Shalom, my dear brothers and sisters. We are studying together the first epistle to the Corinthians. The apostle Shaul Paul is writing this amazing, important letter to a local assembly of believers, which were living lives in such a way that did not characterize the position which they have been brought into. The Corinthians were a people, a group of people in the city of Corinth, which according to the scripture, they are and were saints. Paul said of them, Paul said of them in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 2, and to the church, the assembly, the ecclesia, the kehillah, the called out ones of God, the assembly of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in the Mashiach Yeshua, in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of God.

They call upon the name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, our Lord, both theirs and ours. So they were saints. They were sanctified. They were mekudashim, set apart to God. They were born. They were born of the Holy Spirit of God. But throughout the whole epistle, letter that Shaul Paul wrote to them, he showed them all that was wrong in the way in which they lived their lives as born of the Spirit of God. Yet they lived their life, which was not pleasing to the Lord. And here we have arrived to the third chapter, beloved brothers and sisters. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I would like you to follow me as I'm reading verses 1 to 9.

And so, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal. For where is there is among you envying and strife and divisions? Are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers, by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.

I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth, and he that watereth, are one. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, here we are in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And I would like to share with you that in this third chapter, we are still dealing with the portion of scripture, which the apostle, Shaul Paul, was addressing the Corinthian believers who had the issue, the problem with divisions among themselves.

Though they were people of God, they were redeemed, washed by the blood of the Lamb. Though they were born of the Holy Spirit of God. But the reality was that they did not live in the light of that which they were called to live. In other words, they did not live out practically what they were positionally. We always have to remember that when a person have accepted the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah, he or she become born of the Spirit of God, saved, forgiven, eternally belong to the Lord. They will never perish because they were saved on the basis of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

And therefore, they belong to the family of God. They belong to the body of Christ. They belong to the house of God. They belong to the bride of Christ. But beloved brothers and sisters, because we are still here on earth, we haven't arrived yet to heaven. We are still here. Every one of us is still here in this world. And when we are here in this world, we still have to deal with this old sin nature that we all have. Now, it is very important to understand that the believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah have two natures. The two natures are simply these, the old nature and the new nature.

The old nature is the sin nature with which we were born. We have inherited this from our mothers, from our fathers, from our family. And it is called this old nature. According to Romans chapter 7 and verse 14, we learn, it says, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. The scripture says in Psalm 14, that there is not one just man upon the face of the earth that doeth good and sineth not. And that all have seen not even one wish the will of God. And this is the nature that we receive when we were born to our parents who inherited the Adamic nature.

And so this nature we were born with, God reckoned it as dead when Christ, when the Mashiach died. And every believer that have accepted the Lord Jesus the Messiah received this new nature, born of the Spirit of God. The new nature can never sin, is incapable of sinning because it is divine nature. 1 John 3 and verse 9 tells us, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. So, whenever we sin in pride, in lust, in covetousness, in all the sins that we see in the life of God's people, and specifically in the Corinthians life as we study the book of 1 Corinthians, these never come from the new nature because the new nature is incapable to sin.

It always comes from the old nature that is still with us. Even though some say that the moment we have accepted the Lord Jesus, we are no longer having this old nature. Well, the proof is in the way that things are going on in the battle in the life of the believers. We still have the flesh according to John 3 and verse 6. We still have this outward man according to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16. We still have that old man according to Colossians 3 and verse 9. We have this still that natural man according to 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14. We have still this old human nature according to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3.

But at the same time, we have the new nature which is incapable to sin, 1 John 3, 9, which is called in John 3, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. This is John 3, 6. It is called in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16, the inward man. And in Colossians 3 and verse 10, this new nature called the new man. In 2 Corinthians 2, 15, it is called the spiritual man. And in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 4, this new nature called the divine nature. And so if we understand this, it will help us to realize the fact that we still have this old sinful nature. No wonder the apostle Shaul Paul said to the Galatians in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16.

If you remember what the apostle Shaul Paul charged them with, he said to them, he said to them for in verse 16, This is walking in the last of this old nature, the flesh, the outward man, the old man, the natural man, the human nature. That is where the believer is called to walk. To walk in the Spirit, to walk in light of the new man, to walk in light of the inward man, to walk in light of the spiritual man, the divine nature. To walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, here we are now in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

And here, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn what the apostle Shaul Paul is charging the Corinthians. And Paul presents the Corinthians here in the third chapter with pictures of what the local church should be. The local church is, or even universal church. We belong to the family of God. The moment we have accepted the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17, we read, Therefore, if any man is in Mashiach, in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. So, the moment we have accepted Yeshua, the Messiah, we receive a new nature. We became new creation. That does not mean that the old nature have left us.

We know it didn't leave us because we know our hearts. We know what's existing in our own life. We know the struggle that we go day by day. Nobody needs to tell us that we still have the old nature. With this nature, we lust and we covet and we hate and we envy and we fight and on and on and on. We are struggling with it. But we also receive a new nature. So, we are called to understand that we have now entered into this new family. The moment we have accepted the Lord, not only did we become part of a family, but the assembly, the church became like a field where the Spirit of God, God is working in the field of our hearts as believers.

Because now we belong to him and he wants us to live for him in this world until he will take us to be with him in heaven. And of course, ultimately, the church is a temple, the house of God, where God is dwelling in the midst of his own people. That is what the assembly is. That is what redeemed people are. They belong to the family of God, where God works in the hearts of the believers. It's like a field where the seed is being sown to help us to grow and to mature. And also, it is a place where the house of God, where we would worship the Lord and serve one another.

And here, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul is exposing the fact that the Corinthians fail to understand this and to practice this in their life. Sometimes we also have to check ourselves and to ask ourselves, where do I fit? Where do you fit into this situation? And we must confess that we oftentimes fail to live up to where the Lord has called us to be. Again, remember, we belong to him once and for all, never to be separated from our Lord Jesus the Messiah. This is positionally. But practically, we must be aware of the fact that we need to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

So now we have read the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And I want to point in these nine verses to two important things. First of all, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 to 4. We have to realize that the goal of the people of God who are part of the family of God is to have spiritual maturity. Are you growing spiritually? Are you maturing? Are you a blessing wherever you are, whether it is in your local assembly or whether it is in the wherever you are here among the people of God in the world in which the Lord placed us? Are we growing or are we staying babies that constantly complain, constantly are dissatisfied, constantly are fighting like little children?

Well, here is where the Corinthians were. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 to 4. Notice what Paul is saying in verse 1. Paul points to the brethren in Corinth and he is telling them that they are carnal. Carnal comes from the Hebrew word basar. They are walking in the flesh. So Paul is saying to them and I brethren, verse 1, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. Why? But as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. In other words, the Corinthians, though they were saints, their spiritual position, they were born of the Holy Spirit of God, but they were not growing. In other words, they received their salvation, they were born of the Holy Spirit of God, but their lives, day by day lives were completely the opposite of what they should have been.

They should have grown. They should have become more mature spiritually. They should have been humble before the Lord. They should have been a blessing in a family. Imagine if you have a family when you have children and imagine if the children are not growing, constantly fighting, constantly remaining in the same way, nagging and need constantly to bother everyone else and not being a blessing in their family. This is a very disturbing thing. Well, it happened in Corinth. Well, it happened in Corinth. And it happens oftentimes, sadly, among God's people. Very sad. So Paul said, and I brethren, notice he calling them Achim, brethren. They were part of the family of God.

When you are a brother and you are a sister, you belong to the family of God. But Paul said to them, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. Notice that he used the word spiritual here, because in verse 15 of chapter 2, he said, he that is spiritual judges all things. In other words, a spiritual person, a believer, should judge or evaluate things in a proper way. Well, Paul is saying to the Corinthians, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual. In other words, even though they were born again, but they were not spiritual minded. They were very fleshly. Notice that's why he says, but is unto carnal.

Carnal here applied to a believer who is positionally spiritual, meaning that he is born again, but practically he is not spiritual. He is very fleshly. He is walking in the flesh. He is walking according to his old nature. He is, as we read, he is walking according to the outward man, the old man, the natural man, this human nature. That's how he walk or she walk. And that's what happened to the Corinthians. And that's what happened to the Corinthians. Paul is saying to them, brethren, Achim, I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual believers, but as unto carnal. Why? Because I speak as to babes in Christ.

Babes in the Messiah. In other words, they did not grow spiritually, but they remain to be as babes in Christ. And that is rather said, beloved brothers and sisters. Babes in Christ means that they have not grown. They have not matured. They have not matured. The Apostle Paul, to the Ephesians, in Ephesians 4, verse 14, he says, what is the reasons why God has given us gifts? He said, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of man and cunning craftiness, whereby they lay in way to deceive. See, there are various ways in which we are remaining babes and little children is in the area of doctrine.

Instead of maturing and growing and developing and understanding the truth of the word of God, we remain as babes by not growing to understand the teaching of the word of God. In the context of verse 14, it's not so much the teaching now here, even though there were other issues there. But it is the behavior, acting in the flesh. That's why he used the word carnal here in verse 1. That word for carnal really has to do with the flesh. Paul said, it's very interesting, in Romans chapter 7, in verse 14, he said of himself, he said, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal or fleshy, and I am sold under sin.

This is the old nature. And therefore, when a believer walks after the desires of the flesh, and not after the desires of God in the power of the Spirit of God, then there is fighting among the people of God. Now, it is very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that the apostle Paul writes here to the Corinthians, which were mostly Gentile believers. And the apostle, whoever wrote the book of Hebrews, wrote very similar thought and challenge to the Hebrew believers, to the Jewish believers. You can see that it is the problems of the Jewish and the Gentile believers, because we both have the old nature. In Hebrews chapter 5, the apostle wrote to the Hebrew believers there, he said to them, in verse 12, For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have a need that one teach you again, which is the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.

For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the words of righteousness, for he is a babe or a baby. For strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. So the Hebrew believers were charged by the apostles who wrote to those early Jewish believers and told them, You know, I cannot give you milk. Everyone that uses milk is unskillful in word and of righteousness, for he is a baby. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, mature believers, who are walking with the Lord. Well, the Corinthians had the same problem.

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babies in Mashiach. Babes in Christ. This is verse 1. They continue. And then in verse 2, Paul could not give the Corinthian meat. As we read in Hebrews 5 to the Hebrew believers, here to the gentle believers, Paul said, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For either too you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. Now, beloved brothers and sisters, imagine. Paul came. He founded the local assembly at Corinth. After sharing the gospel, many have accepted the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, as their Lord and Savior.

They became part of the assembly. And they were supposed to grow. To grow spiritually. But sadly, what was going on in that local church, local assembly at Corinth, there was divisions. Specifically, the first four chapters, Paul is dealing with the divisions. There was also immorality and other issues, which we will read about later on. But here is the issue of divisions. They were acting carnally, acting in the flesh. And that is the problem, beloved brothers and sisters, that existed among the believers at Corinth. That's why in verse 2, Paul is now saying to them, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For either too you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

They were no growth. They were just like babies who need to be fed with milk. And if you remember, it was Peter who says in 1 Peter chapter 2, when he wrote to the early believers in 1 Peter chapter 2, we read, Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speaking. 1 Peter 2 verse 1 and then verse 2. So there was a need to grow spiritually. So you drink milk as a normal baby in our family. We need milk to begin. But as time passes by, he starts to receive a bit more solid food and ultimately meat as he becomes a child, mature and so on.

But you see, when you are a baby, when you are not growing, spiritual food you cannot digest. Because if one is in the flesh and not in the spirit, walking in a way that is lustful and prideful and arrogant and not having the mind of Christ, the mind of the Messiah. They are carnal. They are carnal. That's why you see the word carnal mentioned about four times in these first four verses of 1 Corinthians 3. And the word carnal, beloved brothers and sisters, simply mean fleshly. It simply means that which is of the old sinful nature. And that is that nature that had to be done away with, that was done away positionally when we have accepted the Lord, but need to be reckoned as dead as we walk here with the Lord here in this world.

And that's the challenge that the apostle Paul is challenging the Corinthians. God's word become our food and become like bread, like meat, like honey. In Matthew 4 and verse 4, we read, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. This is a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy, which Yeshua the Messiah quoted when he was in the wilderness and Satan attacked him. The word of God is like milk as we just read it in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 2. The word of God is like meat as we read it in Hebrews 5 verses 11 and onward. And the word of God is like honey for the believer.

That is the sweetness of the honey that should be in our hearts as we are reading the word, meditating on the word and living for the Lord here in this world. The psalmist of our people Israel said in Psalm 119 and verse 103. How sweet! That's what David said. How sweet are thy words unto my taste. Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. This was, that was the king of Israel, David said. And the word of God is always to God's people up to be as honey. So, we learn from here, beloved brothers and sisters, that Paul could not give to the Corinthian meat to enjoy and to grow because they were still behaving as babies, as little babies that haven't grown spiritually because they were constantly fighting among one another and there was a division in the local assembly at Corinth.

Now, remember this, beloved brothers and sisters. When there is division among God's people, whether it is in the history of our people of Israel, when there was a divided state, they could not move forward. They could not grow. Israel as a nation, when they were divided, God was not pleased with that. And ultimately, God judged discipline his people. Well, in the church is nothing different. It is very much similar when there is division, whether it is universal or local. That does not allow God's people to mature and to grow together. So, now notice what Paul does in verses 3 and 4. Paul points to the strife and to the divisions.

Let me read you verses 3 and 4. Notice how many times the apostle Shaul Paul used the word carnal. The Hebrew word is simply basar, meat, flesh. But what Paul means here is not the meat or the flesh, which is the skin that is on the bones of our human bodies. What he means the flesh has to do with this old nature, of which scripture is very clear. It is called old nature in Romans 7:14. It is called the flesh in John 3:6. It is called the outward man in 2 Corinthians 4:16. It is called the old man in Colossians 3:9. It is called the natural man in 1 Corinthians 2:14. And it is called the human nature in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3.

And therefore, Paul is showing to them in these next verses 3 and 4. And he is saying to them, am I reading this again? For ye are yet carnal. For where is there is among you envying and strife and divisions? Are ye not carnal and walk as men? For while one says, I am of Paul, and another I am of Apollos, are ye not fleshy? Are ye not carnal? It is interesting in the Greek, the word for carnal is the word that says sarkikos, s-a-r-k-i-k-o-s. Simply is the natural old nature, the natural flesh, the sin nature. So Paul is mentioning this to the Corinthians. Now notice, according to these verses 3 and 4, there was envying, there was strife, there was division.

Envying, when one is envy over the other, there was strife, there was one striving against the other, and there was division. Division. It was not the enjoyment to have this practical unity. To remind you, brothers and sisters, that that is the goal and the aim of all believers, is to seek to have unity. Notice what Paul said to the beloved brothers and sisters at Ephesus. He says to them: I therefore, the prisoner of our Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. We are called to walk worthy, with all lowliness, and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in bond of peace.

This is Ephesians 4 verses 1, 2, and 3. Well, it takes a commitment, endeavoring, it takes humility. But what we read here in verse 3 of 1 Corinthians 3, there is envy, there is strife, and there were divisions. God's people were divided and dead, did not please God. That is the reason why the apostle Shaul Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthians. You remember what Yaakov James said in James chapter 3, verses 14, 15, and 16. He says: But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, don't glory, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendants not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

That is what Yaakov James wrote to the believers to whom he wrote. You cannot say that you are pleasing the Lord when there is bitter envying and strife. You cannot glory in this. You are lying. You cannot continue on like that. It is not the wisdom that comes from heaven, but it is coming from here on earth, and it is really coming from Satan, from the devil. For where there is envying, where there is strife, there is confusion and every evil work. May the Lord help us, beloved brothers and sisters, to see it. So the assembly, the church, the ecclesia, the kehila, is the family of God, where the family of God are to enjoy one another and be builders.

And so notice what he says in verse 4. Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:4, "For while one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?" And this is said, beloved brothers and sisters. Oftentimes we are following leaders and not following the Lord. And it is not easy to follow the Lord and not to follow leaders because we need to follow leaders. We are called to follow leaders. But if that brings divisions, then we are to recognize that we need to stop, to say, oh, I belong to this group and I belong to that group and I belong to this man and I am following this man.

And that's why Paul said to them, "Are ye not carnal? Are ye not in the flesh?" And surely they were in the flesh, beloved brothers and sisters. No wonder. The whole epistle to the Corinthians, this first epistle, is a corrective ministry of Shaul Paul to the believers at Corinth who had plenty of things that were wrong in their lives which were brought into this local assembly there in the city of Corinth. But let's move along, beloved brothers and sisters. In verses 5 to 9, we see that the Apostle Paul is emphasizing the fact that in among God's people, the assembly, the church, the ecclesia, God is working, not only that he is working among us as family in order to cause us to mature and to grow, but also when God is working in our life, he wants to use us.

The goal is to grow, to have more believers and develop and grow and to enlarge the local assembly and to bring people more in. There will be, should be an increase. So he used the word increase a few times here in the next verses, verses 5 to 9. So in verse 5, the Apostle is telling to the Corinthians not to look at the servants such as him, as Paul or Apollos, not to look at them as ones that are the source of their blessings, but to look at them simply as servants through whom God worked to lead them to himself and to help them to grow spiritually. And so we learn in verse 5, Paul is saying, who is Paul then?

And who is Apollos? But notice, ministers by whom ye believe even as the Lord gave to every man. In other words, he says, who is Paul and Apollos? Who are they? They are simply ministers or servants. In Hebrew, meshartim. Meshartim, they are servants through whom, notice, you came to know the Savior. So, Paul did not want the Corinthians to be divided and say, oh, I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos and I'm of Cephas and elsewhere. If you remember earlier, there was the same kind of thought that Apostle Paul presented before the brother and the coin where he challenged them. He said to them, if you remember, in chapter 1, verse 12, But this I say that every one of you says, I am of Paul and I am of Apollos and I am of Cephas.

This is Shimon Petos and even I am of Christ. Some were priding themselves saying, I am of Christ. I mean, we all should be of the Messiah of Christ. But to say it in pride in order to add to the divided condition is wrong. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, Paul is exposing the condition that existed in Corinth. And he is emphasizing the fact that God's servants, notice that in verse 5 again, they, Paul, Apollos or Cephas or anyone else, but the ministers of whom he came to believe in the Lord Jesus and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. This is so wonderful. Thank God for the many, many servants of the Lord whom he had raised.

And we are very thankful for them. We need to pray for God's servants. We need to appreciate God's servants. We need to be helpful to God's servants. We need to support God's servants. But we should not use God's servants to cause to bring about divisions. The opposite is right. God's servants, God's ministers were called by God to minister the word and to serve God's people in order that they will grow and mature and be spiritual men and women that will be a blessing to the family of God and ultimately have an increase, growth, lead others to the Messiah. So, in verse 6, 7 and 8, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn that God provided for us various aspects in order to have growth among the people of God in the local assembly and in the universal assembly.

So, in verse 6, Paul says, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Notice the word increase? The word increase, in verse 6, it comes from the Hebrew word lehatzmiach, to increase, to bring growth. In other words, Paul planted, Apollos watered, but really the growth come from God. Why? Because Paul ministered in accordance with the will of God. Apollos ministered in accordance with the will of God. That's why God could bless and there was an increase. And the Corinthians came to believe in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And so, what a lesson. In verse 6, I have planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase. This is fascinating to see this, beloved brothers and sisters.

How wonderful is when there is a working together among the people of God, there is an increase. There is an increase. There is an increase. Notice verse 7. There is a diversity of ministries, which Paul is the one that says of himself that he planted. He does one thing, and Apollos does another thing. He watered. So, there is a diversity in the service, in the ministry of each person. But also, we learn here that the purpose is to be united and to build. That's why in verse 7, Paul says, "So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." In other words, God delight, O beloved brothers and sisters, God delight to see that everyone uses his or her gift under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God for the benefit of mankind, the benefit of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah.

And that using the gift in a proper way with humility, ultimately, God can now use the service of God's people to bring an increase. That's why that word here, "Lehatzmiach," the increase here in verse 7 and 6 and 7 is so beautiful to see, beloved brothers and sisters. Notice that verse 6 again at the end, the word again for increase is the word is Auxano, A-U-X-A-N-O in the Greek. And it simply causes us to grow, bringing about growth and an increase that God does as the people of God serve Him in a way that is pleasing to Him. But the aim is that everyone will ultimately do so in order to bring about unity among the people of God.

Notice now it is also important to be faithful in that service. And that's why verse 8 says, "So then, after verse 7, that God give the increase, now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." So, Paul is saying that servants, this is Paul, this is Paul, this is Paul, they are one. They are one in Christ, they are one in purpose, they are one in desire, and also every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. In other words, they are called to be faithful in their service for the Lord, and because they are faithful in their service for the Lord, they will receive an increase.

They will be rewarded, because God is not going to be short-cutting them, because God is faithful to bless His servants, His people who are faithfully serving Him, because they wish to be a blessing to God's people. So, God will ultimately will reward His own people. That is so important, beloved brothers and sisters, that's what we see in verses 6, 7, and 8. So, let me just emphasize, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 6, 7, and 8, there are three important lessons. Verse 6, there is diversity of ministry that God had given to each believer. Each one of us receive a diversity of service, of ministry. Not to all of us He gave the same gift, not to all of us He gave the same ministry.

Yet, we are all called to understand that God has called us to live for Him here and to serve Him, and He gave us different gifts and different ministries. Secondly, from verse 7, we learn that the purpose is to bring harmony and unity. That's why in verse 7, so then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God giveth the increase. In other words, the one that serve God, the purpose is to bring increase among God's people, that God will honor it, and He will ultimately bless it, and there will be growth among God's people. And thirdly, in verse 8, the fact that there will be a reward by God for faithful service.

And notice I'm reading verse 8, "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." And so, beloved brothers and sisters, God, He is faithful to reward His people in due time. And therefore, we are called to serve Him faithfully. A little bit later on, in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, we do read in verse 17, "For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward." "But if again, against my will," he says, "a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me." In other words, Paul is seeking to do the will of God in his life, and he's calling the Corinthians to do the same, and to be faithful in ministering to one another.

And so now, just to conclude with this portion of verses 1 to 9, that Paul is dealing with the picture that the assembly, the church, is as a family that needs to be maturing, and as a field that God works in the hearts of God's people in order to have an increase. Notice how he concludes here with verse 9 of our chapter. In verse 9, we do read that we need to work together because God wants to see a growth. And so we read that we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. This is so important, beloved brothers and sisters. We are to labor, notice that word here, together.

Why it is important to labor together, because when we work together, we can achieve, with the help of the Lord, much. And the call is to labor together. It's so beautiful to labor together. When there is unity. When there is unity. Think of the verse in Psalm 133. Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. In Hebrew, together. This is important, beloved brothers and sisters. And that's what we read here. The desire of the apostle Paul that the Corinthians will work together. Because if they will work together, there will be fruit for God, beloved brothers and sisters. Notice what we can read in so many passages in scripture.

The thought of laboring together, beloved brothers and sisters. The purpose is that there will be growth. I think of the verse that we find out in John chapter 4, where the Lord Jesus, where Yeshua the Messiah said in verse 34. Jesus says unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest. Behold I said unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields. For they are white, ready to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life, eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

And therein is that saying true. One soweth, another reapeth. I send you to reap, that whereon ye bestow no labor, other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors. So the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, wanted the disciples to go and labor, to do the will of God, that there will be growth, but to do it in harmony, in unity among one another. So we have to see that in verse 9, we are labors together, but not only together with one another, but it is with God. We are together laboring, but it is with God. The purpose is that there will be growth among the people of God.

Notice that ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building, and therefore we will speak about it later on in our next message. But we are called to labor together, and to labor in order that there will be growth among God's people. Let me just, before we close this message, beloved brothers and sisters, I just want to read a couple more verses for us in Galatians chapter 5. And there we read in verse 22 and 23: By the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. We need with the Lord's help as we are laborers together with God.

We are called to show evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God in our life. Ruach HaKodesh The Holy Spirit of God desire to work in our lives. God has given us the Holy Spirit of God in order to produce fruit in our life. Not only to give us new births, but also to lead us, to walk in the Spirit, in order that we will bring fruit for God. This is so important to understand. So, the apostle in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3 encouraged the Corinthians in reminding them that they should not have these divisions there. And that they are called to serve God as Paul and Apollo served God.

And that the aim of it is to bring growth, to have an increase that God will give when God's people are serving Him together. We are laborers together, notice, with God. We are working together with God. And God is the one that will bring the increase among God's people. How wonderful it is, beloved brothers and sisters. And we will close with this verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 1. We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also, that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. May the Lord help us, all beloved brothers and sisters, to work, to labor together in the things of God, in the service of God, that there will be fruit for God.

And not to have what we see here in 1 Corinthians 3 among the Corinthians, not to have divisions, envying, strife, not to walk carnally in the flesh, and to be like Paul and Apollos. One of them has planted, the other one has watered, but God is the one that blessed their labor and brought an increase in their life among the people of God. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, may the Lord encourage our hearts as we study together the epistle, the letter that the apostle Paul wrote. The first letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Well, until the next session together, may God bless you, and we'll say to you, Shalom, Shalom.