WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.600 If you've got a free moment this afternoon, take a look at the WikiHow article, How to 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:07.580 Become More Spiritual. 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.160 It begins with this introduction. 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:17.199 Do you sometimes feel like you've lost yourself or that you're not really yourself at all? 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:22.780 Or do you simply want to grow or become who you should be? 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:25.060 Here are some tips to help. 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:31.820 Then it goes on and suggests 12 things on how to become more spiritual. 00:00:31.979 --> 00:00:32.899 So I'll mention just a few. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:37.320 Number one, go to a place with no noise at all and sit down. 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.340 Number two, start meditating. 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.700 You can sit in a yoga position if you would like. 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:48.439 Presumably you're able to get into a yoga position. 00:00:49.480 --> 00:00:52.920 Number three, clear your mind of all thoughts. 00:00:52.920 --> 00:00:56.240 Easier for some than others, I suspect. 00:00:56.800 --> 00:01:02.760 Number six, list some of your life goals and celebrate if you've achieved them. 00:01:03.480 --> 00:01:06.740 Create steps to progress with goals still remaining. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:08.040 Say a prayer. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:09.359 Sing a song. 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.379 Take a break and hop around a bit. 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:14.920 It actually says that. 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:18.320 Number nine, some additional spiritual goals. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:20.199 Explore other belief systems. 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:22.699 Sacrifice and accept the sacrifice of others. 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:27.619 Develop an open mind in order to develop a closed mind. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:31.280 If someone can explain that one for me, I'd be very grateful. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:33.459 And so the list goes on. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:39.219 Interesting, there's no need to mention God or any particular truth claim, let alone to mention Jesus. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:45.819 There is a similar article called How to be Spiritual Without Being Religious. 00:01:45.819 --> 00:01:48.019 Its introduction says, 00:01:48.139 --> 00:01:55.639 We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, 00:01:55.919 --> 00:01:58.619 of which there is no duplication. 00:01:59.839 --> 00:02:06.579 That is, you're finding your way in a lost world with your own map that you've created. 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:09.539 The world is all gates. 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:11.599 It's all opportunities. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:16.039 Have you looked into organised religion and still found something missing? 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:23.199 Well, here are some ways to connect with a higher power on your own terms. 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:27.379 That pretty much sums up the mood of our society. 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.919 I don't know if you've noticed it, but here in Sydney, being religious has gone out of fashion. 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:36.740 That includes Christianity, whereas being spiritual is actually in. 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:45.120 To be religious is to be judgmental, repressed, uptight, but to be spiritual is to be in touch with your feelings, 00:02:45.260 --> 00:02:51.200 to be free-spirited, to be tranquil, to be individualistic, and to be well-rounded, 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:56.379 but without necessarily believing in anything in particular. 00:02:56.379 --> 00:03:02.500 The surprising thing is, all this would have gone down really well in first century Corinth. 00:03:03.639 --> 00:03:06.740 It was a trendy to be spiritual in Corinth. 00:03:07.799 --> 00:03:18.560 Being in Greece, Corinth held strongly to Greek ideals of individualism, equality, freedom, and distrust of authority. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:26.180 And so if you mix that with Corinth being a major trading place for the Roman Empire, 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.180 with people pouring in for business from all over the world, 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:40.560 the culture of Corinth becomes a melting pot of cultures and morals and philosophies. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:44.719 And spirituality. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.740 I wouldn't have gone down very well in Corinth. 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.800 And so what Paul does here in this letter is he writes with a real sense of urgency. 00:03:56.920 --> 00:04:00.319 He has spent two years in Corinth, but as soon as he's gone, 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:03.539 some people started to lose their way pretty quickly. 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:08.960 Basically, they were being marinated in the culture of Corinth. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:15.879 The flavour of Corinth was permeating the church. 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:20.379 Individuality and freedom to be your own person was in. 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:23.480 They started thinking about their own spiritual needs. 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:28.480 They started to form factions behind leaders based on personalities and giftedness 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:32.139 and personal preferences and how great they handled language. 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:41.560 Each considered whichever group they were in to be the most spiritual, the most wise, the most godly. 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:48.120 It's like there's a new reality TV show at Corinth, My Spirituality Rules. 00:04:49.479 --> 00:04:55.919 And as we pick it up in chapter 3, Paul tells them here how to be really spiritual. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:02.480 We'll see that spirituality here, it's not an airy fairy thing. 00:05:03.100 --> 00:05:06.640 It's not about essential oils and candles around a bathtub. 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:12.160 It isn't about stopping from daily life and retreating to a quiet place, 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:16.939 selling up everything, moving to the bush, cutting out meat and growing your own veggies, 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:21.639 contemplating the universe and everything in splendid isolation. 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:28.740 The Bible describes something that is dynamic and solid and real and rational and life changing. 00:05:29.259 --> 00:05:38.099 To be spiritual is to understand what God has done for us in sending Jesus to die instead of us on a cross 00:05:38.099 --> 00:05:41.899 and living in a way that's shaped by that. 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:46.639 And living in a way with other people that is shaped by that. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:52.099 It is what Jesus called his disciples to do, to take up your cross and follow him. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.620 True spirituality is fundamentally practical. 00:05:56.740 --> 00:05:59.500 And so Paul begins chapter 3 with brothers. 00:06:00.779 --> 00:06:03.740 There's a hard rebuke coming in chapter 3, 00:06:04.099 --> 00:06:09.519 but he softens the rebuke by affectionately calling the people he's rebuking brothers. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.539 He's speaking to his brothers in Christ here. 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:14.379 He says in verse 1, 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:17.580 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly. 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:24.100 Me infants in Christ, I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:25.640 Now that's expected. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:27.660 He's not rebuking them there. 00:06:28.460 --> 00:06:32.900 They were new to Christ when he was there and their baby steps are expected. 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:44.179 Until this recent cool snap, my two-year-old Amelia had a habit of removing her shirt 00:06:44.179 --> 00:06:47.699 and quite happily spending the rest of the day like that. 00:06:48.239 --> 00:06:53.539 She got it from Bailey Lowe, who apparently picked it up from his father. 00:06:53.540 --> 00:07:00.220 Millie, however, took it a little bit further. 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:05.300 On occasion, she preferred to remove all of her clothes and run around the backyard. 00:07:06.340 --> 00:07:12.340 And not long, her elder sisters followed her example and did exactly the same thing. 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:16.879 Now I've got to confess, as their dad, I struggle with this a bit. 00:07:17.700 --> 00:07:20.640 Now I don't mind it in moderation in the house, 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.620 but I struggle with it in the backyard. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.199 And I struggle with it a little more when someone visits 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.659 and little Millie insists on performing a dance routine. 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:34.279 It's kind of embarrassing. 00:07:35.719 --> 00:07:37.439 I struggle with it, but I put up with it. 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:42.879 But I'm happy to go on record and say that if this pattern of behaviour continues, 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.300 there will be a day when I won't be happy with it. 00:07:47.300 --> 00:07:51.560 Getting your gear off is okay for a toddler, 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:55.020 but a day is coming when it won't be appropriate behaviour. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:58.520 And that's what Paul is saying here. 00:07:59.580 --> 00:08:03.580 There comes a point when you've got to grow up 00:08:03.580 --> 00:08:08.240 and you've got to put your babyish behaviour behind you 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.680 and it's embarrassing and it's inappropriate. 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:12.420 And that's their problem. 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:13.300 See what he says next? 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:17.720 Indeed, you are still not ready. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:20.660 You are still worldly. 00:08:20.819 --> 00:08:23.400 For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:24.460 are you not worldly? 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:26.840 Are you not acting like mere men? 00:08:27.319 --> 00:08:29.319 For when one says, I follow Paul, 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:30.860 another says, I follow Apollos, 00:08:32.139 --> 00:08:33.460 are you not mere men? 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:35.299 Are you not acting like babies? 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:40.299 They've been Christians for ages, 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:45.879 but they're still behaving in a way that doesn't fit with the cross-shaped life. 00:08:45.939 --> 00:08:50.019 He calls them here worldly and he calls them mere men twice. 00:08:50.719 --> 00:08:55.759 Now remember, the perspective of Paul is addressing this church as brothers. 00:08:56.319 --> 00:08:58.379 And so he isn't saying that they're not Christian. 00:08:58.479 --> 00:08:59.240 He's not saying that. 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:03.879 The distinction he makes in this chapter is between the Christian controlled by the flesh 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.740 and the Christian that is controlled by the Spirit of God. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:13.460 The King James Version, it uses the term carnal here. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.700 And many have picked up the idea since then as the carnal Christian. 00:09:18.060 --> 00:09:23.240 And some have even described the carnal Christian as a person who has accepted Jesus as their saviour, 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:25.720 but not as their Lord. 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.759 The New Testament doesn't know of such a distinction. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.120 You cannot have Jesus as your saviour if he's not your Lord. 00:09:34.540 --> 00:09:36.300 The New Testament doesn't know that distinction. 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:40.259 Paul doesn't have in mind here two classes of Christian. 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:43.259 He's not looking out at the church of Corinth and going, 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.639 spiritual carnal, carnal, spiritual, spiritual carnal, carnal, carnal. 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:49.279 That's not what he's doing here. 00:09:50.660 --> 00:09:53.860 He's actually saying this is an issue for all Christians, 00:09:53.860 --> 00:09:55.220 a question for all of us. 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:58.720 What is controlling us? 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:07.180 Are we being led by our natural desires or are we being led by the Spirit of God? 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:10.759 Paul has something similar in Galatians chapter 5 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:14.240 when he addresses the characteristics of the sinful nature 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.200 against those of the fruit of the Spirit. 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:19.540 And he says these things, he says things like, 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:29.240 the acts of the sinful nature include things like jealousy, dissension, factions, envy. 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:33.899 The issues of Corinth. 00:10:33.899 --> 00:10:42.960 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:47.220 Paul doesn't have in mind for us to go through a list like that and go, 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:48.680 well, I'm patient, need to work on self. 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:50.560 You know, I'm... 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:56.019 The idea of the fruit of the Spirit is that we would grow in all of them at the same time. 00:10:56.019 --> 00:11:00.679 That's what separates the fruit of the Spirit. 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:05.599 Some of us are natural, have a tendency towards patience where others don't. 00:11:06.979 --> 00:11:14.419 What separates natural tendencies from the fruit of the Spirit is that we grow in all of them at the same time. 00:11:14.419 --> 00:11:19.219 And so what Paul does here is he gives these churches a slap in the face. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.059 They aren't as spiritual as they think they are. 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:29.179 The Galatians 5 description of the acts of the sinful nature describe the Corinthian church to a T. 00:11:29.479 --> 00:11:32.099 They're acting like mere men. 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:38.159 The competitive self-promotion culture of Corinth was influencing the church. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:42.860 They were taking hold of the distinctives of the different leaders 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:47.180 and lining up behind them and moralising the distinctives. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.560 It's so easy to do, isn't it? 00:11:52.300 --> 00:11:55.100 Because frankly, we see differences all around us. 00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:00.220 And instead of looking at each other through the lenses of the cross, 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:04.200 we moralise our distinctives. 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:09.759 I'm a traditionalist, and so I'm more orthodox. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:14.559 Or I'm a non-traditionalist, and so I'm less rigid and therefore more spiritual. 00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:19.340 I believe this, so that makes me better than those who hold a different view. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.240 Let me tell you, and I'm not... 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:31.279 I exist as a Sydney Anglican clergyman in a culture where we do that. 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:39.139 Where we moralise our distinctives and form factions and judgements of one another. 00:12:41.079 --> 00:12:45.879 That is, we've allowed our culture to permeate us. 00:12:45.959 --> 00:12:50.419 Our culture grows more performance-centred each passing year. 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:55.839 Competition infects our play, our school, our sports, our work. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:13:01.280 In the workforce, you face longer hours on the job with less security 00:13:01.280 --> 00:13:06.980 and more performance-based evaluation than there was ever anticipated a generation ago. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:12.040 It's unfortunate that the spirit of competition, comparison with one another 00:13:12.040 --> 00:13:19.740 and rewards based on merit have overwhelmed many aspects of the Christian life, 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:21.300 both individually and corporately. 00:13:21.299 --> 00:13:28.719 Far too many Christians think that God relates to them like they're taskmasters 00:13:28.719 --> 00:13:31.799 that they know in their jobs and in their homes and their families. 00:13:32.579 --> 00:13:37.699 And that they therefore expect daily blessings or daily punishments 00:13:37.699 --> 00:13:43.620 based on their assessment of daily levels of faithfulness and obedience to God. 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:47.700 That's just performance thinking of our culture. 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:53.080 That competitiveness infiltrates our relationships with one another. 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:59.159 Our hearts are always looking for a leg up over each other. 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:07.419 We're always trying to climb the next rung up on the ladder over each other. 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:12.060 Deep down inside, we're always looking to be more noble than others. 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:19.219 How often do we roll our eyes inside at each other? 00:14:23.339 --> 00:14:27.259 It is very rare for us to see the differences we have in the church 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:30.399 for things like liturgy and music and leadership 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:34.699 and a multitude of other things as secondary issues of personal preference 00:14:34.699 --> 00:14:37.859 and not to moralise those issues. 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:42.080 We moralise them. 00:14:42.340 --> 00:14:43.879 We put tags on each other. 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:44.779 You're a traditionalist. 00:14:44.820 --> 00:14:45.480 You're a consumer. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:52.000 We create moral significance where there is just simply difference. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.659 And that's what the Corinthians were doing. 00:14:56.659 --> 00:14:58.320 I'm a poor guy. 00:14:59.100 --> 00:15:04.899 Therefore, I'm better than you guys who follow poor Apollos and Cephas. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:09.639 And it was squeezing out the gospel of grace. 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:17.279 How liberating it would be when the church decides instead to model a countercultural lifestyle, 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.159 loving people unconditionally as Christ did on the cross. 00:15:22.439 --> 00:15:29.980 We need to recover the foundational emphasis on gratitude for the grace of God 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:32.580 as the primary motivation for everything. 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:37.980 And that is why Paul calls this church to keep looking at the cross. 00:15:39.700 --> 00:15:47.300 The doctrine of grace is arguably the watershed that separates Christianity 00:15:47.300 --> 00:15:51.240 from all other world religions and systems of philosophical thought. 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:57.840 Factions and divisions based on personal preference are anti-gospel. 00:15:59.340 --> 00:16:00.920 They are unspiritual. 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:09.699 The Corinthian church hadn't moved beyond mere human nature. 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:16.579 In the rest of chapter 3, Paul gives this church some perspective on those divisions 00:16:16.579 --> 00:16:21.319 in the hope that it will lead them to true spirituality and living this cross-shaped life together. 00:16:21.819 --> 00:16:24.539 So very quickly, the first bit of perspective he wants them to see 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:27.120 is that they have misunderstood the nature of leadership. 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.279 The leaders are all lining up. 00:16:29.460 --> 00:16:33.860 Sorry, the people are all lining up behind leaders and they're fighting with one another. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:37.259 And the leaders that they're lining up behind are all the same. 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:41.320 He takes them in their imaginations into a farmer's paddock. 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:41.860 Verse 4. 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:43.320 What after all is Apollos? 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:44.519 And what is Paul? 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:52.180 Only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 00:16:52.179 --> 00:16:57.219 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God is the one who made it grow. 00:16:57.599 --> 00:17:03.579 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:07.839 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:10.200 and each will be watered according to his own labour. 00:17:10.639 --> 00:17:12.819 For we are God's fellow workers. 00:17:13.099 --> 00:17:15.460 You are God's field, God's building. 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:23.539 So Paul's advice here is that our focus should always be on God, on Christ crucified, 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:29.840 and not on our leaders, no matter how loving and gifted and charismatic they are. 00:17:30.019 --> 00:17:31.500 He doesn't say that you get rid of them. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.920 It's a relative term here. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:39.480 He's saying that the leaders are only so good as that they point to the crucified Christ. 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:43.620 That's your focus. 00:17:43.619 --> 00:17:47.099 Notice the question, what after all is Apollos? 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:48.639 What after all is Paul? 00:17:48.959 --> 00:17:50.519 Not who, but what? 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.899 They are servants. 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:54.719 They aren't gurus. 00:17:54.859 --> 00:17:57.339 Verse 9 says that they are God's fellow workers. 00:17:57.479 --> 00:18:02.279 That is, Paul and Apollos, in their distinctives, in their differences, 00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:04.139 are actually in partnership. 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.279 They are fellow workers. 00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:11.359 They are partners owned, possessed by God. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:13.939 They are God's fellow workers. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:16.779 They're on God's team. 00:18:19.699 --> 00:18:23.579 They are creating division in this church where division doesn't exist. 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:33.119 In all their difference, they are being used by God to draw people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:41.500 The second bit of perspective on the divisions that Paul wants to give them in hope that it's going to lead them to this cross-shaped life together 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:46.479 is that God really cares about what you do to his church. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.519 Look at verses 10 to 17 with me. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:55.639 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. 00:18:55.879 --> 00:19:03.339 But each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:08.059 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:12.500 his work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:18.440 It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:22.759 If what he has built survives, he'll receive his reward. 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:24.519 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.200 He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:34.759 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you? 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:43.660 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:46.299 There are two things going on here. 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:54.259 Primarily, Paul is talking about people like me, people who teach the church and lead the church. 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:58.879 The problem was Paul taught the gospel of the crucified Lord Jesus to the Corinthians, 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:02.039 and then some others came in, not Apollos. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:03.859 He's friends with Apollos. 00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:08.439 Some others have come in and replacing that foundation with something else. 00:20:08.879 --> 00:20:14.339 His point is that if you try to build the church with anything else than the gospel of the crucified Christ, 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:19.419 that is, if the doctrine of grace is not foundational, 00:20:20.379 --> 00:20:25.459 it is like building a church, building a building with wood, hay, or straw, 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.339 and the big bad wolf can come in and blow it over. 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:32.339 It won't survive the testing. 00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:39.159 And those who have spent their time building like that have fundamentally wasted their time, 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:46.539 and it will be a terrible shock for them when they have to explain to Jesus what they thought they were doing. 00:20:46.539 --> 00:20:53.240 And so the fear here is not condemnation, but lack of commendation. 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:58.980 Paul instead encourages us here to build with gold, silver, and precious stones, 00:20:59.159 --> 00:21:04.399 not just because they were inflammable, but because in the ancient world, 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.280 that's what you use to build temples. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.120 They didn't build their brick houses and say to themselves, 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:14.560 I've got this marvellous diamond. 00:21:15.280 --> 00:21:16.259 Where on earth am I going? 00:21:16.360 --> 00:21:16.840 Oh, right. 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:18.600 Great door knocker. 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:22.279 I mean, that's asking for all sorts of problems. 00:21:24.539 --> 00:21:27.919 The building that they were called to build here is the temple. 00:21:28.419 --> 00:21:30.139 What then is the temple that we're called to build? 00:21:30.199 --> 00:21:32.099 He makes it clear in verses 16 and 17. 00:21:32.899 --> 00:21:34.759 It's there in the words you. 00:21:36.159 --> 00:21:36.879 It's plural. 00:21:37.699 --> 00:21:38.339 It's people. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:43.519 He has in here the people of God, the church. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:47.879 And so this is the bit that applies primarily to people like me. 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:50.559 People like me will be held accountable, 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.000 not for the building of renovation works of St. Paul's Chatswood, 00:21:55.379 --> 00:21:58.460 but for the people of St. Paul's Chatswood. 00:21:58.539 --> 00:22:05.759 And primarily was the crucified Lord Jesus front and centre in life and ministry. 00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:12.940 But there's also a more general application that is really for all of us. 00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:15.980 It's clear from these verses that if you're a Christian, 00:22:16.120 --> 00:22:19.519 then one day you're going to have a face-to-face interview with Jesus 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:25.840 about the way in which you've lived and what you've done, all of us. 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:32.140 This is about whether we have given ourselves to the building up of what God loves. 00:22:32.840 --> 00:22:37.299 The word for temple in verses 16 and 17 is quite specific. 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:42.220 It is referring to the part of the temple where God actually dwelt, 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:45.519 the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament temple. 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:49.220 And Paul is saying that the church is God's sanctuary. 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:51.759 It's where he dwells with his people. 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:53.400 It is holy turf. 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:55.059 It is sacred stuff. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:01.180 And they were treating the church something that is so precious to God 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:03.319 as if it was just a toy. 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:06.200 Some cheap toy. 00:23:06.200 --> 00:23:10.259 You know, in the past, you know, when my kids, well, they're still little, 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.640 I'd walk through, and I still have a tendency to do this, 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:17.360 walk through the China glassware section of David Jones, 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:19.960 which ironically you've got to get to to get to the toy section. 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:28.019 I would grab my kids so they don't touch anything because to them, 00:23:28.100 --> 00:23:29.880 this crystal is just a toy. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:35.840 They don't understand the difference of what is precious and what is not. 00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:38.039 And that is the problem with this church at Corinth. 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:45.720 You're treating the church like a toy when it is so fundamentally precious to God. 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:51.620 And that's why there's this serious warning in verse 17. 00:23:51.860 --> 00:23:58.000 If you destroy what God loves and where he dwells, he will destroy you. 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:01.980 That is different to the person building with wood, hay, and straw. 00:24:02.120 --> 00:24:03.360 Two different people in mind here. 00:24:03.700 --> 00:24:08.299 At least the person building with wood and hay and stuff is building something, 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:10.740 and they themselves won't be lost. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:14.140 The person here is not trying to build. 00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:15.820 They're trying to tear down. 00:24:17.620 --> 00:24:19.640 And God will tear them down. 00:24:20.540 --> 00:24:21.820 They will be lost. 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:31.140 And the warning for the Corinthians here is that you can't continue in your mere man divisiveness 00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:36.340 because it only ultimately leads in one direction. 00:24:38.800 --> 00:24:40.980 The destruction of what God loves. 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:43.900 You can't keep going down that path. 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:45.460 So heed the warning. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.880 If they truly understood how precious the church is to God, 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:53.580 then they would sacrifice to make sure that it was built. 00:24:54.800 --> 00:24:59.500 To be truly spiritual people, we need to be passionate about the church that God loves 00:24:59.500 --> 00:25:02.400 and is building through the crucified Lord Jesus. 00:25:03.080 --> 00:25:06.580 You cannot be truly spiritual in isolation. 00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:13.259 Being spiritual is a team thing. 00:25:13.259 --> 00:25:19.919 It is to care passionately about God's people and to see them built up into and up in Lord Jesus. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:27.580 The last bit of perspective of what of their divisions that Paul gives them in the hope they're going to live this cross-shaped life together 00:25:27.580 --> 00:25:32.200 is that God has already given us everything that we need. 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:39.559 We don't need to be trying to be trying to be trying to climb higher and push each other down. 00:25:40.059 --> 00:25:42.559 We've all got everything we need in Jesus. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:47.740 Why try and climb over a top of one another? 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:53.179 Why to try and get supremacy and to consider ourselves better than others? 00:25:54.139 --> 00:25:59.359 Paul here goes back to the language of wisdom he used before in verse 18. 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:05.219 He's basically saying that you cannot, in those first few verses there, 00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:08.539 you cannot make sense of life without Jesus. 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:11.619 Verse 21, he says, 00:26:11.699 --> 00:26:15.179 So then, no more boasting about men. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:22.079 All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. 00:26:22.459 --> 00:26:26.279 All are yours and you are of Christ and Christ is of God. 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:35.700 So these last few verses here are effectively a summary of the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians. 00:26:36.139 --> 00:26:42.500 Paul says that grasping what Jesus has done for us on the cross is what makes us wise. 00:26:42.899 --> 00:26:46.519 You see, the cross nullifies human wisdom. 00:26:46.859 --> 00:26:49.279 It nullifies human boasting and the competition. 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:54.500 It nullifies the divisiveness over who's the greatest, the most spiritual and the most gifted. 00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:56.200 See it there in verse 21? 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:59.440 No more boasting about men. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.319 All things are yours. 00:27:04.879 --> 00:27:08.720 And then he turns their factions on their head. 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:14.859 Here they are saying, I belong to Paul and I belong to Apollos and I belong to Cephas. 00:27:15.059 --> 00:27:16.920 And what does Paul say? 00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:17.920 All things are yours. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:19.740 All things are yours. 00:27:19.740 --> 00:27:24.779 Including Paul and Apollos and Cephas. 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:26.560 You don't belong to them. 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:27.620 They belong to you. 00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:37.599 The crucified Christ has made them your servants to lead you into every blessing in Christ. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:50.899 The way Paul goes on here to define all things in verses 21 and 22 leaves little room for us to exclude any blessing. 00:27:50.900 --> 00:27:51.900 Paul takes them. 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:56.300 Paul takes them back to his introduction in chapter 1. 00:27:56.300 --> 00:28:06.759 The grace of God to them in the crucified Lord Jesus has enriched them in every possible way. 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:10.299 It's enriched them. 00:28:10.299 --> 00:28:13.579 All things are theirs. 00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:21.799 This is a promise that sets us free to live in light of the cross. 00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:29.659 Grasping what Jesus has done for us means that we will see that God has made us part of his family. 00:28:30.159 --> 00:28:32.299 Not because of anything that we have done. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.539 And that he hasn't held anything back from us. 00:28:36.059 --> 00:28:47.599 Grace, by grace he has given us everything that we need for life, health, for safety, rest, for relationships. 00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:52.980 The cross sets us free to see things as they really are. 00:28:52.980 --> 00:29:02.819 The cross sets us free to enjoy life now and to be able to cope with the small annoying pressures of daily life. 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:07.859 And the enormous life changing pressures of a daily life. 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:10.980 The cross helps us to cope with the fear of death. 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:20.660 Everything we need to live for God now has been handed to us on a plate in Jesus. 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:25.019 God says we are his. 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:28.299 He belongs to Jesus. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.079 And there is nothing else we need. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:42.199 To the degree that we belong to Jesus, all these blessings belong to us. 00:29:42.819 --> 00:29:49.419 To the degree that we are shaped by the cross, these blessings belong to us. 00:29:49.419 --> 00:29:57.480 The gospel breaks the chains of competitiveness and the divisions that they cause. 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:01.700 The gospel makes it a level playing field. 00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:03.779 Equal in Christ. 00:30:05.160 --> 00:30:11.480 Look at the cross and see that God, what he has given you, that he's given you everything in Jesus. 00:30:12.380 --> 00:30:14.220 And so live in a way that fits with that. 00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:15.640 That is true spirituality. 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:23.900 There is a very clear reason why we have treasured Jesus written in the middle of our mission statement as a church. 00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:33.259 True spirituality is about grasping what Jesus has done for us on the cross and living in a way that fits with that. 00:30:34.820 --> 00:30:40.400 True spirituality is about treasuring Jesus above everything. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:50.340 To make it even more explicit for us as a church, we have a core value called treasuring Jesus together. 00:30:50.339 --> 00:31:03.359 It exists to remind us daily to do battle against the things that will destroy the church, the things that were threatening to destroy the church at Corinth. 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:09.459 And cause us to grow up into true spirituality together. 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:11.460 It says, 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:12.140 It says, 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:42.140 00:31:42.140 --> 00:32:12.140 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:14.140 It says, 00:32:14.140 --> 00:32:16.140 It says, 00:32:16.140 --> 00:32:16.440 My friends, 00:32:16.560 --> 00:32:18.720 Preach the cross to yourself every day. 00:32:20.060 --> 00:32:20.840 Amen.