Psalms 8:1 and 5:1-3. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” And here is why: “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee” (Psalm 5:4).

My Shepherd greeted me very early, wandering about in His green pastures, looking for that place where the Mind of the Spirit engages the spirit of my mind. He met me in 1 Corinthians 3 and the connection occurred in verse 5:

1Corinthians 3:5 ¶ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

The phrase that caught my attention was “Even as the Lord gave to every man.” In the context of this statement, I am not sure I understand what it is that our Lord gave to every man.

Along the still waters, I reflected on this question: what was Paul saying the Lord had given to every man? Was it Paul and Appollos, the ministers by whom the Corinthians believed? It’s possible; Ephesians  4:8-16 tells us that when Christ ascended (Acts 1:5-11), He “led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men” (Ephesians 4:8). On the other side of the parenthetical insertion (verses 9-10), the Spirit identifies the gifts Christ gave to men (Ephesians 4:11—Apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers) to bring the saints to maturity in their faith (Ephesians 4:12-16). Paul and Apollos were, in fact, “gifts to men.” Arguably, Christ intended the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers to be gifts to “every man.”

However, the phrase, “even as the Lord gave to every man,” seems more closely connected to the faith of the Corinthians than to the men by whom they believed. (Believing is an action of faith.) After all, the Spirit is pointing out the error of focusing on the men by whom we believed (1 Corinthians 3:1-5), summarized as follows: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed” (1 Corinthians 3:5). It’s the faith God has dealt to every man that is in view (Romans 12:3). We find the same essential idea expressed in 1 Corinthians 3 is in Romans 12:3: that none should think of himself more highly than appropriate, but soberly, “according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Both passages address the problem of carnal thinking.* Carnal thinking leads to carnal behavior (1 Corinthians 3:1-5). The Corinthians were arguing over who is greatest (1 Corinthians 3:3-4), the Romans tended to think too highly of themselves (Romans 12:3).

Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their “carnal” thinking. He said, “For ye are carnal” (1 Corinthians 3:3a). To be carnally minded is minding (thinking about) the things pertaining to this world, this life, or the flesh (Romans 8:5; Ephesians 2:2-3; Mark 4:19; John 12:25; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 7:31; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 2:15).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of the cross, I heard the key turning in the lock of the door that opens to the path of sanctification and discipleship (2 Timothy 2:21): “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I denied myself, took up my cross and walked through the Door (“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7).)

At the table, He anointed my head with His anointing oil and filled my cup with His sufficient grace. Goodness and mercy walked up to the table. Mercy’s eyes met mine, and helped me from my chair to my feet. We walked into the harvest together.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live as soon as I can set up the livestream.

https://rumble.com/v6xa0zo-shepherds-pasture.html

[* A popular Bible teacher once took issue with the idea of a “carnal Christian.” His concern was that while Christians may behave carnally as a deviation from their spiritual standing in Christ, no category of Christianity allows for a believer to live carnally as a sustained lifestyle. Of course, we agree. He has made statements to the effect that there is no such thing as a “carnal Christian,” sometimes without stipulating he means someone claiming to be Christian who lives in a carnal lifestyle. Furthermore, he fails to offer any clear biblical criteria for defining how long a duration a believer can live carnally and have a legitimate claim on the label Christian. He has created considerable confusion among believers on this, and on a related doctrine called “Lordship salvation,” where the same thing occurs. He presses the truth that when one receives Christ, he surrenders to Christ as LORD, which is something we emphasize in preaching here at the Lighthouse. However, while we can say with Paul, let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19), we cannot measure sanctification so precisely that we can say whether this or that professor is a possessor. How much sin is allowed, and at what point do we conclude someone professing to be a Christian is not one? The Bible seems to acknowledge that the Corinthian believer living carnally with his father’s wife was nevertheless a saved man (1 Corinthians 5:1-6). The instruction was to turn him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit “may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5). There are two biblical indicators given to identify whether one is a true believer or a pretender. The first is given by the Apostle John: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they ha been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:19). Apostasy, denying the faith and departing from the Truth is a sign that they were never saved in the first place. The second thing that betrays or marks a false professor is when they sin without chastisement (Hebrews 12:5-8): “But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons} (Hebrews 12:8).]