This morning we want to continue our series on the carnal Christian. Our 11th study in this series is we ask and answer the question, are you focused on men instead of on Jesus Christ? Are you focused on men instead of on Jesus Christ? So let me invite you to open your Bibles with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. Chapter three. First Corinthians. Chapter three. The year was 1986, the place was at Heritage Trail Bible Church in McKinley, Minnesota. Four years after my beloved pastor Leonard Radke's death and home going to heaven, there was a serious church split at my home church. I was pastoring by that time in Duluth Bible here. But the split went into two or three directions that affected people that I loved and I knew well. And to this day, there's still fallout from that split. It was without a doubt a victory for Satan. The Ministry of Heritage Trail Bible Church had been greatly used of God to lead hundreds, if not a few thousands, to Jesus Christ on the Iron Range of Minnesota. What were the causes? Only the Lord ultimately knows, but there was a doctrinal factor, there was a leadership factor, there was a congregational factor, and without question there was a carnality factor. Needless to say, any church that has a significant ministry in preaching the gospel like Heritage Trail Bible Church has had over the years has a big red bull's eye on its back with the fiery darts of Satan being flung its way. And such was also the case with the church at Corinth. They were marked by division. And we will see today that there also was a doctrinal factor, though primarily a carnality factor, that was dividing this local church, and from this we hope to gather valuable lessons that we can learn from all this, as no church is exempt from a church split, and Satan would love to divide and conquer us as well. We see in 1 Corinthians 3, beginning in verse 1, these words. 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 and strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal in behaving like mere man? For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Paulos, are you not carnal? 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. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. As we've been looking at this passage in 1 Corinthians in this series on the carnal Christian, using it as a kind of a springboard from which we are drawing principles and actually going to systematically work our way through this epistle of 1 Corinthians, we have been noting principles from this passage that relate to this subject. Without reviewing the first nine, I call your attention today to principle number ten, the one we want to examine today. and simply stated it as this, the carnal Christian has a tendency to misfocus on people instead of focusing on Jesus Christ beginning with the gospel. The carnal Christian has a tendency to misfocus on people instead of focusing on Jesus Christ beginning with the gospel. You notice in verse 3, he says there's envy, strife and divisions among them. He says that they were behaving like mere men. Verse 4, for one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Let me first of all call your attention to the word I, because I is a problem, isn't it? When we're thinking about ourselves, when we're focused on ourselves, when we're walking in carnality, it's all about us. It's really not about Jesus Christ, and it's not about guarding the unity of the Spirit, and it's not about the furtherance of the Gospel. The bottom line tends to be us, I. Notice, secondly, I am of Paul, some were saying, and I am of Apollos. And he says, are you not carnal? Notice, they were focusing on people. instead of, first of all, on Jesus Christ. Now that is not to suggest that people aren't part of the issue. For though we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and so forth, we recognize there are human relationships that we have. And therefore, we need to know how to look at people correctly. Sometimes we can be stumbled by people. Sometimes we can become bitter towards people which will fail the grace of God, not only trouble us but defile others. But also we can become distracted by people. They had a problem of mis-focusing on people instead of focusing on Jesus Christ. You see, they were focusing on them and they were elevating them. They were having cliques around them and divisions around them. The problem was not with Paul. The problem was not with Apollos. The problem was not with Peter. They weren't encouraging this. And they were in doctrinal agreement. This was not a justified division over sound doctrine. This was the fruit of carnality. And by virtue of human wisdom that tends to exalt human personalities, they misfocused on people instead of focusing on Jesus Christ, and therefore they elevated them. And you know, we can get misfocused on people as well. In fact, yesterday I called a good friend of mine, a believer who lives on the East Coast, and began to talk to him. And he was telling me about his two children, they're both in the twenties, and they're both unmarried and they both would very much like to get married. As a result, they're tempted in this area to violate biblical principle and one of them, his daughter, has been dating an unbeliever. And the guy apparently is extremely arrogant. comb his hair with a rake. I mean, he is big-headed and he thinks life rotates around him and this thing is not going well. But we know biblically we're not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers because they have different destinies than a believer does. And they have a different direction in life than a believer should. And so obviously that's problematic. And then he shared with me about his son. who's dating a so-called believer who is unclear in the gospel and doesn't believe in eternal security. And he shared with me the fact that that is a major problem, as well as there's a difference on major doctrine. Because again, if someone doesn't believe in eternal security somewhere in their mind, they're thinking normally that they have to do something to keep Now it is possible at the point of faith in Jesus Christ that one understands the gospel, puts their faith in Christ in order to go to heaven, but hasn't thought through yet whether or not they could ever lose that. Maybe they didn't even think of that. But they put their faith in Christ to go to heaven and they get saved. Sometimes they get taught wrong later. and begin to tell you, no, I think you can lose it. And at that point, if you just meet them then, you may not know if they're saved or not. And therefore, you need to ask them questions. And in either case, whether they are or not, they need to hear a clear explanation of the gospel for When one clearly understands the gospel, the only conclusion is your salvation is eternal and secure because Christ took care of all sin for all time. He's forgiving you totally at the point of salvation. And it's not by your works, it's all by grace. And so obviously, this is a major problem. But what happens is when you don't say, Thou rest in the Lord, you start getting desperate and you start playing the dating spiritual Russian roulette with five bullets in a six bullet chamber. And you're hoping this is all going to work out. And you know, every once in a while it does. And people say, oh, look, it worked out for them. And I can show you for every 120 that it didn't. In the meantime, things went down the tubes. And you know, the fact is we can justify anything In fact, I was talking to a believer recently who told me in a dating relationship that he just justified one thing after another after another in his mind. And he said to me, he says, I was an idiot. Not me, but he was. He said, I am an idiot. Or I was an idiot. But we can justify things, can't we? And if we only would put our eyes back on Jesus Christ, If we would only be looking unto Jesus and allowing the Spirit of God to take the Word of God to help us to think principally here. But once someone gets emotionally involved, it's amazing how you can justify almost anything. And you see the problem at Corinth, one of the problems they had, in fact, interestingly enough, the very first problem he addresses is a problem of division because people misfocus on people instead of Jesus Christ. That's why as we go back to chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, we read in verse 10, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. He's talking about speaking the same truths doctrinally. And that there be no divisions among you. but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind, in the same judgment. But that doctrinal foundation allows for a wonderful practical unity to occur. Verse 11, For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household. Let me pause for a minute. Is there ever a place for another believer, a sheep, to go to the shepherd and tell them about a problem among the sheep? It's exactly what we have here. He mentions it. that there are contentions among you, verse 12. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Notice again, the I, notice the misfocus on people. I am of Paul. Now again, I mentioned the distraction that people can be, but here, I am of Paul. Was Paul the problem? No. But in their carnality, they were rallying around Paul. And that's why I said before, you don't really have to defend me. Just defend the Lord and the Word of God, and if that's what's true in my life, you will automatically defend me. Unless there's a case where some practical information has to get cleared up. Here, I am of Paul. Paul's thinking, God forbid. Why would you do that? I am of Apollos, that great, mighty preacher who helped water the word of God there at Corinth. I am of Cephas, that's another name for Peter, another apostle, another very significant individual in the early church. And then there was a group saying, no, I am of Christ, which, by the way, was the right answering. Yet most Bible commentators will express that they perhaps were the most nauseating group in the church. Because they thought they were the super spiritual, super duper. And they were very arrogant. Now Paul was very pastoral here. He wrote here a real letter to real people with real problems, giving them real biblical solutions to those real issues in their local church. And by the way, as a pastor teacher, that's what I have to do as well. My messages are not hypothetical out there. If ever you know, I'm dealing with real people, with real issues, with real biblical solutions that have real trials going on in a very real local church. And again, I find it interesting that with all the problems in Corinth, as they had a serious problem with sexual immorality in chapter 5, they had a problem of believers suing one another in chapter 6. There was the misuse of Christian liberty in chapters 8 and 9 and 10. There were believers divorcing their mates and there were problems with unbelieving mates and so forth in chapter 7. There was the misuse of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 through 14. And they even had a doctrinal issue mentioned in chapter 15. They were getting drunk at the Lord's table in chapter 11. With all those issues, the first issue he addresses is, who are you looking to? Because it all starts there, doesn't it? Who are you looking to? You see, the biblical solution to the problem, first and foremost, would be to refocus their thinking on Jesus Christ and the gospel, called in chapter 1, the message of the cross. For the Christian life is all about a daily vertical fellowship with Jesus Christ based upon the gospel and your position in Christ. And that is why Paul would write to the Colossians these words, chapter 3, verses 1 through 4. If then you were raised with Christ, and they were, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died in Christ, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Notice the focus on Jesus Christ. And that relationship with Jesus Christ all begins with, and is all based upon, the Gospel. And that's why here in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 13, How does Paul address this issue of I am of Paul and Apollos and Cephas and Christ? Is Christ divided? Answer, no. Is the body of Christ divided? No. We are one in Christ. Was Paul crucified for you? The answer is no. Who was crucified for you? Jesus Christ. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? The answer is no. You were not baptized in the name of Christ. In other words, where does our focus need to be again? On Jesus Christ. In fact, he says, I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius. Now, he's not saying this as some wrongly purport, because he was down on baptism and felt like baptism really didn't have a place in his ministry. No, in the Great Commission, his ministry was not around baptism. In fact, he had others usually do it, though he did do it. In fact, even in Corinth we know in Acts 18 that many of the Corinthians here believed and were baptized. 18 verse 8. Now he's saying this, that he's thanked God that he baptized none of you except Chrysalis and Gaius, which means he did baptize. Why did he say that? Verse 15, lest anyone should say that I had been baptized in my own name. In other words, well, who baptized you? Paul did. We're the Paul, Paul baptizers. We're the baptismal Paul group. No, no, I am a Paul doesn't fit. And what is interesting is we do have believers today, and they are believers, at least for the most part. who are hyper-dispensationalists, who take dispensational truth to an unbiblical extreme, that would teach that the Church did not begin on the day of Pentecost, the Great Commission is not for today, in some cases the Lord's Supper has no place, but for sure water baptism has no place for believers, among other things. And they would say that only Paul's epistles are to us. They are the I am a Paul group of today. And they even say here, Paul even thanked God he didn't baptize any, because that wasn't his commission. No, he says, I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Chris was as gay as I did, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name, verse 16. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. Why? For Christ did not send me to baptize. That's not what aspect of the Great Commission I focused on, but to preach The gospel, which is in baptism, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Oh yes, it's that message of the cross. That's what we need to go back to. Do you remember the cross? Do you remember the Lord Jesus dying on that cross for our sins and then being raised from the dead? It's the message of the cross. Isn't that why we were saved? Isn't that how we became one in the body of Christ? Isn't that how that local church was formed? As a visible expression of that universal church by those individuals who were Jew and Gentile who had become one in the body of Christ through believing the gospel of Jesus Christ? Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Now what does Paul mean when he uses the phrase, the gospel? Well, that word euangelion means good news. It can be used generally of good news of any kind. But in this context, he's referring to good news from God to man about His grace and eternal salvation. And remember that the direction The direction of the Gospel is always from God to man. When the focus of someone's Gospel preaching is on what you must do to God, it is foreign to Scripture and not the Gospel of the grace of God. The Gospel is always about what God did for you and the person and work of Jesus Christ. And it emphasizes grace. That's why in Acts 20, 24, Paul writes, but none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of what? The grace of God. And again, grace speaks of God's riches at Christ's expense. God's unmerited favor. It is the opposite of the merit approach in which individuals think that if I get baptized and I go to church and I work hard and I have religious hustle and so forth and so forth, then God then will reward me with His blessings. That's the way of religion. That is not the way of Christianity, which is not a religion, but is a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The way of Christianity is grace. Understand, you know, it's not me being worthy to be blessed. It's not me earning these blessings. It's all because of Jesus Christ and what He did, so that God has been satisfied and willing now to give me His blessings as a gift of His grace, though I can't earn it and deserve it, and never will. It comes to me in gift form, paid for by Christ, offered in love, received through simple faith in Him. And it's a gospel related to salvation. Ephesians 1.13, In Him, Christ, you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You see, this gospel has to have a context to it. Why would you think this is good news if you didn't understand some bad news first? For someone to come along and say, I've got a cure for cancer, here it is! And you say, but I don't have cancer. It's of no personal value to you. But when we understand the holiness of God, when we understand the sinfulness of man, when we understand the penalty for sin is death, then the gospel becomes good news. How God, in spite of us and outside of us, provided for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ a salvation we could never earn or deserve, and He gives it to us as a gift. And all we must do is put our faith in Him, in Him alone. Now, can we know the gospel? And the answer is yes, as the word gospel is preceded by the definite article the, and it indicates that it is a definable and definitive message. The gospel. Christ sent me not to preach, but to preach the gospel. The means it's definable. It's definitive. It's something that can be known. In fact, God wants us to know it, and He wants us to preach it, and He wants us to believe it, and He wants us to defend it. In fact, it is assumed, in order to preach the Gospel, that you know what the Gospel is. How can you preach something you do not know? It is assumed, in order to defend the Gospel, that you know what the Gospel is. And that is why in Philippians 1.17, Paul says, some preach Christ out of love, knowing that I'm appointed for the defense of, notice, the gospel. A definable message that he believed and that he preached and that he defended. It is assumed, in order to believe the gospel, that you know the gospel. How can you believe something you don't know? And that is why we're to preach it so others can know it. That's why in Acts 15 verse 7, and when there had been much dispute at the Jerusalem council, Peter rose up and said to them, men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and do what? Believe. Believe what? The gospel. A message they heard and understood and therefore knew. In fact, it is assumed in order to avoid the curse of preaching another gospel, that the gospel can be known. And that is why in Galatians chapter 1, Paul says in no uncertain terms in verses 8 and 9, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. And you see that word another means another of a different kind. The message we are to preach is one of grace. Once you inject any works into the plan, any law into the plan, any human effort or human merit into the plan, it is no longer the gospel of grace. And thus the message that is then preached has the anathema of God, Now that raises the question, so what is the content of the Gospel? And while we're in 1 Corinthians, let's go to chapter 15. I've contended over the years that the most definitive passage in the New Testament relative to the Gospel is 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and I still believe that. We read in verse 1, moreover, brethren, I declare to you what? The gospel. I am declaring right now to you the gospel, which I preached in the past, before you were saved, evangelistically, when I came to Corinth, to you, which you also received, they had received the gospel by believing it, in which you also stand, they were standing for the gospel amidst the pressure to compromise, But in which also you are saved, present tense, are being saved by way of salvation from sin's power and sanctification. If you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Verse 2 is saying this, if you move away from the truth of the gospel, it will affect your sanctification in your Christian life. They already were justified. It was certain they would be glorified. But to move away from the truth of the gospel will have an effect on how you live your Christian life from day to day. Verse 3, For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, that's Peter, then by the twelve, and after that he was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, and on and on we go. Now notice, as we think of the content of this gospel, there is a context to this. This was not given in a vacuum. When he mentioned the word Christ, they had to have some bearings about who are you talking about. When he mentions He died for our sins, it assumes they knew something about sin, defined by God Himself. And furthermore, the context was a doctrinal problem at Corinth, which could have been very divisive for we know in verse 12. that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead? Some among you. In other words, this is what he's saying. There are some that were saying, well, there's no future resurrection for believers. And Paul says, if you carry that through consistently, then did Christ rise from the dead? And if He didn't rise from the dead, you just gutted the gospel out of one of its important elements with the result being our preaching is vain and your faith is also vain. That's exactly how he's going to reason. Now, as we think of the gospel of salvation, I have said many times over the years, and it bears repeating again, that the gospel centers in a specific person, a specific work, a specific accomplishment, and a required response in light of that. Verse 3 tells us, For I delivered to you, first of all, of utmost importance that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins. Now he focuses them on a person. Not on a church. No church can get you to heaven. Not on a ritual. No ritual can get you there. But a person can. His title is Christ. And it's a definitive title. Speaking of the crucified and risen Son of God. Now he mentions here Christ died for our sins. Now Christ rose again. But are we to believe that this is all Paul told them? Was there not more information? Is this not being reduced for our sake? Now, if you go with me to 1 Corinthians 2, let's pick up some additional information there. That it's assumed under the name Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2 verse 1, and I, brethren, When I came to you, you did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined when I came to you in the past not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." Jesus Christ. Not just Christ, but Jesus Christ. Now keep in mind that Jesus is the name that was given to our Lord by the angel to Joseph And it sets forth His humanity. It's His human name. The word Jesus means Jehovah saves. So in that name, Jesus is not only an implication of deity, but clearly an underscoring of humanity. In fact, even in Jesus' day, people did not question the historical Jesus that He existed. Nor did they question that He was a man. If anything, they questioned whether He was God. And in our day, when you talk about Jesus Christ, I find a very rare bird that would tell me, well, I don't know that there was a Jesus who historically existed. Now in our culture, almost everybody's heard about Jesus and at minimum they think He's a man. In most of our circles, in our Catholic Lutheran evangelical area here of Duluth, Most people, even at the fairs as we give them the gospel, after we've surveyed where they're at, that they believe that Jesus Christ is God who became man. Now if we were out in Utah, I can tell you this, we would emphasize a lot more the deity of Jesus Christ. But even then, you don't have to emphasize his humanity, because again, almost everybody believes that. In fact, even the early church in the epistles did not emphasize his humanity, though it makes reference to it, until the Gnostic heresy of about 90 AD that came along and denied the true humanity of Christ. And then they address it, because now it's an issue. Not only did they preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, but go with me, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. And we see something else that this missionary team preached, subsumed in the name Christ. You know, if you say, well, I want you to know Christ died for your sin, what's the first question you're going to ask? Who is He? Who is He? We're told in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 19, For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in Him was yes. Who was preached? The Son of God, Jesus Christ. A clear emphasis on His deity. In fact, I couldn't help but think as we celebrated the Lord's Supper this morning. When we took that piece of bread, what are we saying? We're saying that Jesus Christ, God, became a man. A man. And we take that cup that He shed His blood and died for our sins. And we're to do this till He comes, which means implicitly He rose from the dead, because how can He come again if He's dead? It's built right into it. Now go with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 again, to the very beginning of this book. For you see, by the time they got to chapter 15, not only have they had it preached to them evangelistically that Jesus Christ is God who became a man, but that had been squarely laid out even in the introduction of this epistle. If we read in verse 1, Paul called an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sostenes, our brother, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who in every place, now watch this, call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Jesus is his name for humanity, title is Christ, and Lord is deity. Remember, in the Roman Empire, they were required to say once a year, not Jesus Christ is Lord, but Caesar is Lord, he is deity, he is God. But no, as believers, we call on the name of Jesus Christ, our God, our Lord. Verse 3, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, emphasizing again His person and His work. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to me by Christ Jesus, both deity and humanity put together there again, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when we get back to 1 Corinthians 15, and he tells them, what did I preach you? That Christ died for our sins. He's already defined who Christ was previously in his evangelistic preaching. He's Jesus Christ, our Lord. Very clear. He's God who became a man. And by the way, again, in many cases, this is assumed. Now, if you were in India, in fact, we asked Daniel Oswald this, in India, do you make it clear that Jesus Christ is God, the one and unique God, so that they don't add Him to the 99 other gods He has? He says, well, absolutely. He's God. He's God. In fact, someone pointed out to me a couple years ago in our little booklet, Truths We Must See and Belief, in order to be saved, that in doing so, we had no statement that defined who Jesus Christ is. I said, well, thank you. So I made a change the good news of the gospel point to centers in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary the eternal son of God. Jesus Christ became a man and died in our place taking the penalty or punishment we justly deserve. And you know in the context in which we use this in our country in many cases in most cases that is sufficient. Now, if someone hung up with his deity, I would take more time on his deity. But again, most people aren't in our situation. The second thing we notice about the Gospel is that it centers in a specific work. And that work is underscored by attaching to that work the phrase, according to the Scriptures. Verse 3, it says, For I deliver to you first of all that which I also receive, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. What Scriptures? The Old Testament Scriptures that predicted His death, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 12, and so forth. That Christ died. And why did He have to die? Because the penalty for sin is death. By the way, could God die? No, but God who became a man could die, Hebrews 2.9, which means implicit in the idea of Christ dying is His humanity as well. And having paid for our sins upon that cross through death, the proof that He died is He was buried. The fact that He was buried is not the gospel. It's the proof, the evidence that He died. Verse 3 goes on to say, or verse 4, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He rose again. And what is the proof of that? He was seen. Now do you have to believe he was seen in order to be saved? No. According to the Scriptures is not attached to being seen. It is attached to the fact that he rose again. which was proof that God was satisfied with what He did, as well as was proof of His deity. For Jesus Christ to conquer death means, according to Romans 1, verses 1-4, He was declared to be the Son of God with power through the resurrection from the dead. It declared Him as God, because who else has ever risen from the dead? The third thing we note in the gospel and content is for our sins. He died for our sins, which, by the way, is only attached to his death. He was not buried for our sins. He was not raised for our sins. Because on that cross, he died and he got the job done once for all, as he died for you and he paid for your sins, past, present, and future, lock, stock, and barrel, bar, not. And the response to this gospel is faith alone in Christ alone. That's why verse 2 ended by saying, you believed in vain. Unless you believed in vain. But look at verse 11. Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach, preach what? The gospel. And so you what? Believe. That's the only response required. Not anything else. You just believe. You believe the gospel. Now notice closely in this definition of the gospel, When you preach the gospel, you don't have to preach the virgin birth. The virgin birth is not the gospel. Now, I believe in the virgin birth, but it's not the gospel. You don't have to preach the hypostatic union of Christ and how two natures dwelt in one person. You don't have to preach that he ascended into heaven, though he did. You don't even have to preach that he was the Messiah of Israel, as that is not required by the New Testament epistles. But you do preach His person, His work, and His accomplishment so that people know who to believe in and why they should believe in Him. So as we think of even what is not the gospel, we have many false gospels again in our day. We have the sacramental gospel that teaches that through the sacraments, grace is channeled to you so that you become a child of God. How confusing for people to hear. One week you're saved by grace through faith, and the next week, baptizing babies for the forgiveness of sin. Then there's the social gospel. You know, just love God and love people and you'll go to heaven. That is not the gospel we just preached and just read about. Or the psychological gospel, which means your real problem isn't sin, it's the fact that you got off on the wrong side of the bed when you were three and you just never recovered. So you need long-term therapy along with a lot of medication in order to have your problem solved. Or there's the prosperity gospel that says God wants you healthy, wealthy, and wise. You just need to claim it in Jesus' name, you know, as they say it. Or there's the lordship gospel that teaches you not only have to believe in Christ as Savior, but you need to submit to Him as master in your life, evidenced by ongoing fruitfulness or faithfulness, or you are not saved. That is not the gospel we just read. Or there's the non-eternal security gospel, you know, He loves me, He loves me not, depending on how I'm doing. Or the garbled gospel, or the crossless gospel. And the crossless gospel is the new kid on the block. It teaches that you don't have to believe Jesus Christ is God, you don't have to believe He's a man, you don't have to believe He died for your sins, and you don't have to believe He rose again. You just have to believe in Jesus, however you understand Him, for eternal life, that's all. And you know that we've been involved in that doctrinal controversy here. And the positive aspect of doctrinal controversy is it forces people to go back to the Bible, search things out, clarify things. And we have not abandoned our position, though we have refined it in some ways because we were forced to through this issue. The negative aspect of doctrinal controversy is sometimes people get sucked into the controversy and others get discouraged by it. But dear friends, this cross, this gospel, is a real problem. It was a real problem in the Church of Word of Grace Bible Church down in Milwaukee, where there were people, by virtue of receiving material from the Grace Evangelical Society, were beginning to embrace that gospel, and Tom Spiegel had to address it. It was a potential problem here, as again, people in our church were also getting that same material of the Grace Evangelical Society, which I have been a member of since the late 80s. which later withdrew in light of this issue. So this wasn't hypothetical, it was happening right with Word of Grace and potentially happening here. And so in our little Grace Family journal, we began to address it. But before we did, we approached some of the key leaders that were teaching this and they would not repent. We then began to write some articles about this, because we were just desperately concerned that the purity of the gospel was being compromised. We did not relish a battle. We had done the same with Lordship Salvation, King James only, and other issues in our journal. And even since then, the crossless gospel issue has not been a drumbeat over this pulpit at Duluth Bible Church. The fallout of taking that stand is we were initially accused by some of being unloving, critical, judgmental. Others were taken by surprise, saying, oh, they don't really believe that. But over time, it's become very clear that they do. Our motives were attacked, but there were some also very positive responses. In fact, many who have thanked us for the stand we have taken. Now, in some cases, there was national negative feedback towards me and Tom and our church and so forth. And I don't know how we could have avoided that, to be honest, once we took a stand. But it's ironic, you know, at times when you start thinking about those things. I got a phone call from a pastor in Texas, a man that I had never met before, I had heard of before, but never met. And he called me and he just said, you know, I just want you to know, as a pastor of a Bible teaching church in Bible circles outside of Minnesota, that Duluth Bible Church has a very good reputation among Bible teaching churches. And we are very grateful for the stand you've taken even on this issue. In fact, Dr. J.B. Hickson, who was the director of the Free Grace Alliance, told me in an email here this past year that the stand that has been taken has been so important and significant and has been of great help to many, many believers. And you know, we just thank the Lord for that. Because we are to earnestly contend for the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints. And yet controversy is not fun. I don't like it. In fact, one of the reasons I'm convinced at times people even shun away from taking a clear stand is they don't want to suffer for the gospel and for the fallout that comes from that. As there is fallout. But I don't know of any message, dear friends, that's worth fighting for more. Do you? Now, I'm not saying that, nor are we looking for something out there to say, I am of Dennis Rodson. I am of Tom Steele. I am of Duluth Island Church. For as we go back to 1 Corinthians 3, we realize that that would not be good. Because verse 5 says, who then is Paul? Who is Apollos? The ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one. I planted Apollos' water, but God gave the increase so that neither he who plants anything, but he who waters, but God who gives the increase. And you see, he's saying this because in their carnality they were exalting human leaders and they needed to have their perspective balanced and changed. In fact, let me give you four principles about this that you need to come to grips with. Number one, you need to recognize God's servants as just that, servants of Christ. That's what he says in verse 5. Who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers through whom you believe? The word minister means servant. It's diakonos. It speaks of a household servant. Which, by the way, was not a high calling to say, I'm a household servant. Now, interesting in chapter 4, verse 1, he says, Let a man still consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it's required in stewards that one be found faithful. Servants of Christ. Now, here he uses a different word, huperates. And a huperate, again, was a servant. Kind of interesting it was used actually in reference Though it doesn't mean this technically, but it was used in reference of someone on a Greek warship called a trirene, in which there was three set of oars, the person who was rowing on the lowest level of an oarsman. Now, when you start a rally around someone like that, no, not at all. He says, when the books are written, write it down, I'm just a huperates, and I've just been a steward of the mysteries of God. And it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. And faithfulness means doing what God wants me to do in the way God wants me to do it. But the term he used back in chapter 3 is diakonos. It speaks of a servant. It's used at times of a table waiter. And as I've said before, I have the wonderful privilege every Sunday and Wednesday, if not in between, to be a table waiter. And I'm just trying to get the food from the kitchen to the table without spilling it. And I'm trying to serve it as delicious as possible, as interesting as possible, as contextually accurate as possible, but I can't make you eat it. I can't get you saved. And even as a believer, I can't make you apply it. And I can't make you spiritual. In fact, you can sit here for years, as some have done, and not really swallow and allow truth to really affect you. And so, he says, when you look at your human leaders, when you look at those who have taught you the Word of God, those who have planted the church or watered the Word there, just remember they are servants, serving the Lord Jesus Christ, serving, hopefully in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter, serving with the love of Christ compelling them. The second thing you need to note is they are instruments of Christ. They are instruments. Verse 5 says, Who then is Paul and who is Apollos? The ministers through whom you believed. The word through is the Greek word dia. It means through as a means or as an instrument. They are just instruments of Christ. They are just the conduit God used in the preaching of the Gospel. The idea in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 8 is they are just the clay pot that was used. And some of those clay pots were used be chamber pots by whom you believed. And that's the issue. God used them to preach the Word of God to you so that you could believe the Gospel. And you know, I have the wonderful privilege again with great responsibility of teaching you time and time again the Word of God here. And I'm just the instrument. The bottom line is, what does the Bible say? But Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 10, but by the grace of God I am what I am. And His grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. He never lost sight of grace, at least on this occasion. The third thing you want to note is you need to realize that God determines the place of these servants, the sphere of their influence, and the results of their service. He says there at the end of verse 5, who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believe as the Lord gave to each one. The Lord gave those servants to you, the Lord determined that they would serve you in your location, and the Lord even determined the results as God gives the increase. And that's why when it comes to your place or sphere of ministry, you can relax, don't force it, rest by faith, be willing and available, abiding in Christ, and let the Lord use you as you walk with Him. And who knows where the Lord wants to use you? In Kazakhstan, Germany, El Salvador, Zambia, or maybe El Salvador or someplace around the United States. Who knows? But I can tell you this, I know where the Lord wants to use you first and foremost. Right here, where you live. That's where He wants to use you. You say, oh, I don't know if I'll ever make a mission trip. I'm just a mother at home. You have a great ministry, mothers, in raising up those children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And beyond that is the Lord leads. Grandmothers. I've been pretty incapacitated lately. How about that ministry of prayer? What a great ministry! And then the Lord can use you as well, even in witnessing to the lost and serving the saints in whatever way He sees fit. But I want you to know, even as you think of Paul planting the church at Corinth, do you know he did so through being sent out by his own local church in Antioch? In fact, if you read Acts 13 and 14 closely, and then the following missionary journeys as well, you would see that these missionaries, Paul and Barnabas and the others, were selected from their local church, they were serving in their local church, they were sent out by their local church, they were supported primarily by their local church, they were specifically accountable to their local church, and they were spiritually refreshed right back in their local church. And even though God determined their sphere of influence, it all came through the local church. And that is why I wrote years ago these very words. Thus, it is clear from Scripture that God has chosen local churches. as the focal point of his ministry today, including missions. Any missionary agency following this biblical blueprint must view itself as a servant and not a sovereign to those churches. The mission's existence would serve to enhance and facilitate this divine model and mandate given to the local church, not vice versa. And by the way, I wrote that and gave that to a mission agency because I am convinced that's exactly what the Bible teaches. So God is the one who determines your place of ministry, your sphere of ministry, even the results of ministry, as God is the one who gave the increase, we're told there. Which leads us to our fourth principle. In fact, there are five. Number four, for those who have too low of a view of God's service, and there are some. You know, he's just a man. He's just this. He has B.O., which he does. Especially on a warm day like this with a long shirt on. You know, you want to shake my hand, but don't get too close probably. For those who have too low of a view of them, you need to greatly appreciate them for their work's sake. In fact, notice what Paul says in verse 6. I planted. Aren't you thankful for God's servants who plant local churches? And Apollos watered. And God used Apollos, but God gave the You know, as it relates to Duluth Bible Church, Pastor Leonard Radke planted, I watered, others have come along, and God has given the increase. And that is why 1 Thessalonians 5 says, verses 12 and 13, that I urge you, brethren, to know them that labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and esteem them highly in love for their work's sake. So you have carnal believers who esteem them too high, and then you have other believers who esteem them too low. And you know, even as I think of my own pastor, I am just so thankful. Because he, without question, has been the most spiritually significant person in my entire life in teaching me the Word of God and modeling ministry for me. In fact, when I think of him, I think of Abel in Hebrews 11 at the end of the verse, and through it, he being dead, still speaks in so many ways. Pastor Adjaye still speaks through me among others. I think of my good friend, Jay Chappell, who went home to be with the Lord. And you know, when I spoke at his memorial service, I esteemed him highly and loved him for his work's sake. Very gracious, faithful, servant, who loved the Word of God and taught it. I think of Dr. John Whitcomb. So thankful that at the age of 85, he's not fighting for home. He's rounding the bases serving Jesus Christ. I think of John and Lynn White for over 40 years serving. John Planton. John watered because he didn't have anybody else, along with lead. And God has given the increase. And I'm so thankful for the elders of our church, for the staff of our church, for our deacons, and for you as I know that this is a body ministry. It is a team ministry. And God uses us in various ways. We should be so grateful. But let me end by saying, number five, for those who have too high a view of God's servant, you need to realize that in themselves they are nothing, for it is God who gives the increase. They are nothing. Verse 7, so then neither he who plants is anything. In other words, he's nothing. He waters, but God gives the increase. The Lord is everything. You don't exalt the paintbrush, you exalt the artist. You don't exalt the baseball bat, you exalt the slugger. You don't exalt the oven, you exalt the chef. You don't exalt the hockey stick, you exalt the goalie. You don't say, wow, look at that hockey stick. Wow, isn't that great? What a hockey stick. No. God says you are nothing. And by the way, when you see that word nothing, you kind of get irritated, uptight, a little bugged underneath because you think you're something. But the fact of the matter is God takes nothings who look to Him and uses them to do something for Christ, while He has to take those who think they are something and show them they are nothing as God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. We're nothing. And that's what God is looking for. Those who realize they're nothing in themselves. but are willing to rejoice and rely on the Lord Jesus Christ. For Psalm 62 verse 9 says, surely men of low degree are vapor, men of high degree are a lie. If they are weighed on the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor or air. How heavy is air? Not very heavy. You see, God designed it this way so that we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of man. No wonder we would read later here in chapter 3, verse 16. Do you not know that you are the temple, as a local church, you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God through this ongoing carnality and divisiveness, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. This is not a threat of the loss of salvation. This is a warning of divine discipline. Verse 18, let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, you think highly of your own thought processes. Let him become a fool that he may become wise by embracing God's perspective. 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 Why? For all things are yours. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, God gave them to you as gifts. For the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's. In other words, to God be the glory, great things. He has done. He has done. Now how does all of this apply to you? If you're here today and you are saved by the grace of God, you need to keep your eyes, your focus, your thinking on Jesus Christ in light of the gospel and develop a proper biblical balance about people. About people. But if you're here today and you do not know Christ, you are not saved, you don't know where you're going to spend eternity, you need to put your faith in Jesus Christ plus nothing to settle the issue of your eternal destiny. Why? Because Jesus Christ paid a debt that He did not owe so that we could receive the gift of salvation that we did not deserve. And He did that for you, dear friends. He's offering to you salvation as a gift. But mercy's gate is for sinners only who would come with nothing in their hand to offer God, but only an empty hand and a heart of faith in Christ alone to receive from God salvation as a gift. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for your word here. May we take these things to heart Father, thank You for Jesus Christ. Thank You for the Gospel. May we never stray from it. May we go back to it time and time again. May we rejoice in Christ in light of it. May we preach it. May we defend it. May we believe it. May we be sanctified in light of it, even in our Christian lives. Thank You so much. May we keep our eyes on Him. And the grace you have shown to us, may we show to others while speaking the truth in love. For indeed, we know that Duluth Bible Church, Father, like Heritage Trail and other churches throughout our land that are teaching your word and truth, preaching the gospel, are special targets of the wiles of the devil. Father, we pray there would be no schism among us. We pray that in light of Your grace, we would have humble hearts rejoicing in Christ, striving together for the faith of the Gospel. We pray in Jesus' name.