed that we planted and life in 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:37.740 the seed that is being watered. We can work our 00:21:37.740 --> 00:21:44.829 heads off planting. We can actually give our 00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:52.970 lives planting. We can spend our lives watery. 00:21:54.390 --> 00:22:00.490 16, 18 hours a day, watery. But what good is 00:22:00.490 --> 00:22:04.670 our planting? What good is our watering? Unless 00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:08.890 there is life in the seed that we're planting 00:22:08.890 --> 00:22:19.029 and life in the seed that we're watering. Only 00:22:19.029 --> 00:22:28.069 God can give the life in the seed. We are absolutely 00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:41.410 dependent on Him. Only God can give the increase. 00:22:42.769 --> 00:22:44.569 God bless you.