Sermon Tone Analysis

Laboring Together

Introduction

Carnal Christian is one that is immature and worldly.

Introduction

Paul has been speaking to the Corinthians about the source of their division

There should be no divisions among you!

Chloe told me you are fighting and gossiping.

He also had spoke on their cleverness

He comes right out and call them fleshly and not spiritual.

Illustration - just get it out on the table.

You guy's are not spiritual.

I Carnality is Decried

QUESTION: What did apostle Paul mean when he told the church at Corinth that he taught them the MILK of the Bible and not the MEAT?

ANSWER: In two separate Bible books written by Paul, 1Corinthians and Hebrews, he contrasts "milk" and "meat" in order to make a spiritual analogy.

When addressing the Corinthian church Paul wrote the following.

The word "milk" in the above quote (Greek gala, Strong's Concordance #G1051) means the basic, elemental teachings of true Christianity first learned by new believers.

The word "meat" comes from the Greek word Broma (Strong's #G1033) and means the more solid, complete and deeper spiritual doctrines of the Gospel.

Some in Corinth had not only aligned themselves to certain teachers (Paul, Apollos, Peter), they were also causing contentions and divisions in the church by arguing which of these preachers was the most spiritual (verses 3 - 23)!

The apostle felt that trying to teach the church the deeper truths of God would be a waste of time so long as they continued to indulge in petty debates over who was 'the greatest!'

Human milk provides all the nutrients (including iron) that babies need for about the first six months of life.

But once the iron stored during pregnancy is used up (at about 6 months of age), iron-rich foods such as meats or iron-fortified cereals need to be added to the baby’s diet.

Plus, most babies are developmentally ready for solid foods around 6 months of age.

Signs that your baby is ready for solid foods include: 

the ability to sit up with little support the ability to hold his head up the development of motor skills to pick up soft foods the ability to put those foods in his mouth

He decry s their condition

They have never matured; they stay the same ....

ILLUSTRATION -

They still are easily directed toward doctrinal error - gifts

They love groups and picking sides

They talk behind Paul's back “everybody says”

Paul holds the Corinthian believers accountable for their carnality.

He could not even speak to them on a high spiritual plane.

In his letter to Rome, written from this very city of Corinth, Paul outlines for us the characteristics of three men.

In his letter to Rome, written from this very city of Corinth, Paul outlines for us the characteristics of three men.

Spiritual man (), the person who knows the truth of being and who, consequently, is producing “fruit unto God.” Free from the law, the spiritual person lives for the Lord.

The natural man ().

The picture here is of a person in his unregenerate state doing his best to keep the commandments of God and miserably failing.

In his letter to Rome, written from this very city of Corinth, Paul outlines for us the characteristics of three men.

First there is the spiritual man (), the person who knows the truth of being “married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,” and who, consequently, is producing “fruit unto God.” Free from the law, the spiritual person lives for the Lord.

This is the kind of person every believer should be.

He is indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit who Himself makes Christ real to him just as the servant, in the matchless Old Testament type, sought to make Isaac real to Rebekah ().

This is the kind of person every believer should be.

He is indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit who Himself makes Christ real to him just as the servant, in the matchless Old Testament type, sought to make Isaac real to Rebekah ().

Then there is the natural man ().

The picture here is of a person in his unregenerate state doing his best to keep the commandments of God and miserably failing.

Indeed, the law, far from being an instrument of salvation, proves to be a means of condemnation.

Nobody tried harder than Saul of Tarsus to merit salvation by the works of the law.

No one understood better than he the inner gnawing of conviction of sin, failure, and judgment to come ().

The carnal man ().

he fed them with Milk the basics of the Word!

He tries to live the Christian life in the energy of the flesh—and fails.

The failure is dismal and complete.

The carnal man is thoroughly wretched.

The Holy Spirit indwelling him will not let him enjoy worldliness and sensuality; the old nature within him will not let him enjoy his new life in Christ.[5]

Paul holds the Corinthian believers accountable for their carnality.

He could not even speak to them on a high spiritual plane.

He could only talk to them as babes.

Babes are attractive enough so long as they grow up, but a babe who remains a babe for twenty years is a tragedy.

Babes are self-centered.

They are dependent on others for all their needs.

They have short attention spans.

They go for things that glitter, and they have no sense of values.

They are illiterate and ignorant of much they need to know.

They cannot see beyond their own little world.

They enjoy being the center of attention and soon learn how to get their share of it.

They have no thought for the needs and concerns of others.

The trouble with the Corinthians was that they did not grow up.

Paul found them to be still babes.

Consequently, he had to feed them as babes: “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able” ().

Leaving - not being fed or don't like the direction of the church ( i don't agree with something),

It was not for lack of teaching.

Paul had remained in Corinth for a year and a half () “teaching the word of God among them.”

He labored there as an evangelist, as a pastor, and as a teacher.

Imagine having the apostle Paul as your teacher!

He soon took the measure of his beloved Corinthians, however.

It was not for lack of teaching.

Paul had remained in Corinth for a year and a half () “teaching the word of God among them.”

He labored there as an evangelist, as a pastor, and as a teacher.

Imagine having the apostle Paul as your teacher!

He soon took the measure of his beloved Corinthians, however.

Doctrine did not interest them; what they wanted were the gifts—the spectacular sign gifts.

No wonder Paul tells them bluntly that clever and capable as they no doubt were, they were childish ().

There was so much he wanted to teach them—all the great truths we find in Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and Hebrews.

He had to feed them as babes—just a few simple truths about salvation, baptism, the ordinances, resurrection, giving, and personal accountability—that was about all they were able to handle.

He underlines, too, the childish level of their behavior (3:3).

He mentions envy, strife, and divisions.

“Are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” he demands.

envy - jealously

The word for carnal is sarkikos, “men of the flesh,” sensual, under the control of their animal appetites, governed by their human nature and not by the Holy Spirit.

strife - quarrel or fight

The word for envying is zēlos—jealousy.

divisions - always looking for a problem

W. E. Vine says that the distinction between envy and jealousy lies in this—that envy wants to deprive another of what he has, jealousy desires the same sort of thing for itself.[6]

At Corinth, this attitude of jealousy was particularly noticeable in connection with the sign gifts.

There were all kinds of quarreling, rivalry, and wrangling going on in this church.

It was in the same spiritual state as Israel in the wilderness when they spent their time murmuring and arguing and contending with Moses and Aaron.

Experience proves that almost always divisions start as gossip or half truths that stem from someone not getting their way or a change in a program or policy.

Everybody concerned, a lot of people are talking etc....

II Carnality is Described

The people at Corinth were picking sides and causing divisions