Ben O’Grady – Do All for the Glory of God (1 Corinthians) – Class 2 – Labourers Together With God

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Asked if we’d take a reading to
introduce this talk from First

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Corinthians chapter 3, verses 1
to 16.

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And I’ll call a brother Phil
right to come forward and read

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that for us.
So that’s First Corinthians 3,

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verses 1 to 16 reading together.
First Corinthians chapter 3,

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verses 1 to 16.
And I, brethren, could not speak

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unto you as unto spiritual, but
as unto carnal, even as unto

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babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk, and not

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with meat, for hitherto you were
not able to bear it, neither yet

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are you able for ye.
For ye are yet carnal.

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For whereas there is among you
envying and strife and

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divisions, are ye not carnal and
walkers men.

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For while one says I am a pool,
and another I’m of Apollos, are

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you not carnal?
Who then is born?

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And who is Apollos, but
ministers by whom he believed,

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even as the Lord gave to every
man?

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I have planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase.

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So then neither is he that
planteth anything, neither he

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that watereth, but God that
giveth the increase.

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Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one.

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And every man shall receive his
own reward, according to his own

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labour.
For we are labourers together

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with God, ye God’s husbandry,
and are ye are God’s building.

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According to the grace which God
hath given unto me, as a wise

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Master Builder, I have laid the
foundation, and another builder

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thereon.
But let every excuse me, let

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every man take heed how he
buildeth thereupon.

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For other foundation can no man
lay than is laid which is Jesus

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Christ.
Now if any man build upon this

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foundation, gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay,

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stubble, every man’s work shall
be made manifest, for the day

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shall declare it, because it
shall be revealed by fire, and

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the fire shall try every man’s
work of what sort it is.

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If any man’s work be able work
abide which he hath built,

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thereupon he shall receive a
reward.

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If any man’s work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss,

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but he himself shall be saved
yet by fire, yet so as by fire.

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No, you’re not that ye are the
temple of God and that the

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Spirit of God dwelleth in you.
Now call up on our brother Ben

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to give us his second study in
the series.

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Do alter the glory of God
entitled laborers together with

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God study too.
So good morning, my dear

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brothers and sisters and young
people.

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The Corinthian ecclesia had
formed into groups on the basis

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of personal pride.
I’m of Paul.

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Wow, you think that’s good?
I’m of Apollos.

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Well, I’m actually of Cephas.
But we found that any form of

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human pride cannot dwell in the
presence of the Father.

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So Paul is dealing with some
very tricky issues in the

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Corinthian ecclesia, but right
from the start he gives us a

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fantastic example of how to deal
with issues both individually

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and ecclesia.
The first point, however, which

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I want to note this morning, is
that Paul does deal with the

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issues, that they are not just
left to fester until they have

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destroyed an individual or an
ecclesia.

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Paul to that ecclesia demands
that they are fronted up to and

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worked through.
And it’s an important point.

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It’s a fundamental point because
it’s very easy to take the easy

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option and it’s very natural,
isn’t it?

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When matters arise, something’s
come up, it should be dealt

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with, but it’s just a little too
hard to face.

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But Paul’s example is
encouraging us to face up wisely

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to these issues in eclesial life
and to work them out before they

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become absolutely destructive
and RIP the heart out of an

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eclesial environment.
But secondly, in Paul’s personal

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hallmark, he deals with them by
first inspiring to the

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foundation of godly principle.
Rather than enter into the

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academic cut and thrust of
clever human reasoning, he

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elevates the mind to the core
godly principle that is at

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stake.
And the key principle, well the

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key principle is that flesh is
nothing.

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That flesh can never be allowed
to take the pre eminence in

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eclesial life or in in our own
life, and never in the presence

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of God.
And more particularly that our

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sole objective is to learn to
develop together with each one

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of us showing the glory of the
Father and in fact, as we shall

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find today, to be labourers
together with God.

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Can you imagine the incredible
heights that our cliches are

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capable of if we could just
learn to live this way, if we

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could just learn to put
ourselves aside and to work

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together, not just together, but
to work together with God in

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building the ecclesial
environment?

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In chapter 1, we found an
ecclesia that was riven by tis

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tis T division.
But rather than getting into

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that argument with individuals
on it was right, which you can

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never win, Paul showed that
their attitude showed that none

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of them had wisdom, that none of
them were right.

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And therefore having been
humbled, he elevated them to the

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glory of God.
So this thing that flesh has no

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glory that we are not even our
own in is is then picked up

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through the rest of the section
here and really becomes the

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grand theme of the book that
that we are not our own, but

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that in spite of that, God is
able to elevate us to glory with

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him is the grand theme of this
book.

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I will just note that I’ve had
some some really nice

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discussions after the talks
yesterday and throughout the

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day.
And there was a couple of

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questions which people asked
around the question of So what

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if we get to in our ecclesial
environment and we are not of

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the same mind and someone else
has a wrong view of something or

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we can’t agree on something.
And, and I, I think absolutely

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that that’s a, that’s a
difficult question to answer,

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isn’t it?
Because the point of Paul here

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in Corinthians is actually
focusing on how a perfect

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ecclesia works.
And we’re not perfect, are we?

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What if someone else has, has a
different view?

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I think the point from
Corinthians, and we’ll find this

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as we go right through our
studies together.

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The point from Corinthians is
that its main power and the main

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thrust of Corinthians is its
message to me as an individual,

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that if I as an individual can
pick up this point and and make

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sure that I’m working, that both
in my own life and in an

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ecclesial life, then my
contribution to the ecclesial

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life will become powerful.
But it’s also the point that

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every one of us as members of
the ecclesia need to do that.

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So if you have everyone living
by the principles of Corinthians

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and putting themselves down,
accepting that they are nothing

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and striving to live to the
glory of God, then you are

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creating that environment in
which anything can be worked

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through and which our same mind
can be developed.

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Because it’s not about ourselves
or our own pride, but we’re

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working together.
And this concept of working

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together and of building with
God is very strongly, which what

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comes through in these next few
chapters.

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It’s not a book to be used to
point to others, because by

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doing that we create division.
It’s a book to be used for

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changing ourselves, but if we’re
all able to change ourselves,

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the transformation of the
ecclesial environment will be

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substantial.
So let’s now have a look.

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Just spend a moment looking at
the actual structure and general

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message of the book.
You would have seen this on the

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opening night, but had no chance
to take any notes and probably

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forgotten it by now as well.
So let’s just work through the,

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the, the themes that Paul goes
through and you’ll see that

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really this mirrors the
structure we have for our talks

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as we go through.
And what I’m attempting to do

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through this series is to show
you just the, the bites of the

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themes or the sections that Paul
deals with.

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I’m deliberately not going to go
into them in, in detail in terms

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of the actual chapter breakdowns
within that.

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Because I’m trying to show how
within those sections, Paul is

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running a theme through that.
He’s focused on a main theme or

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idea that he’s focused on and
how that’s working through

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broadly through the book to give
his general message.

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So I’ve said that Chapter 1 to
Chapter 4 is a section on

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overcoming division by by
putting down self and glorying

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in God.
We looked at chapter 1 yesterday

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and we’re finishing off this
section today.

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I know that that’s connected
because Paul also gives us

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little hints that he’s
connecting sections by by little

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ideas that he pulls together.
And we’ll have a look slightly

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later in this talk at the
concept of Paul and Apollos.

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And in this thing in this
section, from chapter one

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through to chapter 4, he links
that section together by talking

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about Paul and Apollos and their
interaction together.

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Chapter 5 to Chapter 7, Paul
deals with these very difficult

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moral issues that have arisen in
the ecclesial environment.

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But interestingly, rather than
just dealing or spending his

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whole time focusing on the issue
itself, he deals with them very

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briefly, but focuses on the
ecclesia and their response to

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those issues primarily.
And the principle that he brings

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out is you are not your own.
You’re bought with a price.

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So we’re not there because of of
what we want to do.

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We’re there to work together as
an ecclesia.

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And again, he says the answer to
these issues deal with the

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issue.
He deals with that very quickly,

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but then he shows how the
ecclesial environment is the

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thing that has been impacted by
that.

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And this theme of, of being
puffed up, of the environmental

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or pride within the ecclesia
comes strongly through that

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section.
From Chapter 8 through to

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Chapter 11.
There’s a section on, on not

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justifying what I’m doing, but
on focusing on building others

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up.
That’s the theme that we’ve got

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in the book.
All things are lawful unto me,

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but all things edify not.
And we’ll find that this is

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actually the key answer that
Paul gives to the concept of

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meat offered to idols.
And that that whole section is

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actually linked together by the
idea of eating and drinking of

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of eating and drinking meat, and
in fact, the idea of eating

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meat, meat and drinking meat
offered to idols.

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From chapter 12 through to
chapter 14, we see the

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perfection of the ecclesial body
working together in love.

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But of course, Paul is actually
dealing with an issue of the

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Spirit gifts and the ambition,
the ambitious use of the Spirit

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gifts that was again causing
problems in the ecclesia.

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But his answer to that is to
transcend above that and to show

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the real power of a body and the
diversity of the body as it

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works together in love.
And chapter 15 in a in a

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fabulous into it to the sessions
together focuses on the

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incredible victory of
immortality as we are raised

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from mortality into the the
power of immortality with with

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no more, no more death.
And we’ll find, as I mentioned

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in the intro evening, that the
real theme of that chapter is

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one of from death to life.
And Paul concludes in chapter 16

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with his focus on the pastoral
care of the ecclesias, which we

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won’t have time to look at,
unfortunately, in our sessions.

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So this opening section of the
book goes from chapter one

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through to chapter 4, and as I
said, is connected by the themes

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of Paul and Depolis, which we’ll
touch on shortly.

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This talk really continues on
from the themes of yesterday and

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picks up those themes from
yesterday, but we’ll show you

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how.
So Paul’s answers to the

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division in the ecclesia, as we
saw yesterday, was to say, well,

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the division’s bad, so fix it.
He said, I’m Paul, Paul wasn’t

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crucified for you.
And in a way, he gives this very

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quick and easy answer which
shows that the division is

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wrong.
But then he starts to transform

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them to the understanding that
they are nothing and it’s about

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God’s glory, which they need to
focus on.

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And what we’ll find this morning
is in such a beautiful way, he

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then picks up those concepts and
he shows the real power of how

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that can transform an ecclesia.
How if an ecclesia can pick up

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these principles we are to talk
about this morning and use them

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in terms of how it interacts
together, there will be no

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question of division.
Division will not be an issue in

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an ecclesia that picks up the
principles we are to talk about

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this morning.
So let’s start here in chapter 2

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and then verse one.
And I, brethren, when I came to

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you, came not with Excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring

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unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know

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anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.

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And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and in much

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trembling.
And my speech in my preaching

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was not with enticing words of
man’s wisdom, but in

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demonstration of the Spirit and
of power.

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This is no longer soul of
Tarsus.

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He’s no longer the the arrogant,
brash, brilliant Pharisee who’s

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out to get what he wants in life
and to accomplish his purposes.

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He’s not the the academic man
there thriving in in the cut and

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thrust of the Greek argument.
That’s that’s going on and and

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showing with his with his
brilliance, the power of his

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reasoning.
This is the contrast here to the

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angry man who is breathing out
threatenings and slaughtering

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against the the followers of
Christ as he came to conquer.

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He’s a man who’s here in
weakness and in fear.

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See verse three.
I was with you in weakness and

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in fear and in much trembling
and my speech in my preaching

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was not with enticing words of
man’s wisdom.

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It’s a man, isn’t it, who’s
completely broken, a man who’s

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come to understand that flesh is
nothing, that no flesh will

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glory in the presence of God
himself.

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God has worked his work with
this man and he has now been

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taken from the arrogant, brash
soul to the meek and humbled man

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who is now able to do God’s
work.

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You would have been thinking, no
doubt, of the connections

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through the similarity through
to the man Moses here who had

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fallen from that mighty warrior
who was, who was as it were, one

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of one of those close in line to
the Pharaoh, the great Pharaoh

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00:15:28,520 –> 00:15:31,560
himself, a man mighty in Word
and deed.

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And he failed to become a
broken, fearful man who who

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couldn’t even bring himself to
go and to speak to Pharaoh and

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pleaded with God that he would
send someone else.

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And so God took Aaron to act as
his mouthpiece, so that Moses

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would go this this
transformation from a man mighty

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and word indeed to a broken
humbled man, who God was then

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able to use up and to pick up
and use for his purpose.

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Have a look at at Exodus chapter
4.

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Here Moses said unto Yahweh, Oh
my Lord, I’m not eloquent,

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neither heretofore, nor since
there has spoken unto thy

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servant, but I am slow of
speech, and of a slow tongue.

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And Yahweh said unto him, Who
hath made man’s mouth, or who

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maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the
seeing, or the blind?

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Have not I Yahweh?
Now therefore go, I will be thy

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mouth, and teach thee what thou
shots say.

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Can you see the parallels here
between Moses, this meekest man

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on all the earth who had learnt
that God alone could be his

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strength, and the position of
Paul here?

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00:16:34,120 –> 00:16:38,200
And, and Paul is giving his own
example here in chapter 2 to

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show the power of of a man who
understands that his flesh is

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nothing but can be lifted up in
God.

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It introduces a quiet comparison
throughout the book between Paul

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and Moss and actually between
the Corinthian ecclesia and the

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00:16:54,440 –> 00:16:58,520
congregation of Israel in the
wilderness, which as you can

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imagine becomes quite a sobering
comparison.

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00:17:01,320 –> 00:17:04,040
So keep an eye out through the
series as we go through these

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00:17:04,040 –> 00:17:07,119
talks and just watch out for
those little hints as they come

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00:17:07,119 –> 00:17:10,920
out and the the little warnings
that Paul puts in place with

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00:17:10,920 –> 00:17:13,359
those connections back to Israel
and the wilderness.

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And we’ll pull those together in
one of our last talks together.

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00:17:19,040 –> 00:17:23,400
But for now, just just let’s
contemplate these two incredible

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men positioned by side by side.
Once great men in a human sense,

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00:17:30,120 –> 00:17:36,200
in their own wisdom and might
and power, now humbled, meek and

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00:17:36,200 –> 00:17:41,960
lowly and able to do some of the
greatest work that has ever been

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00:17:41,960 –> 00:17:46,440
accomplished upon the earth
through the power of their God.

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00:17:48,120 –> 00:17:52,160
Yahweh’s strength is made
perfect in weakness.

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00:17:53,080 –> 00:17:56,960
It’s not when we’re at our
greatest, using our own power

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00:17:57,600 –> 00:18:01,240
and relying on our own wisdom
that the Father is able to work

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00:18:01,240 –> 00:18:04,080
in US.
It is when we are bought low,

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00:18:05,280 –> 00:18:09,320
when we recognize that our flesh
is weak and nothing, that we’re

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00:18:09,320 –> 00:18:14,480
then able to be used by God.
But when we do, brothers and

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00:18:14,480 –> 00:18:21,640
sisters, when we recognize that
we are nothing, then God is able

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00:18:21,640 –> 00:18:25,080
to elevate us from this nothing,
to do incredible things in His

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00:18:25,080 –> 00:18:29,000
service.
And this please be beyond any

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00:18:29,000 –> 00:18:31,360
other point.
This week must be the point that

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00:18:31,360 –> 00:18:36,920
we take home to our own eclises.
If we can grasp this concept, if

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00:18:36,920 –> 00:18:40,080
all of us in our eclges can
learn to put pride in our self

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00:18:40,080 –> 00:18:43,560
to one side and and allow God to
shine forth, then it will

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00:18:43,600 –> 00:18:47,560
absolutely transform the power
and the working and the love of

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00:18:47,560 –> 00:18:49,880
our own eclesial environment
until they are completely

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00:18:49,880 –> 00:18:52,560
unbreakable.
That we are nothing but God is

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00:18:52,880 –> 00:18:56,800
able to elevate us to do
incredible things in His

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00:18:56,800 –> 00:19:00,560
service.
And so we come back to Paul, who

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00:19:00,560 –> 00:19:04,960
is no longer a powerful,
eloquent man, but now able to

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00:19:04,960 –> 00:19:09,400
accomplish far more than he had
ever done, as sold as Tarsus.

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00:19:12,120 –> 00:19:14,720
See, Paul had learnt not just
that he was nothing.

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00:19:15,680 –> 00:19:18,960
He’d learnt more than just that
his flesh could not glory in

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00:19:18,960 –> 00:19:23,440
God’s presence.
He’d also learnt that he could

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00:19:23,440 –> 00:19:27,280
work with God.
He had learnt that he could be

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00:19:27,280 –> 00:19:31,160
elevated by God’s power and that
God’s glory could shine forth

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00:19:31,160 –> 00:19:35,800
from him and that in him God
could him accomplish incredible

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00:19:35,800 –> 00:19:40,960
things.
Verse 5, he says that your faith

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00:19:41,080 –> 00:19:44,680
should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the power of God.

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00:19:45,760 –> 00:19:48,560
So Paul is there saying I’m not
coming with enticing words of

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00:19:48,560 –> 00:19:50,240
man’s wisdom.
I’m not coming with the

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00:19:50,240 –> 00:19:53,480
brilliance of my reasoning in a
Greek way to be able to convince

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00:19:53,480 –> 00:19:57,040
you so that you’re convinced of
this and, and go away astonished

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00:19:57,040 –> 00:19:59,560
at my reasoning.
He says I’m there with a

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00:19:59,560 –> 00:20:03,000
demonstration of the Spirit and
of power so that your faith

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00:20:03,000 –> 00:20:06,920
doesn’t stand in my wisdom, in
the wisdom of men, but in the

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00:20:06,920 –> 00:20:13,080
power of God.
He’s wanting the Corinthians not

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00:20:13,080 –> 00:20:15,160
to follow his words because he
is Paul.

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00:20:16,880 –> 00:20:21,640
But to understand the power of
those words because they’ve come

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00:20:21,640 –> 00:20:23,720
from God himself and he’s
answered, hasn’t he?

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00:20:24,000 –> 00:20:25,880
Absolutely.
I’m of Paul.

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00:20:26,800 –> 00:20:29,360
You imagine anyone in the Paul
brigade now who’s saying

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00:20:30,080 –> 00:20:33,440
actually Paul himself is saying
that’s not what he wants.

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00:20:33,680 –> 00:20:34,800
He doesn’t want us to follow
him.

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00:20:35,080 –> 00:20:37,080
He wants us instead to focus
upon God.

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00:20:37,080 –> 00:20:42,320
And he’s so perfectly answered
this issue of of the the the

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00:20:42,360 –> 00:20:44,520
different brigades who are
following different people,

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00:20:45,880 –> 00:20:48,800
verse six and seven.
Howbeit we speak wisdom among

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00:20:48,800 –> 00:20:52,440
them that are perfect, yet not
the wisdom of this world, nor of

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00:20:52,440 –> 00:20:55,200
the Princess of this world that
come to naughty, but we speak

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00:20:55,200 –> 00:20:59,800
the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom which God

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00:20:59,800 –> 00:21:02,560
ordained before the world unto
our glory.

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00:21:03,480 –> 00:21:05,680
So God had a plan from the very
beginning.

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00:21:06,440 –> 00:21:11,160
It was a hidden mystery that God
has specifically chosen to take

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00:21:11,160 –> 00:21:15,880
his wisdom and to hide it.
And if men come to it from their

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00:21:15,880 –> 00:21:20,760
own angle, from their own
wisdom, from their own ego, with

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00:21:20,760 –> 00:21:23,440
their own view of the world,
then they’ll not comprehend it.

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00:21:23,560 –> 00:21:26,640
But they can’t understand it.
They will never see the glory

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00:21:26,640 –> 00:21:28,800
and the power of the wisdom of
God.

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00:21:29,080 –> 00:21:30,920
It’s, it’s this sort of picture,
isn’t it?

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00:21:32,080 –> 00:21:33,600
Hopefully you can see that down
the back.

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00:21:33,600 –> 00:21:37,120
You’ve got the sense of Yahweh’s
glory, this overwhelming power

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00:21:37,120 –> 00:21:40,280
and glory of Yahweh and His and
His wisdom.

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00:21:40,720 –> 00:21:43,800
And here down on this little
corner, here we have an

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00:21:43,800 –> 00:21:46,720
individual who’s there, but
they’re there in their own

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00:21:46,720 –> 00:21:49,760
strength, in their own wisdom.
They’ve got this bubble, as it

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00:21:49,760 –> 00:21:51,880
were, around them, of man’s
wisdom.

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00:21:52,720 –> 00:21:57,800
And that bubble, this little
bubble here means that they are

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00:21:57,800 –> 00:22:01,920
utterly unable to comprehend or
to see the power of God’s

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00:22:01,920 –> 00:22:06,240
wisdom.
It’s such a brilliant framework

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00:22:06,240 –> 00:22:12,080
that God has created to
deliberately hide His wisdom so

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00:22:12,080 –> 00:22:15,800
that those who believe, who, who
live by their own cleverness,

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00:22:16,880 –> 00:22:21,360
are left without comprehension
of the surpassing glory and

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00:22:21,360 –> 00:22:24,080
wisdom that is around them, and
they don’t even know it.

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00:22:25,480 –> 00:22:28,640
It happens so often, doesn’t it?
In a worldly sense of of those

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00:22:28,640 –> 00:22:31,200
who are ambitious to achieve
things and may achieve their

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00:22:31,200 –> 00:22:34,320
ambitions, which in themselves
are hardly anything.

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00:22:35,120 –> 00:22:38,200
And they stand in their own
little bubble, luxuriating in

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00:22:38,200 –> 00:22:43,280
their own capability, and
completely miss the wonder and

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00:22:43,280 –> 00:22:47,400
the power and the glory of the
Father that cries out from every

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00:22:47,400 –> 00:22:50,280
molecule of the earth around
them and every pattern of life,

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00:22:51,120 –> 00:22:56,520
let alone from his word and from
his Son and from his living

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00:22:56,520 –> 00:23:00,080
people around them.
It’s surpassing brilliance,

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00:23:00,080 –> 00:23:01,880
isn’t it, from a human
perspective, brothers and

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00:23:01,880 –> 00:23:06,000
sisters and young people,
because the Father knows that

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00:23:06,000 –> 00:23:10,080
the only ones who are capable of
living the fullness of his glory

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00:23:11,200 –> 00:23:15,160
are those who are able to empty
the empty themselves and to turn

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00:23:15,160 –> 00:23:17,560
unto him.
It’s an incredibly powerful

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00:23:17,560 –> 00:23:21,480
principle and it and it just
gives this fantastic insight

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00:23:21,480 –> 00:23:26,080
into the intense wisdom of the
Father that so surpasses our

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00:23:26,080 –> 00:23:31,880
glory and our approach to life.
Verse 8 if we talk about

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00:23:31,880 –> 00:23:36,520
ambition and the accomplishments
of of human men, which none of

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00:23:36,520 –> 00:23:40,080
the Princess of this world knew,
for had they known it, they

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00:23:40,080 –> 00:23:41,960
would not have crucified the
Lord of glory.

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00:23:42,200 –> 00:23:47,680
Here’s the Roman governor, the
Romans who were there, who had

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00:23:47,680 –> 00:23:51,480
achieved incredible things from
an ambitious point of view, had

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00:23:51,480 –> 00:23:54,520
scaled the world’s ladders to
some of their greatest heights,

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00:23:55,680 –> 00:23:58,720
but they didn’t perceive the
hidden wisdom of God.

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00:23:59,760 –> 00:24:03,360
And so they took, who did they
take?

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00:24:03,760 –> 00:24:07,480
They took the Lord of glory, one
who was the encompass, the

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00:24:07,480 –> 00:24:09,240
encompassed all of Yahweh’s
glory.

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00:24:09,360 –> 00:24:13,760
They took that man and they
crucified him because they had

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00:24:13,760 –> 00:24:17,520
no idea that the wisdom of God
was shining out from him.

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00:24:18,560 –> 00:24:21,720
It’s, it’s an incredible insight
into the fact that some of the

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00:24:21,720 –> 00:24:27,200
most successful men could turn
around and so utterly fail to

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00:24:27,200 –> 00:24:31,480
see the power and the wisdom of
God’s work and God’s ways.

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00:24:34,520 –> 00:24:39,640
He killed the greatest man who
had ever lived upon the earth.

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00:24:41,480 –> 00:24:45,920
That’s the principle, isn’t it?
If we rely on the wisdom of this

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00:24:45,920 –> 00:24:53,480
world, we will get nowhere.
We will not even comprehend the

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00:24:53,480 –> 00:24:58,480
fullness or any part of the
wisdom of God that shines around

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00:24:58,480 –> 00:25:02,600
us.
But in verse 9 He changes,

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00:25:02,600 –> 00:25:04,800
doesn’t He?
As it’s written, I hath not

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00:25:04,800 –> 00:25:08,080
seen, nor ear heard, neither
hath entered into the heart of

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00:25:08,080 –> 00:25:12,200
man the things which God hath
prepared for them that love Him.

399
00:25:14,320 –> 00:25:18,200
So God has prepared something
for them that love Him.

400
00:25:19,200 –> 00:25:22,000
But it’s something which the
human eye cannot see.

401
00:25:23,200 –> 00:25:26,720
It’s something which the human
ear and the human heart cannot

402
00:25:26,720 –> 00:25:31,880
hear or comprehend if we’re
there in human focus or in a

403
00:25:31,880 –> 00:25:37,840
human wisdom, but God has
prepared something for them that

404
00:25:37,840 –> 00:25:40,200
love him.
It’s the hidden wisdom, isn’t it

405
00:25:40,560 –> 00:25:43,240
that the mystery of God from
verse 7, which God ordained

406
00:25:43,240 –> 00:25:48,360
before the the world unto our
glory and no human can

407
00:25:48,360 –> 00:25:50,240
contemplate the fullness of what
that means.

408
00:25:50,240 –> 00:25:52,680
We’re being told.
Yet God has prepared it right

409
00:25:52,680 –> 00:25:55,600
from the beginning for those
that love him.

410
00:25:58,800 –> 00:26:02,400
Just come across to Isaiah
chapter 64, which is actually

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00:26:02,400 –> 00:26:06,120
where Paul has quoted from out
of out of verse 9 and just see

412
00:26:06,120 –> 00:26:08,000
here again, young people
particularly.

413
00:26:08,000 –> 00:26:11,160
This is a really key point in
terms of how to understand the

414
00:26:11,160 –> 00:26:14,760
use of of Scripture and to
understand how Scripture unlocks

415
00:26:15,440 –> 00:26:19,520
because the key here is the
perfect context of how Paul has

416
00:26:19,520 –> 00:26:24,280
used has used this quote.
Paul, remember, is talking of

417
00:26:24,280 –> 00:26:28,120
the theme of this idea of God
deliberately hiding his wisdom

418
00:26:28,400 –> 00:26:31,760
and keeping it for those who
respond to him in humility and

419
00:26:31,760 –> 00:26:36,640
to acknowledge God’s position.
So come to Isaiah 64 and in

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00:26:36,640 –> 00:26:41,680
verse, in verse 8, sorry, verse,
verse one.

421
00:26:45,920 –> 00:26:49,160
So the verse that Paul is
quoting out of is, is verse 4.

422
00:26:49,160 –> 00:26:51,560
But we’re just going to flow
through the chapter briefly to

423
00:26:51,560 –> 00:26:53,960
see what Paul’s saying.
So verse one, oh, that thou

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00:26:54,000 –> 00:26:56,120
would rend the heavens, that
thou would come down, that the

425
00:26:56,120 –> 00:26:58,400
mountains might flow down at thy
presence.

426
00:26:58,920 –> 00:27:01,960
Verse 3 when thou did terrible
things which we looked not for,

427
00:27:01,960 –> 00:27:04,600
they came us down, and the
mountains flowed down at thy

428
00:27:04,600 –> 00:27:06,720
presence.
So this is sense of the prophet

429
00:27:06,720 –> 00:27:09,400
pleading that God would come
down and reveal himself.

430
00:27:09,640 –> 00:27:12,880
And verse three they that is
which when thou did terrible

431
00:27:12,880 –> 00:27:16,800
things which we looked not for.
So from a human perspective,

432
00:27:16,800 –> 00:27:19,400
there was not the sense of the
fact that God was in control,

433
00:27:19,400 –> 00:27:22,640
always going to do His work.
This was God’s work that He was

434
00:27:22,640 –> 00:27:24,800
doing.
Verse 4.

435
00:27:26,000 –> 00:27:30,400
For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor

436
00:27:30,400 –> 00:27:33,920
perceived by the ear, neither
hath the eye seen, O God beside

437
00:27:33,920 –> 00:27:38,720
thee, what He hath prepared for
him, that waiteth for him.

438
00:27:39,560 –> 00:27:41,920
So there’s this sense in which
the world is sitting there with

439
00:27:41,920 –> 00:27:46,000
no awareness or appreciation of
the incredible work that God has

440
00:27:46,000 –> 00:27:49,000
accomplished, that He’s
accomplished in the past, that

441
00:27:49,000 –> 00:27:52,520
He’s accomplishing now in His
creative work with us, and that

442
00:27:52,520 –> 00:27:56,160
He will continue to bring to
pass until it is completely

443
00:27:56,600 –> 00:28:00,120
finished.
In such a powerful work, human

444
00:28:00,800 –> 00:28:03,440
cannot, human wisdom cannot
perceive that.

445
00:28:04,840 –> 00:28:09,160
Verse 5 Thou meetest him that
rejoiceth and worketh

446
00:28:09,160 –> 00:28:12,200
righteousness, those that
remember thee in thy ways.

447
00:28:12,880 –> 00:28:16,560
So God is looking, isn’t he, for
those who understand him in his

448
00:28:16,560 –> 00:28:20,880
righteousness, and rejoice in
his ways, that remember thee in

449
00:28:20,880 –> 00:28:23,520
thy ways.
But behold, thou art wrath, for

450
00:28:23,520 –> 00:28:27,000
we have sinned, and those as
continuance, and we shall be

451
00:28:27,000 –> 00:28:28,520
saved.
There’s continuance in going

452
00:28:28,520 –> 00:28:31,680
back to the things of God.
This way of salvation is on

453
00:28:31,680 –> 00:28:35,160
God’s basis, verse 6:00 and
7:00.

454
00:28:35,160 –> 00:28:39,120
But we are is all an unclean
thing, all our righteousness.

455
00:28:39,120 –> 00:28:41,960
There is filthy rags, and we do
fade as a leaf, and our

456
00:28:41,960 –> 00:28:43,960
iniquities, like the wind, have
taken us away.

457
00:28:44,240 –> 00:28:46,800
There is none that calleth upon
thy name that stirreth up

458
00:28:46,800 –> 00:28:50,280
himself to take hold of Thee,
for thou hast hid thy face from

459
00:28:50,280 –> 00:28:53,440
us, and has consumed us because
of our iniquities.

460
00:28:53,520 –> 00:28:56,000
It’s the words of a man who is
brought low.

461
00:28:57,040 –> 00:29:00,440
It’s the words of a man who
understands that flesh is

462
00:29:00,440 –> 00:29:04,120
nothing, that no flesh will
glory in his presence.

463
00:29:05,520 –> 00:29:09,320
So what Paul’s showing out of
Isaiah is that Isaiah

464
00:29:09,320 –> 00:29:14,440
understands the concept of us
being brought to nothing, but

465
00:29:14,440 –> 00:29:18,040
then that once we are brought to
nothing, that then God will look

466
00:29:18,040 –> 00:29:22,840
for those who work righteousness
and who meet him and rejoice in

467
00:29:22,840 –> 00:29:25,600
his ways.
That remember God in his ways,

468
00:29:25,880 –> 00:29:29,040
we’re brought to nothing
ourselves, but our focus goes

469
00:29:29,040 –> 00:29:33,040
upon the work of God and of his
ways and verse 8 But now, O

470
00:29:33,040 –> 00:29:40,600
Yahweh, thou art our Father.
We are the clay and thou our

471
00:29:40,600 –> 00:29:44,400
Potter, and we are all the work
of thy hand.

472
00:29:44,400 –> 00:29:48,080
That’s the picture, isn’t it?
That we we’ve become a malleable

473
00:29:48,080 –> 00:29:50,120
hunk of clay.
Who is able to say it’s not our

474
00:29:50,120 –> 00:29:52,400
work.
This is the Father as a Potter

475
00:29:52,560 –> 00:29:55,480
who’s able to start to build us
up, to work us on the world as

476
00:29:55,480 –> 00:29:59,520
it were, and to build us from a
lump, an ugly lump of clay, and

477
00:29:59,520 –> 00:30:03,720
to make us into beautiful pots
that can be used in His service.

478
00:30:04,000 –> 00:30:07,320
It’s nothing to do with us.
We’ve found out that we’re

479
00:30:07,320 –> 00:30:11,680
nothing, but we’ve opened
ourselves up as a lump of clay

480
00:30:12,640 –> 00:30:15,160
and asking the Father to work
with us as a Potter.

481
00:30:16,200 –> 00:30:21,640
And in that context, verse 4, we
saw since the beginning of the

482
00:30:21,640 –> 00:30:24,600
world, men have not heard nor
perceived by the earth, neither

483
00:30:24,600 –> 00:30:29,120
hath the I seen, O God beside
thee, what He hath prepared for

484
00:30:29,120 –> 00:30:34,920
him that waiteth for him.
It’s God’s work, and He is going

485
00:30:34,920 –> 00:30:40,160
to accomplish an incredible work
in US if we learn to wait for

486
00:30:40,160 –> 00:30:44,920
Him.
God has taken His master plan

487
00:30:45,120 –> 00:30:50,400
for the world, His ability to
develop His glory in US, and

488
00:30:50,400 –> 00:30:53,960
he’s deliberately hidden it.
And a man comes along in their

489
00:30:53,960 –> 00:30:57,880
own wisdom and pride, and they
miss this incredible glory, the

490
00:30:57,880 –> 00:30:59,600
power of what God is
accomplishing.

491
00:31:00,720 –> 00:31:04,400
But if we’re able to humble
ourselves and to be elevated to

492
00:31:04,400 –> 00:31:08,240
the wisdom of God, we’re able to
enter into the deepest and most

493
00:31:08,240 –> 00:31:12,480
powerful wisdom of the eternal
mind itself.

494
00:31:14,360 –> 00:31:17,920
So Paul continues back in in
first of Corinthians and chapter

495
00:31:17,920 –> 00:31:24,440
2 as he starts to talk of of the
power of his mind being opened

496
00:31:24,440 –> 00:31:27,360
up to us.
First of Corinthians chapter 2

497
00:31:27,360 –> 00:31:32,360
and verse 10 But God hath
revealed them unto us by his

498
00:31:32,360 –> 00:31:34,360
spirit.
For the spirit searcheth all

499
00:31:34,360 –> 00:31:36,200
these things, ye the deep things
of God.

500
00:31:36,200 –> 00:31:39,240
For what man knoweth the things
of a man save the spirit of man

501
00:31:39,240 –> 00:31:41,640
which is in him.
Even so the things of God

502
00:31:41,640 –> 00:31:43,840
knoweth no man but the Spirit of
God.

503
00:31:45,720 –> 00:31:48,400
It’s saying that if, if we look
at someone, we don’t actually

504
00:31:48,400 –> 00:31:49,680
know what they’re thinking, do
we?

505
00:31:50,920 –> 00:31:52,560
We don’t know what other people
are thinking.

506
00:31:52,560 –> 00:31:54,800
I don’t know what you’re
thinking out there in the

507
00:31:54,800 –> 00:31:56,880
audience, and you probably know
what I’m thinking because I’m

508
00:31:56,880 –> 00:31:59,280
telling you that, but not
necessarily everything.

509
00:32:00,080 –> 00:32:02,920
The only person who knows a
person’s mind is themself.

510
00:32:04,800 –> 00:32:06,920
The only person who knows God’s
mind is himself.

511
00:32:06,960 –> 00:32:11,520
But he’s telling us that God has
revealed that to us.

512
00:32:13,120 –> 00:32:16,240
So God has taken his wisdom,
which has been hidden, but he’s

513
00:32:16,240 –> 00:32:19,760
actually revealed it to us if we
are prepared to listen to it.

514
00:32:20,280 –> 00:32:22,520
He’s shown us completely what
he’s thinking, what his

515
00:32:22,520 –> 00:32:24,720
intentions are, what he is going
to accomplish.

516
00:32:25,800 –> 00:32:28,720
And there’s this incredible
sense of the open relationship

517
00:32:28,720 –> 00:32:30,240
that we have with the Father
here.

518
00:32:30,400 –> 00:32:34,400
It’s hidden, yes, from the wise
of this world, but humble

519
00:32:34,400 –> 00:32:37,720
ourselves as little children.
And He’s completely opened up to

520
00:32:37,720 –> 00:32:41,920
us the full wisdom of that
hidden mystery that encompasses

521
00:32:41,920 –> 00:32:48,280
His mind and His thinking.
Verse 13 which things also we

522
00:32:48,280 –> 00:32:51,440
speak not in the words which
man’s wisdom teacheth, but which

523
00:32:51,440 –> 00:32:54,960
the Holy Spirit teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with

524
00:32:54,960 –> 00:32:58,560
spiritual.
If we just had God there, we

525
00:32:58,560 –> 00:33:02,480
wouldn’t know His mind, but He’s
revealed it to us if we listen

526
00:33:02,480 –> 00:33:04,840
to it.
He’s He’s opened up to us if we

527
00:33:04,840 –> 00:33:07,680
come to God and are prepared to
learn His ways.

528
00:33:09,120 –> 00:33:10,720
But it’s not in our own
strength.

529
00:33:11,840 –> 00:33:16,320
It’s with humility and an
intense desire to understand the

530
00:33:16,320 –> 00:33:22,520
mind of God.
See, God had a purpose which he

531
00:33:22,520 –> 00:33:27,640
ordained before the beginning of
the world, that focused upon his

532
00:33:27,640 –> 00:33:31,840
wisdom.
That wisdom was a mechanism by

533
00:33:31,840 –> 00:33:34,520
which God would come to
understand, by which people,

534
00:33:34,520 –> 00:33:37,840
sorry, would come to understand
God’s glory and his purpose.

535
00:33:38,920 –> 00:33:41,960
And he took that purpose and
that wisdom and that glory, and

536
00:33:41,960 –> 00:33:45,120
he deliberately hid them in a
way that individual humans could

537
00:33:45,120 –> 00:33:47,600
never understand if they came in
their own glory.

538
00:33:49,160 –> 00:33:51,440
But he’s telling that although
he has hidden it, he has

539
00:33:51,440 –> 00:33:55,680
revealed it to us.
If we are prepared to become

540
00:33:55,680 –> 00:33:59,360
spiritual in our thinking in a
way that discerns the thinking

541
00:33:59,360 –> 00:34:04,360
of God, if if our purpose is
about ourself, we’re not going

542
00:34:04,360 –> 00:34:07,800
to accomplish it.
If our if our thinking is about

543
00:34:07,800 –> 00:34:09,920
how big my own ego is, then
we’ll not unlock it.

544
00:34:10,800 –> 00:34:14,800
But if we come with humility,
then it will unfold and open to

545
00:34:14,840 –> 00:34:16,760
us in all its magnificent
splendor.

546
00:34:19,480 –> 00:34:23,400
Just contemplate the sheer
brilliance of Paul’s argument.

547
00:34:24,120 –> 00:34:26,480
Remember the the issue he’s
dealing with here from the start

548
00:34:26,480 –> 00:34:29,960
is I’m of Paul, I’m of Apollos.
There’s Chisins and divisions

549
00:34:29,960 –> 00:34:32,239
everywhere because people are
out for themselves, wanting to

550
00:34:32,239 –> 00:34:34,719
be the greatest and aligning
with the different groups.

551
00:34:35,040 –> 00:34:38,040
And Paul answers that by showing
them the need to transform away

552
00:34:38,040 –> 00:34:41,960
from that thinking to the
principle of life lived in

553
00:34:41,960 –> 00:34:46,000
humility and with a deep desire
to learn the wisdom of God.

554
00:34:48,639 –> 00:34:53,280
Now come to chapter 3 and verse
one, because Paul gives us the

555
00:34:53,280 –> 00:34:58,840
next little key as to how we can
get the mind of God.

556
00:35:00,320 –> 00:35:02,080
Chapter 3.
And the first thing I want you

557
00:35:02,080 –> 00:35:04,680
to know is the intensity and
strength of this language.

558
00:35:04,680 –> 00:35:09,520
I brethren, could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as

559
00:35:09,520 –> 00:35:13,360
unto carnal, even as babes in
Christ.

560
00:35:14,360 –> 00:35:18,320
I’ve had to feed you with milk
and not with meat, for hitherto

561
00:35:18,320 –> 00:35:21,160
you were not able to bear it
neither yet now are ye able, for

562
00:35:21,160 –> 00:35:25,040
ye are yet carnal, whereas there
is a mungu envying and strife

563
00:35:25,040 –> 00:35:27,320
and division.
Are ye not carnal and Walker’s

564
00:35:27,320 –> 00:35:31,360
men for wild one saith I’m of
Poland, another I’m of Apollos.

565
00:35:31,720 –> 00:35:36,920
Are ye not carnal?
It’s an incredibly strong

566
00:35:36,920 –> 00:35:39,520
language that Paul is using it.
Can you just contemplate what

567
00:35:39,520 –> 00:35:41,240
he’s saying here?
You’re babies, he’s saying.

568
00:35:41,600 –> 00:35:44,120
You think you’re there in your
wisdom and and able to talk

569
00:35:44,120 –> 00:35:47,360
about your own power and and
greatness and and ability to

570
00:35:47,360 –> 00:35:49,240
reason.
But you’re babies, he says.

571
00:35:49,240 –> 00:35:52,360
I can’t even teach you anything
out of the truth that’s anything

572
00:35:52,360 –> 00:35:56,480
more than the milk of the word.
You’re, you’re still down there

573
00:35:56,480 –> 00:36:00,880
as young babes in the truth
because you are carnal, because

574
00:36:00,880 –> 00:36:03,160
it’s the thinking of the flesh
getting in the way.

575
00:36:03,400 –> 00:36:07,040
And it’s not able therefore to,
to open up and to have the power

576
00:36:07,040 –> 00:36:10,120
of God’s word revealed.
And he absolutely rips into

577
00:36:10,120 –> 00:36:12,600
them.
He doesn’t hold back because

578
00:36:12,760 –> 00:36:16,440
he’s teaching them that it’s
them they’re talking about.

579
00:36:16,840 –> 00:36:19,480
He’s raised the principles and
now he’s making it blunt for

580
00:36:19,480 –> 00:36:22,840
them that they are carnal in not
understanding things from God’s

581
00:36:22,840 –> 00:36:26,840
perspective.
He’s laid the foundations and he

582
00:36:26,840 –> 00:36:29,640
wants the Corinthians to know
that they are exactly the people

583
00:36:29,640 –> 00:36:31,280
that God that Paul’s talking
about.

584
00:36:32,880 –> 00:36:35,040
He knows they’re carnal, mind
you.

585
00:36:35,560 –> 00:36:38,520
He knows they’re missing the
hidden wisdom of God for one

586
00:36:38,600 –> 00:36:42,520
very important reason.
It’s because of the schisms and

587
00:36:42,520 –> 00:36:44,680
divisions that are racking their
midst.

588
00:36:46,640 –> 00:36:49,320
It’s, it’s these problems, isn’t
it, which are there because

589
00:36:49,320 –> 00:36:52,920
there’s such a clear symptom of
the underlying problem that’s

590
00:36:52,920 –> 00:36:54,480
there.
And he’s trying to get them to

591
00:36:54,480 –> 00:36:57,120
understand that those schisms
and divisions which they were

592
00:36:57,120 –> 00:37:00,880
caught up in was an evidence of
the fact that they were still

593
00:37:00,880 –> 00:37:02,880
thinking after the way of the
flesh.

594
00:37:04,360 –> 00:37:06,960
This is brothers and sisters,
mind you, he’s talking to this

595
00:37:06,960 –> 00:37:10,120
is in an ecclesial environment
and he’s saying you are carnal.

596
00:37:10,120 –> 00:37:13,280
You’re thinking after the flesh.
You are just babes in Christ not

597
00:37:13,280 –> 00:37:15,760
understanding the principles of
God.

598
00:37:17,200 –> 00:37:20,720
And it’s the same for us,
because whenever our eclesial

599
00:37:20,720 –> 00:37:24,880
environment has decayed into
division and schism and strife,

600
00:37:25,560 –> 00:37:30,320
it is always, always because the
wisdom of God has been lost.

601
00:37:30,480 –> 00:37:33,400
And instead of coming into
humility, we’re coming in our

602
00:37:33,400 –> 00:37:37,280
glory.
Just think about our own

603
00:37:37,280 –> 00:37:40,760
contribution to a collegial
life, thinking about our our

604
00:37:40,760 –> 00:37:43,840
feelings towards or against
brothers and sisters.

605
00:37:45,280 –> 00:37:48,120
Just stop for a moment and think
about whether you have a problem

606
00:37:48,320 –> 00:37:55,720
yourself with anyone.
If so, even if it’s just one

607
00:37:55,720 –> 00:37:59,160
person.
And we have to think about our

608
00:37:59,160 –> 00:38:04,840
attitude because it’s a symptom
that cries out to us that

609
00:38:04,840 –> 00:38:10,440
something inside is wrong is a
warning for us today, a very

610
00:38:10,440 –> 00:38:14,800
strong warning.
And we lose a focus on God.

611
00:38:15,800 –> 00:38:19,640
And when we start to look at
ourselves, we begin to cause

612
00:38:19,640 –> 00:38:24,360
issues and divisions that create
gaping holes in our eclesias.

613
00:38:25,760 –> 00:38:29,920
And if we are party to this, if
we are the ones who are causing

614
00:38:29,920 –> 00:38:32,960
division and schisms in our
ecclesial environment, if our

615
00:38:32,960 –> 00:38:36,480
actions are causing divisions,
then we are carnal.

616
00:38:36,600 –> 00:38:40,880
We are thinking after the flesh.
We are not understanding God’s

617
00:38:40,880 –> 00:38:44,560
wisdom or His glory because we
are glorying in ourselves.

618
00:38:45,200 –> 00:38:49,560
It’s man’s wisdom, isn’t it?
We can’t understand the things

619
00:38:49,560 –> 00:38:53,120
of God.
Have a look in verse 5.

620
00:38:55,120 –> 00:38:59,520
Who then is Paul?
And who is Apollos?

621
00:39:00,560 –> 00:39:04,120
But ministers by whom you
believed even as the Lord gave

622
00:39:04,120 –> 00:39:07,640
to everyone.
And so he expands the concept

623
00:39:07,640 –> 00:39:10,120
again to answer this issue of
the Paul and the Apollos

624
00:39:10,120 –> 00:39:12,280
question.
What’s his answer?

625
00:39:13,760 –> 00:39:18,720
OK, I’m Paul, and this is
Apollos, who you two groups are

626
00:39:18,720 –> 00:39:20,840
following.
And what is our role?

627
00:39:21,200 –> 00:39:26,920
Well, we are just slaves.
We’re just servants.

628
00:39:28,520 –> 00:39:32,840
And Apollos, he happens to just
be a slave as well.

629
00:39:33,720 –> 00:39:35,920
He’s nothing great.
I’m nothing great.

630
00:39:35,920 –> 00:39:39,040
It’s just Paul and Apollos.
And our role was to be

631
00:39:39,040 –> 00:39:42,880
ministers, to be slaves by whom
you believe, as the Lord gave to

632
00:39:42,880 –> 00:39:46,760
every man the glories not of
ourselves, we are to be slaves

633
00:39:46,960 –> 00:39:51,400
along with Paul and Apollos.
And so Paul adds the next little

634
00:39:51,400 –> 00:39:54,520
block on his reasoning, doesn’t
it his, his answer to this

635
00:39:54,520 –> 00:39:57,600
ecclesia?
It’s not just that we learn we

636
00:39:57,600 –> 00:40:00,880
are nothing.
It’s not just that we learn it’s

637
00:40:00,880 –> 00:40:05,280
about God’s glory.
It’s that once we understand

638
00:40:05,280 –> 00:40:11,120
these things, we learn to become
the slaves of God.

639
00:40:12,200 –> 00:40:15,880
To devote our lives in service
to the God of heaven because we

640
00:40:15,880 –> 00:40:19,200
are owned by him.
If I take this picture we had

641
00:40:19,200 –> 00:40:22,960
earlier, here’s man’s wisdom.
And essentially we come out of

642
00:40:22,960 –> 00:40:26,560
man’s wisdom and man’s bubble
recognizing that that is nothing

643
00:40:26,680 –> 00:40:32,200
and we become slaves to God.
But in becoming slaves to God,

644
00:40:32,400 –> 00:40:35,440
we actually enter into the
fullness and the power of his

645
00:40:35,440 –> 00:40:35,960
wisdom.
Oops.

646
00:40:42,600 –> 00:40:44,680
I won’t play with it.
The man’s wisdom is meant to

647
00:40:44,680 –> 00:40:47,200
disappear off the top.
Let’s just pretend that’s gone.

648
00:40:47,640 –> 00:40:50,520
But can you see the sense of,
of, of the picture that’s drawn?

649
00:40:50,720 –> 00:40:53,760
We’re there in our own little
bubble in man’s wisdom, and we

650
00:40:53,760 –> 00:40:55,600
start to learn that man’s wisdom
is nothing.

651
00:40:56,240 –> 00:40:59,480
But it’s not until we learn that
we are slaves to be working in

652
00:40:59,480 –> 00:41:03,000
God’s service that we can
actually start to comprehend the

653
00:41:03,000 –> 00:41:06,600
enormity of God’s glory, and
particularly the contribution

654
00:41:06,600 –> 00:41:10,760
that we can make to God’s glory,
that we become his slaves who

655
00:41:10,760 –> 00:41:14,960
are working as part of his work
to build and to grow his glory.

656
00:41:16,200 –> 00:41:18,600
It’s so much more in that
message, isn’t it, than just

657
00:41:18,600 –> 00:41:21,720
stopping us following Paul and
Apollos as some super people to

658
00:41:21,720 –> 00:41:25,360
March behind with a banner.
He’s actually showing us that

659
00:41:25,360 –> 00:41:27,680
Paul and Apollos were not like
themselves at all.

660
00:41:27,800 –> 00:41:32,160
They didn’t want that, that they
wanted us to learn from their

661
00:41:32,160 –> 00:41:35,320
example of being servants, of
being ministers in the ecclesial

662
00:41:35,320 –> 00:41:38,200
environment, being having taught
them.

663
00:41:38,200 –> 00:41:40,760
It’s not about their own ego.
He’s saying you need to learn

664
00:41:40,760 –> 00:41:43,840
the principles of service, of
working and labouring in the

665
00:41:43,840 –> 00:41:46,640
ecclesial environment.
It’s a brilliant answer to the

666
00:41:46,640 –> 00:41:49,200
divisions in in Corinth.
Cut it out.

667
00:41:49,640 –> 00:41:53,160
Stop being carnal and fleshly
focused on your own glory.

668
00:41:53,160 –> 00:41:56,520
Now turn around and start to
work in the ecclesial

669
00:41:56,520 –> 00:41:59,280
environment.
Contribute to the growth, be

670
00:41:59,280 –> 00:42:02,960
prepared to labour, and we’ll
fix the problems and the issues

671
00:42:02,960 –> 00:42:05,920
in ecclesial life.
If we forget about ourselves and

672
00:42:05,920 –> 00:42:11,240
we focus on God’s glory, every
one of us, it’s made powerful

673
00:42:11,520 –> 00:42:13,880
when we are all working together
in tandem.

674
00:42:15,160 –> 00:42:21,240
How dare we as slaves of God use
our energy to pull down and to

675
00:42:21,240 –> 00:42:26,600
destroy.
God wants us as His slaves to

676
00:42:26,600 –> 00:42:30,640
use that energy in the ecclesial
life to work and to labor and to

677
00:42:30,640 –> 00:42:34,800
contribute.
And that’s Paul’s answer to the

678
00:42:34,800 –> 00:42:37,800
problem that had caused such
pain and strife and division.

679
00:42:38,160 –> 00:42:40,400
Verse 7.
So then neither is he that

680
00:42:40,400 –> 00:42:44,160
planteth anything, neither he
that watereth, but God that

681
00:42:44,160 –> 00:42:47,080
giveth the increase.
It’s not about me, Paul, who

682
00:42:47,080 –> 00:42:49,520
planted.
It’s not about him Apollos who

683
00:42:49,520 –> 00:42:51,760
watered, or anyone else who took
the weeds away.

684
00:42:52,440 –> 00:42:56,200
It’s all God’s work.
We’re just ministers and slaves

685
00:42:56,200 –> 00:42:59,560
of God.
What a what a beautiful focus

686
00:42:59,560 –> 00:43:03,720
and such a beautiful perspective
that can give to our ecclesial

687
00:43:03,720 –> 00:43:08,280
life together.
I just want to show you, I’ve

688
00:43:08,280 –> 00:43:10,680
said that this theme is one
that’s bound by the concepts of

689
00:43:10,680 –> 00:43:14,840
Paul and Apollos.
Here they are at the start,

690
00:43:15,080 –> 00:43:18,560
everyone of you saith I’m of
Paul and I have Apollos, while

691
00:43:18,560 –> 00:43:20,680
one saith I’m of Paul and
another of Apollos.

692
00:43:20,760 –> 00:43:24,520
Are ye not carnal?
So that was the issue, wasn’t

693
00:43:24,520 –> 00:43:25,640
it?
They were following Paul and

694
00:43:25,640 –> 00:43:29,200
Apollos as men who they could
stand behind and, and and look

695
00:43:29,200 –> 00:43:33,240
up to in human ego.
But he makes the point to you in

696
00:43:33,240 –> 00:43:37,360
chapter 3, who, who are Paul and
Apollos but ministers by whom

697
00:43:37,360 –> 00:43:40,200
you believed?
And his point is actually Paul

698
00:43:40,480 –> 00:43:44,160
and Apollos had none of the sort
of issues that the the ecclesia

699
00:43:44,160 –> 00:43:46,880
were talking about.
Paul and Apollos did not want to

700
00:43:46,880 –> 00:43:50,560
be followed as, as sort of the
head banner of, of a, of a Paul

701
00:43:50,560 –> 00:43:54,960
or an Apollos brigade.
They were there as ministers or

702
00:43:54,960 –> 00:43:57,360
as slaves working together.
And he gives such a beautiful

703
00:43:57,360 –> 00:44:01,720
view of that, doesn’t he, when
he says he, that watereth so, so

704
00:44:01,720 –> 00:44:03,800
he says I’ve planted but, but
Apollos watered.

705
00:44:04,680 –> 00:44:07,560
So I’ve gone out there to do 1
work and I deliberately left

706
00:44:07,560 –> 00:44:09,560
that work there.
I’d, I’d planted, I’d done the

707
00:44:09,560 –> 00:44:12,600
bit I needed to and I handed the
work over to Apollos who came in

708
00:44:12,600 –> 00:44:15,160
and he watered.
We are working in tandem as the

709
00:44:15,160 –> 00:44:17,800
slaves of God, he said.
It’s not about me or him.

710
00:44:18,000 –> 00:44:21,200
It’s about our working together
as the slaves of God and our

711
00:44:21,200 –> 00:44:24,680
work can only be accomplished.
Our work will only bear fruit if

712
00:44:24,680 –> 00:44:28,160
God is working with us to to, to
give us the increase.

713
00:44:29,520 –> 00:44:32,720
I have watered, sorry, I have
planted, Apollos watered.

714
00:44:32,720 –> 00:44:39,520
But God gave the increase later
on in this chapter, he says, he

715
00:44:39,520 –> 00:44:42,600
says that all things are ours.
Everything we have in this

716
00:44:42,600 –> 00:44:45,120
world, everything that exists in
this world, he says is ours.

717
00:44:45,120 –> 00:44:48,280
And whether it’s Paul or Apollos
or Cephas or the world or life

718
00:44:48,280 –> 00:44:50,480
or death or things present or
things to come, everything’s

719
00:44:50,480 –> 00:44:53,400
ours.
How ridiculous to be focused on

720
00:44:53,400 –> 00:44:57,880
Paul or Apollos when actually as
the the slaves of God, as the

721
00:44:57,880 –> 00:45:01,240
people of God, we have the
access to everything that exists

722
00:45:01,240 –> 00:45:05,640
in the world.
We’re ears of all things and

723
00:45:05,640 –> 00:45:08,520
then he concludes that sort of
section or that idea on Apollos

724
00:45:08,520 –> 00:45:12,520
so that this combination of
Apollos and Paul in chapter 4

725
00:45:12,520 –> 00:45:16,600
verse six with a with a comment.
These things, brethren, I have

726
00:45:16,600 –> 00:45:20,160
enough figure transferred to
myself in Apollos for your sakes

727
00:45:21,040 –> 00:45:23,560
that you might learn enough not
to think of men above that which

728
00:45:23,560 –> 00:45:26,800
is written that no one of you be
puffed up for one against

729
00:45:26,800 –> 00:45:27,640
another.
What’s he saying?

730
00:45:28,200 –> 00:45:32,640
He’s saying that he deliberately
took the concepts of slavery and

731
00:45:32,640 –> 00:45:36,320
of service of us being
absolutely nothing and learning

732
00:45:36,320 –> 00:45:40,520
that we are nothing, but then
learning to work as a slave of

733
00:45:40,520 –> 00:45:43,160
God for his glory.
And he’s saying he’s proven that

734
00:45:43,160 –> 00:45:45,360
Paul and Apollos were both doing
that.

735
00:45:46,200 –> 00:45:48,960
And by showing the picture of
Paul and Apollos doing that,

736
00:45:49,240 –> 00:45:52,480
he’s he’s transferring the
example of what he wants the

737
00:45:52,480 –> 00:45:55,920
entire teacher to do to say now
you need to follow in exactly

738
00:45:55,920 –> 00:45:58,520
the same way.
He’s used the Paul and Apollos

739
00:45:58,520 –> 00:46:03,480
situation to show actually that
Paul and Apollos were living

740
00:46:04,040 –> 00:46:08,800
with flesh as nothing, as slaves
of God to the glory of God.

741
00:46:12,200 –> 00:46:16,440
Such a contrast to holding on to
some issue that that someone’s

742
00:46:16,440 –> 00:46:20,480
done to us or to create issues
in ourselves because it’s not

743
00:46:20,480 –> 00:46:24,200
about us.
Instead to turn around and to

744
00:46:24,200 –> 00:46:29,640
labour and contribute is Paul’s
antidote to the problem here.

745
00:46:31,560 –> 00:46:34,280
But if that’s not enough, let’s
have a look in verse 8.

746
00:46:38,000 –> 00:46:43,920
Now he that planteth and he that
watereth are one, and every man

747
00:46:43,920 –> 00:46:47,080
shall receive his own reward
according to his own labor.

748
00:46:49,440 –> 00:46:53,760
What do you mean we’re one?
It’s Paul or Apollos or

749
00:46:53,760 –> 00:46:58,480
individuals, isn’t it?
Paul is saying it’s actually one

750
00:46:58,480 –> 00:47:02,040
work that’s being account.
It’s Paul Apollos who are

751
00:47:02,040 –> 00:47:05,960
labouring together, working,
planting and watering.

752
00:47:08,840 –> 00:47:11,760
You imagine how transforming
that could be from for the

753
00:47:11,760 –> 00:47:15,720
Corinthian ecclesia to know that
it’s one ecclesial body bound

754
00:47:15,720 –> 00:47:19,760
together, working together, no
room for division and schism.

755
00:47:19,760 –> 00:47:24,400
Who are there as slaves?
It’s saying that this is about

756
00:47:24,400 –> 00:47:28,720
God and his glory and our desire
to unlock that wisdom, the

757
00:47:28,720 –> 00:47:31,440
wisdom of God, the hidden
mystery of God, to to understand

758
00:47:31,440 –> 00:47:34,680
his power and glory and then to
labour in the Eclesial context

759
00:47:35,520 –> 00:47:39,760
so that the entire eclesial
environment can be uplifted by

760
00:47:39,760 –> 00:47:42,840
it.
It’s powerful for the Corinthian

761
00:47:42,840 –> 00:47:47,320
Ecleses and it’s powerful for us
also in our Eclesial life if we

762
00:47:47,320 –> 00:47:49,040
come to understand these
principles.

763
00:47:51,080 –> 00:47:53,640
Verse 8 at the end of that
section.

764
00:47:53,640 –> 00:47:57,400
And every man shall receive his
own reward according to his own

765
00:47:57,400 –> 00:48:02,960
labour.
The reality is that God will

766
00:48:02,960 –> 00:48:08,040
give us a reward according to
the contribution that we have

767
00:48:08,040 –> 00:48:11,400
made to His ecclesial
environment, that the reward we

768
00:48:11,400 –> 00:48:16,360
receive is in accordance with
the contribution that we have

769
00:48:16,360 –> 00:48:18,560
made within the ecclesial
environment.

770
00:48:19,400 –> 00:48:21,640
Now that can be a bit of a
tricky concept for us to get our

771
00:48:21,640 –> 00:48:24,080
heads around, isn’t it?
We, we sort of tend to think

772
00:48:24,080 –> 00:48:26,320
that we’re not worthy.
So this concept of a reward is

773
00:48:26,320 –> 00:48:28,800
something that gets a little
tricky, but actually keep that

774
00:48:28,800 –> 00:48:30,880
in the back of your mind because
as we go through this next

775
00:48:30,880 –> 00:48:34,120
section, you’ll find this idea
of the reward just continues to

776
00:48:34,120 –> 00:48:42,560
build and to grow.
We are nothing but we labour for

777
00:48:42,560 –> 00:48:47,520
God’s sake and God sees our work
and rewards us as individuals.

778
00:48:47,960 –> 00:48:51,920
Verse 9 For ye are labourers
together with God, Ye are God’s

779
00:48:51,920 –> 00:48:53,880
husband, you’re in ye are God’s
building.

780
00:48:54,600 –> 00:49:01,680
Hold on.
Ye are labourers together with

781
00:49:01,680 –> 00:49:05,280
God.
That idea is a work of a Co

782
00:49:05,280 –> 00:49:10,440
labourer with God.
I’ll just read you out of out of

783
00:49:10,440 –> 00:49:14,080
Romans 16, just a couple of
chapter pages back.

784
00:49:14,080 –> 00:49:17,040
Romans 16 and verse 3, greet
Paul.

785
00:49:17,040 –> 00:49:19,040
This is Paul talking of his
helpers in the truth.

786
00:49:19,040 –> 00:49:22,120
Greet Priscilla and Aquila.
My help was in Christ Jesus.

787
00:49:22,120 –> 00:49:25,760
It’s the same word, my Co
labourers in Christ Jesus.

788
00:49:26,760 –> 00:49:30,280
Verse 9, salute urbane, our
helper in Christ, our Co

789
00:49:30,400 –> 00:49:35,720
labourer in Christ.
Verse 21, Timotheus, my work

790
00:49:35,720 –> 00:49:41,080
fellow, my Co labourer.
See, Paul was working as a Co

791
00:49:41,080 –> 00:49:43,760
labourer with so many people in
the ecclesial environment.

792
00:49:44,760 –> 00:49:47,760
It’s all the same fellow
labourers who are working

793
00:49:47,760 –> 00:49:50,760
together with Paul.
But the point that Paul makes

794
00:49:50,760 –> 00:49:54,360
here in First Corinthians 3 is
it’s so much more than that.

795
00:49:54,440 –> 00:49:57,040
It’s not just working together
with our brothers and sisters as

796
00:49:57,040 –> 00:50:00,360
slaves.
We are actually Co labouring

797
00:50:00,360 –> 00:50:03,840
with God.
And when we are working as

798
00:50:03,840 –> 00:50:07,560
slaves in God’s environment, we
actually are working next to him

799
00:50:07,680 –> 00:50:11,320
hand in hand with God, as it
were with him labouring next to

800
00:50:11,360 –> 00:50:16,440
us.
When we see that God is working

801
00:50:16,440 –> 00:50:21,640
with us, he’s labouring with us
and we become Co labourers

802
00:50:21,640 –> 00:50:25,400
together with God.
So what’s that about being of

803
00:50:25,400 –> 00:50:27,720
Paul’s group or of a policies to
group group?

804
00:50:28,280 –> 00:50:30,880
OK, you might be in a policies
group over there.

805
00:50:30,880 –> 00:50:32,840
That’s an interesting nice group
to be in.

806
00:50:33,760 –> 00:50:36,720
But actually this group over
here who have put aside the

807
00:50:36,720 –> 00:50:39,400
wisdom of the world are in God’s
group.

808
00:50:39,760 –> 00:50:44,000
They are Co labourers together
with God and can you see how

809
00:50:44,000 –> 00:50:47,560
that completely overwhelms from
a human perspective any

810
00:50:47,560 –> 00:50:49,640
accomplishments that we can we
can accomplish.

811
00:50:49,880 –> 00:50:53,080
We are called brothers and
sisters and young people to the

812
00:50:53,080 –> 00:50:57,480
incredible power and privilege
of working as a Co labourer with

813
00:50:57,480 –> 00:51:00,480
God himself.
There cannot be any greater work

814
00:51:00,480 –> 00:51:04,000
we can be called to accomplish.
Want the wisdom of of man’s

815
00:51:04,000 –> 00:51:06,800
world.
It just is nothing compared to

816
00:51:06,800 –> 00:51:09,880
the glory of the fact that we
can be Co labouring or working

817
00:51:11,080 –> 00:51:14,600
with God.
That’s the work we are called to

818
00:51:14,600 –> 00:51:20,400
do in an ecclesial context.
Step in step, hand in hand with

819
00:51:20,400 –> 00:51:24,120
the Father himself.
We become labourers with God.

820
00:51:26,720 –> 00:51:30,520
Verse nine.
Yeah, yeah, halfway through the

821
00:51:30,520 –> 00:51:30,960
verse.
Yeah.

822
00:51:30,960 –> 00:51:33,920
God’s husbandry, ye are God’s
building.

823
00:51:33,920 –> 00:51:36,760
So we are both Co labourers with
God, but we are also his

824
00:51:36,880 –> 00:51:39,040
husband, or as the margin says,
his tillage.

825
00:51:39,200 –> 00:51:42,200
It’s agricultural language for
for plowing up the the land

826
00:51:42,200 –> 00:51:45,600
ready for for planting.
So we labour with God, but we

827
00:51:45,600 –> 00:51:49,080
are also his tillage.
He is working on us and we are

828
00:51:49,080 –> 00:51:51,200
his building.
We are labourers together with

829
00:51:51,200 –> 00:51:54,840
God, but he is building us up as
part of God’s building.

830
00:51:55,160 –> 00:51:58,080
And it’s this, this beautiful
juxtaposition of ideas where we

831
00:51:58,080 –> 00:52:00,040
are labouring with God in a on a
building.

832
00:52:00,200 –> 00:52:02,200
And then we realise as the
building is going up that

833
00:52:02,200 –> 00:52:04,080
actually that building is us,
ourselves.

834
00:52:04,720 –> 00:52:08,160
And we contemplate that it’s
also our brothers and sisters

835
00:52:08,520 –> 00:52:10,400
who are becoming part of that
building.

836
00:52:12,520 –> 00:52:16,440
This concept of building with
God is something that binds us

837
00:52:16,440 –> 00:52:19,640
together into the ecclesia, into
God’s building, and it

838
00:52:19,640 –> 00:52:22,400
transforms our view of ecclesial
life because we’re not just

839
00:52:22,680 –> 00:52:25,720
labouring together with God
ourselves, but in a way that

840
00:52:25,720 –> 00:52:29,240
picks up the ecclesial members
and binds us together, locked

841
00:52:29,440 –> 00:52:31,600
and mortared into the building
of God himself.

842
00:52:36,280 –> 00:52:40,680
In faith in the last days we
read a wise master builder never

843
00:52:40,680 –> 00:52:44,040
begins to to build without a
design that that phrase of the

844
00:52:44,040 –> 00:52:47,240
master builder has come out of
out of Corinthians there in

845
00:52:47,240 –> 00:52:49,880
verse 10.
As a wise master builder I have

846
00:52:49,880 –> 00:52:51,600
built.
A wise master builder never

847
00:52:51,600 –> 00:52:53,160
begins to build without a
design.

848
00:52:53,560 –> 00:52:57,000
That is, he draws after a scale
of so much to the foot.

849
00:52:57,160 –> 00:52:59,680
This is the extension or time,
so to speak, of the building to

850
00:52:59,680 –> 00:53:01,880
be erected.
Having well considered the

851
00:53:01,880 –> 00:53:04,920
whole, he concludes that it’s
the best possible plan that can

852
00:53:04,920 –> 00:53:07,680
be devised in harmony with the
principles of architecture.

853
00:53:08,400 –> 00:53:11,600
It then becomes his purpose, his
foreordination,

854
00:53:11,680 –> 00:53:14,760
predeterminational design.
All subsequent arrangements are

855
00:53:14,760 –> 00:53:18,360
made to conform to this recorded
purpose because it’s the very

856
00:53:18,360 –> 00:53:21,960
best His most deliberate wisdom
and ingenuity can devise.

857
00:53:22,400 –> 00:53:25,320
It’s not a hard concept, is it?
Before building a building, we

858
00:53:25,320 –> 00:53:29,120
have a master plan that we work
to, and God has created that

859
00:53:29,120 –> 00:53:32,520
master plan.
We are called upon to build

860
00:53:32,560 –> 00:53:35,880
after that master plan, and in
fact, we’ll find shortly to

861
00:53:35,880 –> 00:53:38,200
build upon the foundation.
Actually, let’s have a look at

862
00:53:38,200 –> 00:53:40,640
that, that verse, verse 11 for
other foundation.

863
00:53:40,640 –> 00:53:44,120
Can no man lay in that which is
lay, which is Jesus Christ?

864
00:53:44,920 –> 00:53:49,240
God’s Master plan is in place
and we are called to build

865
00:53:49,280 –> 00:53:53,320
according to that master plan on
the foundation of Jesus Christ.

866
00:53:54,240 –> 00:53:56,520
The next thing this Master
Builder does is to collect

867
00:53:56,520 –> 00:53:58,920
together all the necessary
materials, whether of brick,

868
00:53:58,920 –> 00:54:02,200
stone, limes, sand, wood, or
what else that may be needed.

869
00:54:02,960 –> 00:54:05,160
And if a spectator desire to
know what all these crude

870
00:54:05,160 –> 00:54:08,600
matters were heaped up together
in one place, the architect

871
00:54:08,600 –> 00:54:12,160
would reveal to him his purpose
by submitting the draft of his

872
00:54:12,160 –> 00:54:14,960
plan in all its lines, circles,
angles, etcetera.

873
00:54:15,600 –> 00:54:18,000
And he would describe to him
such an arrangement of the

874
00:54:18,000 –> 00:54:21,440
materials as would impress the
spectators mind with an image of

875
00:54:21,440 –> 00:54:25,240
the edifice, though it would
fall infinitely short of the

876
00:54:25,240 –> 00:54:31,560
reality when perfected.
It’s the idea isn’t it, that God

877
00:54:31,560 –> 00:54:35,880
is in control, He’s got His
master plan He’s working towards

878
00:54:36,560 –> 00:54:40,560
and He has called us to become
Co labourers together with Him,

879
00:54:41,320 –> 00:54:46,240
to build according to His master
plan, the evidence of which is

880
00:54:46,240 –> 00:54:48,160
already here for us in the
Scriptures.

881
00:54:48,800 –> 00:54:51,840
And not to try and lay another
foundation upon that already

882
00:54:51,840 –> 00:54:56,200
laid which is Jesus Christ, but
to follow with meticulous detail

883
00:54:57,120 –> 00:54:59,880
the principles of building that
He has laid down for us in the

884
00:54:59,880 –> 00:55:03,920
scriptures.
We’re called to be builders

885
00:55:03,920 –> 00:55:08,880
together with God, and therefore
we need to understand the plan

886
00:55:08,880 –> 00:55:18,720
that God is working too.
There can be no divisions when

887
00:55:18,720 –> 00:55:23,000
we relay or when we attempt to
relay a foundation that is

888
00:55:23,000 –> 00:55:25,960
already laid.
We cannot change the foundations

889
00:55:25,960 –> 00:55:29,600
of ecclesial life because that
foundation has already been

890
00:55:29,600 –> 00:55:33,600
laid.
Paul has shown the Corinthian

891
00:55:33,600 –> 00:55:37,960
ecclesia that if they were
trying to change the

892
00:55:37,960 –> 00:55:42,040
foundations, if they were
deciding no longer to build upon

893
00:55:42,040 –> 00:55:45,800
the old foundation, then they
could not be Co labourers.

894
00:55:45,800 –> 00:55:48,480
Together with God.
We were no longer master

895
00:55:48,480 –> 00:55:52,600
builders working hand in hand
with the Father, but we were

896
00:55:52,600 –> 00:55:58,640
building our own human edifice.
He’s asking us to contribute our

897
00:55:58,640 –> 00:56:02,040
our energy to build upon the
foundation that has already been

898
00:56:02,040 –> 00:56:04,560
laid.
It’s our responsibility to

899
00:56:04,560 –> 00:56:07,480
build, we’re being told, but to
build upon that foundation that

900
00:56:07,480 –> 00:56:11,560
has been laid down for us.
And in order for us to do that,

901
00:56:11,560 –> 00:56:15,600
we need to understand God’s his
plan and his details.

902
00:56:18,200 –> 00:56:20,880
So let’s come now to verse 12
and what is quite a tricky

903
00:56:20,880 –> 00:56:23,880
little section.
I’ve entitled it the the testing

904
00:56:24,440 –> 00:56:28,520
of our work by fire.
It’s a it’s a section I’ve

905
00:56:28,520 –> 00:56:31,240
struggled with previously
because it the the word pictures

906
00:56:31,240 –> 00:56:33,480
don’t seem to quite tie up verse
12.

907
00:56:33,480 –> 00:56:36,240
Now if any man build upon this
foundation, gold, silver,

908
00:56:36,240 –> 00:56:39,720
precious stones, wood, hay and
stubble, every man’s work shall

909
00:56:39,720 –> 00:56:41,920
be made manifest for the day
shall declare it because it

910
00:56:41,920 –> 00:56:44,840
shall be revealed by fire.
And you look at it in verse 12

911
00:56:44,840 –> 00:56:47,280
and you think, hang on.
So we’re coming along as

912
00:56:47,280 –> 00:56:49,160
individuals and we’re building
upon the foundation.

913
00:56:49,160 –> 00:56:51,600
It’s gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, stubble and

914
00:56:52,040 –> 00:56:54,840
and the word pictures don’t
quite tie together, do they?

915
00:56:54,840 –> 00:56:57,840
Because we don’t tend to build
upon buildings with wood and hay

916
00:56:57,840 –> 00:57:00,080
and and stubble.
We’ll do with wood, but not with

917
00:57:00,080 –> 00:57:01,960
hay and stubble.
Nor do we tend to build with

918
00:57:01,960 –> 00:57:03,760
with gold upon it or precious
stones.

919
00:57:03,880 –> 00:57:07,080
They might be the things that we
use at the end to put in place

920
00:57:07,080 –> 00:57:11,480
and to make it look pretty.
So what’s the point or the idea

921
00:57:12,320 –> 00:57:17,200
that’s coming out here?
Well, I think we see that if we

922
00:57:17,200 –> 00:57:19,880
carry on in the context of these
verses, every man’s work shall

923
00:57:19,880 –> 00:57:22,240
be made manifest before the day
shall declare it, because it

924
00:57:22,240 –> 00:57:25,160
shall be revealed by fire, and
the fire shall try every man’s

925
00:57:25,160 –> 00:57:27,800
work of what sort it is.
If any man’s worker by which he

926
00:57:27,800 –> 00:57:29,800
has put thereon, he shall
receive a reward.

927
00:57:29,800 –> 00:57:32,720
If any man’s work shall be
burned, he shall suffer loss,

928
00:57:33,200 –> 00:57:36,520
but he himself shall be saved
yet so as by fire.

929
00:57:37,240 –> 00:57:40,440
And So what Paul actually tells
us here is the the word picture

930
00:57:40,440 –> 00:57:43,720
he is drawing is not so much the
picture of an edifice being

931
00:57:43,720 –> 00:57:47,960
built up, but the particular
focus of this section here is

932
00:57:47,960 –> 00:57:53,040
actually on what is the
implication on our work when it

933
00:57:53,040 –> 00:57:56,480
is tested by fire.
But the materials that he is

934
00:57:56,480 –> 00:57:59,600
talking about here is not so
much the picture of the building

935
00:57:59,600 –> 00:58:04,640
up, but the question of how do
these materials respond to a

936
00:58:04,640 –> 00:58:08,200
testing by fire.
And so this section here is

937
00:58:08,200 –> 00:58:10,960
actually the idea of the fact
that having Co labored together

938
00:58:10,960 –> 00:58:15,520
with God, our work will go
through a testing of of fire.

939
00:58:15,960 –> 00:58:19,720
And there’s a particular reason
that he that he uses those ideas

940
00:58:19,720 –> 00:58:21,200
there.
Just see if you can bubble

941
00:58:21,200 –> 00:58:23,480
around in the back of your head
where you might have heard of of

942
00:58:23,480 –> 00:58:27,800
those things before gold,
silver, gems, wood, hay stubble

943
00:58:28,200 –> 00:58:30,840
to see if you can see any echoes
as as we go through this

944
00:58:30,840 –> 00:58:36,120
section.
So having built our workers

945
00:58:36,120 –> 00:58:40,240
manifest and if the work is
burned in verse 15, we’ve

946
00:58:40,240 –> 00:58:45,720
suffered loss, he says, but we
are still saved and yet so is by

947
00:58:45,720 –> 00:58:48,680
fire.
So how does that work?

948
00:58:48,960 –> 00:58:51,520
How can we understand that as a
concept?

949
00:58:51,960 –> 00:58:55,200
We tend to see it, don’t we,
that that we’ve built and we go

950
00:58:55,200 –> 00:58:58,000
through a process of judgement
and either we come through as

951
00:58:58,000 –> 00:59:00,600
purified gold or we’re
destroyed.

952
00:59:01,320 –> 00:59:03,960
And if we’re destroyed, then
then we’re gone and can’t be

953
00:59:03,960 –> 00:59:06,920
saved.
But Paul’s point here actually

954
00:59:06,920 –> 00:59:11,760
is if any man’s work is burned,
he he suffers loss, he loses

955
00:59:11,760 –> 00:59:16,320
that work and his contribution
is gone, but he himself shall be

956
00:59:16,320 –> 00:59:18,480
saved.
And yet so is by fire.

957
00:59:18,560 –> 00:59:20,400
So we can’t go past that point,
can we?

958
00:59:20,880 –> 00:59:23,600
Paul is talking about here about
the fact that that individual

959
00:59:23,600 –> 00:59:28,160
has been saved, but they’ve
suffered the loss of their work.

960
00:59:30,040 –> 00:59:32,240
So how can we answer all of
this?

961
00:59:33,600 –> 00:59:38,040
Well, the word picture is how
our work responds to the testing

962
00:59:38,040 –> 00:59:41,080
of fire.
It’s not not a picture of a

963
00:59:41,080 –> 00:59:43,400
building that’s that’s lumped
together with hay and precious

964
00:59:43,400 –> 00:59:46,040
stones and then falls apart when
the fire comes.

965
00:59:46,760 –> 00:59:49,720
The focus or the attribute
that’s being picked up is how

966
00:59:49,720 –> 00:59:52,160
does our work respond to the
testing of fire?

967
00:59:52,280 –> 00:59:54,680
So let’s just see if we can
answer first what this idea of

968
00:59:54,680 –> 00:59:58,920
the testing of fire is in Jude
one and verse 23 others save

969
00:59:58,920 –> 01:00:00,960
with fear pulling them out of
the fire.

970
01:00:01,160 –> 01:00:03,960
And there’s this idea associated
with the fire of of destruction

971
01:00:03,960 –> 01:00:06,480
of the fact that the fire can
destroy and we’ve got to get in

972
01:00:06,480 –> 01:00:08,080
there and pull them out of the
fire.

973
01:00:08,640 –> 01:00:11,880
One Peter one, and verse 7.
That the trial of your faith,

974
01:00:12,280 –> 01:00:15,160
being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it

975
01:00:15,160 –> 01:00:18,400
be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise, and honour,

976
01:00:18,400 –> 01:00:20,440
and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ.

977
01:00:20,840 –> 01:00:22,760
So that’s a different attribute
of the fire, isn’t it?

978
01:00:22,960 –> 01:00:25,920
That’s actually of the
purification and of the fire

979
01:00:25,920 –> 01:00:28,800
being used to bring gold through
so that it can be found unto

980
01:00:28,800 –> 01:00:32,400
praise and honour and glory.
On the one hand, fire can

981
01:00:32,400 –> 01:00:36,080
destroy, on the other hand, it
can purify and reveal.

982
01:00:37,160 –> 01:00:40,840
Second Thessalonians one, verse
7 and 8 To you who are troubled,

983
01:00:41,080 –> 01:00:43,560
rest with us, when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from

984
01:00:43,560 –> 01:00:47,520
heaven with his mighty angels in
flaming fire, taking vengeance

985
01:00:47,520 –> 01:00:51,320
on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our

986
01:00:51,320 –> 01:00:54,120
Lord Jesus Christ.
So He’s there in flaming fire,

987
01:00:54,120 –> 01:00:57,840
taking vengeance on them that
know not God, that don’t obey

988
01:00:57,840 –> 01:01:01,120
God’s gospel, but at the same
time he’s there revealed from

989
01:01:01,120 –> 01:01:04,400
heaven with his mighty angels.
And again, you get the sense,

990
01:01:04,400 –> 01:01:07,040
don’t you, of the revealing and
the destruction that’s

991
01:01:07,040 –> 01:01:09,960
associated with fire.
So Paul’s point here in

992
01:01:09,960 –> 01:01:14,360
Corinthians is when the when our
work is tested by fire, it does

993
01:01:14,360 –> 01:01:16,440
two things.
It destroys what is able to be

994
01:01:16,440 –> 01:01:20,240
destroyed, but it purifies and
reveals and brings in rejoicing

995
01:01:20,240 –> 01:01:24,200
forth what cannot be destroyed.
That’s the concept of fire, both

996
01:01:24,200 –> 01:01:27,640
to destroy and to reveal,
destroys what it can, but

997
01:01:27,640 –> 01:01:30,080
purifies and reveals what it
cannot.

998
01:01:31,360 –> 01:01:35,000
The other question we need to
answer is the question of this

999
01:01:35,000 –> 01:01:40,560
day, because he says that it is
in a particular day.

1000
01:01:40,560 –> 01:01:43,680
Verse 13 Every man’s work shall
be made manifest for the day

1001
01:01:43,680 –> 01:01:45,800
shall declare it so.
What is that day?

1002
01:01:46,960 –> 01:01:50,120
Well, I believe clearly that
that day is the day of, of the

1003
01:01:50,120 –> 01:01:53,240
coming of Christ and, and
judgement when He shall become

1004
01:01:53,320 –> 01:01:56,280
Second Thessalonians, when he
shall come in fact the the one

1005
01:01:56,280 –> 01:01:58,680
we just looked at, when He shall
come to be glorified in His

1006
01:01:58,680 –> 01:02:02,840
Saints and to be admiring in all
them that believe, because our

1007
01:02:02,840 –> 01:02:05,280
testimony among you was believed
in that day.

1008
01:02:06,280 –> 01:02:08,720
So that’s the talking of the day
of the coming of Christ there.

1009
01:02:09,280 –> 01:02:13,200
And Acts 17 Because he hath
appointed a day in the which he

1010
01:02:13,200 –> 01:02:15,360
will judge the world in
righteousness by that man whom

1011
01:02:15,360 –> 01:02:18,160
he hath ordained, whereof he
hath given assurance unto all

1012
01:02:18,160 –> 01:02:20,480
men, and that hath raised him
from the dead.

1013
01:02:20,480 –> 01:02:23,000
So this concept of the day
that’s being talked about is the

1014
01:02:23,000 –> 01:02:25,800
day of judgement, the judgement
seat process.

1015
01:02:26,520 –> 01:02:33,480
It’s a day of coming judgement.
So let’s try and pull this

1016
01:02:33,480 –> 01:02:36,160
together here.
I’ll just quote to you out of a

1017
01:02:36,160 –> 01:02:38,040
little section from Alpas
Israel.

1018
01:02:39,000 –> 01:02:42,440
Probation, Brother Thomas says,
is a refining process.

1019
01:02:43,000 –> 01:02:45,920
It purges out a man’s dross and
brings out the image of Christ

1020
01:02:45,920 –> 01:02:49,000
and all his character and
prepares him for exultation to

1021
01:02:49,000 –> 01:02:53,240
his throne.
We can only enter the Kingdom

1022
01:02:53,240 –> 01:02:57,560
through the fire, but if a man
be courageous and hold fast the

1023
01:02:57,560 –> 01:03:00,480
confidence and rejoicing of the
hope firm unto the end, he will

1024
01:03:00,480 –> 01:03:04,360
emerge from it unscorched and be
presented wholly unblameable and

1025
01:03:04,360 –> 01:03:08,120
unrebukeable before the king.
So that’s the power of of the

1026
01:03:08,120 –> 01:03:11,200
refining process, isn’t it?
That it, it destroys what it can

1027
01:03:11,200 –> 01:03:14,760
destroy, but then it reveals and
purifies, but cannot, cannot be

1028
01:03:14,760 –> 01:03:17,720
destroyed.
OK, so we’ve got all these

1029
01:03:17,720 –> 01:03:21,200
concepts in our minds now.
It’s a little hard to see what

1030
01:03:21,200 –> 01:03:23,560
Paul’s saying, isn’t it?
How can you have this, this

1031
01:03:23,960 –> 01:03:27,400
judgement, as it were, by fire,
where the hay is burned up?

1032
01:03:27,720 –> 01:03:30,880
And if our work has suffered
loss, we’re still going to be

1033
01:03:30,880 –> 01:03:34,200
saved in that day.
What is the concept that that’s

1034
01:03:34,200 –> 01:03:38,760
being talked about?
The materials here seem

1035
01:03:38,760 –> 01:03:40,400
disconnected from the building,
don’t they?

1036
01:03:41,600 –> 01:03:44,760
But as usual with Paul, I think
he’s actually going somewhere

1037
01:03:44,760 –> 01:03:47,320
deeper in this.
So let’s come back to it.

1038
01:03:47,320 –> 01:03:49,640
Where have you heard those
echoes before of gold and of

1039
01:03:49,640 –> 01:03:54,160
silver being refined, of a day?
Of a fire that tries and

1040
01:03:54,160 –> 01:03:58,360
purifies and reveals of the
precious stones or the jewels

1041
01:03:59,000 –> 01:04:01,280
and the stubble that’s burnt in
the fire?

1042
01:04:02,200 –> 01:04:05,440
Let’s come across to Malachi in
Chapter 3 and 4.

1043
01:04:21,000 –> 01:04:24,160
Malachi 3 And verse one.
Behold, I will send my

1044
01:04:24,160 –> 01:04:26,280
messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me.

1045
01:04:26,480 –> 01:04:29,760
And the Lord whom you seek shall
suddenly come to his temple,

1046
01:04:29,960 –> 01:04:32,200
even the messenger of the
covenant whom you delight, and

1047
01:04:32,200 –> 01:04:35,520
behold, he shall come.
S Yahweh of armies, this is a

1048
01:04:35,520 –> 01:04:37,960
day, the day of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ.

1049
01:04:37,960 –> 01:04:42,240
But who may abide to the day of
His coming, and who shall stand

1050
01:04:42,240 –> 01:04:45,320
when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner’s fire,

1051
01:04:45,480 –> 01:04:48,880
and like a fuller’s soap, and he
shall sit as a refiner and

1052
01:04:48,880 –> 01:04:52,600
purifier of silver, and he shall
purify the sons of Levi, and

1053
01:04:52,600 –> 01:04:57,240
purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto Yahweh

1054
01:04:57,240 –> 01:05:00,360
an offering and righteousness.
I believe that Paul here is

1055
01:05:00,360 –> 01:05:04,520
picking up this idea of, of the
Lord Jesus Christ returning as

1056
01:05:04,520 –> 01:05:09,520
that refiners fire to sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver,

1057
01:05:09,840 –> 01:05:13,240
to purify the sons of Levi and
to purge them as gold and silver

1058
01:05:13,840 –> 01:05:16,040
so that they can offer unto
Yahweh an offering and

1059
01:05:16,040 –> 01:05:17,560
righteousness.
It’s all those ideas we’ve

1060
01:05:17,560 –> 01:05:20,840
looked at, isn’t it, that the
Lord Jesus Christ returns and he

1061
01:05:21,040 –> 01:05:24,920
his, his fire of judgement goes
out to purify, to destroy what

1062
01:05:24,920 –> 01:05:29,040
can be destroyed, but to to in
turn to, to purify and bring

1063
01:05:29,040 –> 01:05:36,840
forth the gold.
So why would Paul link back to

1064
01:05:36,840 –> 01:05:40,560
Malachi?
What is Paul doing in in taking

1065
01:05:40,560 –> 01:05:44,000
us back to Malachi?
Well, interestingly, Paul is

1066
01:05:44,000 –> 01:05:47,440
clearly comparing the Corinthian
ecclesia to the congregation in

1067
01:05:47,440 –> 01:05:51,040
the time of Malachi.
And that is because many of the

1068
01:05:51,040 –> 01:05:54,320
issues that Paul is dealing with
in the Corinthian ecclesia were

1069
01:05:54,320 –> 01:05:56,120
actually occurring in in Malachi
as well.

1070
01:05:56,120 –> 01:05:58,400
You see verse verse 5 of chapter
3.

1071
01:05:58,680 –> 01:05:59,960
I will come near to you in
judgement.

1072
01:05:59,960 –> 01:06:02,720
I will be a swift witness
against the sorcerers and

1073
01:06:02,720 –> 01:06:05,200
against the adulterers, against
false wearers, against those

1074
01:06:05,200 –> 01:06:07,520
that oppress the highling and
the wages, the widow and the

1075
01:06:07,520 –> 01:06:10,400
fatherless, and that turn aside
the stranger from his right.

1076
01:06:10,400 –> 01:06:14,280
And fear not me S Yahweh of
armies, if you take the time in

1077
01:06:14,280 –> 01:06:16,000
your in your own time to go
through and have a look, you’ll

1078
01:06:16,000 –> 01:06:18,960
find a number of connections
between what was happening here

1079
01:06:18,960 –> 01:06:21,360
in Malachi and the Corinthian
ecclesia.

1080
01:06:22,840 –> 01:06:29,240
But the message of Malachi is
that one day the Lord will come

1081
01:06:29,240 –> 01:06:34,920
suddenly to his temple, which
Paul is saying is us and our

1082
01:06:34,920 –> 01:06:37,920
work.
And when he does come, a time of

1083
01:06:37,920 –> 01:06:40,600
refining fire to test will
arrive.

1084
01:06:42,520 –> 01:06:44,160
See.
See, Paul’s transformed the

1085
01:06:44,160 –> 01:06:49,080
issue so far beyond the tis tisn
group of Paul and Apollos to the

1086
01:06:49,080 –> 01:06:52,480
reality of the coming of Christ
to all of us.

1087
01:06:53,640 –> 01:06:55,800
What about Malachi 3?
Verse 16?

1088
01:06:57,720 –> 01:07:00,480
They that feared Yahweh spoke
often one to another, and Yahweh

1089
01:07:00,480 –> 01:07:02,920
hearkened and heard it, and a
book of remembrance was written

1090
01:07:02,920 –> 01:07:05,800
before him for them that feared
Yahweh, and that thought upon

1091
01:07:05,800 –> 01:07:07,600
his name.
This is those who are going to

1092
01:07:07,600 –> 01:07:11,280
be revealed by fire, isn’t it?
Who, Who will be purified and

1093
01:07:11,280 –> 01:07:12,680
shone forth?
Verse 17.

1094
01:07:12,680 –> 01:07:15,440
And they shall be mine S Yahweh
of armies in that day.

1095
01:07:15,600 –> 01:07:19,880
When I make up my jewels, that’s
the precious stones that Paul

1096
01:07:19,880 –> 01:07:22,920
had mentioned in Corinthians.
When I make up my jewels, and I

1097
01:07:22,920 –> 01:07:26,960
will spare them as a man,
spareth his own son, that

1098
01:07:26,960 –> 01:07:31,040
serveth him that God will take
them as his own son.

1099
01:07:31,280 –> 01:07:33,640
And then shall you return and
discern between the righteous

1100
01:07:33,640 –> 01:07:36,560
and the wicked, between him that
serveth God, and serveth him

1101
01:07:36,560 –> 01:07:40,840
not.
Malachi 4 verse one.

1102
01:07:42,200 –> 01:07:47,600
For behold, the day cometh that
shall burn as an oven, and all

1103
01:07:47,600 –> 01:07:52,040
the proud, yeah, and all that do
wickedly shall be stubble.

1104
01:07:53,120 –> 01:07:54,840
And the day that cometh shall
burn them up.

1105
01:07:54,840 –> 01:07:57,400
Saith Yahweh varies, that it
shall neither leave them root

1106
01:07:58,240 –> 01:08:01,240
nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name

1107
01:08:01,240 –> 01:08:03,960
shall the Sun of Righteousness
arise with healing in his wings,

1108
01:08:04,960 –> 01:08:07,360
and ye shall go forth and grow
up his calves at the store.

1109
01:08:08,080 –> 01:08:11,200
So Paul’s message to the
Corinthian ecclesia is that they

1110
01:08:11,200 –> 01:08:14,560
needed to understand the message
to the Malachi congregation.

1111
01:08:15,920 –> 01:08:19,560
They needed to understand that
Yahweh would come through his

1112
01:08:19,560 –> 01:08:23,920
Son as a refining fire that
would burn up the proud and

1113
01:08:23,920 –> 01:08:27,840
those who were stubble but would
leave the gold and silver and

1114
01:08:27,840 –> 01:08:31,240
the precious stones.
So that’s answered the question,

1115
01:08:31,240 –> 01:08:35,439
hasn’t it?
But not not quite, because there

1116
01:08:35,439 –> 01:08:38,920
is still this matter that a man
can suffer loss but himself be

1117
01:08:38,920 –> 01:08:45,760
saved and so is by fire.
See Paul’s focus is not on

1118
01:08:45,760 –> 01:08:47,080
himself through the section of
it.

1119
01:08:47,080 –> 01:08:50,760
It’s about the fact that we are
Co labourers together with God,

1120
01:08:51,479 –> 01:08:55,040
that our whole purpose in life
becomes once we’ve understood

1121
01:08:55,040 –> 01:08:58,680
we’re nothing, to become slaves
that are Co labouring together

1122
01:08:58,680 –> 01:09:04,279
with God because we desire to be
part of His glory, to build upon

1123
01:09:04,279 –> 01:09:08,279
his glory, to expand upon His
glory, to contribute to the

1124
01:09:08,279 –> 01:09:12,399
building of Yahweh’s building
itself as an expansion of the

1125
01:09:12,399 –> 01:09:14,880
glory and the power of God’s
building.

1126
01:09:16,399 –> 01:09:19,840
And I believe that Paul’s point
here in Corinthians is this,

1127
01:09:20,720 –> 01:09:25,920
that how we build with God will
determine whether or not in the

1128
01:09:25,920 –> 01:09:29,840
day of testing our work that we
have accomplished is going to

1129
01:09:29,840 –> 01:09:33,920
give forth glory to the Father
and remain as part of his

1130
01:09:33,920 –> 01:09:37,319
building or not.
It takes it up another level,

1131
01:09:37,319 –> 01:09:39,040
doesn’t it?
Because what he’s saying here, I

1132
01:09:39,040 –> 01:09:40,120
believe this is what he’s
saying.

1133
01:09:40,720 –> 01:09:44,720
If you are Co labouring together
with God, if you have got to the

1134
01:09:44,720 –> 01:09:47,680
point in your life where you are
recognising that the flesh is

1135
01:09:47,680 –> 01:09:50,399
nothing, that you are not
prepared to work in your own

1136
01:09:50,399 –> 01:09:53,439
strength, but that it is only
through God’s strength and His

1137
01:09:53,439 –> 01:09:55,720
power that you can Co labour and
work with Him.

1138
01:09:56,120 –> 01:09:58,880
If that has become our attitude
and we are labouring and

1139
01:09:58,880 –> 01:10:02,240
building as a Co labour with
God, then we will be saved.

1140
01:10:03,440 –> 01:10:05,800
If we have learnt that
principle, then we will be

1141
01:10:05,800 –> 01:10:09,000
saved.
And if we have learnt that

1142
01:10:09,000 –> 01:10:12,720
principle, then the question of
the coming of Christ is not our

1143
01:10:12,720 –> 01:10:17,360
salvation, but the question is
whether our work and the

1144
01:10:17,360 –> 01:10:20,560
contribution we have made in the
development of God’s glory is

1145
01:10:20,560 –> 01:10:26,240
going to to survive or not.
The question is essentially, has

1146
01:10:26,240 –> 01:10:28,960
the contribution we have made
personally to the ecclesial

1147
01:10:28,960 –> 01:10:33,480
environment been one that will
stand the day of testing when

1148
01:10:33,480 –> 01:10:38,000
Christ returns?
I believe it picks up the

1149
01:10:38,000 –> 01:10:41,520
sentiment of the Lord Jesus
Christ here in John 17.

1150
01:10:43,320 –> 01:10:47,320
While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name.

1151
01:10:48,640 –> 01:10:53,160
Those that thou gave us, me I
have kept, and none is lost.

1152
01:10:55,200 –> 01:11:02,600
Imagine salvation where we enter
into the Kingdom, but to know

1153
01:11:02,600 –> 01:11:06,280
the anguish of our life’s work
destroyed it in a moment.

1154
01:11:08,080 –> 01:11:12,720
We want to build as Co laborers
together with God because we

1155
01:11:12,720 –> 01:11:15,640
earnestly desire to expand His
glory to others.

1156
01:11:16,600 –> 01:11:19,960
Our work is not about ourselves.
It’s not just focused upon

1157
01:11:19,960 –> 01:11:23,200
ourselves, but it’s with our
children and with our friends

1158
01:11:23,200 –> 01:11:25,880
and with those in need and with
a broader ecclesial environment.

1159
01:11:26,040 –> 01:11:29,240
We are Co labouring together
with God to build one another,

1160
01:11:29,440 –> 01:11:32,920
fitting each other in as pure
gold and as tried silver and as

1161
01:11:32,920 –> 01:11:39,200
precious polished gems.
How tragic to stand at the

1162
01:11:39,200 –> 01:11:42,880
judgement seat and to find that
while by God’s grace we are

1163
01:11:42,880 –> 01:11:45,760
bought into the Kingdom because
we have endeavored to build

1164
01:11:47,000 –> 01:11:52,120
that, our work has been undone
because at times we lost the

1165
01:11:52,120 –> 01:11:57,320
wisdom of men of God and
reverted to schism and division.

1166
01:12:00,560 –> 01:12:04,680
Paul’s plea to the Eclesia that
he picks up so beautifully out

1167
01:12:04,680 –> 01:12:10,840
of Malachi is to highlight that
the Lord will come to his

1168
01:12:10,840 –> 01:12:15,920
temple, which we are building as
Co labourers together with God

1169
01:12:18,040 –> 01:12:24,880
in the day of Christ’s return.
We will be tried by fire and our

1170
01:12:24,880 –> 01:12:28,920
work will be revealed as to what
manner of work it was.

1171
01:12:30,200 –> 01:12:33,360
May it be brothers and sisters
that having lost ourselves,

1172
01:12:34,240 –> 01:12:39,080
having become Co labourers,
together with God we are able to

1173
01:12:39,080 –> 01:12:45,600
help one another, all of us to
be there as His temple in that

1174
01:12:45,600 –> 01:12:45,800
day.