Most of all, the thing that will help is to just
look up and remember to whom you belong. When
you get discouraged, when you get despondent,
when you feel defeated, and you feel like your
nerves are shot and the bottom's dropped out,
just stand. quietly. Stand still. Don't do anything.
Be quiet. And for one full minute, just remember
that God is still on his throne. Nothing has
happened to him. He's intact. He still has all
power. He still has all things under his control.
He's still God Almighty. He knows no defeat.
And no man, no woman, no person need ever be
defeated on a single score as long as he keeps
remembering to whom he belongs. Each morning
when I wake, I say, I place my hand in God's
today. I know he'll walk close by my side, my
every wandering step to guide. He leads me with
the tenderest care when paths are dark and I
despair. No need for me to understand if I but
hold fast to his hand. My hand in his. No sure
way to walk in safety through each day. By his
great bounty I am fed, warmed by his love, and
comforted. And when a day's end, I seek my rest
and realize how much I'm blessed. My thanks pour
out to him. And then I place my hand in God's
again. Would you like to know why? That which
I have just given you means so much to me? I'll
tell you the answer. After Mama died and we were
home going through some of her most treasured
possessions, I opened her Bible. It was worn.
A Bible that I had given her years before. It
was marked. I knew that there were tear stains
on its pages. But inside that Bible, I found
a little card. And on that card were the words
that I have just... read to you. This was the
kind of life that my mother lived. The last time
I was in your home, we were discussing something
that was most interesting. And I hope that you
have your Bibles before you because I'm going
to continue that heart -to -heart talk today.
on the question as to what is the difference
between the spiritual and the carnal. And we
were discussing that portion of the Word of God
as found in the third chapter of 1 Corinthians.
And Paul very clearly states that there's a difference
between the carnal and the spiritual. And the
amazing thing is that he was speaking to those
who'd been born again. There can be no doubt,
there can be no controversy here whatsoever as
to whom he was speaking or the fact that they
were Christians. They were born again. They were
in the church. He calls them brethren. Now remember,
whenever the Bible speaks of the nappies, or
the natural heart. It's always talking about
the unregenerated. The one thing that we all
have in common is the natural birth, if you are
a part of humanity. You and I have that one thing
in common. That's the one thing we all have in
common. The first birth. The natural birth. The
natural man. But there is a second birth. The
new birth. The spiritual birth. And it is only
after we've had that second birth that we are
spiritual. And that God becomes our Heavenly
Father as we accept Jesus as our Savior. Now,
Paul here says nothing about the natural man.
He calls them brethren. And yet, even though
they are brethren, there's a difference. I could
not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as
unto... carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Now, I left you yesterday having stated the fact,
proof having been given from the word of God,
that man is a trinity, body, soul, and spirit.
Paul so states it in his letter to the Thessalonians.
When he said in the 23rd verse of the 5th chapter
of Thessalonians, And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. And I pray, God, that your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless
unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
man is... body, soul, and spirit. But you see,
we get into trouble when we get the idea that
the most important part of man is the body. But
when you study the Word of God, you'll find out
that the essential thing in human personality
is not the body. Neither is the important thing,
the essential thing, the mind. It's the spirit.
And it's just like that. God is a spirit, and
man is made in the divine likeness, and man must
worship him in spirit. This is what the Bible
says about man, that God formed him out of the
dust of the earth. That's the body. But that's
not really man. That which God formed out of
the dust of the earth is not the important part
of man. That's not the important part of me.
That's not the important part of you. Even though
we may have felt as though it was all important.
But it isn't. Not really. The word of God says
that God breathed into his nostrils the breath,
the very breath of life, that which he formed
out of the dust of the earth. He breathed into
that the breath of life. Now that's the spirit.
And so man became a living, conscious soul. Here
we have three planes, the spirit, the mind, the
body. And every person living is either mastered
by the body, which is the lower plane, or by
the spirit, which is the higher. And the mind
is affected by that part of personality to which
the mastery of the person gives himself over.
That's where I left you yesterday. We see, therefore,
the reaction of these. The spirit or the body
dominant, and the mind or soul governed thereby,
either to carnal things, which is the lower plane,
or to the spiritual things, which is the higher
plane. Now we come right down to the facts. Writing
to these Corinthians, Paul says, I'll tell you
exactly what's wrong with you Corinthian people.
And he was not only writing to the Corinthians.
He was writing to you and to me. He was looking
down to the telescope of time and knowing human
nature the way he knew human nature. He knew
that there would be the same difficulties, we'd
have the same trouble in our churches, in our
homes, and among the brethren, even in this 20th
century. And he says, I'll tell you exactly what's
the matter with you. I cannot write unto you
as unto spiritual, because you're not living
in that realm. You're not living in the spiritual
realm. You're carnal. You are living under the
mastery of the flesh. Oh, you're children, all
right. You've been born again. You're Christians.
But you're babes. You've never matured. You're
just little children. You have life. Paul did
not say that they did not have eternal life.
He did not say that they were not born again
or that they were not Christians. But he did
say to them, you're yielding yourself to the
carnal side of your nature instead of to the
spiritual. In another place, he wrote, for they
that are after the... flesh do mind the things
of the flesh but they that are after the spirit
the things of the spirit for the mind of the
flesh is death but the mind of the spirit is
life and peace the whole trouble was just this
these people had received the gift of life eternal
life They were babes in Christ, but mastered
by the lower side of life. And their thinking
was under the mastery of that which was fleshly
and material and carnal. And they were still
just babes. Now a baby is wonderful. Any little...
Baby is wonderful, whether it has hair or not,
whether it's pretty or not. A little baby is
just the dearest thing, the most precious thing
in the whole world. And you know, it is cute
seeing a little baby with a bottle in its mouth.
But is there anything more revolting than to
see a two -year -old going around with a bottle
in its mouth? Is there anything more revolting,
really more disgusting, than to see a three -year
-old walking around with a bottle in its mouth?
There are some Christians five years old, 10
years old, 12 years old, you're still walking
around with a bobble in your mouth. You aren't
in a position to be fed the deep spiritual truths.
You're not full grown. You haven't grown since
you were born. Born spiritually, I mean. Because
you have never allowed the spiritual to master
you. You have been living on the lower plane.
You've allowed the flesh to master you. You're
still undeveloped. You're still babes. You're
still immature. You're not full grown. Neither
were these people. And it's just like that. It's
just that simple. That is the reason they showed
what they had on the inside of them by that which
came forth in their actions. It was jealousy.
There was strife. There was bickering. Oh, there
was quarreling. They were wrangling. More than
once they had a knock -down drag -out among them.
Sure, it wasn't because they weren't Christians.
It wasn't because they'd never been born again.
But Paul says you're carnal. You've never grown.
You've never matured. And you have never matured
because you have never come up. on the higher
plane and permitted the spiritual to dominate
you. And you as a Christian will be dominated
either by the flesh, the carnal, or the spiritual,
which is the spirit. There you are. Mm -hmm.
Yeah. There were the signs. That was the fruit
of their carnality. Jealousy. Oh, if you could
have heard some of the language they used. What
they called each other. Yeah. Sure, it's all
there. Read it. And... Paul just came right down
and faced facts. He said, Ye are yet carnal,
for whereas there is among you ending and strife
and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as
men? You walk and you act like the man who has
never been born again. For while one of you saith,
I am of Paul, And another, I am of Apollos. Are
ye not carnal? There were little cliques and
little divisions. One didn't like one preacher
and one didn't like the other preacher. And they
were finding all kind of fault with the preacher
and with each other. Probably one says, well,
I'll tell you just like this. If I can't... usher
in the front of the church, then I'm not going
to usher at all. And somebody in the choir says,
if I can't sit in the front row of the choir,
then I won't sing at all. And another prominent
man says, if I can't be one of the deacons, then
I'm not going to pay a nickel into the church.
And a woman says, if I can't be president of
the missionary society, then forget it. I've
got more ability than the woman who has it now,
and I'm not going to take a back seat to her.
I'm not going to be the assistant to the pastor.
I'm going to be the pastor, or I'm not going
to play at all. And so they are. Oh, dear me,
what a mess. But he never did say they were not
Christians. He said you're carnal, you're babes.
You're going around with a bottle in your mouth.
Immature. Then he comes forth and says, and this
is thrilling, who then is Paul? And who is Apollos?
but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the
Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos
watered, but God gave the increase. If you want
to see an example again of Paul's wonderful humility,
oh, I tell you, that Paul is a knockout. He stands
their head and shoulders above the whole. Mentally,
he knew more than all of them. Ability? His ability
was far greater than any of theirs. And yet,
look where he places himself. Look at this example
of humility. Who then is Paul? This is what he
said of himself. Sure, I have planned it. I have
planted the seed. That's wonderful. But the planting
is to no avail except there is life in that seed.
Apollos came along. He watered. All plants need
water to grow. The watering is as important as
the planting. But the planting is to no avail.
The watering is to no avail. Except there is
life in the seed that we planted and life in
the seed that is being watered. We can work our
heads off planting. We can actually give our
lives planting. We can spend our lives watery.
16, 18 hours a day, watery. But what good is
our planting? What good is our watering? Unless
there is life in the seed that we're planting
and life in the seed that we're watering. Only
God can give the life in the seed. We are absolutely
dependent on Him. Only God can give the increase.
God bless you.