(1 Cor 3:1-3 NKJV) And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to...

(1 Cor 3:1-3 NKJV)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to

carnal, as to babes in Christ.

{2} I fed you with milk and not with

solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

{3} for you are still carnal. For where

there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you

not carnal and behaving like mere

men?

KEY INSIGHT:

In the Bible we find that God very clearly divides mankind into

two groups -

1.) The natural

2.) The spiritual

Those who are yet dead in trespasses

and sins.

Those who through faith in Christ have

been born again and are now alive to God.

KEY INSIGHT:

The CARNAL MAN is NOT a third category

of man.

He is NOT a NATURAL man

because he has truly been made alive to

God.

We might say that he is the UN - natural man.

The carnal man is a real Christian.

We know that because of the way that Paul

addresses them -

(1 Cor. 3:1 NLT)

Dear brothers and sisters…

Paul is CERTAIN that they have been born again into the family

of God.

(Eph. 2:18-19 NLT)

Now all of us…. May come to the Father… So now you gentiles

are no longer strangers and

foreigners… You are members of God’s

family.

The carnal man is a real Christian.

But, though he is indeed a Christian,

Paul is going to show us that he is an UNNATURAL

Christian.

He is an UNNATURAL Christian because he

is in a state of retarded spiritual

growth.

Because of this the carnal man in many ways still resembles

the natural man.

That is why Paul calls this person CARNAL.

The word CARNAL means FLESH.

KEY INSIGHT:

Though he has been born again, and has been united to Jesus, he is not satisfied with

Jesus.

KEY INSIGHT:

One of the most easily detectable signs of

carnality is that your joy is not found in Jesus alone, it is

found in Jesus AND….

Your joy is wrapped up in Jesus AND -

Some possession;

Some pleasure;

Some position.

The Scriptures clearly define the

characteristics of the CARNAL MAN.

Let’s examine them.

Verse 1

…babes in Christ.

KEY INSIGHT:

The CARNAL Christian is someone who has never grown

out of spiritual diapers.

KEY OBSERVATION:

The fact that many of the Corinthians had never grown out of spiritual infancy is

seen by the words of Paul in Verse 2 -

Verse 2-3a I fed you with MILK and not with solid food; for until now you were unable to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still

carnal…

At birth infants are nourished on mom’s

milk or formula because they can NOT

digest solid foods.

There are also certain properties in mom’s

milk that help to develop immunities.

Seeing mom with infant is a very

beautiful and a very natural sight.

But there comes a time when the infant

matures and can begin to eat semi-solids. Then They

grow teeth and can begin to chew and digest solid food.

Remember how we said at the beginning

that he is the unnatural Christian?

Ladies, imagine that you are visiting a

friend and their teen age child comes into the room and says, “Mom, I’m hungry.

Can I have a snack?”

Nothing unnatural about that.

But just imagine your shock if your friend said “Sure honey,”

and then unbuttoned her blouse and started

to breast feed her teenager!

UNNATURAL!

That is exactly the picture of the

CARNAL Christian.

He is an UN-NATURAL spiritual man.

He should be nourishing himself on

the “meat” of the Word, but instead is a

weak, anemic, milk drinking infant.

He is a spiritual dwarf, never growing into

maturity.

After being away from him for five or ten

years you would find his prayer life, and his

witness have not changed at all.

QUOTE: J. Oswald Sanders

“True, nothing is more attractive than baby-

talk, but what is charming in a child is tragic in a man. The Carnal Christian is a

spiritual monstrosity.”

KEY INSIGHT:

This state of carnality is not only unnatural,

it also leaves the carnal Christian in a

state of being -

KEY INSIGHT:

The carnal Christian is HELPLESS and DEPENDENT on others for his spiritual

development and well being.

He incapable of feeding himself from the Scriptures.

Remember we noted that the Carnal Christian lives on the milk of the Word.

The fact that he is a milk drinker tells us that the carnal Christian is dependent upon others

for spiritual nourishment, because what is milk but solid food that has passed through

the another digestive tract.

KEY POINT:

The Carnal Christian has a poor appetite for the bible and is incapable of drawing

nourishment from it’s pages.

KEY INSIGHT:

Because of his own helplessness in spiritual things he is INCAPABLE of serving others.

Rather than SERVING he must constantly be SERVED.

So the CARNAL Christian is characterized by:

Spiritual Immaturity

Spiritual Helplessness

KEY INSIGHT:

The CARNAL Christian is quick to

argue over trifles.

He has no real desire to know or defend the

great truths of Scripture, but he will

fight to the death over things that are

INSIGNIFICANT or NON-ESSENTIAL to

the Christian life.

Here are some of the more significant

issues which we have had tackle over the

years -

The color of doors.

The pastor’s shoes.

Where the pastoral staff came from.

So the Carnal Christian is

characterized by:

Spiritual immaturity

Spiritual Helplessness

Arguing Over Trifles

KEY INSIGHT:

The Carnal Christian is guided by EMOTION

rather than PRINCIPLE and

TRUTH.

As a result he is touchy and easily

offended.

His whole perception of the world around

him is based on what he feels.

As a result he is touchy and easily

offended.

Those around him must walk on eggs because they are

always uncertain as to how he will react.

So the Carnal Christian is

characterized by:

Spiritual immaturity

Spiritual Helplessness

Arguing Over Trifles

Lives on Feelings

(1 Cor 3:3-4 NKJV) for you are still carnal.

For where there are envy, strife, and

divisions among you, are you not carnal and

behaving like mere men? {4} For when one says, "I am of

Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are

you not carnal?

KEY INSIGHT #1 -

Envy, Strife and Division are the

inevitable by products of the carnal life.

ENVY -

A Carnal Christian can not rejoice over the success of another.

They indeed sound childish - “Why does

HE get to ____?

ENVY -

It kills him to see God blessing another

man’s ministry and life more than their

own.

Neither can the Carnal Christian rejoice over

the prosperity of another.

STRIFE -

Where the Carnal Christian is envious (and he will be) there

will soon follow strife.

The word literally means wrangling,

debating, or contention.

STRIFE -

He is going to let everyone know that he can’t believe why the pastor let so and so

take the position that he obviously

deserved.

STRIFE -

To support his position that he was the one who should have been promoted he won’t hesitate to accuse the pastor of

having no discernment and the other person of being

a sycophant.

KEY INSIGHT:

The by-products of the Christian life do not end with ENVY and CONTENTION.

ENVY will inevitably lead to CONTENTION which will inevitably lead to DIVISION in the Body of Christ.

DIVISION -

The Carnal man will form “parties” or

“factions” in a fellowship.

He will look out for and rally to himself those who have the

same Carnal attitudes to support his

position.

DIVISION -

He is able to draw to himself other Carnal

people who have ENVIED the success

of others, and who, as a result of their

disappointments regarding

advancement share the same low view of

the pastor.

DIVISION -

The TRAGEDY of it all is that they are willing

to adopt ungodly church politics to gain

their end.

To these people Paul declares -

“YOU ARE YET CARNAL.”

KEY INSIGHT:

In the language of the Old testament, the Carnal Christian lives in the Wilderness - the barren desert lying between Egypt and the

Promised land.

One moment he is creeping back towards the borders of Egypt, the next he is on the

borders of the promised land, and then back again.

He is torn between the two!

The memories of the old life still linger with him and he is NOT prepared to pay the price

of entering into the promised land.

On a Sunday morning he longs for the victorious Christian life, but when he gets home he can not resist the lures of Egypt.

When no one is looking he secretly makes excursions into that forbidden territory.

KEY QUESTION:

Are all of these things a picture of your life?

Are you “yet carnal?”

KEY QUESTION:

Have you been brought to the

conclusion that you are yet carnal?

KEY INSIGHT:

The way OUT of the CARNAL life and IN to the SPIRIT-FILLED life is the very same way that the Israelites left the wilderness and

entered the Promised Land.

KEY INSIGHT:

For the Israelites this meant:

CONFESSION of their failure to follow the

Lord into the Promised Land.

WILLINGNESS TO OBEY the will of God revealed to Joshua and to finally leave

Egypt behind.

ABSOLUTE FAITH in the Word of God.

As they obeyed the Word of God they experienced the power of God.

In a spiritual sense this morning, are

willing to cross the Jordan River?

If your choice is made, won’t you please at

this very moment take that step of faith, rest on the unfailing Word

of God?

DO IT NOW!