All right. Correction. They are not in Florida, so I prayed for them in the wrong place. They are at Myrtle Beach. And so Mark and Kim are. So whoever's in Florida that got that prayer named Mark and Kim, they are, you're welcome. All right? If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians 3 with me. 1 Corinthians 3. And in this, as you're turning there, I kind of want to give you context of who this the churches, where they live, what they're about, and that sort of thing. Some of you guys, if you've done any study on the Church of Corinth, you will know this, but bear with me and stick with me. So they are, in the city of Corinth, it is an import-export city, so it is predominantly Greek culture and philosophy, very heavy in that regard. With it being an import-export city, they have a very diverse group of people that live there. So it's amazing how similar I would put Corinth, the city of Corinth, to the nation of America. And so with this, you got to think, though, in the Greek culture, they were very heavy, like with the Greek culture, it was very heavy in the immorality. whether it was sexual immorality, identity, different acts, what the flesh wanted, you got. That was what they did. And then Paul comes in and he establishes a church four years prior, what they believe, four years prior to the writing of this letter. So to give you an idea, he comes in, shares the gospel with a group of people, establishes a church, these people are in this church, and four years later, he's about to address something to them that we're gonna talk about today. In the very first chapter, he gives the theme of the entire letter, which is division. There was division in the church. heavy division. And the rest of the letter is to pretty much not just he prescribes what's wrong, but he tells them the little things that they're doing wrong. And ultimately, it's leading to this division. So the reason why I want to set this up is when he talks about this very first part that we're going to read about being infants in Christ, you may be sitting here, and that may be you. You may not be growing in Christ. You got saved. You got your fire insurance card. I'm not going to hell. Praise Jesus. But that's where you're at. You have chosen not to grow from there. That may be you. Or you may be growing, and you'll be listening to this, and you'll be thinking, this isn't me. I don't know, like, this is for that person over there. Let this passage be a warning. Let this passage be a warning. Because the things that he talks about are things we can easily fall into. And then finally, what I always like to say is you may know somebody who's struggling in this area. You may. And so hopefully in love, like Paul does with the Corinthians, you would point them to this passage and say, hey, I see this in your life. What's up? Is everything okay? And so this passage, whether you're listening to it and you think it's for me or it's not for me, it is. We all need to hear it. Absolutely. But with this, I wanna read this passage and I wanna pray that God would be in this preaching today. And so we're starting in chapter 3, verse 1. It says this, but I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. But while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believe as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Let's pray. God, you know what needs to be said. And I pray that your Holy Spirit is just stirring the hearts, including mine, of what you want to be known, said. We are at a place where we need to grow in you, and you alone. And so, Father, I pray that you would go before, and that it would be your words that speak, and not mine. We love you, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Recently, actually, I was talking to my dad out in the parking lot before then. I was struggling with trying to find a story of something I did as a kid that I don't do anymore. And so as I was talking to my dad, my dad had ammo. I'm telling you, he was like, you know, I thought of this one. Yeah, and I had thought of one, but I didn't really know the pieces. And he goes, yeah, that's a good one. And he goes, I also know of this one, and I also know of this one, and I also know of this one. And he just racked it up like he had it locked and loaded for me. And I'm like, was I a good kid growing up? Like, man. But I thought of that, and I thought, there's too many stories to tell, so I'm not going to tell one. But I thought about this past, not this past Wednesday, but the Wednesday before last, we were, we had a parents' night. We actually, it was really fun. You guys had heard, if you'd been here long enough, you'd heard me announce it. But we did a normal night downstairs of our youth group. Parents were invited. And it was so fun. We played a game. Everyone was laughing. We got to see moms and kids, dads and kids, like really connect. And it was just really, really fun. The parents did bring some encouragement. If someone in the game got stuck in the middle, we would applaud. It was so fun. Then we went over to the youth building and we talked about this idea of maturity, spiritual maturity. The question I did ask, I asked actually two. The first one I asked was, what is something you did as a child that you don't do anymore? What is something you did as a child that you don't do anymore? And that's a good question to ask, because when we think about spiritually speaking, there are things that we once, as we've grown up in Christ, there are things that God has convicted us of, and ultimately, hopefully, sanctified us from. But as, like, the physical, Paul shows us this picture, and this is what I thought. One of the things, or a couple things that I thought of is, one, I don't drink from a bottle anymore. If I was up here and I was like, I'm thirsty, y'all, and I started drinking from this, most of you would be like, I'm at the wrong church. It's time to go. What do they believe here? Right? You'd have to address something. You'd have to talk about something. If I went from that spot right there and crawled up on stage and preached from my hands and knees the whole time, you guys, hopefully, would go, something's wrong. It may be something serious, right? If something is physically wrong with someone on this planet, we will ask, what's wrong with them? That's a normal question. And if I did that, hopefully, one of you guys or ladies would come up to me and be like, what is wrong with you? Paul addresses it. Paul recognizes that after four years of this church being established, that they are infants in Christ. Being an infant in Christ, and we're gonna look at this, the first point is stop being a baby. I know it sounds really confrontational. Stop being a baby. I look at my eight-year-old, Evelyn, And there are times where she's, she's a kid, okay, so don't get on me too bad for my parenting, but there are times where she is doing something that's reverting back to a younger age, and I will have to go, stop. You can, you can do this. And in this passage right here, Paul is addressing this. He says, right off the bat, he says, but I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people. This is in reference to right before this he says, but we have the mind of Christ all the way to this point He's talking about division in the church immaturity and then he says but we have the mind of Christ But I can't count you as spiritual people I can't because there's things that are wrong you are drinking from a bottle and It's this premise that after four years, you should have some sort of firm grasp on the gospel and biblical doctrine. Some sort of grasp. This is a very high expectation. That once you are saved, you should be growing in Christ. But instead, what the Corinthians are doing is they're following man. They're following the world, because he says, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh. He's actually calling them a carnal Christian. I know that there are some pastors, and I've heard people preach that there's no such thing as a carnal Christian. You're either of the world or you're not. But he's showing right here that you can be saved And still, whether you're free from sin and free from all of that, you are still running back to it. You're still desiring it. You're still wanting it. You want to please the flesh. That's what he's saying. You're free from it, yet you go back to it. I can't consider you a spiritual person because this is where you're sitting. infants in Christ I Fed you with milk not solid food for you were not ready for it and even now you are not ready For you are still of the flesh. So he uses a very common thing Everybody eats right? So it's a really good illustration. I have this up here because this is where we should be moving this direction And he says, you're still here. You're still drinking from milk. I gave this to you because this is what you were ready for. This idea of milk is gospel. Jesus died, saved you from yourself, from sin and death, reconciling you with the Father. Simple truth. It's a beautiful truth, one we all need. But it's time to grow. He says, he says, you were not ready for this. And I, and I, the Happy Meal, this is, this is Pastor Mark in spirit here. But he says, you're not ready. You're not ready for this. And I thought, I heard from a sermon the other day where someone said, praise God that he doesn't, like when we get saved, that he doesn't convict us of everything we're doing wrong right at that moment. What a mercy. Isn't it like I couldn't I could not imagine Getting saved and then God dumping everything that I'm doing wrong on me. He knows what we can handle And so because of that it's truths handed along the way we are a work in progress we're working out our salvation the Bible says that's sanctification and And with that, we are moving from salvation to growing in Christ. The problem was, with them, was that he said, you're still not ready for it. And so he lays a foundation of understanding that you are a baby and here's why, okay? Let's keep going. For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? So he's prescribing the thing that's wrong. Not just that, but he is reiterating the point of the letter. There's divisions among you, and this is one of the reasons why. And so point number two, point number two. Start growing in the Lord This is a reference back to this this part refers back to chapter 1 and In verse 12, if you're looking with me, he talks about, we'll start at verse 10. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. And this is what he's referring to. What I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul? And he repeats himself. And when God repeats himself, we need to pay attention. Verse four it says this for when one says I follow Paul and another I follow Apollos Are you not being merely human? This is a reference to lifting up in having a infatuation for their spiritual heroes They would take something spiritual, tie themselves to it that was man-made, mankind, creation instead of creator, hoping to grow from it. And it was all meant with flesh desires in mind. If I could associate myself with Paul, what he believed, what he said, all of that was better than what Apollos said. What he believed, what he said. We do this. We do this. I was trying to think of different ways that we do this nowadays. And one of those, we associate ourselves with people. We associate ourselves with podcasts. We associate ourselves with associations. Even church associations can be like this. When I think of what we say, what comes out of our mouth, When someone says, you know, talks about what do you believe, your association, what do you say? You know, I know, like for me, I love listening to certain preachers and pastors, Pastor Mark being one of them. I love listening to David Platt. I love listening to Matt Chandler. I love listening, and I could go on and list these different people that I connect with, that believe a lot of what I believe. And we will associate ourselves with them, put ourselves under their faith umbrella. And then their faith becomes our faith somehow, some way. We do this with podcasts. What podcasts are you listening to, right? What person are you listening to? And we will get our affirmation and our satisfaction from what they're saying. What book are you reading? Now, all of these are great things, but what the problem was with Corinth and what I think we can fall into is we will associate ourselves so much with that that we forget about Christ. I see so much in the progressive movement where God does not even come into the picture anymore. In churches, in fact, I had I have friends that talk about homosexuality in the Bible. And there was a point in which another person said, give me one example in the Bible where homosexuality is affirmed. One example. And this is what that person's reply was. It doesn't matter what it says. That's where we're at. The thing is, is they care more about the opinion of man than they do the wrath and opinion of God. That's scary. When we start changing the reasons why we do things to meet the world's desires, feelings, emotions, and Christ is removed, this is where we start going, following man, following these desires. I'll get on my soapbox. The movement in the world right now, is this liberal humanism, where freedom of rights trumps the Bible. We're actually moving away from this idea of nationalism to liberalism, where we would raise that up in the church. I have a right to this. I have a right to feel this way. And you need to understand that. And if we're not careful, we will fall into that as well with our different things. I'll give you an example. It's the grenade in the room. Vaccinations. I have seen people leave churches over vaccinations because of what people believe. They would follow an organization rather than the Bible. Oh, I love my church. I love the pastor. I love the worship. I love the community. And the pastor will get up and say one thing about something that isn't in here, and they will go, I'm done. And they'll leave. What? It's because they care more about what the world thinks than what God thinks. This is where the Church of Corinth is. They care more about being accepted in the world than their relationship with God. I've even heard it put like this. They care more about getting out of hell than they do the redemption and reconciliation with the Father. Where are we at with that? When you look at your heart and the different things that you're working through, that God's working through you, are you appeasing man? Are you looking to please God? That's a tough question to answer. Because if we dig, we will find things where we would rather hear from man than God. And it's sad. And that is immature. The problem with this that he is trying to address is these things lead to divisions in the church. They do. You know, when you hear the stereotype of a church split over the color of a carpet, because it happens. you think about what really matters. I was talking to Pastor Mark the other day, and we're talking about the growth of our church, and it's fun to think vision-wise, and what I love that something he said was, it can't be my choice. It can't be just the elder's choice. This is God's church. And what I love about that is there's a unity there. It's not that I'm of so-and-so or I'm of so-and-so. It's that I am God's child and we are God's children. In verse five, he talks about, so he says, you're saying I follow Paul, I follow Apollos. He's putting things in their proper place. Check this out. What then is Apollos? What is Paul? servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. This is one of those things where as a pastor, you know, when I read this, I was like, this is actually God putting me in my place as well. What is Jason? What is Mark? But servants of the gospel, assigned here by him. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. This is a statement saying that true growth, true fulfillment, true application of the gospel and biblical principles is done through God and God alone. I plant or Mark plants the other waters, but it's ultimately God who does it. And what they've been doing is they think all of it comes from humans. from mankind. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. So I stand up here humbled by that statement. But only God who gives the growth. Putting God in his rightful place will help us mature in him. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one. This attack on division is thwarted here. He says the very people that you are trying to say pleases you, or you are trying to please, causing the division in the church, they're both one. It's kind of an oxymoron there. You have Paul and Apollos who are unified in Christ. Together in Christ, and you are trying to separate them. Who are you trying to please? He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. Verse eight is a transition into verse nine. And so what we see here is he's trying to explain the actions that you do will reap rewards over here. And he goes from, in verse nine, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building, point number three, Stand on the foundation of Jesus. Stand on the foundation of Jesus. Verse nine, he says, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field. This is in reference to what he just talked about in agricultural sense, an illustration. He now moves to a building. God's building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for one can lay a foundation, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying here is this idea of watering and planting is laid on a foundation that he laid, but he goes, but it was already there. Jesus Christ is the foundation And he's he's clarifying for the for the corinthians because they were banking on wrong things They were putting everything on a sandy foundation When you look at the trying to please man or trying to please yourself or trying to To indulge in the in in the world You are pleasing you are creating a foundation based off of a false gospel And Paul is going, I laid this foundation for you, which is the gospel, which is where you're drinking milk. And that gospel, and that message is a solid foundation, which is Jesus Christ. Why is this important? Why is this important? He gets to it. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest. So we're in this idea that we are saved, we are drinking milk, we have received the gospel. I want us to be aware, I don't know if I mentioned it, but he is talking to Christians. The carnal Christian is saved. We know this by the very last verse of this passage. He is talking to people that are saved. And he's saying this. You are building on the foundation of the gospel. And you are bringing something. And it's being manifested. I always like to make people aware that if you don't believe you're building something, you are wrong in the kingdom of God. You are bringing something to that foundation. Always and he's trying to let them know you're either bringing stuff that is gold silver Value that's going to stand on the on this foundation or you're bringing hay straw Things that aren't of value which is self-focused worldly focused and This is he's he's separating these two right now and it's going to be made manifest What you are doing is going to be put on a table For the day will disclose it this day is the day of judgment because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. When I graduated a couple weekends ago, or last weekend, goodness, he talked about this, this idea of what we bring, what we are building, this fire that will test it. I think that a lot of, Western theology will teach that you are safe from your sin, which you are and There will be no judgment for you at all You get to in fact, I think I've said this before I asked one time a junior hire in Michigan I asked you guys are safe. I What do you think heaven will be like? And they said, I think my house is going to be made out of a brown sugar and cinnamon pop tart, and I'm going to get to eat my way out every day. It's this mindset that heaven, and it's going to be fantastic, but there is going to come a day where everyone is judged. Now, if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, praise God you are not judged on your sin. But you, Christian, are still gonna be judged by what you brought with what God gave you. And they, the Corinthians, they're not recognizing this. They think what they're bringing is of value, and he's like, it isn't. What does this look like? It means when we get saved, we are given, as Pastor Mark has talked about, gifts by God to use for the kingdom of God. And what happens is we put things in their improper place, and we're using our gifts for ourselves or for the world, and we're bringing straw and hay to the altar. And he's changing this. He's like, you are going to be judged. What are you doing? You are creating division in the church. You are serving man while being a Christian. You are caring more about the world. What are you bringing? What's being laid on your foundation? Sunday Christian. This is a charge to be working with one another in unity for the gospel. This is a charge to be using your gifts for the gospel. This is a charge for you and a gut check for us to be putting the right things on the foundation of the gospel. Because there will come a day where God's going to ask you, what did you do with what I gave you? And my hope is that we could say, here, and he says, well done, right? That's the desire. That's my hope for me. I don't preach this message without hoping that's for you too. When you look across the aisle of this church, we've grown so much, praise the Lord. When we look across the aisle, who do you know? Who are you working alongside in this church for the gospel? What are you doing in this church for the gospel? What are you learning in here and taking out there for the gospel? Who are you pleasing? He goes on to say, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. This fire is the judgment of the Lord. So God will be the judge of what is worth, what is worth it and what isn't. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. This is our eternal reward. These are the things that ultimately we are laying before the feet of Jesus because without him, we don't do them to begin with. But I don't know if you know this, but Adam and Eve before the fall worked. We will too when we get to heaven. There are rewards that we get in heaven based off of the things that we do on this earth. for God or for ourselves. And my hope is that I can lay, I even, I was joking with Sarah, my wife, and she said, we were joking, and I said, Sarah, you are getting so many crowns because you have to deal with me. You are laying, imagine just the horde of things you're laying at the feet of Jesus at the end. But it says this, if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved. but only as through fire." This is a reminder that a person that is bringing straw and hay and wood on the foundation is still saved. Praise God. That isn't off the table. I'm so thankful because I know myself. I know that I'm not bringing gold every day. Praise the Lord that whenever I get there, he's gonna look at Jesus and he's gonna go, he's with me. But I will suffer loss. That's a reality because of God's judgment. This idea of food, I love that he used food because I love food. Paul here, in every aspect, is trying to teach the Corinthians to put things in their proper place in order to grow. It is putting things in their proper place in order to keep from division. It's putting things in their proper place in order to reap a reward when you get to heaven. It's a beautiful thing that he could look at them and go, I know I like food, you like food, so let's talk about it. As I said before, we start here at the Ba. I have a baby that is 10 months old, sweet little Sam, who I gave six ounces to yesterday night. And my son, Atticus Dillon Janes, who is four years old, ate a Happy Meal this week. My eight-year-old daughter did not eat these toys, okay? But she ate. Chicken, solid food, nutrition. In each of my children, I see growth, physical growth. I thought of something a friend of mine told me one time, and they said, you know the word potential has two different connotations? There's a sentence that if you change one letter, it turns from a compliment into a backhanded compliment. It's this one. That person has great potential. What a great thing to hear. Someone says, man, that person has great potential. They could go places. When you look at sports, they would say the ceiling is high. But imagine this sentence where you change that S to a D. That person had great potential. That's a backhanded compliment. Thank you. The person that has great potential, and all of this is in the Lord, moves from here to here in God. The person that had great potential stays here. Physically, you do not want to be drinking from a bottle the rest of your life. Hopefully. If you are that guy, let's talk. But I don't think you are. Why would we do it spiritually? Why would we settle spiritually? So the question is, as Paul addresses it here, for them it's loving the world, associating themselves with men, creation rather than the creator. What is it for you that keeps you here? What areas of your life, maybe you are growing, but there may be an untouched spot in your life that's right here. What does that look like for you? My prayer is that God would convict you of it and that you would choose to start growing in him here. What does that look like for you? Stop acting like a baby. Start growing in the Lord, not man. Stand on the foundation of Jesus and not the world. I know we're ending early. Many of you are like, I was hungry anyway. Because of the food illustration. But let's pray. God, we thank you for your grace. And we thank you for your love and desire to help us grow. We cannot do this alone. If we are doing anything in the world, we're just spinning our wheels of the world. And you know this, God. So I pray that you would be working on our hearts, on our minds, to be moving us in the direction of you and sanctification in you, that when we get to heaven and you can look at what we've done for you, by you, through you, and see stuff that will be actual reward. not something that will be burnt up. And I pray, Father, too, that if anyone in here has someone in their life that is struggling with this too, Father, that you would give them the words, the compassion, and the love to speak up to them, that we would look at our fellow brother and sister and help them in this regard, not condemn them in this regard. And we thank you, Father, for everything you do. We love you in Jesus' name we pray, amen.