The central message is a call to "get a grip" by recognizing one's own limited wisdom compared to God's and appreciating the abundance of spiritual riches in Christ, rather than focusing on worldly desires or perceived lacks.
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1 Corinthians chapter 3:es 18- 23.
23.
As Pastor Jeff admitted in a sermon a
few weeks ago, we try to stay up to date
on the latest lingo since we work with
the youth group. Emphasis on try because
new and nonsensical words and phrases
seem to be invented on a daily basis.
You know, new slang always sounds
ridiculous to older generations, even
though your slang wasn't that much
better back in the day either. Do you
ever wish a certain slang word or phrase
stuck around a bit longer than it had?
That caught on a bit more? I know I miss
saying things like big whoop or cool beans.
beans.
When I'm disgusted by something, gag me
with a spoon. Or when someone says
something really obvious, I say no. Duh.
Or how about whenever someone's annoying
me, I lift up my hand and say, "Talk to
the hand." Because
the face ain't listening.
Another one of my favorites. Someone ask
you to do something that you really
don't want to do. Yeah. Let's not and
say we did.
But do you know which phrase I miss the
most? It's somewhat said today, but not
nearly as much as it used to be. Get a
grip. Who's ever said that or heard that
at some point? Get a grip. You say, "Get
a grip." When someone is being
unreasonable and is in desperate need of
a reality check, this person believes
something that is not true. And this bad
belief leads to a bad action. It leads
This person needs to get let go of the
lies that he or she is believing. This
person needs to get a grip on reality.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 18-23,
Paul gives the Corinthians a much needed
reality check. He tells them to get a
grip because they are believing some
things that are not true. And these bad
beliefs are leading to bad decisions,
erratic actions, and massive overreactions.
overreactions.
They are tearing the church apart
with their selfish pride,
with their worldly thinking and their
destructive division. The unity and
purity of the Corinthian church cannot
be promoted and maintained until they
get a grip on some essential truths from
God's word.
And we've been studying First
Corinthians for almost two months now.
And let's be honest, as you read this
book, as you listen to these sermons,
it's really easy to look down on the
Corinthians, isn't it? It's easy to
think, "Oh man, these people are insane.
They're just wackos. Go get them, Paul.
They really need a talking to."
But what if you are more like the
Corinthians than you think? What if you
are believing some things that are not
true? What if you are making some bad
decisions right now? What if you are
negatively affecting your family, your co-workers,
co-workers,
and this church?
What if you need to get a grip?
All of us, myself included, need to be
grabbed by the shoulders and shaken back
into reality because we all tend to live
in a fantasy world of our own making, a
fantasy world of lies, excuses, and self-justification.
self-justification.
You and I need the same exact reminders
that Paul gives the Corinthians in this
passage that we're about to read.
Because you know what? We're far more
like them than we care to admit. You and
I need to get a grip and remember some
essential facts from God's word. So
before we get a grip, let's go to the
Lord and ask that he would get a grip on us.
us.
Please pray for me that will faithfully
proclaim God's word and I will pray for
Father, it's so easy to come into this
room every Sunday and just pretend,
just to go through the motions,
to put on a show.
Lord, I pray against all of those things.
things.
I pray against pretending.
I pray against stuffing down what we're
really dealing with. I pray against
hiding our sin.
Lord, this morning we ask that you would
reveal what we struggle with. You would
reveal the sins that we need to deal
with by your grace.
I pray you'd help us to deal with these
things in a biblical way. We ask all
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Get a grip. You are not as wise as you
think you are. That's the first blank on
your outline. Get a grip. You are not as
Let's read chapter 3 18- 20. The Apostle
Paul writes, "Let no one deceive
himself. If anyone among you thinks that
he is wise in this age, let him become a
fool that he may become wise. For the
wisdom of this world is folly with God.
For it is written, he catches the wise
in their craftiness. And again, the Lord
knows the thoughts of the wise that they
are feudal.
Have you ever noticed
that people who are the most confident
tend to be the least competent?
The most confident tend to be the least competent.
competent.
That guy who praises his own handiness
and fixes everything at home tends to
make a lot of obvious mistakes.
He does stuff around his house that no
one would hire him to do around their
house. That woman who praises her
driving tends to be a really bad driver
herself. She's looking down at her phone
while she's driving. She's applying
makeup. She's running red lights. She's
not using turn signals when she's going
through lanes.
that guy who talks a big game in the
golf cart tends to have zero game when
he's driving or putting. Or how about
that person who says, "Yeah, I'm really
calm under pressure." And then when
something bad actually happens, they're
just totally manic and panicked.
In all of these examples, overconfidence
causes someone to overestimate his or
her ability.
And that is what Paul is talking about
in these verses. A human sense of
confidence in yourself makes you
incompetent when it comes to spiritual matters.
matters.
Those who think they are wise by worldly
standards are foolish by heavenly
standards. They may appear to be
brilliant in the eyes of the world, but
what are they in the eyes of God?
Stupid, dumb, foolish.
When you're impressed with your own
wisdom, you become a fool.
And that that rule is without exception
in scripture. Paul is crystal clear on
this. He quotes the book of Job in Psalm
94 when he says, "God catches the wise
in their craftiness." And again, the
Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that
they are feudal.
And earlier he says, "The wisdom of this
world is folly with God."
You cannot outsmart God. You cannot
trick him. If you try, he will beat you
at your own game. And again, we see this
all throughout scripture. Here are just
two examples that spring to the top of
my mind. In the book of Esther, Hmon
hatches a scheme to kill God's people
and to hang his enemy Mori on gallows
that he had specially made. How did that
turn out for Hmon? Anyone remember?
He ends up hung on the gallows that he
had made for Morai. Yeah, not great as
Jeff just Jeff just Jeff just Jeff just
Jeff just Jeff just Jeff just Jeff said.
What about King Abselum? Well, he tried
to be king. Didn't really work out for
him. He rebelled against his father. He
had this long beautiful hairike Fabio
that he really prided himself in. He
tried to steal his father's throne. How
did that go for him?
He ended up caught in a tree branch by
his own prided hair with three spears
through his heart. He ended up as a
human pin cushion.
Both men thought they were smart, but
God caught them in their craftiness.
They were both competent. Actually, they
were confident in their own competence,
but they ended up being incompetent.
They had their own thoughts and plans
that were proven to be useless by God.
They were not as wise as they thought
Are you confident in your own competence
right now?
Are you trying to outsmart God?
Are you trusting in your own human
wisdom, your own faulty understanding?
You know exactly what God thinks about
that sin you were indulging in, but you
think that you can escape the
consequences. And without even realizing
it, you are bearing the consequences of
your repeated and unrepentant disobedience.
disobedience.
You are dulling your conscience. You are
pushing down the conviction of the Holy
Spirit. You are pushing away faithful
friends because you don't want to be
found out.
You know exactly what God thinks about
giving of your time and treasure to the
church and those who are in need. But
again, you think those rules don't
really apply to you because your
schedule is way too busy. Your bills are
way too high. Your stress is off the
charts. So, you can't do those things.
You know exactly what God thinks about
your need to humble yourself and submit
to others. But once again, that doesn't
really apply to you because you're
always right and those other people are
always wrong. I mean, yeah, sure, unity
and all that jazz is really important,
but you're the only one who really knows
what you're doing. So, if you don't get
your way, everything's just going to
fall apart, right?
You know exactly what God thinks about
how you should treat fellow believers
and handle conflict in the church. But
surprise, surprise, once again, you're a
special case.
You have been too mistreated to talk it
out. You have been too hurt to forgive.
Please stop elevating your importance
because you will be humbled if you
don't. Stop thinking that you can
outsmart God because you will get caught
in a trap of your own making. Stop
highlighting your wisdom because you are
simply shining a spotlight onto your foolishness.
foolishness.
You become a fool by thinking that
you're wise.
You may be wondering, okay, so how do I
actually become wise? Well, Paul gives
us a very simple answer in verse 18.
Look at that again. He says, if anyone
among you thinks that he is wise in this
age, let him become a fool that he may
become wise.
You become wise by submitting yourself
to what the culture around you thinks is foolish.
foolish.
You willingly swallow the pill that most
people willfully spit out in God's face.
You passionately believe that God not
only knows better than you, he knows
what is best in any and every circumstance.
circumstance.
You sit under the authority of God's
word rather than standing in authority
above it. You care way more about the
neverchanging commands of God than your
everchanging opinions.
You are far more concerned with meeting
the needs of others than satisfying your
Do you know what the greatest threat
to Harvest Bible Chapel is?
It's not ungodly politicians. It's not
ungodly public policies. It's not other
religions. It's not persecution of
Christianity. It's not even social media
or secular entertainment.
The greatest threat to this church is you.
you.
The greatest threat to this church is me.
me.
The greatest threat is you and I
thinking that we know best. You and I
insisting it's my way or the highway
that leads to stiffarming one another.
That leads to division that leads to disunityity.
Do you know what the greatest unifier in
the church is?
A mutual agreement that God knows best
and we don't.
A mutual submission to the word of God.
a mutual agreement that we will do
whatever the Bible says in regards to
every subject, every issue, every problem.
problem.
When a financial issue arises in this
church, we deal with it in a biblical
way. When gossip is being shared, we
deal with it in a biblical way. When
disagreement breaks out in a small
group, we deal with it in a biblical
way. When problems arise with the
building project, we deal with it in a
biblical way.
How does that biblical plan sound to
you? Are you on board with that?
Are you willing to go down that path and
do whatever this book says?
Let me warn you, it's not going to be
easy. If you are committed to that, you
have to lay aside your temptation to
show off, to prove yourself. You have to
be unwaveringly committed to obeying the
word of God. Even when it hurts, even
when it's hard, even when it smashes
your ego to pieces, and it will.
You need to stop saying, "I think I
think I think" and start declaring, "The
Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible
says." As as Pastor Jeff said a few
weeks ago, what you think doesn't really
matter. What God commands is of supreme importance.
You need to stop deceiving yourself. You
need to get a grip. Get a grip because
you're not as wise as you think you are.
Please do not resist this reality check
because it is so freeing
to admit that you don't have all the
Get a grip. You are not as wise as you
think you are. Get a grip. You are not
lacking in anything.
We've already seen that the disunityity
in Corinth cannot be solved until all
the members of the church put aside
their pride and stop deceiving
themselves. Each person must have an
accurate understanding of himself or
herself. But that's not enough. Each
person must have an accurate
understanding of others, especially
those who were leaders.
Paul talks about this at the beginning
of verse 21. So let no one boast in men.
For the third time in this letter, Paul
is talking about the favoritism
controversy in Corenth. Some think that
Paul is the best pastor around. Others
believe that Peter is the goat of the
apostles. Most believe that Apollos is
the MVP of preaching and teaching.
And at this point in the series, you may
be thinking, why do we keep talking
about this over and over again? I get
that this favoritism thing is bad, but
why is it such a big deal to Paul?
Well, imagine it with me this way.
Imagine that all the seating sections in
this church are dedicated to one of the
pastors on staff and his specific
groupies. All right. On the left side is
Pastor Jeff's section. You all sit
there. Well, are you guys the best
section? I guess you can prove my point
>> Well, in this section, you sit here
because you love Pastor Jeff's
conversational preaching style. You love
his sense of humor. And to show your
support, you eat funions. You wear
bright neon shoes. You hold up I hate
mayo signs. All right. The middle
section is Pastor Rich's section, who's
not here right now, so we won't give him
a big head today by saying he I guess he
has the most people. You sit there
because you're enthralled by Pastor
Rich's intelligence and his in-depth
knowledge of God's word. And to show
your support, you tell puns, you drink
kombucha, and you garden in your spare time.
time.
And the right side is
For the life of me, I can't figure out
why you're all sitting over there.
Over lunch, you can decide why you're
sitting there and what you would do to
celebrate me because I have literally no idea.
idea.
Let me ask you, what's the problem with
that seating chart?
The church is literally and
metaphorically divided. One section is
boasting in Pastor Jeff, another is
boasting in Pastor Rich, and a third is
boasting in me. In that scenario, who is
not being boasted in?
God, the only one who is worthy of our
boasting. God deserves the praise, not
the leaders he put into place. Leaders
are a window and God is the view that
you see through the window.
When you are watching a beautiful sunset
from inside your house, you don't praise
how clean and efficient the window is
that you're glimpsing through. You
praise what you are getting a glimpse of.
of.
Godly leaders are a blessing but God is
the source of that blessing. Godly
leaders are a gift but God is the
ultimate giver.
You need to have an accurate
understanding of yourself.
You need to have an accurate
understanding of others. You also need
to have an accurate understanding of all
God has given you in Christ.
Paul talks about this at the end of
verse 21. And in verse 22, he writes,
"For all things are yours,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cphus or the
world or life or death, the present or
the future, all are yours. And you are
Christ and Christ is God's."
That statement is absolutely staggering.
I could preach a series for an entire
year just on that one statement. There
is so much to unpack here. So, let's
just slow it down and take a small bite
at a time so we can savor all the flavor
in this passage. For all things are yours.
yours.
Maybe you don't feel like you have very much
much
when you pull up your bank accounts,
your retirement accounts. You're not
really happy with the numbers that you
see. Your house is way smaller than you
would prefer. Your car has way more
miles and way more issues than you would
like. When you compare yourself to
others on social media, it really seems
like very little is actually yours. But
that couldn't be any further from the
truth. According to the Apostle Paul,
the poorest Christian is wealthier than
the richest non-Christian.
Jeff Bezos may be one of the most
successful businessmen in the entire
world. And as of this morning, when I
checked, he is worth $235 billion.
Far more than all of us if we combined
our net worths.
Let me ask you, does Jeff Bezos own all things?
things? No.
No.
Elon Musk, he owns X, Tesla, and he's
even taking on space now, I guess. As of
this morning, he has a net worth of $460 billion.
billion.
Does even Elon Musk own all things? He's
not even close to owning all things. If
you have trusted in Christ, you are far
better off than either of these men who
seem to be so far beyond you. All things
are not theirs, but all things are yours.
You may be wondering, "Okay, Taylor, I
believe you because the Bible says so,
but I just don't get it." Well, let me
show you because Paul gives us a
detailed list of everything that belongs
to you and belongs to me. First up, Paul
or Apollos or Cphus?
As I already said, all three of these
men are gifts to be appreciated by the
Corinthians. Each man serves. Each man
gives something that is unique to the church.
church.
And the same can be said for the pastors
and elders here. We are here to glorify
God by serving you. We are here to obey
God by equipping you for the work of the
ministry. The pastors and elders at
Harvest belong to you. We are here for you.
you.
And the same is true for every godly
leader who pours himself or herself into
your life and other avenues of life. Why
play favorites when all of us are here
to bless you and increase your spiritual health?
health?
It's like being gifted a house only
utilizing one of the rooms and blocking
off the rest. Instead of doing that,
enjoy the entire house. The kitchen can
do things that your basement cannot. The
closets provide a function that your
dining room doesn't.
Each room has a place and function in
the house.
In a much greater way, each leader,
pastor, and elder in the church has a
place or a function.
Next up, the world. One day, Jesus
Christ will return to rule and reign
over this earth. And do you know
according to scripture, you will rule
and reign along with him?
How's that going to look? How's that
going to work? I have no idea, but it
sounds awesome.
This may be a shock for you to hear, but
there are a lot of ungodly people in
authority and power right now. Have you noticed
noticed
a lot of ungodly people are in charge of
communities, cities, and countries
across the face of this planet? And it
may seem like they have more power than
you do. But again, does the world belong
to those ungodly leaders?
Does the world belong to you? Yes. So
once again, you have far more.
Paul or Apollos or Cphus, the world,
life or death. When you trust in
Christ's perfect life, his finished work
on the cross, and his victorious
resurrection, you are given eternal life.
life.
As Pastor Jeff often says, eternal life
isn't just something you'll experience
someday. Eternal life is something you
experience right now.
Jesus makes this clear in John 17:3,
"And this is eternal life, that they
know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom you have sent.
You have God as your father.
You have Jesus Christ as your personal
friend, both now and forever.
You no longer need to fear death because
Jesus took the hell that you deserve
upon himself.
Death can no longer lead you away from
God. It can only lead you closer to God.
The present or the future.
Once again, maybe your present doesn't
seem very good right now.
Maybe your present is a place you don't
really want to be.
But recognize every gift that you have
is from the hand of God. Your friends,
your spouse, your kids, your church, the
clothes on your back, the food in your
stomach, even the difficult
circumstances in your life are used by
God to mold you into the image of Jesus
Christ. Every difficulty, every pain,
every sickness is used to make you more
like him.
God loves you like his own son.
But the Bible tells us that God did not
spare his own son, but gave him up for
us all.
We also will have to go through hard
one day. The pain of this world will
give way to the glories of heaven.
Please know your God is so good to you
right now
and your appreciation of his goodness
will exponentially increase in the
Finally, Paul provides a summary
statement of what has been given to
every Christian. All are yours and you
are Christ and Christ is God's.
Doesn't this statement kind of sound
like one of those complex word problems
on a math test or on the SATs?
Well, let's break it down to understand
it. Let's reverse the logic of this text
because this is a awesome math equation
that adds up to an infinite sum.
What does God own?
I'm going to try that again. What does
God own?
Who is God's son?
If you are a believer, who do you belong
to? Jesus.
Therefore, if you belong to Christ, what
belongs to you? Everything.
Everything.
I usually hate math. That's math even I
can get behind.
You own all that God has. You own
literally everything. Your net worth
But you and I so often get sidetracked
for our desire for more and more and
more of what this culture has to offer.
We get obsessed with accumulating more
stuff that we cannot even take with us
when we die. You and I lose touch with
the spiritual realities of this text.
You can lose track of all that has been
given to you in Christ. You can grumble.
You can complain. You can act ungrateful.
There are some Saturdays where Kate and
I pull out all the stops for the kids.
We have a great breakfast. We go to the
park. We go see a movie so they can
stuff their face with popcorn, ices, and
candy. We come back, let them ride
bikes, and we round out the day with a
delicious dinner.
But then one of my kids is sulking,
walking around upset. And I'll ask Sam
or Amy, "What's wrong?" And one of them
will respond by saying, "Oh, I'm just
having a hard day."
And I was blown away by that response.
How in the world are you having a hard day?
day?
Well, you and mom are being mean to me,
and you didn't let me have the second
pack of Pirates Booty that I wanted. Are
you serious? We gave you everything
today and you're bellyachching about one
small thing that you don't even need. In
those moments, I want to give my kids a
reality check. I want to give them a
loud and clear message. Get a grip. You
are so blessed. You are not lacking in anything.
anything.
And Paul is giving you the same exact
reality check. He is shaking you by the
shoulders and saying, "You are so
blessed. You are not lacking in anything.
anything.
What do you want that you really need?
The answer is nothing. Nothing.
Nothing.
You may be struggling with your job or
your role as a stay-at-home mom. But you
must remember that you have been given
the greatest calling of all, telling
others about what you have received in
Christ and what they can receive in Christ.
Christ.
You may feel lonely right now. You may
feel isolated, like no one cares about
you. But you must remember that Jesus
has gifted you with the Holy Spirit who
lives inside of you. And he will never
leave you or forsake you. You may have a
very broken and dysfunctional family or
come from a very broken and
dysfunctional family, but you must
remember that the Lord himself has taken
you in and he has given you brothers and
sisters in Christ who love you.
You may not like your house very much.
You may think it's the worst house on
the block, but you must remember that
Jesus himself is preparing a place for
you in heaven.
You may not receive the biggest
inheritance from your family, but as we
read earlier in Romans, you are an heir
of God and a fellow heir of Jesus
Christ. You may feel cursed right now
when life is hard and it's just one
thing after another, but you must
remember that you have been blessed with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
places.
Get a grip. You are not lacking in anything.
anything.
If you choose to get a grip and remember
these essential reminders, you will
experience a sense of joy like you've
never known before. You will stop trying
to build up more and more stuff and
accumulate a kingdom for yourself.
You will no longer be envious of what
other people have because you are
content with what you have.
You will enjoy true unity in the life of
the church because you're no longer in
competition with other believers. Yes,
all things are yours in Christ, but all
things are also theirs in Christ. You
own what they own, and they own what you own.
own.
God doesn't play favorites with his
children. We're all on the same equal
footing. In the body of Christ, we all
own all things.
You know, for most of this message, I've
been speaking to Christians.
I know there are people in this room who
are not Christians, who are not Christ.
And I want to talk to you for a minute.
First of all, I want to let you know
that I'm so glad that you're here. And
it's my greatest desire that God would
get a grip on you so that you can get a
grip on the reality of your situation.
No matter how much you think you have,
you have nothing that lasts.
All things are not yours.
But I have great news for you. Jesus
offers you all of himself. He offers you
all that belongs to him. And to receive
it, you must let go of the garbage of
this culture that you're holding on to
so you can grab a hold of his infinite riches.
riches.
Come to him empty-handed.
Come to him asking for forgiveness. Come
to him admitting your need for his grace.
grace.
Why settle for nothing both now and
forever if you can have all things for
The worship team can now make their way forward.
forward.
You know, ever since childhood, I've had
to deal with night tears. I have very
vivid dreams where I think things are
not true and see things are not there.
And this crazy thinking leads to some
crazy behavior. I'll yell things out.
I'll walk around the room. I'll even
jump on the bed.
Then all of a sudden I'm snapped back to reality.
reality.
I come to my senses and every single
time I feel so foolish.
I think to myself, how could I have
thought those things? How could I have
done those things? Why did I act that
way? How could I stop this from
Maybe the Holy Spirit has done something
similar for you this morning.
I hope he has snapped you back to reality
reality
so you can stop living in that fantasy world.
world.
I pray that he has caused you to come to
your senses so that you will stop
believing the lies of the enemy.
Brothers and sisters, let me just say
this one final time with all the love
and care I have in my heart for every
single one of you. Get a grip.
Get a grip. You are not as wise as you
think you are. You are not lacking in anything.
anything.
Until you get a grip, your relationship
with God will not be as strong as it
could be. Until you get a grip, Harvest
Bible Chapel will not be as strong in
unity and purity as it could be. Let's pray.
Father, we come to you and we all admit
that we all struggle with believing
things that are not true.
We all struggle with an inflated opinion
of ourselves.
Even we think very little of ourselves,
we're still focused on self.
We all admit that we so often complain
and grumble about what we don't have.
And we fail to remember all that you
have given us in Christ, which is everything.
everything.
Lord, for those who are discouraged this
morning, help them to walk out of here
encouraged by the truth of your word.
By those who came in here hard-hearted,
may they walk out s soft-hearted, Lord.
For those who came in with their arms
crossed, not wanting to listen, may they
come out worshiping you and glorifying
you for all that you have done for them
and all that you continue to do for
them. Lord, we thank you for who you
are. We thank you for what you've done,
what you are doing, and what you will do.
do.
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