Biola Broadcaster - 1972-07

gives us back in I Corinthians 3:4, one other illustration why they are carnal Christians. There are divi­ sions within them and he says, "For while one saith, I am of Paul and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?" You are carnal Christians because you are making distinctions. You are making divi­ sions. You are following men. You are not really servants, serving the Lord Jesus Christ. So. Paul closes this particular section with this then, "Are ye not carnal?" It is refreshing to look in I Cor­ inthians, the third chapter, and find Paul not simply calling these peo­ ple babes in Christ, carnal Chris­ tians, not simply pointing out why they have this problem, but then to lay a very clear foundation for the resolution of that difficulty in their life. Paul shows three distinct ways to overcome the problem of being an immature Christian. He gives illustrations. One, I will call the agricultural one. The other is from the building trades. In I Corinthians 3:5-9 Paul says, "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, Apol­ los watered, but God gave the in­ crease. 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; and ev­ ery man shall receive his own re­ ward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God; ye are God's husbandry." The first principle that is essen­ tial in getting rid of divisions, is in verse five. We are servants of Christ, the Lord must dominate. Paul underscores the fact that both

Apollos and he himself are ser­ vants of Christ. They are not there to be a leader. They are not there to get people to serve them. They are not even leaders of a group, they are simply members of the body, carrying out their specific task. Paul closes verse five with this phrase, "but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?" The interesting thing to me is this that the mes­ sage that Paul preached and the teaching that Apollos gave there

Page 52

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs