Men of Flesh

Good morning. How are you? Nice to see you. For all of you who are dads, happy Father's Day. Being a father, it's a special privilege to be a father. We're remembering this morning Jack McBride. Okay, so we have been working our way through 1 Corinthians to 2 Corinthians. And what we've been doing is that we've been identifying different kinds of men. Last week we spent time identifying three descriptive men. The first one that we talked about last week was the natural man.

And we discovered that the natural man, that term, natural, always denotes the life of the natural world in contrast to the supernatural world. And it refers to anything, as we talked about last week, that is home with Satan and his world system. The system we all live in, this world system is his. And it also refers to one who lives solely on a material plane. It can be said that due to the fall of man, man came into a moral sense about him which we call a conscience. And he can use that facility or faculty to distinguish right from wrong. And like we said, we call it a conscious. But the problem is that man's sinful condition rendered the conscience an unreliable guide because it became subjective. Nevertheless, the Spirit of God works through that in bringing conviction of sin.

Now, natural can also refer to one who is untouched by the Spirit of God, and I think that's the primary point. Because the absence of the Holy Spirit is evidence that this natural man is, by definition, an unbeliever. The natural man is any person who doesn't possess the Holy Spirit. It's all unbelievers. Every human being that's born is a natural man until he or she trusts in the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul calls them natural psychicos man because that's all they are, are natural.

Now, in verse 15 that we're going to talk about today, he's going to say, I'm sorry, last week we talked about it. He said that the spiritual man appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised of no man. For he who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. So who is the spiritual man?

Specifically, we have to distinguish between one who possesses the Spirit and one who actually is spiritual. Put it this way, it's not simply that you have the Holy Spirit that allows you to discern all things. The indwelling alone does not make a Christian spiritual. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. A man must have the spirit to be spiritual, but spiritual implies that a condition in which the man is under the control of the Holy Spirit.

And we'll talk more about the Christian who has a spirit who isn't under control of the spirit later on today. So the man who is indwelt, or the woman who is indwelt and controlled by the Holy Spirit, we say is spiritual. So then we get to chapter 3 verse 1, and Paul says, I brethren, I could not speak to you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, carnal men, as infants in Christ. So that's the third man, and that's the man we're going to talk most about today, the carnal man.

Now, he is an individual that has a conscience, but his conscience is much the same as an unbeliever. He uses self-effort to produce some good works for God. He uses blind rationalization for comparing himself with supposedly weaker Christians. He is intermittently to maintain some semblance of a good conscience on and off. The problem is that this very thing that he does and this feeling he has is false. And it gives him an exaggerated dependence on himself.

2 Corinthians 10, 17, and 18 said, But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord, for it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but whom the Lord commends. So, the carnal believer's conscience is bad. When it's bad, he seeks to hide from God. and even attempts to place the blame for his sinfulness on something else or somebody else. So this fleshly guy, this carnal Christian, let's distinguish or try to distinguish between what's fleshly and what is spiritual.

And the best example of that, I think, is the Apostle Paul. Before he was a believer, He was so reliant on himself and so self-centered in his circumstances because he was a self-righteous Jewish man who thought he was keeping the law. In Philippians 3, 4-6 he says, although I myself may have confidence even in the flesh, if anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.

I can do it better than anybody. Why? Because I was circumcised on the eighth day. I'm of the nation of Israel. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews. As to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness which is in the law, I am found blameless." Now if that's your resume, you're pretty cocky about that. You have a lot of self-righteousness about that.

But what happened to Paul? As he went on in his Christian life, he began to see beyond the fleshly externals. He began to see that his heart wasn't spiritually ready for what he was facing. He began to see that the circumcision and the law represented death rather than life.

So when you get to Romans 7, chapter 7, he says, what shall we say then is the law sin? Trying to blame it on the law. He says, may it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to know the sin nature. I would not have known that I had one of those things, the sin nature, except through the law. For I would not have known about coveting or desiring if the law had not said, you will not covet. You shall not covet. You shall not have this thing called desire. You can't do that. But the problem was that sin, taking the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all manner of desiring, of every kind, for apart from the law, sin is inactive.

You use the word dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. So he began to understand that opportunity out of the flesh was death. And he also began to understand that through this law system that he was under that it inflamed his sin nature and he couldn't be righteous before God that way. So And finally he gets down to 724, Romans 724, and he cries out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

I've often marveled about this verse because if you study the book of Romans, you have salvation in the last half of 3, and appreciation of salvation in chapter 4 and part of 5. You have the beginning of the doctrine of the two men, Adam and Christ, in the second half of five. And then you hit identification, which lays out our co-crucifixion with Christ, that we've been separated from the sin nature by being buried and resurrected in Christ.

You go through into seven, and it dawns on him that he's a wretched man even after all of that. So this wretched man doesn't show up, I think, in a believer's life until he does have some sort of spiritual education and he does understand who he is, who he is in Christ, but there's something else, you know, wrong in his heart.

And it's this thin nature. And so there's a discovery. Paul discovered it through the law. I think a lot of us discover that the harder we try, the worse it gets. So he sees that. And one verse later, he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ. He realized that he was in Christ and there's no condemnation. He realized that there was a new life in him, a new principle of the spirit of life that had already set him free from this law of sin and death. It was new. So he was now free. And he began to understand that external law and things like circumcision had to do strictly with the flesh only, had nothing to do with spirituality. And they were just symbols and shadows of the coming reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those of you like me that come out of a pretty strict quote-unquote Christian denomination where the Ten Commandments weren't enough, they had to come up with seven of their own. And because of that, you thought, boy, you know, if I can figure this thing out, I'm going to be righteous. The problem with figuring it out and living underneath it was that it just made you more sinful. You couldn't do it.

The sin revived and here we went. And so Paul discovers in Colossians 2, verse 14 and 17, that the cross of Christ blotted out the handwriting of ordinances. The law was blotted out that was against us, which was contrary to us. It didn't fit with who we are spiritually, and it took it out of the way. It was nailed to the cross, which was a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.

So when he gets to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, he's trying to explain, he's going to start to show the Corinthians, look, you guys, I can't speak to you as spiritual men. I can't do it. But as fleshly men, but as infants in Christ. And then he says, I gave you milk to drink and not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you're not able. For you are still fleshly, for since you are jealous, and there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly?

Are you not walking like mere men? For one says, I'm of Paul, and another says, I'm of Apollos. Are you not like mere men? I love it that he calls them mere men. What's wrong with being a mere man? Well, if you're a believer, being a mere man is lowering yourself from being a spiritual man. So, Paul proceeds to tell the Corinthians that they had not been viewing things from a spiritual standpoint.

And he's referring specifically to this issue that they had with putting teachers on a pedestal. adoration of one another of God's servants, one above another. And in my 40 years of being a believer, I have seen that happen more times than I want to talk about. You know, I was guilty of it. Every believer growing up, I think at one time or another, takes somebody who's their teacher and sticks them up here someplace. And I remember Miles Stanford said, I don't like being up there because when you fall off of that pedestal, when you hit the ground, it really hurts.

So Paul establishes now this third category of humanity, namely the fleshly or the worldly or the carnal Christian man. Who is this fleshly guy? Who is this guy? Well, this man is involved by the Holy Spirit. He has limited capacity to take in God's wisdom as contained in his word though. He can only take milk. You can't take solid food. With all their boasting and wisdom and knowledge and gifts, the Corinthian church was in such a low spiritual condition that Paul wasn't able to minister to them in the deep things of God.

It's interesting that when we first started studying 1 Corinthians, it says that they were the most gifted church in the New Testament. They had it all going on. Every single spiritual gift, they were in it. But from a spiritual standpoint, they were in a really low condition. Secondly, the fleshly believer is viewed in terms of his manifestation. These are stated in verse 3 and 4, which will get to jealousy and strife and that kind of thing.

The Corinthians were spiritual positionally, and I probably to this audience don't have to explain position and condition anymore. Position is who you are in Christ that God accomplished and it's finished. Condition is your everyday walking around circumstances in which you may be functioning out of your position or you may not. Carnal Christians are not functioning out of their position. So he says to them, I can't talk to you in spiritual terms then because you're not functioning in your position. Instead, I have to address you as fleshly people.

And then he qualifies that, he says, even as babies in Christ. So we can surmise from so far that a fleshly believer is really just an immature Christian. That's really what he is. And you know, immaturity isn't blameworthy if you're a brand new believer. But if you're a person who's been a Christian for some time, and you're still immature, then the condition is blameworthy.

These Corinthians, having the Spirit but were walking according to the flesh, they're blameworthy. And you know what's interesting about that? The day that we discover that it's possible to be enriched with all of the expressions and knowledge and gift and be full and wise in Christ and strong and yet to find out that from God's perspective I'm carnal, or spiritually undeveloped like a babe, it just has to, and I cease to grow because of that, and I'm unable to assimilate rich food that God provides for His people. It's humbling to come to that conclusion, but you have to come to it, because otherwise you're going to keep trying to do it yourself, rather than trusting the Lord for your spiritual growth.

So he says, I gave you milk to drink and not solid food for you're not able to receive it indeed even now. Another translation is I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food because you weren't ready for anything stronger and you're still not ready. So what's the difference between milk and meat?

If you look at 1 Peter 2.2, Peter says, really interesting, like a newborn baby's, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. So there's a time. There's a time for the pure milk of the word.

So what is Paul talking about here in terms of carnal believers? Or maybe put it another way. What does God want to do? for the believer to grow into the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus. I've loved this term for a long time, that God is about the business to expand our capacity. The problem with a carnal Christian or a babe is they only have a small capacity, and their capacity means they can only drink milk. As God expands us through his grace, our capacity goes from milk to meat. Chester McCauley made a very interesting comment. He said, well, he said, if it takes 20 minutes to eat a T-bone steak, that's pretty reasonable. But you shouldn't take 20 minutes to drink a glass of milk. Pretty incisive there.

So why is a believer like that? Well, one of the reasons is that he doesn't spend enough time to ingest God's Word. The word is the food. Spending time in God's word is critical, not only for salvation, but for spiritual growth. There are other things to be guarding against, and one of the things I have found in my study is spiritual food just an expansion of understanding about my salvation. that I can take what we would call the birth truths and expand them and I can enter into more and more fully about the fact that I have been saved and what my salvation is all about or is it more than that?

It's true I think that Christians in whom babes rested more and more enjoyed, didn't enjoy what the fathers. You know, John talked about their young men, babes, and fathers. Interesting thing about the fathers is that they just enjoyed fellowship with the Lord.

I think it remains certain that there's a whole range of truth as to Christ, which a carnal, even immature condition in a believer would render inconvenient. It wouldn't work for him. And I think as we talk to other believers and encourage them to grow, you kind of get a sense if can they actually take that food in or not. The mystery of Christ and the church in Ephesians and Colossians is more than the priesthood of Christ in Hebrews. The priesthood of Christ is really important. But the mystery about who he is and the body of Christ and our union with him in Ephesians and Colossians is more meat. It's not that the Apostle couldn't have communicated the depths, but could they profit by such teaching? Would it be of God to give meat beyond them, or would it be injurious to them? You are not able. You are not indeed able now.

If you look at Hebrews 5.11 through 14, it's interesting that the writer of Hebrews says, concerning him who we have much to say, it's hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness because he's an infant. But solid food, listen to this part, but solid food is for the mature. Who, because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil? The Word of God. The fleshly believer does not expend time and effort to ingest God's Word. That's always the issue.

So there are two things I think that we have to take into account when communicating truth. If you're a person on the side of communication, this is really an important part. The first one is, not merely should there be certainty that it is the truth from God. That's the number one thing. The truth that you're about to impart, you're certain about that. You're settled on it. But the second thing is, and this is what Paul recognized here, it must also be suited truth. to those whom you address.

They might need it all, we all need it all, but they may not be able to be in a condition to receive it. And the more precious the truth, the greater the injury, in a certain sense, if it is presented to those who are not in a state to profit by it. You know where that came from? It came from a hungry heart on Wednesday this week.

It's a really important principle point, not only for you, But when you're talking to somebody else, you should think about where they are spiritually, so that you don't try to shove a steak down their throat when all they can handle is a glass of milk.

For babes in Christ, it does not refer to a recent salvation or a recent conversion, but it refers to lack of growth. As the Hebrews are kept back by their religious prejudices, the Corinthians were kept back by divisional spirit was one evidence of their spiritual immaturity and lack of growth.

Their fundamental need was not a change of diet, but a change of perspective. So he says to them, you are still fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, Are you not fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? There's a reason here why Paul didn't feel he should give them more advanced instruction, and it was that their flesh still dominated who they were and how they functioned. As believers, they're making provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires. rather than following the leading of the Holy Spirit. They were not only immature, but they were carnal. So Paul convicts them of their carnality by calling attention to the condition that existed amongst them.

He said, there is among you envying and strife. And this he proves from their condition by incontestable evidence. For you are still fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, are you not walking as mere men?" And then he said, so when one says I'm of Paul and another I'm of Apollos, are you not mere men? Really interesting. Imitation and strife were works of the flesh. They were not the fruit of the Spirit. Their existence in their midst showed how little they walked in self-judgment. They didn't judge themselves. In their practical ways, they walked as natural men.

Instead of serving one another in love, as befits most all saints, they were envious of one another and seeking to be equal or excel ahead of others, one another in the knowledge and the exercise of gifts even as men in the world. So, when Paul asks him that question, what's he doing? He's kind of letting them diagnose themselves. He says, are you not jealous? Are not jealousy and strife the works of the flesh? Did these qualities not indicate that you were conducting yourselves as unbelievers? As people who do not even possess the Holy Spirit?

What's interesting about this word envy, as you study it, you begin to realize, boy, envy is kind of at the root of all strife. Envy led to the first murder in the world. When Cain rose up against his brother and killed him, he did it out of envy. Envy led to the greatest murder that ever happened. When the Jews killed the Prince of Life.

We read that Pilate knew that for envy they had delivered him in Matthew 27.18. It may well be found that envy has been the main cause of all the strife amongst God's peoples.

So the Apostle Peter warns us that envy knows no pity and the malice leads to guile by which man attempts to cover up what he is and the pretenses by which man pretends at what he's not. You know, being human is not a bad thing any more than being a fleshly man is a bad thing in and of itself. What's intolerable from Paul's viewpoint is a believer who has received the Spirit which makes him more than a mere man, and he continues to live like nothing has changed. That's what's intolerable. So he says, well, when one says I'm of Paul and another says I'm of Apollos, are you not mere man? Partisanship is a manifestation of human wisdom.

All the philosophical schools in Greece had their chief teachers. They were keenly competitive among the teachers. There were strong preferences among the students as to who was the best teacher. From this group, factions and parties and work, they were used to in those schools of men.

So these Corinthians were used to this kind of thing. Well, you know, I'm I'm of Apollos, or I'm of Plato, or I'm of Aristotle, or I'm of Socrates, and boy, we're better. We do the same thing. We absolutely do the same thing today. We have certain teachers that we put up here and others that somebody else says, well, I'm a fan of this guy. Well, I'm a fan of this guy, and so what happens? We clash.

Party zeal for Paul and Apollos was no better, as I said, than for Plato and Aristotle. They all had the same root. However, this attitude is inappropriate for a believer when it comes to evaluating the servants of Christ. It's contrary to the mind of Christ, because what did Christ do? He stooped to raise others up. That was his purpose.

It's noticeably clear that it is possible for genuine believers to behave as and appear to be unbelievers. The Corinthian conduct indicated carnality and not a lack of eternal life. Prolonged immaturity as a result of carnality is a condition all too prevalent in modern Christianity. Often we mistake Carnal Christians for natural men are unbelievers. In the last month, as anybody said, well, that guy's supposed to be a believer. Is he? I can't tell by the way he lives.

So you have these Corinthians and they're pandering to the spirit of imitation by attaching themselves to certain gifted teachers. and by closely following and accepting all that they've said. Not necessarily because the truth according to the Word of God, but because it was advanced by a favorite teacher. So when he says, I'm of Paul, or one says, I'm of Paul, and another one says, well, I'm of Apollos, and another one says, well, I'm of Jesus. What happens? You seek to defend your position and you seek to defend your favorite teacher. That leads to strife and divisions. Therefore, these men, the men were followed. Individuals were exalted and division resulted.

It's a very, very hard thing, I think, for believers to understand that those who teach don't want to be on a pedestal. They don't want to be up there. They are not interested in creating a following or disciples. They're not interested in that. They're interested in feeding.

Like in the next week, we'll talk about that one plants and one waters, but it's God who gives the increase. The problem with these I'm of Apollos, I'm of Paul, is that it leads to sectarianism, which sets aside truth in the assembly. Why do we have, in our world after 2,000 years, Vern used to say, what, 5,000 denominations? Why should there be one? Why should there be two denominations there shouldn't be? The other leads to clericalism. You set aside Christ as the head of the assembly. In other words, you create a Jewish system with priests and clerics and people like that. And I used to laugh, I'd pull up behind a guy at a stop sign and he'd have on the back of his car, clergy. And I used to think, I've got to get one of those.

So in conclusion, the Holy Spirit is everywhere the agent and power as Christ is the object presented. The Holy Spirit presents Christ as the object. I could say that ten times. His job is to present Christ and His work, the effective ground and means which His own Sovereign counsels are the spring of all. The Holy Spirit is here to present Christ, Christ, not someone to lead you to Christ, Christ himself. Specifically, it's the Holy Spirit who, as He reveals and communicates suited words, so enables believers to receive the things of God. And this leads to a contrast between him that is spiritual, who discerns all things, and the natural man who does not receive, nor can he know the things of the Spirit of God.

So let's close. Father, how we thank you. How we thank you for the Spirit. How we thank you for this wonderful thing that you have done, which is to place your Spirit in each one of us, and we recognize and trust Him to cause us to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus to such an extent that we would be able to apprehend all that you have for us as your sons, and that we would be able to function and live like those that belong to you. As J. Vernon McGee said one time, he said, if you were arrested and charged with being a Christian, could they prove their case? So we thank you, Father, we pray in your Son's precious name. Amen.