“The Glory Belongs To God”

I Corinthians 3:1-6

1) And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

2) 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.

3) For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

4) For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

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

6) I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

Preface

I

t is essential to our “survival” that we get into our spirit that all is already done. There is nothing that needs to be done that God has not already taken care of. Once we resolve this issue, we will be able to walk in victory. The fact of the matter is that we already have what God has said we can have. However, we must be aware of and deal with the fact that the things of God are available only in the Spirit.

Main Thought

We identify most readily with what will “benefit” us in the kingdom. In fact, the majority of what a human being does is carefully “weighed” and an assessment made concerning whether or not what is done will “advance” him. This type of person is almost guaranteed to “come up short,” because all that Jesus did was always to demonstrate selflessness.

In God's kingdom, the “important” Person is, guess Who? God, Himself You see, it is our job (as the recipients of the goodness of the Lord) to “plant seeds”— and therefore, is deserve of no special recognition. The One Who deserves recognition is the One Who can “give the increase”—and only God can do this. Therefore, we can never forget to give honor to the only One capable of blessing us.

Though the subject of “blessing” has become the major part of the doctrine of salvation of many, in truth, the Lord blesses that we might have a testimony to the glory, honor and praise of God. Often, our recognition of this is obscured because we do not always recognize blessings as blessings because they are “disguised” as trials and tests.

There is a reason that scripture speaks to us about “sowing in tears” and “reaping in joy.” You see, after the grain was planted, the people of God could reap with joy even though the planting of the seed was painful. Because it was scarce, or the prospects were not good for its growth, the “letting go” of it by the people, would, indeed, have been difficult. Any “hesitation” on their part simply would have seemed like necessary “caution.” Naturally, the “logic” behind the hesitation makes perfect sense: why jeopardize a “sure thing” (seed in hand) for a “long shot” (the growth of a crop)? However, what is “guaranteed by God” is never a “long shot” and never requires hesitation.

Human “uncertainty” is definitely part of the test. You see, whatever could be seen as “humanly possible” would not need the intervention of God and anything not needing the intervention of God also does not bear the mark of the supernatural. These things, then, are “temporal,” at best and ineffectual, at worst.

We continually lack “victory” because of the way that we view tests. Though their purpose is to “strengthen” us, we view them as belittling and demeaning. If indeed, our view of them is negative, their end result in us will be negative, leading to “bitterness” as opposed to “better-ness.” Each one that we endure needs to bring out of us a little more of the “worst” 'in us, that we might be totally unencumbered in our “quest for God.”

We can little afford to be “naive” and ignore that our greatest tests are endured in the family. If, indeed, we can remain saved in “familial” tests, our relationships with others whom we encounter will be the least of our worries.

Every “battle” in which we find ourselves and every test with which we are presented is to teach us our utter dependence on the Power outside of ourselves. Indeed, when we have forgotten this, we have never failed to lose. All that is necessary for our victory is for us to understand that all battles lie in the Spirit. Once we accept this, we can always be successful, for then, we will automatically depend upon spiritual things.

It is God, alone, Who knows what is in us (as individuals) and therefore, it is only He Who knows what it will take to get “it” out of us! Though even our best friends, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters might misjudge how “bad off” we are, God never will and therefore, will “waste” no effort, no situation or circumstance in helping us to be saved.

One whose life would bring to God the “glory (that) belongs to (Him)” will be one who operates in “sincere salvation,” thanking God for loving him enough to bring to him the tests that he knows he would have avoided as a human being. It is this “privilege” that allows us to “reverse” the direction of the godless life and all that that life represented in the world. In the process of “reversal,” “good habits” are reinforced as we find that in order for our lives to be any different, we will have to exercise total trust in the Lord from the moment that we are saved. And once this is accomplished in us, there should be no question that “the glory belongs to God.”