Growing, Maturing and Bearing Fruit

March 6, 2005 Preacher: Randy Smith Series: 1 Corinthians

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:1–4

Transcript

Growing, Maturing and Bearing Fruit

1 Corinthians 3:1-4
Sunday, March 6, 2005
Pastor Randy Smith



I have great childhood memories of visiting my grandparents in Toms River. One thing I can vividly remember was their four humongous blueberry bushes. It was a big deal to go out and pick berries until our fingers turned blue!

Well, a few years back I tried to relive those childhood memories. I bought some blueberry bushes and planted them in our backyard. I soon came to realize that due to the climate and soil, blueberry bushes don't grow well in the Chicago area. My three bushes yielded a whopping dozen deformed blueberries in the first year. I thought, OK, this is only a start.

With great expectations for the second season, I was soon disappointed as my bushes failed to yield a single berry. With great patience, I persevered to the third season and again all three bushes failed to produce any fruit.

By the sixth season, all hope was abandoned. So what do you do with a fruit bush that doesn't bear fruit? First, you begin to wonder if they are really blueberry bushes! Furthermore, they aren't attractive in and of themselves. You got it; my bushes never saw the light of the seventh season. They were cut down and burned with the rest of my yard waste.

This reminds me of our Lord's words in John 15. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. …Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (Jn. 15:1-6).

In the same way I expected fruit on my blueberry bushes, God expects fruit in the lives of His children. Now, God is not being literal. He is not expecting apples to be dangling from our fingertips. Rather He is calling for spiritual fruit. He is calling for an attitude produced in our heart through the Holy Spirit which results in holy actions. And the longer we walk with Christ and abide in Christ, the more fruit we should be producing.

Some may say I was foolish to wait seven years for blueberries to appear on my bushes. After all, blueberries are an expected product from a blueberry bush! Well, imagine the patience of God who waits on those who profess to be His children year after year to bear spiritual fruit.

Contrary to much teaching in the church today, spiritual fruit is not an option. First of all, spiritual fruit is the means to glorify God. Jesus said, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples" (Jn. 15:8). Second, as I just read, spiritual fruit also identifies us as Christians. It shows we belong to God. Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 that we will be known by our fruit. Third, spiritual fruit increases our joy. Isn't it safe to say that if we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit we will become more holy? Isn't it safe to say that if we are alive in Christ that we will grow more like Christ? What could be more joyful than growing into the beautiful image of our Lord Jesus Christ?

If you are in Christ Jesus this morning, I can say with the utmost confidence, that God expects you to bear fruit and grow in your spiritual walk with Him.

For the past two months, we've learned that the Corinthian church was beset with the problem of disunity. This morning we will learn that their worldly thinking and jealously and strife contributed to the problem. So Paul in the first four verses of chapter 3 is basically saying: Grow up!

I have entitled this message: "Growing, Maturing, and Bearing Fruit."

1. IMMATURITY RECKONED

Let's begin with the first point: "Immaturity Reckoned." Verse 1, "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ." (1 Cor. 3:1).

Notice how Paul initially addresses these folks as "brethren." He shows them grace. He reminds them of their relationship to Christ and the kindred spirit that they have with each other. Strong words are following and he wants the church to know that his comments come from a heart of compassion that desires only God's best for them.

Notice how Paul also begins this verse in the past tense (not "can," but "could not speak to you"). I believe he is recollecting his original visit (and only visit up to this point) to the town of Corinth during his second missionary journey. The year was approximately A.D. 51 and the great Apostle brought the gospel to a pagan and hostile city.

Through the faithful preaching of "Christ crucified" (1:23), God called many from this heathen city to Himself (1:9; Ac. 18:10). They responded to the Gospel. A church was founded and Paul the evangelist became Paul the pastor.

And as any good pastor, he faithfully taught the Corinthians the Scriptures. However since this church didn't know the difference between the Light of the world and a lightning bug, Paul began with the elementary things of the Word of God. Without watering down the message, Paul spoon-fed these people spiritual food so they could grow in respect to their salvation.

Let's allow the text to speak for itself. Verse 1, "I could not speak to you as spiritual men." You were immature. You were motivated by the world's thoughts and actions. Verse 1- "I spoke to you as men of flesh." You followed your own selfish desires and not the desires of God. You esteemed the wisdom of the world over the wisdom of God. Your behavior was carnal and worldly. Verse 1- "I spoke to you as infants in Christ." You were babies in your Christian knowledge and experience. You lacked a hunger for maturity and growth in Christlikeness. You depended on spiritual milk and not spiritual meat.

Now, I do believe Paul's intent thus far was not to bash the Corinthian church. He was simply stating a fact that is true for all believers new to the faith. These folks were converted from utter paganism. They needed to begin somewhere and Paul began them with the basics - and there is nothing wrong with that!

Since the Corinthian church members were infants in Christ, Paul fed them the diet necessary for a baby - milk! Look at verse 2. Paul said, "I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it."

No parent of a sane mind would ever try to cram "solid food" down a newborn's throat. Like a baby who can only eat, drink and dream about milk, Paul fed the infant church the appropriate diet. He fed them spiritual milk. He was patient with their immaturity. He encouraged them on their baby steps.

But I ask you as a parent, how would you feel if your children never grew? How would you feel if they consumed only milk well into their teens? How would you feel if they entered college still drinking from a bottle and sucking on a pacifier? Paul had the same spiritual concern for his spiritual children in Corinth.

2. IMMATURITY REPUGNANT

Let's move to the second point: "Immaturity Repugnant."

Allow me to reread verse 2 in completion. "I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, (here is the switch to the present tense) even now you are not yet able" (1 Cor. 3:2; cf. Heb. 5:12). Can you see where Paul is going?

I imagine him saying, "Corinthians, I am beginning to get very concerned! It was OK to be nourished on the milk during the infancy of your faith, but that was 5 years ago! By now you should have outgrown that state! You had Peter and Apollos as instructors. I myself spent 18 months with you personally in ministry. You are without excuse. Grow up! I want to provide deeper teaching, but you are not able to receive it. Where is the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Why are you consumed with worldly issues? Where is the repentance? Where is the growth? What evidence is there that you truly belong to Christ? Why are you choosing to remain a spiritual baby?"

You know, everybody loves to watch a baby engaged in self-entertainment. It's funny when a baby acts like a baby. But when an adult acts like a baby, nobody is laughing! Paul was grieved over the lack of growth in the Corinthian church. And it grieved Paul because it grieved God.

You might ask, why had they failed to grow? Or you could ask; what was the indication that they were spiritually immature? The answer is found in the beginning of verse 3. The Apostle says, "For you are still fleshly."

Kris Lundgaard, in his excellent book "The Enemy Within" provides a good biography of the flesh. "The flesh hates everything about God. Since it resists everything about God, it resists every way we try to taste Him and know Him and love Him. And the more something enables us to find God and feast on Him, the more violently the flesh fights against it. It takes its battle to every quarter of the soul: When the mind wants to know God, the flesh imposes ignorance, darkness, error and trivial thoughts. The will can't move toward God without feeling the weight of stubbornness holding it back. And the affections, longing to long for God, are constantly fighting the infection of sensuality or the disease of indifference."

Simply put, the flesh is the remnant of our unredeemed state. It was crucified (Rom. 6:6), but still active in our lives (Rom. 7:15). It causes us to pursue our own selfishness in contrast to the Holy Spirit that enables us to pursue godliness. If the Spirit promotes growth (by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit - Gal. 5:22-23) we could say that the flesh prevents growth (by manifesting the deeds of the flesh - Gal. 5:19-21). Paul said it this way in Galatians 5, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please" (Gal. 5:16). Following the flesh is living like we were never redeemed. I believe it is the greatest inhibitor to spiritual growth. No doubt the flesh does its job to keep Christians, baby Christians.

Christians should be characterized by the Spirit, yet these believers in Corinth were characterized by the flesh. They were being influenced by the wrong power. They were men of flesh in verse 1 because of their immaturity and newness in the faith, but they were fleshly (a different Greek word) in verse 3 because of their sinful failure to grow.

One Commentator said, "The Corinthian church was much like the world, there was no difference in their conduct. An unbeliever is naturally unspiritual without the Spirit, a believer who is unspiritual must repent."

According to another, "A fleshly…life will corrupt morals, weaken personal relationships, produce doubt about God and His Word, destroy prayer life and provide fertile ground for heresy."

In case the church at Corinth begged to differ with Paul, which would have been another indication of their immature fleshly lifestyle, Paul gave two examples to prove their fleshly tendencies. Verse 3, "For since there is jealously and strife among you are you not fleshly?" Since the heart of the flesh is self-centeredness, jealously and strife will always be a by-product of the flesh (see Gal. 5:20). Mark this: A church that struggles with jealousy and strife is a fleshly church and regardless of their doctrine and size, an immature congregation.

Is there any evidence of jealousy and strife in our church? What was the evidence of jealousy and strife in the Corinthian church? We've heard this one before (1 Cor. 1:12). Verse 4, "For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not mere men?"

What an insult! Paul accused this church of acting like "mere men" in verse 3 and now in verse 4. Because of their jealously with produced these factions in the church resulting in strife, Paul's called these believers, "mere men." What could be more degrading? "You are acting like a natural men. You are acting like people without the Spirit of God."

3. IMMATURITY ROUTED

"Immaturity Reckoned," "Immaturity Repugnant," and now, "Immaturity Routed."

Recent polls have uncovered a conflicting trend in our society: Religion is on the upswing, but so is crime and immorality. In speaking to Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup addressed this apparent paradox by saying, "We find very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not actively religious. The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkably similar." Gallup continued, "Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves a Christian, yet only half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five out of the Ten Commandments. Only two of ten said they were willing to suffer for their faith."

Erwin Lutzer of Moody Church in Chicago said, "Within evangelicalism is a distressing drift toward accepting a Christianity that does not demand a life-changing walk with God…many evangelicals (today) do not realize that the church has always been an island of righteousness in a sea of paganism…but as a result they turned the world upside-down."

Are we turning the world upside-down? I ask you, is the church influencing the world or is the world influencing the church? I believe Paul's words to the Corinthians apply more than ever to God's people of the 21st Century. We have a church that is "overstuffed with big babies" (as one pastor put it) that simply refuses to grow up. Often we see the few that really desire spiritual growth persecuted most often by those within the church who want to maintain a level of carnality. God expects His children to grow, however those who should know better often view those that do as abnormal.

Is that us Grace Tabernacle? Are we acting like spiritual babies?

  • Are we concerned over petty issues?
  • Are we riding our personal hobbyhorse as a cover-up for immaturity?
  • Are we dying on the wrong hills?
  • Are we caught up in "jealousy and strife?"
  • Are we self-willed or consumed with God's will?
  • Do we throw little temper-tantrums when we don't get our way?
  • Do we have an appetite for meat or are we satisfied with the milk of the Word?
  • Are we indifferent or even obstinate toward spiritual growth?

On the contrary, are we mature and devoted to the weightier matters of the faith? Oh how I long for more people to say:

  • "Let me show you what God has been teaching me from His Word."
  • "Please pray that God gives me victory over such-and-such a sin"
  • "What can we do to get more people to value the prayer meeting?"
  • "We have made a greater financial commitment to the Lord's work."
  • "What a joy it was to visit that sick brother in the hospital."
  • "Our family went out last night to distribute tracts."
  • "I need to get more involved in ministry."
  • "I had a blessed time fellowshipping with other believers."
  • "Let me share with you the lessons God has been teaching me in this trial."
  • "Here are some ways I have applied last Sunday's sermon."

This is how a mature church speaks and acts!

Do we want to glorify God? Do we want to feast on the meat of the Word? Do we want to increase our joy? Do we want to be known as Christians? Then we must grow in our spiritual faith! We must seek self-reform before we start reforming others. We must stop acting and thinking like the world. We must die to self, crucify the flesh and begin allowing the Spirit of God to transform our lives so we may, as God expects, spiritually mature in our faith.

Comparison of Childhood Faith and Mature Adult Faith

Childhood Faith

Mature Adult Faith

Good Christians don't have pain or disappointment. God uses my pain and disappointment to make me a better Christian.
God helps those who help themselves. God helps those who admit their own helplessness and need for Him.
The Scriptures are a great reference tool that I read when time permits. The Scriptures are my life, my spiritual source of nourishment and the craving of my soul.
Joy is found in circumstances such as health, wealth and popularity. Joy is found in knowing God through prayer, ministry, fellowship and the Word.
God wants to make me happy by giving me whatever I want through prayer. God wants to make me happy by creating me into the image of Jesus.
Trials and pain are a hindrance to my growth. Trials and pain are used by God to produce growth.
God is my Savior, whereby I will go to heaven when I die. God is my Lord and Savior, whereby I have surrendered and yielded myself fully to His will for the remainder of my time here on earth.

Faith will always help me explain what God is doing.

Faith helps me trust God even when I have no idea what God is doing.

God created me for His fellowship and someone for Him to serve. God created me to be a mirror of His holy image for the purpose of His glory.
The closer I get to God, the more I become aware of my own sinlessness. The closer I get to God, the more I become aware of my own sinfulness.
Mature Christians have all the answers for difficult questions and circumstances. Mature Christians realize they are finite and trust an infinite God through faith who has all the answers during difficult times.
Good Christians are always strong because of their self-sufficiency and self-dependence. My strength is admitting my weakness and knowing through my weaknesses, the power of God rests mightier upon me.
I go to church because my friends are there, it makes me feel good and I hope to benefit personally. I go to church because I belong to the body of Christ and realize that God is the audience. I desire to serve others and hunger for transformation from the Word.

More in 1 Corinthians

April 22, 2007

Edification or Self-Exaltation

April 15, 2007

Everything Minus Love Equals Nothing

March 18, 2007

You Need Us