1 Cor. 3.16-23
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
You may be seated.
Good morning everyone.
I know that it has been a few weeks since we have taken a road trip with the Apostle Paul and the letter written to the Church in Corinth. We stopped at verse 15, but we must review everything we covered before finishing the chapter since they all tie together.
We covered verses 9-15 with the tidbits of resulting from God is the Foundation.
God is everything that we stand upon in our walk with Him and our life. Without him, we are adrift and drowning in everything in this World. Jesus died on a cross that paved the way for where we lay our house and the example used by the Author. This house is not an actual house but another fashion to say that we present the jewels at God's feet at the Throne.
Second, we covered that Salvation is permanent, just like a sharpie on plastic wrap. You cannot lose your salvation no matter what, but this does not mean we have fire insurance because then we must debate and ask ourselves if we are genuinely saved. There is no way you can lose your Salvation even if you walk away from the relationship with your Heavenly Father.
Next,
We learned that we are given the materials or spiritual gifts from God to help build his kingdom. Just like when we present our jewels to God in Heaven, we suggest a home. Believers are judged for what they do for the kingdom of God. This does not refer to works in your Salvation because there is nothing you can do to earn your Salvation. Whether you sell everything you own and live in your car, this will not achieve your Salvation. It is good to give unfortunate people, but it does not give you an admission ticket to Heaven.
The fourth point that we covered is that we must take an inventory of ourselves, our relationship with our Heavenly Father, and those around us. What things inside are you hiding from yourself and others. Having a relationship with God means spending time with him and doing this inventory.
The last reminder that we covered was that we all have Spiritual gifts. I know the way I pieced together this previously was not completely clear. We all are given specific abilities that contribute to the kingdom of God. My current Textbook, Classic Christianity, uses the most outstanding example. We all, as followers of Christ, cannot be all eyes or ears. We each have different abilities, skills, and jobs in the secular World and for our Creator. We all add something that we can provide for the kingdom of God. Not everyone is good at technology, but you might be good at being a Gatherer of people. The key to understand and remember is that we all have a job in the kingdom, and these help us present jewels or a house in this case.
Our Title for this weeks Message is Wisdom in man
Now lets dive into the text
1 Cor. 3.16-17
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
The Apostle Paul continues the example of the Temple, but it switches from something that we are building and presenting to our Heavenly Father to something that we are. WE see it first thing in the verse. "Do you not know you are God's Temple? We are walking temples that represent our Heavenly Father. In The Old Testament, the Jewish people had to go to a specific place to talk to their Creator. They had to go to the Temple. It was not like they could hang out near the camels and speak to their Heavenly Father. They had to go to something that they had built. I am not going to go into the details of the Temple, but there was a whole process that went along with it. You had to provide an offering from a pure, unblemished lamb even to get close to the building. This is something completely different than what the Apostle Paul is telling us right now.
We are called to be different from the World. Different in such a fashion that people know that we are followers of Christ. I admit that this is challenging, hard, and sometimes feels impossible, but we cannot and should not give up on becoming more like Christ. It is our second job to Become more like Christ. What is this process called? If you have a seminary degree, you cannot answer because this is year 2 level stuff.
Sanctification - The process of becoming more and more like our Heavenly Father. WE cannot wear the same rags or ripped-up jeans that we had before that contain the World. One Reason why community in Christianity is essential is not just the coffee and snacks you get from Church but also the accountability from your Christian Brothers and Sisters. We all need accountability Partners, and something my lovely wife said hit hard. You are to be different. This is hard in a world where things are getting messier, and you are surrounded by rude, crude jokes, and every other word is something I do not want my daughter to hear.
We have a Heavenly Father that dwells inside of us. The part of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Greek dwells means to live and reside, and it does because without, God we are lost without a road map. We need him every day because we are adrift in the ocean of what we call this world without that relationship. So the text was not meaning that we have a physical temple inside of us but the connection that the Jewish people had when they went to a physical place. The relationship and the link that they felt when they were there. They
Next, we see in verse 17 that our Heavenly Father goes protective of us by stating that if anyone tries to destroy the Foundation of the Church or the people, they will be hurt. Does anyone know what happens when you try and get in between a momma bear and her cubs ??? Not pretty, and this is precisely what will happen in this verse that the author presents to us. It can get confusing because Jesus and the Apostle Paul are the Church's Foundation, but if you do not look closely, you think that the Apostle Paul is looking back at an actual temple or building that is placed somewhere. The Church is not something that can be bought, or someone brings you to. This building is a meeting place of our Church. It does not matter what is written outside the door because a church is us in the pews, not the building. The People are the Church, and we are more critical and matter more than some carpet, ceiling tiles, and chairs. One of the first things I tell people when they say they cannot go to Church at work is that we are the Church. Two or more are gathered in his name.
When it is closing time at work, and there are no customers, we crank up some Christian music or have some deep conversations about our Heavenly Father, like why he allows Cancer or Death. Two or more gathered in his name. The building is just a meeting place, just like the living room or people houses in the New Testament were just a place to put people. The churches in Haiti and Africa do not have fancy buildings and signs, but they love Learning about their Heavenly Father. This is what matters, and our Heavenly Father will go tooth and tongue to protect his children, his chosen individuals that were selected before the Foundation of the earth.
The words of the Apostle Paul stating that God will destroy someone who destroys us brings power into the amount of love that he has for his children. Who recalls the image of an overprotective father with a shotgun in one hand and a shovel in the other hand? God is not playing and will protect us. The appearance and lesson of this are vital because we live in a world that is not exceedingly kind to Believers of Christ. We are the minority now and seek out in some parts of the World to be killed. God will deal with those that have hurt us, killed us, or persecuted us. It is not our job to be judge, juror, and executor. It is our job to spread the Gospel to every soul we see. Our Heavenly Father sees himself in us when they seek to destroy us. We are the Church, and the Foundation is Jesus and the Apostles that played everything down so we can spread the word. We have to tell our young people we will not be the popular kids, but we must be faithful and follow him. I have stolen the saying that being a Christian is not an accessory or something you do when bored from my father-in-law. After hours I told people being a Christian was not unicorns and rainbows - It is Hard.
1 Cor. 3.18
1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
The author throws some absolute truth by stating that you lie to yourself if you think you are wise. Who remembers when they were young in their teens? We thought we knew everything and had everything figured out. We did not need anyone's help, and we were going to do it on our own. If we did not know the answer, we would figure it out our-self. We did not ask for help because that was a sign of weakness. The words of Galatians 6.3
Galatians 6:3
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
The Apostle Paul tells it like it is in Galatians and goes so well with what we see in verse 18. Even some of the greatest minds in this World do not know everything. If we think we know everything, then we have nothing, but we realize that we are not God. We did not hang the stars and lay the foundation of the earth. Then we are wise. WE are smart to rely on our Heavenly Father, spend time with him and follow his advice and commands.
1 Corinthians 3:19–20
For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
You know what I love most about the Apostle Paul is that he is blunt but truthful. He is not going to sugarcoat it for you. Instead, he will tell you what you, as the follower of Christ, needs to hear, and sometimes that stings a little.
Now it is question time. You have two weapons presented to you. One is a Gun, and the other is a hunting knife. Which one is faster and can do more damage?
It does not take long to see that the gun with the bullets will win the fight, but we must apply this same concept to wisdom and God. God is the God with bullets with his knowledge, and our power and wisdom is the hunting knife that is slower and does not seem to help.
The wisdom of this World that we live in is folly which translated to a ridiculous thought. IT is Laughable because the wicked cannot win against the Creator and the sustainer of the World. The enemy and the men of this World will not prevail against our Heavenly Father, and he states it as Clear as Day. He will catch those that are deceitful with their methods and lies. However, more in this statement meets the eyes because the Author is trying something from the Old Testament to the New Testament. We know that the Apostle Paul was very well versed in the Old Testament and grew up learning everything he could.
The Writer uses something from the book of
Job.
know it is not everyone's favorite book because of the events and how Job lost everything but kept his nagging wife. But we know, in the end, he gains more than what he lost. Let us look at it.
Job 5.13
He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
In another part of the Bible, we see in another time frame with different situations, family, and cultural dynamics that No one will outrun or out scheme our God. He will stop what is happening, and even though it might seem like he does not know or is not dealing with the situation does not mean that he is not. We do not see the entire chessboard. WE see a tiny fraction of everything going on in this life, and just like we learned previously in the chapter, we all work together and do not see everything, and we do not know everything.
The idea that people can outsmart the being that created everything is almost hilarious because it is not going to work. It is like trying to play chicken with a semi-truck. Someone is going to get hurt and most likely is going to die. The job is not the only mention of the Phase "Wisdom of the World is Foolishness."
WE see it in Psalm, and what have we learned when something keeps repeating itself most likely means it is crucial to pay attention.
Psalm 94.11
Psalm 94:11
the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are but a breath.
The Reason why I put this in today is that we are not hiding anything from Our heavenly Father. He knows what I will think, do, and even my personality before I know it. WE are nothing but wasted CO2 compared to God. We are nothing, jealous or slaves. We must constantly and consistently remind ourselves because we will not outsmart or outrun the Creator of it all. It has a certain level of comfort to know that even with the bad that goes on in this World, we have a Heavenly Father that has counted our Breaths, our skin cells and has saved us from it. He has adopted us into his family.
1 Cor. 3.21-23
1 Corinthians 3:21–23
So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
The whole premise of this is to understand that we do not know anything. We are nothing, and we did not lay the foundation of the Church but was the labor. WE were not the architect or the designer but the person taking instruction and direction from the father. We are mere humans.
1 Cor. 3.21-23
Net States it just like this
1 Corinthians 3:21–23 (NET)
So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
I love how the net states this—no more boasting or saying how awesome you are, mortals. You are weak, and everything belongs to our Heavenly Father. The author keeps hitting us in the gut to have us understand that we are not unique. The Apostle Paul did not lay the Foundation of the Church but helped build the Church. Apollos was just a teacher spreading the Gospel. Cephas was just doing what he could to help the kingdom of God. Do we see the pattern? We have no earthly clue when we die when we leave this Church or go to the store. WE had no clue that we were going to get hit with something like covid completely. Everything is up to Trinity, the Creator.
So, who remembers old encyclopedias where you had a payment plan and had a whole set of books that you could learn about anything with that letter? I would spend hours and hours reading these old leather books that my mom bought. Now we all carry a cell phone in our pocket. We can google the question or ask Alexa. But, even with our modern technology, we are not wise. We are a part of this earth but not of this world. We are chosen by God to be his children and to be separate from everything that we see. The knowledge we have from this World is nothing compared to the being that made it. So, you know why the sky is blue, but do you have a relationship with the Spiritual being that created the atmosphere out of nothing. Are you living in a world with the World's knowledge with just a little God, or are you a soldier spreading the Gospel for a short time?
We know that we do not have the wisdom or the knowledge, but what about some guys who write millions of books or have authored the books that line our shelves on Theology and complex topics. Are they superhuman? Are they above everyone else? Should we put anyone that has been given the gift of knowledge on a silver Pedestal? If so, we need to do it for Charles Spurgeon's, John Calvin, Gandhi, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, to name a few. All these individuals still have skin, muscles, and lots of bones. If we stab them or shoot them, they will bleed; if they get sick with something that is not curable, they will most likely die. These people, including Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Those that Preach the Gospel, are just people. They put their pants on one leg at a time. They suffer pain; they struggle with the same issues that you face. Yet, the knowledge and wisdom they have is nothing compared to our Heavenly Father.
The individuals do not control anything in this World, and the Apostle Paul was trying to get the Church in Corinth to understand that they are just the teachers or the mouthpiece for their Heavenly Father. They are nothing special because the Holy Spirit is working through them. You were guiding them, giving them the right words to say and how to say them. You can have everything lined up, but if you have no relationship with your Creator, it is just a lecture and not a relationship.
But how can we explain this to our grandchildren, friends, and family when they are told that they can do anything and have the knowledge and the power. Who remembers when they were teenagers? You thought you could do anything, or here is another one your little grandchild thinks that pop-pop or mommy has all the answers to everything in this World. The reason why we have hurricanes or why Mickey went on Vacation?
The Biggest struggle you have in this situation is that you have someone you love and care for those needs to learn from it themselves. Everyone must sometimes realize the hard way that we are not meant to know everything. You can tell a guy something multiple times and multi-methods, but we are hard-headed. Just ask my family I am hard-headed, but it softens as we age and grow as followers of Christ and age. The number of things we all wish we could tell our young teenager self. We are not supposed to have all the answers to everything. Being a Believer is about having a relationship with our Heavenly Father that does have the answers. Additionally, this also requires us to spend time in his word to gain the knowledge and understanding of everything he has done for his adopted children.
Hearing this is ridiculously hard for Type A personality individuals where everything must be perfect with a plan, place, and know precisely what will happen before it happens. Guess what you are not God, your nothing, your skin, and bone. You will turn into dust and worm food.
1 Cor. 3.23
1 Corinthians 3:23
and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
I am starting to love the wording of the net Bible because it goes right out there and says it like it is. You are property; you are a slave and do not belong to anyone but Jesus Christ who paid the price of your sins and transgressions. It does not matter if you think you are a goody-good, the poster child for being a Christian, or if you are someone who swears like a sailor in a grocery store loading dock. Our body is not our own. We should be doing everything for the glory of God and even washing our hair or shaving to his credit because we do not deserve what we have been given.
Everything that we do is for him, and everything that is the result is because of the glory of God. Just because you are good at football or some technical skill does not mean you know everything. God has given YOU these abilities to help build his kingdom. This was where I was trying to go when I mentioned spiritual gifts before, but not everyone is meant to know everything. Therefore, we work together as a church and a family.
So how can we grasp all this information into something that we can put on our fridge or tell a loved one?
1. We are Christians.
a. Who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Mini- Christ and called to be different. I know I have stated this prior, but it is something critical and something we as followers need to keep reminding ourselves.
2. We are not the Author.
a. We have no clue what we are doing most of the time, and that is okay. WE were meant to have a relationship and a reliance on our Heavenly Father. The supreme beings that put air in our lungs provide our needs like food, housing, and community.
b. Those that think they only need themselves are setting themselves up for failure. You might as well say GAME OVER!!!!
3. Wisdom is not knowledge.
a. Just because you know something does not mean you are God. We, as humans, do not know everything. We did not create it, and we are just visitors in this World.
b. If you think you are a known-it or hot stuff, then you are deceiving yourself. The young are foolish, but the old is smart.
4. The World knows nothing.
a. Anyone that tells you that the world knows what is going on has never met their Creator and does not have a relationship with him.
b. We are just Georges or dummies in this World. IT is our job to study his word and a relationship. Everything else is gravy.
5. God and wisdom
You can know, but if you do not have the wisdom to understand that God controls and made everything, then you are just
Lets Talk to our Heavenly !!