Adopting the Spirit of the World Brings the deconstruction of the Church
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Intro:
Intro:
well we have been going through the book of 1 Corinthians. And what we have been addressing is the fact that the church in Corinth was a church that was surrounded by a perverted society, a society that was accepting of different human philosophies or ways of thinking. We talked about how these things within the culture had begun to make its way into the church.
the church in Corinth began to adopt some of these philosophies, some of the practices and habits of the world around it and this really began the deconstruction of the church.
every decision to allow the practices and habits of the world to enter the church was one more stone that was beginning to be removed from the church until you would have a church that would be in ruins.
and what we have been trying to do is to make it a point to say that the same dangers that the early Church in Corinth had are the same dangers we have today. There are worldly human philosophies that the world is pushing even today that we have looked at like wokeness, CRT, intersectionality, gender fluidity etc… that many churches and Christians have bought into.
And just like adopting of the spirit of the culture was the downfall of the church in Corinth, so i can become the downfall of our lives. And so this is what we want to have in mind as we move through the book.
I. Paul did not come with Human Wisdom (v.1-5)
- now as we read this there are some things that Paul tells us about his coming to the City and the purpose
1. He did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom of men (v.1)
- Paul did not make it his concern to have an eloquent sermon that would convince people to believe. Now it wasn’t that Paul couldn’t do that, because when he was in Athen’s on Mars Hill he gave an amazing sermon that today is it still views as a great speech, or sermon.
2. He was determined not to know anything except Jesus and Him crucified (v.2)
- The message that Paul wanted to speak on was nothing but Jesus and His crucifixion. This was the center of his message that he wanted to focus on as he was in Corinth.
- Determined- speaks of discipline, of intent, of having a purpose for doing something.
- Paul made it his purpose to know Jesus and his crucifixion more and more, to make this the center of his pursuit and to be the main focus of his teaching and preaching.
- See Eloquence of speech can often affect people and draw a crowd. People can can moved without being not changed. The message of the cross that Paul came to preach was not meant to just move people with excellent speech but it was meant to bring transformation to people with truth.
3. He came in weakness and fear (v.3)
- Paul tells us that his coming to the City was in humility not in the pride of his own wisdom or knowledge.
4. His speech was not with persuasive words of human wisdom but of the spirit and of power(V.4-5)
Paul tells us that he did not come with Persuasive words or human wisdom to try to convince people. But he came in the spirit of God and the power of God,
- There is a contrast that can be inferred here. Human wisdom and persuasive words are of the flesh and have no power. Paul came in the spirit of God and spoke words that have power.
as we mentioned before, persuasive words have the ability to move people emotionally but they don’t have the power to transform people. Paul was interested in seeing the lives of the people in Corinth changed, not just worked up emotionally.
- the intent of Paul’s message was so that the people would build their faith in something with substance and with power, he did not want the people to build their faith in something that sounded good but had no substance, no power. Unfortunately today you have many people who have built their faith on things that sound good to their ears but have no real substance, no power to change their lives.
II. Paul came with the Wisdom of God (v. 6-9)
- Paul is saying he spoke wisdom among the mature. There is a contrast here that Paul is talking about between those who are both believers in Christ and mature in Christ and those who do not know Christ.
- Paul gives us insight that he did not come with wisdom of men…. But he spoke in the wisdom of God , that wisdom which has been hidden from those who do not believe.
- Paul makes it clear, that this was evident in those who crucified Jesus. The truth was right in front of them in Jesus, and they still they did not see Him. There was a spiritual blindness to truth. There was a blindness to the wisdom of God. Paul is telling us therefore, that he came with this wisdom of God to fellow believers who would understand this wisdom.
III. God Reveals His Wisdom (v. 10-15)
A. The Hidden Wisdom (v.10-12)
- Paul told us that this wisdom of God( the gospel message), a way of salvation, was hidden from the world. He now tells us that God has revealed it to us through The Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that knows all things and searches all things and reveals all things to us concerning God.
Now in v.12 we are told that we have not received the spirit of this world but we have received the spirit of God. And this is important to key in on.
you remember when we started looking at the culture of the City we said one of the main failures the church in Corinth had was that it allowed the Spirit of the culture to enter to Church.
Contrast of Worlds
What is the Spirit of the World?
- The spirit of the world is….
- the current culture’s way of thinking, way of living, way of behaving that is in opposition to the ways of God. This culture is all moving in a certain direction and it is being lead by Satan. This is what Paul was talking about in the City of Corinth. This spirit of the world is still active today in our world.
What is the Evidence that the Spirit of the World is at work in our world today?
A. We have people who are Walking according to the course of this world ( Eph.2:1-3)
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
- Satan is working and directing the world according to his purpose and direction, he is getting people to pursue the lustful things that they desire and think about. Those that do not believe in God are following this course, these path of life, as we did before we believed.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- This spirit of the world lives and does whatever seems right to their hearts regardless if it is morally right or biblically true, but instead they move according to their feelings, their experiences, their own understanding…. This is what the wisdom of the world teaches even today. “ your own feelings, experiences will become your truth”.
- This is who we used to be before Christ…… walking according to the course of this world and living and practicing works of the flesh.
B. We have people who reject truth
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
a culture that rejects an y absolute truth
C. We have people who Reject God
By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
The Spirit From God is ----
- The Spirit from God is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third part of the Trinity, part of God that we receive upon repenting of our sins and placing our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We receive the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy spirit is the one who brings conviction to our lives, who leads us, who teaches us, who instructs us, who enables us for service to God
. ( John 14,16, 1 Cor. 12)
- As we mention the spirit of the World is the culture being directed by Satan, so the contrast is the Holy Spirit leading and guiding God’s people according to God’s will and purpose found within His word, the bible.
What is the Evidence of the Spirit of God living and Working in us.
We will have The ability to see truth
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
- John tells us that we will receive the spirit of Truth who the world cannot see because they cannot see Him or know him
We will Walk in Obedience
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
- The spirit of God working in us creates a love for God which leads to obedience to God.
We will Walk in the spirit (Gal. 5:22-26)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Application
What we are seeing is that there should be a difference in how believers and non believers live, act, think, talk and respond because they are following the leading of two different spirits.
- There should be 2 clear distinct groups of people, the believer and the non believer. But unfortunately there is a 3rd type of person. A believer who has received the Holy Spirit but who has allowed the spirit of the world to influence him. You end up with a carnal man.
- This is what we want to look at today as we talk about the deconstruction of the church.
1. Disunity brings the deconstruction of the church
2. Believing the message of the Cross is foolishness brings the deconstruction
3. Receiving the Spirit of the World brings the deconstruction of the church
now we want to look at these 3 groups of people and try to apply them to our lives.
I. The Spiritual Man(v.12-13)
- The first man we look at is the spiritual man. This is the person who has repented of their sins and has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. As we have mentioned, it is this person who receives the Holy Spirit at this time.
- You have heard the term born again, that is speaking of this very thing. That once we were dead to the spiritual things, or dead in our sins to the things of God, but when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have been forgiven of our sin and have been born again to the spiritual things of God. We have been awaken to the things of God.
- And there are things that begin to happen as I surrender my life to God and as the Holy Spirit works in us….
1. We receive the Holy Spirit to dwell in us (Acts 2:38, John 14:16-18)
2. We have our eyes open to the truth (John 14:17, Acts 26:18, 2 Cor.3:16)
Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
3. Our minds are able to comprehend the truths within God’s word , the bible (1 Cor.2:12, John 14:26)
4. We begin to be set apart or sanctified ( 1 Cor. 6:11)
- As a result I become a new man. My understanding is different, my mind is different and therefore my conduct begins to be different from what it used to be.
- This actually what our winter retreat will be for both High School and Jr high. How we are new creations and therefore should live different because of that.
II. The Natural Man (v.14)
- The natural man is talking about the person who is not a Christian, who has not given their lives over to Jesus as Lord and savior.
- We already looked at the fact that the natural man is the one being lead by the spirit of the world which is lead and directed by Satan.
- But this verse also gives us insight into a few different things.
1. A non-believer does not receive the things of the spirit
- We talked about what God’s spirit produces as he works in us, the spirit of God dwells in us, the spirit of God teaches us, the spirit of God opens our eyes and minds to understand the things of God., the spirit of God sanctifies us or sets us apart,
- These are the very thing that the non believer does not receive.
- and as a result …..
2. The non-believer sees the things of God as foolishness
- We looked at this last week, that the world in its human wisdom sees the things of God, the bible, the message of the cross as foolishness.
- This is why you and I will be made fun of, this is why we will be persecuted. This is why you will lose friends and you won’t be invited to parties or events.
- The world sees the things of God as foolishness and because you believe it , they separate themselves from you and will persecute or make fun of what they don’t understand.
3. The non-believer is Spiritually blind
- We see here that the things of God are only able to be understood and examined in by spirit of God. So a non- believer who does not have the spirit of God opening his eyes, or teaching him , will not be able to see the things of God.
- It’s like a teenage trying to teach a 90 year old how tic tok works and why you do the dance moves your doing, and why the music is what it is , and why your wearing huge pants…. Girls ….
- To a 90 ear old person none of this will make sense. There are some of this doesn’t make sense to me and I’m not 40 yet. You as a teenage are viewing social media through the lenses of your current age and current relative culture.
- in the same way, trying to make a non believer understand the things of God is impossible without the proper lens,it is impossible without the spirit of God opening their eyes, allowing them to view these truths through the lens of the Spirit of God.
III. The Carnal man ( 3:1-3)
- We have established that there should be a clear distinction between two groups of people in the way they think and the way they live or how they behave. The Christian and the non Christian.
- And as Christian who has been born again, just like a baby….. there should be a healthy progression of growing up. Going from a baby state to a toddler, to a young child to a teenager to and adult.
- This is the same thing spiritually speaking that should be taking place in our lives. As we are being taught, we are learning the word of God and this produces growth in us. The more we learn, the more we can understand and the deeper our knowledge can be.
- Paul is saying that he could not teach these believers as spiritual or mature believers but they were like babies, still needing to hear the basic things.
- Paul tells us that the reason these believers were not growing in a healthy manner was because they were carnal.
- Paul introduces us to the next group of people. A Carnal Christian. That word carnal is talking about fleshly, like carne asada, meat or flesh.
- We have the Christian who is supposed to be growing in his understanding of the things of God which translate into him living in a way that pleases God.
- We have the non- Christian who is living according to the course of this world who lives according to his desires and passions.
- Now you have this third group who are Christians who have also adopted the spirit of the world. They have allowed the thoughts of the world to influence them, they have adopted the habits and practices of the world. They are carnal Christians.
- They are not living according to the spirit but not are living according to the flesh. They have moved their affection from God are pursuing the things of this world.
Transition
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
- This passage tells us not to love the things of this world. The worldly system, their thinking , their practices, their habits and their actions……..once I have a love for something, we will pursue after it.
- Whatever you love…. You will put your resources and time into.
- A carnal Christian is one who is loving and pursuing the things of this world, he has opened his heart to the thinking, the practices, the habits and actions of the world.
How do I know if I am loving and pursuing the world ?
When I am desiring the worldly things !
When I am constantly talking about worldly things ?
When I am discontent with Godly things !
When I pursue the worldly system more that the things of God!
Questions
What are you desiring in your heart ?
- What am I also talking about?
- What am I always complaining about ?
- What am I pursuing ? what Music am I listening to , what movies am I watching , what friends am I hanging around?
- When I begin to allow the worldly system into my life, I begin to blend my Christian world view, my mind and thoughts with a worldly world view.
- There is no longer a clear distinction between one or the other, but now my life looks more like the world than that which God has called me to.
Transition
- Understand that sin not matter what size it is big or small will always have great consequences. We can often think that these freedoms that we allow ourselves to have as Christians are a sign of maturity .
- I don’t have those convictions about drinking or about listening to certain music or about watching certain movies like other people do.…. We think I’m mature and those things won’t affect me. This is a lie from Satan.
- The mature Christian is the one who can see the danger in these freedoms and makes the decision to stay away from them because he can see the consequences.
- Justin’s story
Transition
- I fear what we have today is a church who has become the church in the middle. You have more Christians who have adopted the thinking, the practices, the habits and the actions of the world than actually being a church who is different from the world. And this is exactly what Satan wants. If he can get us to compromise and buy into the worldly system, then he knows it will ultimately destroy us, it will begin the deconstruction of the church.
- Let me speak into this for a bit . I went to a public school for most of my life but I also homeschooled. Now I homeschooled for different reasons than you did, I was kicked out of so many schools that they didn’t want me anymore…. I had to do homeschool through a continuation program if I wanted to graduate. I did that for my last 3 years of high school.
- So I can speak on both sides. I find it interesting that as a parent I have tried to tell Maddie and you guys about the danger of following the worldly kids in school. And the danger of giving into the pressure of that.
- But I also find it so heartbreaking that you have homeschool kids dying to be public school worldly kids. They are dying to listen to the same music, to dress the same, the talk the same. And for many, as soon as high school is over and they don’t have to be here anymore, they check out and will dive right into the world system.
- Don’t be fooled by this …… the things you allow into your life will always have consequences and they will be greater than you ever thought you would have to pay.
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“Sin will talk you farther than you ever thought you’d go, it will keep you there longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay”
lack of spiritual growth is linked here to being carnal. The more I take in of the worlds habits, practices and way of living ; the more I will stunt my spiritual growth
we are told that we have the mind of Christ v.15: in other words my mind , the way I think,the way I see, the way I live should be like Christ; I am a new creation
I should not be having the mind of the world, this is what satan desires to do in us
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.