1 CORINTHIANS 3 DEVELOP A MATURE SPIRITUAL LIFE2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Corinthians 3 Develop A Mature Spiritual Life

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. As we're working our way through the Bible in three years, we now find ourselves in 1 Corinthians.

And 1 Corinthians is an important book as Paul addresses some real issues within the Church of Corinth, but then also answers some questions that they have. And so you see Paul work through the different questions in the latter half of

of Corinthians, which we'll be getting into in the coming week as we read along. But here in the opening chapters, Paul is really addressing some serious issues within the church, some problems that are going on, and talking to them about division and unity. And specifically tonight, as we look at chapter 3, he's referring to and talking about the subject of maturity. And

And so we are going to be considering that this evening. That's why I threw in the last line for the last song. I know it didn't flow quite as well and everything, but hopefully it just allowed the Lord to begin to speak to us about maturity. Are you a mature believer in Jesus Christ? Are you growing and persistently growing as a believer in Jesus, in your spiritual life, in your walk with the Lord today?

growth is something that is needed. And so here Paul is really addressing the immaturity of the Corinthian church and it teaches us some valuable lessons about maturity, but also encourages us then to develop maturity. And so we're going to dive into 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Let's begin first of all just by reading verses 1 through 4. Here's what it says.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food. For until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able, for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos.

Are you not carnal? Here is Paul begins to challenge the Corinthians. He refers to their maturity there. And so I've titled the message tonight, Develop a Mature Spiritual Life. Develop a Mature Spiritual Life. Jonathan, is there something we need to address? Oh, yeah, I forgot to set up the lights. No, that's all right. It's too late.

We'll just be quick, all right? Quick message. All right, so develop a mature spiritual life here in 1 Corinthians 3. Now, Paul is writing here to the church of Corinth that he planted as he was in the area back in Acts 18.

He spent about a year and a half there in Corinth, developing the church and ministering to the region. And so it was a well-established church, not like some of the other churches that, you know, he was only there for a couple of weeks in the city and then had to move on. But he was there for a year and a half, teaching them, training them, establishing the church. And yet, as he writes to them later on, he finds that they are still in a place of immaturity.

And so he's going to be dealing with the issues that result from that here in this letter. And as we begin looking at verses 1 through 4, it gives us the first point for this evening, and that is check your behavior to measure maturity.

Here as Paul addresses the immaturity of the Corinthians, he gives us some insight on how to measure that. And it's an important thing to understand because sometimes we don't know, we misunderstand how to measure maturity. And so it causes us to perhaps consider ourselves mature when the Lord would say otherwise.

Looking again at verse 1, here's what Paul says, Paul is saying here, I was with you. I was building up the church. I was, you know, establishing the church. And as I was there, I could not speak to you as spiritual people.

You were believers. You're born again. You believed in Jesus Christ. You're attending the church. You're part of the church. And yet I had to filter the message a bit. I had to, you know, adjust the message a bit because there was still carnality there in your midst. I addressed the congregation as babes in Christ.

as babies or infants in Christ. Now as Paul is working his way through this letter and in this chapter he's specifically addressing the church as a whole and so we we see that the church as a whole he was addressing as babes in Christ and yet at the same time as we look at this I'm making it personal because well there is a direct relationship between my condition and the condition of the church and

Because as Paul will explain several times in this letter, we are the body of Christ. We are the members of the body of Christ. And so if we as members of the body of Christ are immature, guess what? Our church is immature. And so the immaturity of the church is not about, you know, the time that it's been established as a church. It's about the spiritual condition of the people within the church.

And so here Paul is saying, look, I was speaking to you, but I had to modify the message a bit so that you would be able to receive it because you were infants in Christ. He says in verse two, I fed you with milk and not with solid food. For until now you were not able to receive it. And even now you are still not able. And so here Paul is really getting to the root of the problem. He's addressing the real issue here.

Paul says, I fed you with milk and not with solid food. Now it was right for Paul to feed them with milk and not solid food as he first began the ministry there in Corinth. It was right for him to feed them with milk and not solid food as they had just begun to know Jesus and just begun to understand the things of God. They were new believers. But then as he was with them for a year and a half, they...

should have progressed. They should have grown in their relationship with God so that they would be able to receive more than milk and be able to receive the solid food. And the thing that Paul is addressing here is even now, sometime later now, as Paul is writing this, he says, you're still not able to receive the solid food, spiritually speaking.

You're still not able to. It's not an issue when you're a new believer to need and require milk. We never grow beyond requiring and needing milk and that kind of spiritual nutrition. But we do need to develop beyond milk. Writing to the Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 5, we have an important passage that addresses this. In Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12, it says,

The author says, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you've come to need milk and not solid food. Using the same terminology, milk and solid food, in regards to the maturity of the Hebrews that the author of the Hebrews is writing to, he says, look, by this time you ought to be teachers.

You ought to be, you've been with the Lord for enough time. You ought to be able to teach others the things of God, but you're still in this perpetual infancy of needing others to teach you again the basic principles, the basic things. And you still need milk and you're not able to partake of solid food.

It's really important for us to understand that as believers in Jesus Christ, it's not just that initial conversion. It's not just that initial believing in Jesus Christ that is essential for us, but that then from there we grow, that there we develop in our relationship with the Lord and we develop a maturity in our spiritual life, that we grow up and become spiritual adults who are able to partake of solid food. Now, what's the difference between milk and solid food?

Well, the author of Hebrews goes on in verse 13 and 14 to explain it a little bit more. He says, There he describes this situation of if you partake only of milk...

then you will stay in infancy. But solid food comes from, well, by reason of use, he says, by exercising faith, by exercising trust in God, by walking through the scriptures with God. He says they develop maturity and they have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. I like to describe milk and solid food this way. Milk is pre-processed food.

So you come to church on a Wednesday night or you watch online for a Wednesday evening service and I've done all the chewing for you. Well, maybe not all of it, but you know, the majority of it, right? I've chewed through the scriptures and now I'm bringing forth the word of God to you. That's milk. It's the things that are pre-processed and delivered to you.

But solid food is a whole different thing, right? That's when you go into the kitchen and you make the meal, right? You cut the steak after you cook it. And then you put it in your mouth and you chew on it and you pull out all the nutrients and you pull out all the flavors and all of the insights and details. And in spiritual terms, it's the Lord ministering to you directly as you wrestle with and work with the word of God and the things of God. And the issue here for the Corinthians was...

They still were in that condition of they just need pre-processed food. They hadn't invested themselves in the things of God in a way where they could digest themselves things of a spiritual nature. They couldn't work through the scriptures on their own. They needed to be fed. It needed to be pre-processed in order for them to receive it. And so Paul says, this is the issue. Even now, you're still in this condition of needing milk and not solid food.

Whereby this time you should be able to digest the word on your own and partake of the things of God. He goes on in verse 3 here in 1 Corinthians 3 to say, He says you're still carnal. You're still fleshly. That idea of carnality is, you know, being dominated by and ruled by sin.

the flesh or the bodily functions and natures and character. You're still carnal in your relationship with God. You still have large portions of your life that are dominated by your fleshly sinful nature. Now, the way Paul identifies this is right here in verse 3. He says, He asked them a question.

giving them the opportunity to evaluate themselves and think for themselves, if there's envy and strife and divisions among us, is that not evidence of carnality? Is that not evidence that our flesh has been allowed to dominate, to take root? That's not evidence of maturity. Maturity is demonstrated in the opposite way, right? In love, right?

Not in envy and strife and divisions. Not in, you know, I want the power or I want this or I want my way. And there's this battle, strife, that causes divisions and separations between members of the body of Christ.

Now, looking at these three things, we could talk about them. There's other things perhaps we could consider. You know, in Galatians chapter 5, as Paul talks about the works of the flesh, like these are not the only three indicators, but he's saying, look, these are the outflowing of the flesh. And so if you're seeing this as a, you know, dominant feature in your midst, then you can tell, you can see, you can observe the immaturity because of the carnality.

Again, this is really important to understand and grasp hold of. Maturity or carnality is demonstrated in behavior. It's not demonstrated in knowledge. It's not demonstrated in, you know, what we know or what we say so much as how we live our lives. When we are in a position where we're unable to handle different opinions and we're unable to resolve things between us in the body of Christ,

it reveals within us immaturity. When I'm in a place where I am unable to handle offenses, where people wrong me, and then I can't let it go, and I never forgive, it reveals my immaturity. When we can't handle differences of opinion, when we can't handle different political persuasions, when we can't handle, you know, differences on various issues, we can't have discussions about things, we can't work together through things, we

We want the power for ourselves or we want, you know, this event or we want that activity or we want things to go that way or we want to be in this position or, you know, and there's this fighting and strife and battling and divisions between us. It reveals this fleshly dominance and reveals our immaturity. Paul says, you, the Corinthian church, you're carnal. It's shown by these behaviors in your midst. The church, well, the church is you just as much as the church is me.

And so as Paul addresses the church, he's addressing also us individually and saying, you need to develop maturity. And don't deceive yourself by thinking, well, I read the Bible every day. Okay, that's a good thing to do. And it should be a part of your walk with the Lord. But you also need to check, hey, is there a dominance of flesh in my behavior?

Like, read through. Envy, strife, division. Read through Galatians chapter 5, the works of the flesh. They're evident. Paul says they're in Galatians chapter 5, right? They're evident.

Don't check your or measure your maturity by how long you've been around, how much Bible you've quoted, how many times you've read the Bible, you know, how many times you've taught or in what ways you've served. That is not the measure of your maturity. The measure of your maturity is how well do you walk in the manner of Christ? The commentator F.B. Meyer says this. He says, let us test our Christian life by these symptoms. Where are we?

And if we are conscious that self has become enthroned as the governing motive of life, let us not rest until Christ takes its place. Let's evaluate our lives. Let's check our hearts. Let's check our behavior. If self is dominating, if it's enthroned and governing, then we should not rest until we put Christ back in the place where he belongs.

Let him have dominance in our lives. Seek him first and develop maturity as we seek him. Check your behavior to measure maturity. Well, moving on into verses five through nine, we get the second point to consider this evening, and that is keep your heart focused on God. Keep your heart focused on God. The Corinthians had a hard time with this. In verse five and six, it says, "'Who then is Paul?'

And who is Apollos? But ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Now, starting back in chapter one, Paul began to address this issue of divisions between them. And they were really, you know, circling around specific leaders. And some would say, I'm of the Apostle Paul.

Others would say, I'm of Apollos. Others would say, hey, I'm of Cephas or Peter. And then others would say, I'm of the Lord Jesus. And there were these battles between these groups who held to these various teachers who administered there within their midst. And so Paul continues to address that issue here of division around these guys. And Paul begins to challenge them and say, who is Paul and who is Apollos?

They're not anything special. Now, Paul is the one writing this, right? He's including himself. Now, if I was Paul, I might be really tempted to say, all right, yes, forget about Apollos. You know, forget about Peter and those other guys. All of you guys, you should honor me and, you know, circle around me in that way. But Paul is saying, look, I'm nobody. And Apollos is nobody. We're just ministers. God used us in your life. The Lord gave to each one

through us, but we ourselves are not worth dividing over. Paul says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. And so he's describing here like the process of growth, right? The process of farming. So Paul says, I planted the gospel seed. Apollos came along, he watered that seed and helped you develop and grow. But it's God who did the real growing. It's God who did the real work. In verse seven, he says, so neither he who plants is anything,

Paul says, I want it to be clear here. I want you to know and understand man is not important. Again, this can be difficult for us because sometimes God uses people really substantially in our lives. You might, you know, in your mind think of, you know, those that God has used to really impact your life.

And we can easily think about Pastor Chuck and wow, the impact, right? And the way that God used him is powerful. We can think about Pastor Tom and the way that God has used him in our life. You might be able to think about Pastor Cisco and go, wow, you know, and there's this, you know, great impact that has taken place because God has used these people in your life. And sometimes we overemphasize the instrument too.

and forget who it is that's really doing the work. Paul says, he who plants is nothing, nor is he who waters, but it's God who gives the increase. That's the one that we need to be focused on. That's the one that we need to be devoted to.

Now here, the issue is not so much that, you know, there was a preference like, hey, you know, I really love it when Paul teaches and, you know, it just really blesses my heart. And Paul is not condemning that kind of, you know, conversation or discussion within the church. But what was happening here is real divisions and people thinking they were more superior because, oh, I follow the teachings of the Apostle Paul or, you know. And so there was this battles and superiority and divisions and fights within church.

around the idea of these various teachers. And so it was, you know, kind of like political battles that would go on and fights between these teachers. It's kind of like, you know, there is the issue of Calvinism that is, you know, sometimes brought up. And it's interesting because there can be in a lot of ways arguments given in the name of Calvinism

that John Calvin, who Calvinism is named after, like would have never promoted or taught, right? But it's what happens a lot of times. Like people take a doctrine or a teaching from somebody that really impacted them and then they carry it further than it was ever meant to be carried. And it can cause problems and it can cause divisions. And we need to make sure that we come back and keep our heart focused on God. God is the one who works in our life. He uses people

And we are grateful for that. And there is a place of honor for that. But we need to be careful that it doesn't become a stumbling block and a cause for division and a continuing on of our immaturity because we value these people more than we value God.

John Wesley said this, he said, The minister's part is so small, they hardly deserve to be mentioned. Now that's not the way it feels in our lives many times, right? But we need to keep that perspective, right?

to keep focused on it's God who works in our lives. And Paul will, you know, really hammer that home as he heads on into the spiritual gifts later on in this book and talking about the Lord working through us as members of the body of Christ. It's something important for us to hold on to. In verse eight, he goes on to say, "'Now he who plants and he who waters are one, "'and each one will receive his own reward "'according to his own labor. "'For we are God's fellow workers, "'you are God's field, you are God's building.'"

Paul says, you're imagining these divisions between us, but we're teammates. It's like fighting over two people on the same team when it's like, hey, we're on the same team. We want the same thing. We're progressing the kingdom of God. Me and Apollos, we aren't at odds with one another. Sometimes people put Paul and James against one another from some of the teaching about faith and works.

But Paul would say, we're one. We're on the same team. We're not fighting. One of us doesn't have to win. There's not that kind of battle. There's not that kind of division between us. You guys are reading that into the things that are going on. You guys are bringing that to the situation. That's not where we stand. We're working together. And we're looking to God to reward our labor. And God will reward each one. But we're God's fellow workers. And we worked in you, God's field.

God's building. Keep your heart focused on God. One last thought on this from Pastor Warren Wiersbe. He says, perhaps we cannot help but have our personal preferences when it comes to the way different men minister the word, but we must not permit our personal preferences to become divisive prejudices. And then listen to this. He says, in fact, the preacher I may enjoy the least may be the one I need the most.

I think this is so important for us as we talk about developing a mature spiritual life. The preacher that I enjoy the least might be the one I need the most. There is a temptation, a great temptation for us. And I don't know if it's universally for us as Christians or for our society here locally that we feel like we have a good handle on what we need to hear. And so we tune into, we partake of the things that we like and we enjoy and we want, right?

And hey, if I'm at an event and I don't really care for the teacher, like I'll just get up and leave early. It's like, yeah, I wasn't really feeling that guy anyway. So I'll just leave early, right? Like that is not spiritual maturity because sometimes, many times, the one that I don't even want to listen to, I don't want to hear, those vegetables I don't want to eat, that bug flew right into my eye. Okay. Those things that I don't want to eat are the very things that I need, right? In the similar spiritual sense that the ones that I don't care for, I still need them.

And so I would encourage you, hey, if God, you know, brings you to an event, brings you to a service, don't leave because you're not feeling it. Allow the Lord to minister to you through it because the instrument is just the instrument. And if you don't like the personality and you don't like the delivery and you don't like, you know, this or that, and so what? Keep your heart focused on God and he can minister to you, to you, to me through a donkey, also known as Zach, right? Just kidding. Oh, that was a burn. He can minister to you through anybody, right?

Let him do so. Develop a mature spiritual life. Keep your heart focused on God. Well, moving on to the third point to consider this evening. It's found here in verses 10 through 17. Here, verse 10 and 11 says, well, here's point number three, build a life worthy of eternal reward.

Verse 10 says, Paul, as he talks to the Corinthians and says, look, you are the building of God. He says, look, my part in this, I laid the foundation by the grace of God.

And remember what grace is, right? Undeserved favor and kindness. Paul says, it was a gift of God for me that I didn't deserve to be part of your life in a way of laying the foundation of the church there in Corinth, of your spiritual lives. I didn't deserve. I'm not worthy of that role. I'm not worthy fighting about that, right? But God used me to lay that foundation. And then others came like Apollos and built on it.

That's how the work of God works. But he goes on to say, let each one take heed how he builds on it. Paul says, I laid the foundation, which is Jesus Christ. Now, as you're building on that foundation, others came and built like Apollos and you're building because you are the church and you're part of the work that is going on. And so you need to be careful because you as a member of the church are contributing to the building of God that is the church and

And you need to be careful about the materials you use as you're contributing to the work of God. Now, Paul here makes the point, no other foundation can be laid. And what he means by that is there's no other true foundation, right? Other foundations can be laid, but then it's not a church. Other foundations can be laid in your life, but then you're not a Christian, right? If you build your life on morality, that's not the Christian life.

If you try to lay the foundation of conservatism, that's not the Christian life. You try to build your life on family, that's not a Christian life. Try to build your life on success or career or this or that, that's not the Christian life. The Christian life is building your life on Jesus Christ. And sometimes we try to live our life how we want,

And then try to like carve out a portion for God, right? Like, okay, I'm going to build my life on this, but I'm going to leave Sundays and that's going to be, you know, devoted to the Lord. And so I'm going to give that portion, you know, to the Lord. That's backwards thinking. That's not how it works. We talk about, we say, you know,

kind of casually and we forget what it means, but I gave my life to Christ, right? I gave my life to Christ. That means I build my life on Jesus Christ. I do what he says. I don't go that way unless he wants me to go that way. I don't pursue that unless he wants me to pursue that. Build a life that's worthy of eternal reward because you are focused on what the Lord wants for your life. Paul says, let each one take heed how he builds on it.

Here in verse 10, Paul says, it matters how you build. So you need to have your life built on the Lord. He's the foundation. He's what everything rests upon. Everything in my life rests on the Lord. What he says, what he wants, his will, his way. And Paul says, as you're contributing to the work of God, make sure you consider how you build because that matters. Let each one take heed how he builds on it. Paul is saying, look, the techniques that are used,

the wisdom that is applied, the plan that you have for the work of God and for your part in it, the motivation behind your service unto the Lord, all of those things matter greatly. It's not, you know, the end justifies the means. And so if I get the end result, that's good. Then, all right, then everything, the God's happy, everything's good. Those are bad materials, Paul would say. You're using techniques that are not of the Lord, right? You have to

you know, bend and break what God would want and his rules and his laws and his ways in order to accomplish something, that's not the way that God wants you to go about it. That matters. Take heed how you build, Paul says. How you are building may not be apparent to everybody else, but Paul says, look, it's going to be revealed. In verse 12, now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

Each one's work will become clear for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. There's a day coming where all of our work is going to be tested and it's going to be revealed what materials we use, the techniques, the motivations, the wisdom. Where did it all come from? What was the source of what we did in seeking to serve in the kingdom of God?

Paul says it's going to become clear because it's going to be tested by fire. And so the materials that would survive the fire, gold, silver, precious stones, those will be made more pure by the fire. Those will be, you know, persisting through the fire. But wood, hay, and straw,

the idea there is there's this service unto the Lord. There's this work that is done in the name of the Lord, but it was done for the wrong reasons, with the wrong heart, with the wrong attitude, with the wrong approach, and it's materials that are flammable. And so in that day, when the test is applied, the fire is applied, it will be revealed what sort of work it was.

Things that have eternal value will survive the testing by fire. Pastor David Guzik said this, it's a sobering thought. Many people who believe they are serving God but are doing it in an unworthy manner or with unworthy materials will come to find in eternity that they have in reality done nothing for the Lord. There are those who live their lives in a way and think they're doing the work of God, but when they are in eternity, they're

The test is applied. The fire burns up the works and they'll see clearly all of that work. It was done in the name of the Lord, perhaps, but not with the right materials, not with the right heart, not at the direction of the Lord, not for the Lord's glory. Again, this is an issue of maturity. Immaturity thinks we can just do whatever we want and we're going to be rewarded all the same. But maturity understands I need to be led by the Lord.

And it's not apparent from the outside all the time. I get up here and teach. You can't tell what my heart is. You can't tell what my motivation is. You can't tell if I'm building with gold or silver or precious stones or with wood, hay, or straw. You can't tell. And sometimes I'm blind to it myself. And so I need to check my heart. That's why Paul says, take heed how you build. Stop and consider. What am I doing? Why am I doing it?

Paul goes on in verse 14 to say, if anyone's work, which he has built on it, endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so is through fire. And so the work that you do for the Lord, for the right reasons, with the right heart, with, you know, the Lord's direction, you get rewarded for that. And that is grace upon grace, because you don't deserve any kind of rewards. I don't deserve any kind of rewards. And so, you know,

but we get to, the Lord establishes us in the body of Christ in a way that we have a part to play. And as we fulfill that role, there's rewards that he gives as a result. It's incredible, a great blessing. But here, as he goes on to say, look, if your work is burned, you'll suffer loss. But

You yourself, he says, will be saved, yet so is through fire. So he's not talking about losing your salvation by not working, right? He's talking about losing your reward in eternity. There's reward that God has in store for you, but you might miss out on that if your heart is in the wrong place, if you're not being led by the Lord. And again, Paul's going to go into some great depth in this with the subject of spiritual gifts later on in this book. It's a good example to consider.

because the way that they were using their spiritual gifts was not for the Lord, but it was to show off. It was not for the glory of God, not being, you know, led by the Lord, but it was in their own way how they wanted to in chaos. And Paul says, you need to shape up. You need to stop doing that. Stop trying to serve that way or stop using those spiritual gifts in that way. And instead,

You need to come together in a way that honors the Lord and glorifies the Lord. That's when you'll be building with good materials. Verse 16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Now again, in the context here of 1 Corinthians 3, Paul is addressing you, the church, right?

He's addressing individuals also, you know, in the midst of it. But as he says here, you are the temple of God. He's saying, hey, look, Corinthian church, you are the temple of God. And so if you come to church and you're contributing bad materials and you have your own interests in mind and you're pursuing your own goals and you're not being, you know, led by the Lord and you're not serving the Lord for the right reason,

If you're taking advantage of people within the church, if you're, you know, even, you know, not just like serving for the wrong reasons, but you're actually harming people within the church, defiling the temple of God. Paul is giving a strong warning here. God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. And we need to recognize the holiness of what God has established as the church, the gathering together. The Holy Spirit dwells amongst us.

The presence of God is in our midst as we gather together as believers. And so we need to be careful that we come with hearts that are seeking the glory of God, that we contribute and fulfill our role and do our part in a way that is honoring to the Lord, that we would build a life worthy of eternal reward. In 2 Corinthians 5, I think Paul sums this up nicely for us in verse 9 and 10.

It's right after that portion where he says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, right? And we look forward to that. Right after that, he says, Paul says, look, I have this test in mind.

I know when I stand before God, there's going to be this fiery test to test what I did for the Lord. I'm going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. There is a judgment seat of Christ for us as believers, not a judgment for salvation, you know, not a question of salvation for believers, but a testing of works done in the name of the Lord, a testing of what we did, you know, with all that God gave to us. And if we did well with what God gave to us, there's reward.

But if we didn't do well, then there's that loss of reward. And we don't know exactly what that will be like in eternity, but it will be a loss. That's why it's described as a loss. Build a life that's worthy of eternal reward. Make it your aim to be well-pleasing to God. Again, this is talking about maturity in our spiritual life. Immaturity is selfishness.

And I don't really, you know, I'm not too concerned about what's well-pleasing to the Lord. I'm concerned about what's well-pleasing to me. And again, that's the carnality. That's the self-centered, the flesh dominance in our nature. And here Paul is encouraging us. We need to make it our aim to be well-pleasing to God, to put God first and to build a life that's worthy of eternal reward.

Well, finishing up the chapter, we head into point number four, verses 18 through 23. Here's point number four, guard against self-deception. Let's read verses 18 through 23. It says, "'Let no one deceive himself. "'If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, "'let him become a fool that he may become wise. "'For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, "'for it is written, "'he catches the wise in their own craftiness.'"

And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. Therefore, let no one boast in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours. And you are Christ and Christ is God's.

Here is Paul wraps up this chapter. He says in verse 18, let no one deceive himself. There was an issue within the church. As I mentioned, there were several issues there in the church of Corinth that Paul has been addressing. One of the issues that he was addressing is their fake wisdom. In chapter 1, he addresses this, you know, a few different ways. 1 Corinthians chapter 1

Verse 26, he says, you see your calling, brethren, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. There was a pride in wisdom, a glorying in wisdom there in the church of Corinth that took them off course. And Paul said, let's get back to remember how you were called. God chose the foolish things of the world, the base things, the

And he goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 1.29 that no flesh should glory in his presence. Nobody has the right to glory in the presence of God and say, yes, you're welcome, God. The church was really hurting until I came with the wisdom that I had, right? That is completely off base. Paul says, let no one deceive himself. If anyone seems to be wise in this age, they need to go back to foolishness and remember that

The wisdom that we can have, the wisdom that we generate, the wisdom that we can come up with, it doesn't work. And it's not actually wisdom. In verse 19 and 20, he quotes from the scriptures and he says, look, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they're futile. The wisdom that we can come up with. Sometimes we can have the attitude, you know, that we think we've figured it all out. You know, it's amazing how, you know, me with 42 years of experience in this life, I can have

All answers and all wisdom and all knowledge that people for 2,000 years have wrestled with and debated and couldn't figure out. But me in my 42 years, no problem. I got it. I understand it. Like the arrogance, you know, that sometimes can be there within us and sometimes it's subtle. How does that happen? Well, we're deceiving ourselves. And that's why Paul says, let no one deceive himself. Now, when he says, let no one deceive himself, that doesn't mean you chase after everybody and say, hey, don't deceive yourself.

He's not saying let no one deceive yourself to kind of let you loose and, you know, go get you to chase after others who are deceived. He's saying, look, check your own self. Check your own heart. Have you ever been self-deceived? I had a bit of a revelation this week. You're going to be shocked. Shocked to discover, shocked to hear, shocked to know that I am bald. It was quite a revelation. Now, I knew I was, you know, mostly bald, right? But, well...

There's this one part of my head right here in the back. I cut my own hair because I get really uncomfortable with other people touching my head. And so I do it myself and I've done it that way for years. And there was always this one piece right here, right in the back here that, boy, it was hard. I had to go like from like seven different directions, you know, try to get it. And there would always be like, I could feel like, oh man, I missed some pieces. There's these long hairs still sticking up right here. And so I would have to go again and like, you know, hit it a bunch of different times from a bunch of different angles, right?

It happened kind of slowly and subtly where it became easier. I just thought I was getting better, had better clippers. This last week as we were preparing for the memorial service, I was kind of goofing around with some of the youth inside the sanctuary, testing the live streaming for different things and happened to hit the back of my head. And I realized that spot, that doesn't have hair anymore. But here's the thing. I still work that spot when I cut my hair like I still had hair there.

I still spend as much time going all the different directions and trying to pull on it and make sure I don't miss any. Suddenly I realized I don't have to do that no more. I was self-deceived. For years, I've been spending extra time cutting hair on a part of my head that has no hair. We all have blind spots. We all have issues in our lives that we're just completely oblivious to. And Paul is saying, look, let no one deceive himself.

In regards to maturity, in regards to wisdom, in regards to your relationship with God, in regards to your spiritual life, there's some blind spots and you need to be careful that you don't blind yourself, that you look in the mirror or maybe, you know, get a mirror behind you or a camera behind you and see what's there and allow the Lord to reveal those issues that need to be addressed. If you think you're wise, if you seem wise, become a fool. Go back to the basics, right?

of the things of God and trust in the things of God. In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul also talks about this, talking about, hey, we speak not in words of man's wisdom, but the things that the Holy Spirit teaches. And the things of God, the things of the Spirit, the natural man does not understand those things. And that's why we need to go back to foolishness, back to trusting in God, because we need the help of God. We cannot understand the things of God on our own.

We don't have the capacity to grasp hold of the truth of God in and of ourselves. We need to go back to foolishness, back to a basic trust in what God says. Evaluating his word above our own. Placing his word as the authority in our lives. Verse 21, he says, Whether of Paul or Apollos or Cephas.

The world, life, death, things that pertain to things to come, they're all yours. And you're Christ and Christ is God's. Therefore, let no one boast in men. Again, let no one. He's not saying, hey, you know, that guy over there is boasting, so go take care of that. He's not saying that. He's not saying go police everybody. He's saying, check your own heart. Are you boasting in men, yourself or somebody else?

And it's caused you to take your eyes off of the Lord. And now you've focused on this other thing, this other wisdom, this other person. And it's taken you away from a trust in the Lord. It's a focus on man's wisdom and not on foolishness, which is trusting in God and receiving what he says. There's no secret formulas, Paul is saying.

There's no secret teachings. Look, anything that Paul can contribute to you, anything that Apollos or Cephas can contribute to you, anything valuable in this world, in life or in death, in the things present or the things to come, look, you have everything that you need in Christ. You have everything that you need in Christ.

Peter says that also, right, in his letter, that all things necessary for life and godliness, they're given to us through the knowledge of him who loved us. And it's knowing him, it's going back to the foolishness of simple relationship with God, trust in God, guard against self-deception. We can build ourselves up and I have this doctrine down and I have this much experience and I have this much stuff and I can deceive myself to think I am rock solid, I have answers, I have wisdom, but

When what I need most is to lay aside all the things that I think I can attain and go back to this is what the Lord has said, this is what the Lord has done, placing myself in his arms and trusting in him. Guard against self-deception. It's a sign of immaturity, that self-deception. And Paul here is calling us to develop maturity in our spiritual life.

Develop maturity. Grow. Don't just stay in that persistent state of being an infant in the Lord. Babes in Christ, Paul called us. Check your behavior to measure maturity. Don't check your knowledge. Don't check your answers to all the questions. Don't check your political affiliations. Check your behavior. How do you live? How well do you relate to one another? How well do you manifest and display the love of Christ and the character of Christ? Check your behavior to measure your maturity.

Keep your heart focused on God. Don't get caught up in men or people or doctrines or things that have the appearance of wisdom but don't actually contribute to maturity in our relationship with the Lord. And build a life that's worthy of eternal reward. Build a life with good materials, seeking the Lord's will, aiming to please Him in a way that God would say, well done, good and faithful servant. Here's reward.

for being obedient and faithful in the life that I gave to you. And guard yourself. Take heed. Take some looks in the mirror and allow the Lord, allow the Holy Spirit, allow the Word of God to reveal those times where self-deception is going on. It happens to all of us. And again, going back to that quote from Warren Rearsby, sometimes that's why we need to listen to that speaker that we don't enjoy that much because that's the instrument that God will use to reveal the self-deception that is there.

to deal with the real issues of our hearts, to help us to overcome those, to address those, and then move forward and progress and mature in our relationship with the Lord. And so it's a call to maturity. We can remain in this immature state like the Corinthian church. Paul says there's all kinds of problems. I like this quote from Alan Redpath, and I don't have it right in front of me, but he said something like this. I have it somewhere in my notes. Hang on one second. I'll find it real quick.

Alan Redpath. It's worth it. Trust me. All right. Here it is. Alan Redpath. The carnal Christian is a child of God, born again, and on his way to heaven, but he's traveling third class. Look, you believe in Jesus. That's awesome. You're on your way to heaven. You're born again, but you can make it so much more difficult for yourself and so much more rough if you decide to stay in immaturity.

But if you'll put aside the carnality and put the Lord first, you get a first class ride. And that doesn't mean there's not going to be bumps because serving the Lord comes with bumps. But not serving the Lord and sitting against the Lord and ignoring what the Lord is saying brings so much more affliction and difficulty into our lives. And so let's travel first class. Let's put Christ first and seek to please him.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word this evening. The reminder, Lord, of the issue of maturity. And I pray that you would help each of us to have a clear understanding of where we are with you and where we are in our relationship with you in comparison to where we could be or should be. Lord, may we not be those who persist in immaturity continually. But I pray that you would help us to aim to please you. Show us, Lord, those areas that you want to address.

And Lord, there's more than we can tackle in just, you know, one session or one week in our need to grow and our need to develop and our need to address things in our hearts and lives. And Lord, it's a process. And so I pray that you would keep us in this place. Lord, that we would continue to seek you, that we would address the things that you bring up, that we would move forward and grow. And then next week, Lord, that we would seek you again and allow you to dig deep again and

to bring out those issues of immaturity that need to be dealt with so that we don't continue in the flesh and allowing the flesh to dominate and to wreak havoc in our lives. But Lord, may your character, may your nature be revealed in us as we seek you. May your love be demonstrated and poured out to all around us as we build our lives on you, with you as our foundation, with our focus on you.

and our purpose to please you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.