First Corinthians 3:1-9:

[1] But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, [3] for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? [5] What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. [7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. [8] He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. [9] For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Introduction :

I can think of no better way to propel us into the word this morning than to hear the voices of God’s church sing songs about the cross of Christ, both old and new. Beloved, the church sings Christ and Him crucified, Amen? I love the second verse of that last song,

“He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!”

Are there better thoughts to sing church? The immense and free mercy of God found out me. As Pastor Doug mentioned, we are in First Corinthians 3:1-9 but before we dive into our text, we need to recap where what we have observed so far in this letter because our text demands it. Look at verse 4, “[4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,”… This specifically connects with Paul’s first appeal for this church in 1:10-12 “[10] I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and that there be no divisions among you…[12]..each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Everything that Paul has written up to this point serves the purpose of addressing the report of division, which has pride as it’s source.  Paul has been like a skilled surgeon dissecting the various layers of skin to get below the surface and to the heart of the matter.  What we find in our verses this morning is the beginning of the culmination to his response. So let’s recap together.  Turn back to chapter 1 with me. Paul opens his letter to this church, in verse 2, by reminding them that they are “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”  Then, in verses 6-7, He reminds them that they were given every gift by the grace of God, “even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among them,” in order to sustain them as they wait for Christ’s return. And in verse 9, he says that it was God’s effectual call that brought them into the fellowship of His Son. He, then, immediately begins to address the report brought to him of division, starting in verse 10. Notice how he addresses this report. In verse 13-18, He urges them to remember that it was only Christ that was crucified for them and that the word of the cross is folly to the world but power to us who believe. So, verse 23, he write “we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles”. And, verse 31, through the power of God “Christ became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1:31). Continuing to address these divisions, in chapter 2, verses 2-5, he shows them that he “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified…so that (verse 5) “their faith would not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Paul is telling this church that he specifically chose to only know and impart Jesus Christ and Him crucified among them. Finally, as we observed last week, in chapter 2 verses 6-7, Paul reveals that he does impart wisdom to the mature, “though not a wisdom of this age…but a secret and hidden wisdom of God.”  In verse 8, we see that this is wisdom that the rulers of the age did not understand or they would not have crucified Christ, “the Lord of Glory.” And in verses 10-16, it is a wisdom that is only revealed through the Spirit of God to those who are spiritual.

The inference, which we saw last week, is that all the wisdom of God is only understood by those who are called, spiritual, “controlled by the Spirit”.  Not to make Paul’s argument to simplistic, but if I were to sum up his response to the report of division up to this point, through a rhetorical question, it would be: “Have you truly understood the word of the cross?” And that is essentially what he continues to drive home in our text this morning.   If you remember the breakdown of this letter Pastor Sam gave a few weeks go, this is a responsive letter. “In Chapters 1-6, Paul addresses the concerns voiced by Chloe’s people (1Cor. 1:11). Then, in Chapters 7-16, Paul answers questions raised by the Corinthians in a letter delivered by some of their leaders (1 Cor. 16:17).” Notice that Paul does not begin by answering the questions raised by the Corinthians.  He starts by making sure they understand the gospel. Paul knows that before we can understand “the things freely given to us by God,” we must understand the word of the cross.  Can I just say that I love the example we get from the apostle Paul as shepherds of the church?  And not only to shepherds but to all of us who desire to make disciples. I read a book at the beginning of my call to pastoral ministry by D.A. Carson titled “The Cross and Christian Ministry” In this book, he takes the first 6 chapters of 1 Corinthians and shows the importance of the word of the cross in pastoral ministry. Carson writes… “For too long, many evangelicals have viewed the cross exclusively as the means by which God in Christ has achieved our redemption. Of course, no Christian would want to minimize the centrality of the cross in God’s redemptive purposes. But if we view it as the means of our salvation and nothing more, we shall overlook many of its functions in the New Testament.” Beloved, we are people bound by the cross.

Before we can understand the “things freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12b) we must understand the word of the cross. Before we can accept all the “things of the Spirit of God” we must trust in the folly of the cross (1 Cor. 2:14). So, I stand here this morning, alongside Paul, asking, Have we truly understood the word of the cross? The word of God beckons us to examine our answer to this question in 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 by revealing what it looks like to know Christ and Him crucified.  We will see this through two lasting effects of truly understanding the word of the cross or as I have titled the sermon, Imprints of Knowing Christ and Him Crucified.

First imprint: Death to Self-Exaltation (verses 1-4)

“[1] But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, [3] for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

Paul opens this exhortation with a word of endearment to this church, which has been his consistent pattern in this letter. We saw this at the beginning of his appeal in 1:10, again when he spoke of the report by Chloes people in 1:11, and a third time when reminding them of God’s effectual calling in 1:26. He led with this again, in 2:1-5, as the appeal grew by way of explaining his determination to “know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” And, here, for a fifth time he calls them “brothers.” Paul has a sincere love for this church and his concern is for their growth in Christ. He does not approach them harshly, though, as we will see, he would have reason to. He has and will say strong words of exhortation in this letter but he purposefully reveals over and over again his love for this church. What an example the apostle Paul is for us in our striving to provoke and encourage one another to love and good works, as Pastor Jody encouraged us towards at the beginning of this year. Do we love the church like Paul?  Continue with me in verse 1, “but I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh.”  Paul is summing up the purpose of chapter 2 here by recalling verse 1-5 and explaining why his ministry among them was limited to the word of the cross.  This is important for us to see.  He says, he could not address them as “spiritual people.”  He could not address them as those ready for the wisdom he just described.  Instead, Paul needed to address them as people of the flesh.  People still bound by the worldly desires of the flesh. People controlled by the flesh. Now, this poses a question for us to answer as we examine the next few verses.  Why could Paul not address them as spiritual people?  He has after all called them brothers. And look also back at verses 4-6 of chapter 1. Paul said that he thanks God “for the grace of God that was given them in Christ Jesus, that in every way they were enriched in Him in all speech and all knowledge–even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among them.” This all signifies he sees them as Christians. The testimony about Christ was confirmed among them and they were enriched in Him by the grace of God.  Then, in chapter 2, Paul separates the world into two types of people,  the “natural person” (unredeemed) that “does not accept the things of the Spirit”, and the “spiritual person” (redeemed) that “judges all things” and “has the mind of Christ.”  So, why, during his 18 months of ministry among them could he not address them as spiritual people?  Why could he not impart the wisdom he does among the mature? Paul gives an analogy to help us understand.

Look at verses 1-2 of our text,  “[1] I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk and not solid food, for you were not ready for it.”  The middle of verse 2 has our answer, they “were not ready for it.”  Paul needed to first nourish them with spiritual milk before giving the solid food. Just about everyone knows that you do not start an infant on meat and potatoes (although sometimes I wonder if that happened in the Shapazian household).  In order for an infant to grow properly, he or she needs to first be nourished with milk.  They must grow stronger before introducing solid foods because they will not be able to digest it at first.  So, Paul is saying that they needed spiritual milk before they were ready for solid food.  But what is that milk?  Paul gave the answer at the beginning of chapter 2.  What did he decide to teach among them? “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  The milk they needed to hear and digest first was the word of the cross.  So, Paul has explained his ministry them and then we come to his exhortation. Look at the end of verse 2, “and you are still not ready for it.” That is a strong rebuke.  It has probably been 5 years since Paul ministered among this church and he says they are still not ready for solid food.  They still need to first understand the word of the cross.  Why? Look at verses 3-4, “For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not still of the flesh behaving in only a human way.  For when one says, ‘I follow Paul’ and another ‘I follow Apollos’ are you not being merely human.”  Notice what Paul is saying.  Your actions are showing that you are still controlled by the flesh. And you still need milk, you still need to hear nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is something about the word of the cross that this church still had not understood. Now, this is not to say that we ever grow out of our need to hear the word of the cross.  The cross is at the center of everything freely given to us by God.

So, what is it that makes them not ready for solid food?  It is not an intellectual capacity to reason.  They definitely had that, they were “enriched..in all speech and all knowledge.”  It is not even a certain amount of years in the faith. In Acts 20:27, Paul tells the Ephesian elders that he “did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” And he was only there for about 3 years.  There was something else that was keeping them from being ready.  Their pride.  They had not yet died to self-exaltation.  The divisions, jealousy and strife showed that pride still permeated the hearts of this church in Corinth.  And, beloved, truly knowing Christ and Him crucified humbles us. Understanding the word of the cross leaves an imprint, a lasting effect, of death to self-exaltation.  And we need to be humble in order to understand the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God.  Before I move on to our second point this morning, let me provide one word of caution that this text brought to mind as I meditated on it.  We must not be too quick to seek out the deeper wisdom of God and miss the fullness and beauty of Christ and Him Crucified.  Do we understand the word of the cross?  Have we run too quickly to trying to understand spiritual gifts, or women’s roles in the church, or divorce and remarriage? Those are the issues we will see in this letter but we could add many of our own.  Before we move to deeper wisdom, we need to first saturate ourselves in Christ and Him crucified.  We need to know Christ truly and love him duly.  For as we do, our pride, our desire for self-exaltation, and many other sins are killed and we will be ready to accept the things of the Spirit, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. Knowing Christ and Him Crucified leaves an imprint of death to self-exaltation

Second imprint: Life to God-Exaltation (verses 5-9)

Paul started by exhorting this church to think on their pride and their lack of maturity of faith. Now he moves to how one ought to respond to the grace of God.  What stood out in this section is the contrast of Paul’s heart and that of the Corinthians.  Listen to Paul’s humility & exaltation of God compared to the Corinthians Pride & exaltation of man. Look at verse 5,

“[5] What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. [7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Paul is essentially saying, “think about the foolishness of what you are doing when you boast in men.”  He will basically says that very thing at the end of this chapter. Who then are Paul and Apollos? Verse 5, “Servants through whom you believed.” Literally, diakonos, which, if you remember from our time studying deacons, has as its origins the idea of table waiters. And they were not the height of society. Paul shows how foolish the heart of pride is as it elevates men that are nothing more than servants.  He tells the Corinthian church to stop and think about who these men really are in the economy of God’s grace. Paul and Apollos are “servants… as the Lord assigned to each.”  The Lord has assigned Paul and Apollos to the great task of “bringing about the obedience of the faith”, as Paul writes in Romans.  But they are merely servants of a greater Master.  Paul continues in verse 6, then, to define the work that each one has done, “I planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”  The apostle Paul is the king of analogies isn’t he?  In this chapter we have a rapid fire of 4 analogies.

At the beginning of this chapter he gave the analogy of infants needing milk before solid food.  And now he has shifted to the analogy of laborers in a field.  He will close our text this morning and move next weeks with an analogy of builders and the building. Then, he will end this chapter with our bodies being God’s temple. Follow this analogy then with me to hear it sing.  Every laborer in a field has an assigned task. Each one has his own job to do. Paul’s task in God’s field is to plant. So, he goes to Corinth and spread the seeds. But order for the crop to continue to grow, someone needs to water it.  That was the task that God assigned for Apollos.  And notice how Paul closes this verse, “but God gave the growth.”  We see the analogy don’t we.  The laborers work in the field.  They plant seeds in the ground and water the crop faithfully but unless God causes the sun to shine and the plant to grow, their efforts will be in vain.  And just like God cause the growth of all of creation, He causes the growth of His people.  So Paul naturally continues in verse 7, “so neither he that plants nor he that waters is anything, but only God gives the growth.” It is not the one who plants or waters who deserves the glory, God does. Because He gave the growth. Now, this is awesome her.  In verses 6-7, the original greek is unmistakable.  The word for growth in verse 6 is structured in such a way to show that there was a particular moment in the past when God gave the growth. This has been a resounding drum that Paul has been beating in this letter, has it not? Paul has told this church that they were called by God to be saints, given gifts by the grace of God, called into the fellowship of His Son in chapter 1:3-9.  In 1:26-30, he reminds them that God chose them and because of God, Christ has become wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Now he is saying, “It was not my planting or Apollo’s watering that made you grow, it was the Spirit of God working in your hearts.”

Beloved, if you have believed in the word of the cross, there was a moment when God gave the growth to believe.  Or as 2 Corinthians 4:6 puts it,  “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Just as God spoke light into existence and it was there, He has shone in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the His glory in the face of Jesus Christ, and we see. No wisdom or speech or persuasive argument convinced you to believe.  God gave the growth.  Now, look at verse 7 of our text, Paul structures the same word for growth in a different way to show that it is also God who continues to give growth.  It is all God. Your initial belief and your continued maturity is because God gave and gives growth.  Yes, He uses the laborers and works through means of grace to cause growth but it is God who gives the growth.  No amount of eloquent speech or lofty wisdom can ever change the heart of man.  It is the gospel that is “the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Beloved, listen to Paul’s heart compared to those who are causing these quarrels and divisions.  He is not concerned with his status or position.  He does not want fame or glory or the praise of men.  He wants God to be exalted. He wants God to receive all the glory.  Because he knows “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  And those who know this Christ and Him crucified sing with Paul, “Lord now indeed I find, thy pow’r and thine alone, can changes the lepers spots and melt the heart of stone.”   Knowing Christ and Him crucified leaves imprints of death to self-exaltation and life to God-exaltation.

Conclusion:

As we close this morning, I want to end with two pieces of encouragement I see in these verses and hear the warning Paul gives.

Encouragement 1: Rewards of labor

The first encouragement comes from verse 8. Paul provides great encouragement to the one who labors faithfully for God.  They may not receive worldly accolades but look at verse 8, “the one who plants and the one who waters are one, and each one will receive his wages according to his labors. For we are God’s fellow workers.” Oh what a blessing it is to be a fellow worker with God! There is a reward stored up for those who are faithful to the task that the Lord has assigned.  And beloved, this is not just for the pastor and preacher.  Did you notice what Paul said in verse 5, “as the Lord assigned to each.”? The implication here is that the Lord assigns all the tasks for the workers in his field.  Your task may not be glamorous in the world’s eyes.  It may not be leading a ministry or having lots of people follow your wisdom.  It may be in the background for your entire life. You will not have the praise of men for that but the Lord will reward you according to your labors.  Many of you may know that I traveled home to GA last weekend for the funeral of my grandmother. While I was there I heard countless stories of her faithfulness to God that I had never heard before.  Supporting several missionaries financially, driving around “meals on wheels” to minister to the poor in the community, standing firmly beside my granddad and putting him first by encouraging his gift of teaching, the list went on and on.  She did not receive many praises for those things, her own grandson did not even know about all of them.  But the Lord knows and she is receiving a reward right now far beyond anything this world could have ever offered her in this life.  If you are serving the Lord faithfully in the task that he has assigned, do not lose heart.  Cling to Christ and Him crucified, wait for the revealing of our Lord, and know that he will reward you according to your labors.

Encouragement 2: There is Growth in the Christian Walk

The second encouragement comes specifically from verse 9 but it’s also found in Paul’s entire exhortation to this church. It is an encouraging word for those that are struggling. Look at what Paul says to this struggling church in Corinth.  “You are God’s field. God’s building.” This church is struggling, and Paul is giving a stern rebuke to them by saying they are not ready even now to be addressed as spiritual people.  But he doesn’t leave them hopeless.  He says, “You are God’s field.” You are God’s and God gives growth to His field. Beloved, if you find yourself struggling this morning in your faith.  If you see the pride of your heart and you want to cry out to the Lord, be comforted that You are God’s field. Cry to the Lord for grace! And after you cry out to Him, take note of what Paul is teaching here.  The word of the cross is the power and wisdom of God.  Are you jealous and find that you are striving often for self-exaltation? Don’t give up the fight. Run to the Christ and Him crucified to fight your pride. Think on the reality that God the Son became flesh and bore the wrath for you. God “made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Think on His sacrifice. Think on who He really is. He is the eternal word, who was with God and was God.  All things were made through Him and all things are held together by Him. Know that God put forward Christ as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Set deep in your heart and firm on you minds the Christ and Him Crucified. And let that fuel your faith. Don’t run too fast to the deeper points of theology, make sure you know Christ and Him crucified.  And don’t just do this for sins of pride.  Do it with all your sins.

Are you struggling with anger? Run to Christ and Him crucified. Are you struggling with anxiety? Run to Christ and Him crucified.
Lust? Greed? Vanity? Run to Christ and Him crucified.
Envy? Drunkenness? Run to Christ and Him crucified.
I could go on.  Think on your besetting sin and fight it with the word of the cross.

Word of Warning: We cannot stay in sin

Thank God for the words of words of encouragement here but there is also a strong warning for us to hear.  Paul is ultimately giving an exhortation to FIGHT the fight of faith. Don’t be mistaken, as others have, Paul is not suggesting there is any such thing as a Carnal Christ here. Those who believe but remain bound by the flesh. Paul does not want this church to stay in pride and in fact he is really saying that they cannot. At the end of this letter, in 15:1-2, Paul will write, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain.” He urges this church to hold to the word of the cross and change their ways unless their belief is in vain.  And when you get a chance, read the end of 2 Cor 12 and chapter 13. Paul addresses this church again and how he continues to hear of  the divisions and sins in 1 Corinthians.  His rebuke is much stronger there writing in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to, “[5] Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” Paul is providing a fatherly warning here. Pride has no place in the heart of the one who truly understands the word of the cross, who knows Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If you are here this morning and you are complacent in your sin.  If you are comfortable pursuing self-exaltation, here the warning of Paul and ask for God to open your eyes to truly know Christ and Him crucified.

Communion:

We are heading into communion now, which is when we remember the body of Christ broken and blood of Christ shed for us by partaking of bread and juice as symbols of Christ’s work on the cross.  We do this once a month for the purpose of keeping the cross at the focal point of our lives and church.  Take time to gaze upon the cross this morning.  Don’t let this moment and opportunity to escape you. There is no magic prayer that will save you. No attendance level at church. No amount of works you could ever do. Only a genuine trust in the work of Christ on the cross to atone for all our sin will save us. As the elements are being passed and the worship team is coming up to play the song of remembrance, hear the word of God beckoning us to consider whether we have understood the word of the cross. Whether we bear the imprints of knowing Christ and Him crucified. If you are struggling to fight sin but desire Christ, dwell on Christ and Him crucified and cling to the power of the cross. If the honest answer in you heart is no, that you do not bear the imprints of knowing Christ and Him crucified. Run now to the cross. Think on Christ and Him crucified. Repent, turn from your sin, and trust in what Christ has accomplished for you.  Trust in the Power of the Cross.  Trust that the Son of God was slain for us.  That he took the blame we deserve. That He bore the wrath stored up for our sins.  And then proclaim this morning, with all the saints “who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” that we stand forgiven at the cross!