whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. All of them belong to you,whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours,Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
6 sermons cite this verse
… all things are yours. All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come. all are yours and you are Christ and Christ is God's why would you want money? If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. Listen, my dear young friend, Jesus talking to the rich young man. You are rich, you think. You're not. You're not. If you walk away from me, you are going to miss the greatest investment opportunity in the history of the world. And he walked away. So Bethlehem graduates, will you walk away? What will keep you from walking away? A warning. In that same service 55 years ago. There was a professor of mine, not the one speaking, who had a degree, a doctorate, from a prestigious European university. I had taken two of his classes. I had been in his home several times, a very nice home. I liked him. He was a friend. …
… So no more boasting in men, because all things are yours. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, everything already belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. There is a rising feeling that our world is on the brink of something cataclysmic. The Apostle Paul, repeating the warnings of the Lord Jesus before him, confirms that the day is coming. God, who is a consuming fire will judge the world with justice by his son, Jesus God revealed this plan to everyone when he raised Jesus from the dead The world, like an overmature forest will burn It will burn as a matter of consequence It must burn God has decided it not because God hates the world and wants only to see it burn, not because he's jealous of humans, but because he pities us. He has mercy on us. He sent his son Jesus because he loves us. …
… In the end of chapter 3, Paul says in verse 21, all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. You can't separate in it anything because it all belongs to you. All spiritual blessings belong to you. All teachers belong to you. This is by God's design. Everything that the kingdom provides is for all of you. It's not as if you need to attach to one teacher who offers you more of spiritual benefits than another one. If they're equally faithful in their discharge of ministry, then they are dispensing to you the riches of the household of God, and they do that equally. So then how are we to think about pastors and teachers? It's easy for us to compare them. That goes on all the time. How are we to regard pastors and those who are in leadership over us? …
So don't boast in men. All things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come. All things belong to you. In other words, no one has more than another one. And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God." Just an incredibly rich statement. All the kingdom realities belong to all of you, and you all belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. There shouldn't be any division, and especially not over-preferencing certain teachers over the others. But that's what was going on in Corinth to the degree that, as we just read, Paul was unable to give them deeper understanding of the truth because they manifested such fleshly attitudes. All of that leads us to chapter 4, and it begins, let a man regard us in this manner. So you're not supposed to boast in man. You're not supposed to set one teacher over another. But how are you to regard those who lead you, those who feed you, those who teach you? …
… Then I just came back and I said, no, I'm going to leave that there. Death is a delightful friend. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 22 and 23. The apostle Paul is telling us what we have in Christ. And the Corinthians had been arguing and squabbling a little bit about what preacher they like best. And this is what Paul said, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life. Now watch this. or death are things present, are things to come. All are yours. Now of the wonderful things he says belongs to us, he says death belongs to us. It's one of our treasured possessions. It's yours. Death is yours. He thinks of death now not as an enemy, but as a servant to help us. Did you know the Bible says in Psalm 116, verse 15, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints? Did you know that the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1, verse 21, for me to die is gain? …
… And so, he's comparing Paul and Apollos. And so, he says, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things, present things to come, all things belong to you. They were trying to compare the preachers and so forth. Then he says, and look at this next verse, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. When I think about single verses in the Scripture, powerful they are and how full of meaning they are. This rises to the top. Listen to this. And you belong to Christ. And Christ belongs to God. Therefore, if we belong to Christ, we belong to God. And I would ask you, who do you belong to? You either belong to God through Christ, or you belong to the to the devil, one of the two. Some people say, Well, I don't believe in the devil, unwise believe. So, with that in mind, I want us to look at this whole issue of wise and unwise lifestyle and how people are living it. …