Ye Are Christ's

A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:21-23

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 ESV KJV

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (ESV)

Sermon Description

Listen as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones discusses the greatest tragedy of all – the rejection of the Gospel. Apart from this, the world would not know tragedy. The trouble with man is that he is by nature a fool. We must not glory in man; we must not rely upon him with all our trust. In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, learn about the cult of personality and the fundamental lack of fitness man has to hold the allegiance of other men. Man’s powers are altogether given to him; he is a created being. Men are selfish and always changing. To glory in man is to be enslaved, furthermore to glory in self is to be enslaved. “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” Do not be deceived, life is a master to you, you are not a captain of your soul. Discover the wisdom of glorying in Christ! The Gospel is a call to glory in Christ alone. Christ voluntarily takes a place of subordination and humiliation to work out God’s great plan of redemption. Christ wasn't mastered by life, He conquered death. See the world in a different way — see it as a work of God’s hands.

Sermon Breakdown

The apostle Paul is addressing the problem of divisions in the Corinthian church. Some members were saying “I am of Paul”, others “I am of Apollos”, and others “I am of Cephas”.
Paul says this is foolish and carnal. They have gone back to worldly ways of thinking.
The ultimate problem with mankind is that we are fools. We deceive ourselves through pride in our own wisdom and understanding.
Man’s folly is shown through glorying in men. We make men into gods and become their slaves.
No man is fit to have such allegiance. All men are mere creatures, with limited, changing powers. Men are sinful and selfish.
Glorying in men leads to slavery to everything - the world, life, death, the present, the future. We become terrified and unable to enjoy life.
We should glory only in God and Christ. Christ is the eternal Son of God, perfect and sinless. He has done what no man could do - conquered sin, death and the devil. He reigns over all and is coming again.
Believing in Christ, we belong to him and receive his nature. All things are ours through him. Instead of being slaves, everything becomes our servant.
The world, life, death, things present and things to come become our servants and ministers. They work for our good and God’s glory.
We must not glory in men but in Christ, who transforms slaves into masters. Only in him can we be truly free.

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Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.