1 Corinthians 3, verses one through nine. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. And he that planteth and he that watereth are one. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. This morning I want to bring a message from this text. And the subject of my sermon is Stunted growth, stunted growth. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, and while it is true at any church of the Lord Jesus Christ, there would have been varying degrees of maturity within that church, just like there are here in this church. There were some who may have been newly saved and others who maybe should have been matured saints. Some who would have been able only to handle the milk of the word and some who would have been able to, who should have been able to feast on the more advanced food, the meat of the word as the King James translates it here. Uh, and, and, and, and, and he likens this, uh, to something that they would have, that they would have recognized. And, uh, something that you and I recognize that, uh, as it is in the physical world, so it is in the spiritual that, uh, in, uh, in childhood, there is development. A baby can only handle milk. And as the baby grows and develops, then eventually you get on to more advanced foods. But what he's writing here is not a compliment to the church at Corinth. In fact, what he's saying there is that he could not speak to them as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. Rather, he's having to deal with them as if they were babes in Christ, as if they were newborn children who can only handle milk. So he's treating the church regardless of how long they've been saved, regardless of how mature that they thought they were or they should have been. He's dealing with them as babies. Now, if you've got a child and you notice that that child is not able to handle anything but milk, In the beginning, that's not a problem. Out of the womb, that's a good thing. You want that baby to have milk. But after two or three, four, five, six, seven, eight years, that's an alarming problem. There's a development issue, and so it is spiritually. Remember what I preached in chapter two? There was a marked difference between the unbeliever and the believer as far as the word of God goes. Yes, these people had the spirit. Paul calls them brethren in our text. He addresses them as a church, as saints in chapter one and verses one and two. You can go over there with me for just a moment as a reminder. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God, which is accordance to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all, then in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Later, he would write about how that they are the temple of God and how that the spirit dwells in them. In chapter three, verse 16, look there. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. In chapter six, in verse 11, He says, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And so he describes them as washed, as sanctified, as justified. So these people, they had the spirit, they had the word as it had been given at the time, so they were better off than someone who was lost. But their growth was stunted. They were, as I said, like the immature child who should be on solid food, like the seven or eight-year-old who should be on solid food already but can't because of some physical problem. This, though, is a spiritual issue here at Corinth. And so Paul writes to them, and he says there in verses one and two, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. What's the problem? What's going on with them? If it's your child, you're going to rush that child over to the doctor and you're going to say, doctor, there's a problem with my baby. He loves the milk. But every time we try to give him any baby food, every time we try to give him a hamburger, he's not taking it. He rejects it, teen, spits it up. He doesn't handle it. His body rejects it. Something's going on. Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says four in verses three and four, for he are yet carnal. For as there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? For while one saith, verse four, I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos, Are you not carnal? He says, brethren, there's a problem here. There's a problem. I can't speak with you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as fleshly. I'm dealing with you as fleshly people, even as babes in Christ. Think about this, when somebody is saved, there's a change in them, but it's not an immediate change. A person who is saved still has a lot of the world going on. He says, you're yet carnal and you're yet fleshly. The church at Corinth was indeed the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church at Corinth had, as its members, saved people, but the church was out of order. And it was fault of these divisions. And what was going on? He says that you're carnal and walk as men. The church, beloved, had gotten to the place where they had elevated men to a place where Jesus was supposed to be. Think about this. Churches don't build monuments, elevate people up to a place of high ranking like what they were doing. We don't build monuments like the world does. Why? Because the church is different. There was division going on. Paul says, there's a problem here. Think about the history of this church. We have some who are visiting, some who have been here for a long while, and some who haven't, but we all have different histories. Some might say, well, I'm here of this church, you know, we all have different backgrounds, different histories. Some say, well, I'm here of this church. And someone might say, well, I'm of Reggie Moore. Someone else might say, well, I'm of Doug Newell. Someone else might say, well, I'm of Rob Jeffries. Someone else might say, I'm of David Green. Another might say, well, I was, I'm new here. I wasn't of any of these. I was baptized of Gene Tiger or James Hobbs. And someone else might say, well, I don't even know what y'all are talking about. and I'm of so-and-so else. And what is this? History then repeats itself, very similar to what was going on at Corinth. The scripture is applicable. This is why this is recorded here, not to embarrass the church at Corinth, but so that we all may learn from this. And a lot of times, when we think of Corinth, we think of Corinth as being the church that had a fornicator in its midst, and that's part of it. We think of Corinthians as being the letter about the head covering. That's part of it, too. We think of Corinth as being this or that, but beloved. This is the divided church. And unless we learn from this example, we'll miss this and repeat the same trouble in our own lifetimes. He says, for you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? In other words, you're fleshly and not spiritual. Do not put men, even good men, on a high plane, on a pedestal, in order to follow them and cause division. You'll stunt the growth in your personal life and even in the life of the church. In verse five, he says, who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed even as the Lord gave to every man. Paul reminds the church that Paul and Apollos were the ministers, the servants by whom you believed. Now, you and I, we have, all of us, that special man in our life, that special pastor, that special missionary, that special individual who maybe was key or perhaps played a part in in our life when we came to know the Lord or when we came to know the doctrines of grace, when we came to learn about the church or some key part in our life that was special to us. Perhaps he took us under our wing and helped us out in our lifetime or whatever. And we've got that, and we should thank God for that individual, that pastor, that person, whoever he was. But whether it's Paul or Apollos, whether it's Reggie Moore, Doug Newell, James Hobbs, Gene Keiger, whoever it was, nobody builds a movement, a monument around a servant. And that's all we are, you see. And that's what the church at Corinth was doing. That's the mistake that they had made. They had shifted their focus from Christ and now their eyes were on Apollos, and Peter, and Paul, and they were all divided, and there was all this division going out. John MacArthur, in his commentary, I believe it was that I was reading, he said, the cure for division is turning away from self and setting our eyes on the one God whom we all glorify. When our attention is focused on our Lord, as it always should be, There will be no time and no occasion for division. When our attention is on him, it cannot be on ourselves or on human leaders or human factions. Paul says to them, he says here in verses six through eight, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then, Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." Paul doesn't get into this spat with them and say, well, here's what was good about about Apollos, and here's what's good about Peter, and here's what's good about Paul. And now remember, y'all had this trouble with Apollos, and remember you had this trouble, no, no, no, he doesn't get into all that. He doesn't say, now hold on a minute. Why don't y'all just remember I'm better than... No, no, he doesn't do that either. He doesn't get into their petty competitions. These men, some of them had come and gone. Some of them maybe hadn't even been in Corinth. You know, we know Apollos had been, I'm not sure about Peter, but for sure Apollos had been there, for sure Paul had been there, Paul had been there for 18 months, right? These ministers that they were divided over, they were all laborers in the field. They weren't enemies one of another. Obviously they had their differences. go over into Galatians, and you'll read about how we won't go there now. I mean, I preached on it on Wednesday nights in my series on Galatians. You can go back and listen to that on Sermon Audio. But obviously, Peter and Paul had had a disagreement. Paul doesn't bring that up in here. if it had happened by this time or not. Even if it had, he didn't bring it up here. Why? This wasn't the time. Now in the context, it did matter to his letter at Galatia, but here it didn't matter. These men were not enemies one of another. They were working in the same field. And we need to realize this as we think about this and consider this thing. The problem is not Peter, Apollos, Paul. The problem is not even the role of a pastor. You know, some men will read a text like 1 Corinthians chapter three, and they'll get into this and they'll say, well, Paul and Apollos, just another one of the guys. And so they'll say, there's no need for a pastor. And they'll just throw it off. Understand the context here. We've been given, the complete canon of Scripture. And within the canon of Scripture, we have to understand what's going on. First of all, in the greater scheme of things, Christ is the head of the church. In Ephesians chapter five, in Ephesians chapter five and verse Verse 23. Ephesians 5 and verse 23, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. He is the savior of the body. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. He's the savior of the body. What's he talking about here? Well, he's writing to a church at Ephesus. He's telling the church at Ephesus that Christ is the head of the church. Christ was the head of the church of Ephesus, and guess what? Christ is the head of the church at Corinth, and Christ is the head of this church as well. Over in Colossians chapter one, Colossians chapter one, Beginning verse, let's start with verse 12 here. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and by him, all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he might have the preeminence. And so at the church of Colossae, he tells them, he says, Christ is the head of the body. He is to have the preeminence. Christ was to have the preeminence at the church at Corinth. He was the head of the body, and so it is here. So it is for every church. Christ is the head of the church. Now, no pope, no priest, no council, no group of people, no individual is to take preeminence away from Him. That's what was happening at Corinth. Where Christ is not preeminent, someone else will be, and that's what was going on at Corinth. There was division. The deeds of the flesh were being made manifest. You can go to Galatians and see how that is. There were factions, there were divisions. That was happening. It wasn't Paul's fault. It wasn't Peter's fault. It wasn't Apollos' fault. These men were squabbling over their favorite individuals. Paul is writing to correct that. He says, you are the problem. You are fleshly and not spiritual. All you can handle is milk and not meat. As head of the body, the resurrected Christ has given to his church's pastors. In fact, in Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four, beginning verse 11, And he, meaning the resurrected Christ, gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we come in the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive. This being the truth and love may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." So again, we see Christ is the head, but Jesus as the head of the church has gifted to his church, pastors and teachers. Of course, there were other gifts that were given. apostles, prophets. Those were early on in the age of the church. But now what we have are pastors and teachers. And so what we have here is this truth. Now, some people read what was going on in Corinth, and they have a knee-jerk reaction and go into this idea and say, well, there was division over men at Corinth. And Paul says here, who is Paul, who is Apollos, ministers whom you believed. Even as the Lord gave to every man, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then he that planteth, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God giveth the increase. And so they say, well, so they go off into these ideas. There are churches out there, so-called brethren churches, or simply congregational churches where there are no pastors, no elders, but just men who will do some teaching or preaching in a rotation. And they have no pastors or elders or anything of that sort, but this is to reject the gift that is given to the Lord's churches. This is to reject the biblical pattern, which is, as we went through the book of Acts, clearly an elder-led congregationalism. Notice the balance that is given here in 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter chapter five. I think this is very important. Begin in verse one. He says to them, the elders which are among you, I exhort. who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being in samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. He tells the elders, the elders are pastors. He says, feed the flock. In other words, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you. He says to them, take the oversight thereof. God has a man. an under shepherd, if you will, which he has in place. And while it's true that the warning here is given not to Lord, that is a fact. Verse three, he never intended for his churches to be to be lorded over by a pastor. Dictators don't belong in the pastorate. He is He is not to be a tyrant, but while that's true, it is also true that the authority is given. He says, feed the flock, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint. Leadership is given there. It's not given to a deacon. It's not given to a deacon board. It's not given to a longstanding member. God's pattern is clear here. He's not the chief shepherd. Jesus is the chief shepherd. The pastor is an under-shepherd. This is where the church at Corinth had made the mistake. They were making these men into something they weren't. Over in Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. In Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17. Obey them to have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls. It's they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us that we trust we have a good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly." The writer of Hebrews tells them, he says here, Obey those that have the rule over you. Who is this? Who is this? This is the pastors that have been given a mighty responsibility. Where was the church of Corinth going wrong? Well, they were going wrong because they were slandering these men, pitting one against another. And beloved, that happens sometimes. That happens. Beloved, in our context, in our context, I'm no better than Reggie, Reggie was no better than Doug, and on and on we go. We'll not turn there, but if you go over to 3 John, there's a man written about whose name is Deutrophes. He loved to have the preeminence. Now, some people assume that he was the pastor, but John doesn't give him that title. He might've been, but he might not have been. He might've been a bully deacon or a long-term church member. No matter who he was, he was out of line. He was out of line. Go in there and read that. In light of what we're studying in Corinthians, understand churches are very complex. Christ is to have the preeminence. That's the bottom line. In Romans chapter 11 and verse 13, Romans chapter 11 and verse 13, Paul said, for I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Paul magnified his office. Paul didn't magnify himself. He didn't go in there to Corinth and say, I'm going to magnify who I am. He didn't write to the Romans and say, I want you to look at who I am. Now, I understand. In Romans 11, verse 13, he's not talking about the office of the pastor. But I agree with B.H. Carroll, who took this text in 1892, preached a sermon called A Sermon to Preachers. And he said in that sermon in 1892, He said, the fairness and safety of this wider application may be gathered from the first scripture read, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16, in which it is alleged that God gave apostles, pastors, teachers, and evangelists for the same glorious purpose. Therefore, if the office of one is to be magnified, so the office of the others to the same end. Hence the theme, the office of a minister must be magnified, glorified always, everywhere, and by all incumbents. I'm not here to tell you how great I am, and neither was Paul, and neither was B.H. Carroll. But I am here to tell you that there is something far better than the petty arguments and disagreements that happen between people, like what was going on at the Church of Corinth, and it stunted their growth. I magnify not David Green, not James Hobbs, who baptized me. I magnify mine office, and I glory in Jesus Christ. His church is great. And that includes the office of the pastor. It has to be. It has to be that way. He's given it. He's given it. They muddled it up terribly at Corinth. They muddled up the whole thing. And one group thought they were better than the other. And no doubt, Paul and Apollos, Peter, they were all great men. And they all thought they were doing something great for the cause of Corinth. But the result was that the church was going nowhere fast. Paul reminded them. So we go back to our text in 1 Corinthians 3. Verses six through nine. I've planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth. but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth, he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are labors together with God. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. They all should have been working together for the cause of Christ. I don't know how long I'll be here. I don't know how long the church at Corinth was around, but I do know this. I do know that if you go back to the Old Testament, Jeremiah was one of God's most faithful, dedicated prophets. Yet he saw very little results in his ministry. He was ridiculed, he was persecuted, and he was generally rejected through most of, or if not all of, his time on earth. On the other hand, you look at someone like Jonah. Jonah was a petty prophet. He was unwilling. Yet through him, God won the entire city of Nineveh in one brief campaign. What am I saying? I'm saying this, that when you look back on the lives of your former pastors, you look at the lives of whoever, whatever, and even look back on my life someday, just know this, our usefulness and effectiveness, and that includes yours too, is purely by God's grace. God's saying here through Paul, as he writes under the inspiration of the Spirit, we're just water boys and plow boys. We plant, we water, but God gives the increase. Why are we gonna elevate these men and squabble over them when you know there wouldn't be nothing except God's grace? Don't be elevating me or somebody else to a level that we ought not to be elevated to. But beloved, let us understand God's got to get the glory in all that we do. And with that, we'll close and Lord willing, we'll pick up where we left off next time.