joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11} For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12} Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13} Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

14} I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; 15} Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name." (1 Corinthians 1:10-15 KJV).

From the beginning, Paul's letter to those in Corinth was to direct them to move to unity. He quickly addresses the problems, issues, conflicts, and questions that spread throughout the Church in Corinth.

Paul urged the believers to agree with one another and avoid splitting into factions that separate groups into their own division camps. Carnality in churches are like earthquake tremors that Satan uses to split the church apart.

Again, this is why Paul Iterated that you follow him as he follows who? Every member of "Try Jesus Ministry" should know who that is. Church leaders should walk in the words of John the Baptist. "I must decrease, that he would increase."

As people in church with discernment can see (like Chloe), that divisions do not imitate the intact body of Christ. Is Jesus ever divided against himself? Paul or no other preacher in 2026 was crucified for you.

Paul was thankful that he didn't go around baptizing folks. Imagine baptizing someone in the name of Franklin Graham, Jack Graham, Charles Stanley, etc. Sounds rather silly, doesn't it?

But again, there are people who place human imperfect individuals (Romans 3:23-26) above the divine order of God. They will bow down and kiss the hands of human frailty. Every knee will bow to Jesus Christ.

Finally, if we look beyond our scripture text at verses 17 and 18, we see that Paul was diminishing baptism, he was speaking of his gift calling to preach the gospel.

Paul stated that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are unknowingly soon to perish in their sins if they do not repent. This just happens to be the flip side of how the wisdom of the world is foolish in God's eyes.


🗣📢 Last words: Problems always arise in any church when people follow man and not God. When back biting and cliques take over, the church suffers. Jesus is always the keynote speaker wherever the Holy Spirit dwells in the midst of his people, Amen?

Let's look at today's recap of our main text.

🚫 The Symptom of Carnality-
 

Paul wastes no time in exposing the petty divisions and fractures in the Corinthian church. The believers are fracturing into celebrity cults shouting about who they are following.

I witnessed a church almost succumb to this. One group shouted, "If we cannot do what we want under this man we are leaving!" It was as though Satan sent an earthquake tremor right through the middle of the church.

The people in Corinth were sing spiritual leaders as badges of worldly pride to gain leverage over one another. Beloved, if I walk in your church and this was going on, I will repeat what Paul said, "Is Christ divided?"

Wherever you are attending church, please hear me this morning. Did you know that God's name power and authority is over all religions, denominationalism, bylaws, traditions, and ways of man?

"Ways of man." Meaning man's view on how he decides to reach God's throne on his own religiosity. Let's just say on his own counterfeit ways. Jesus' name power and authority is over every name that's on every door, website, TV, and radio program.

I've met some church leaders who place their denominational name over the name of Jesus. And the Bible tells us there is no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved. So, we need to keep Jesus right where he is.

That we have one God, who is Father of all, above all, through all, and in you all. That we have a Godhead that will never be divided. Many of you might say, God is my co-pilot. Well, if God is your co-pilot, what's the name of the pilot?

That means you have chosen a name above his name, which leaves you divided from the only name (the main pilot over the flight of your spiritual destination. My point is, people do this at church by saying, "I’m of this person."

Here's the beautiful appearance about the body of Christ. That Jesus is the head of it. He's our beautiful Savior. He runs the service from beginning to end. The gospel is our identity in Christ.

Why? Because we are not anchored to a human personality, a specific denomination, a church brand, or a human leader. You were baptized into Christ alone. Carnality shows up when we value our theological camp over God.

It becomes evident in our preferred political ideology, or our personal cliques more than the unified body of Christ. When we create division over secondary matters, we are operating in the flesh.

We cannot simply fix our outward divisions without looking at our inward development. The reason we fight like the world is that we haven’t outgrown the appetite of the world.

It is embarrassing when unbelievers and the world seeing us behave this way. It proves that relational division is not just a personality clash; it is explicitly a work of the flesh.

A divided carnal church creates an environment of spiritual chaos (disorder) that opposes God's design.
(Galatians 5:19-21; James 3:14-16; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Proverbs 6:16-19).

God takes the relational fractures within the covenant community seriously.

 

🚫🚫 The Source of Carnality-

The spiritual stagnation had already set in. When Paul confronted them in (1 Corinthians 3:2), he knew to only feed them milk because they were not ready for solid food.

How can churches graduate to go fight the devil outside if you're always fighting and divided inside. Have you seen our divided country lately? The devil uses racism (individuals pulling the card out to silence others) and woke #2.

He's using the political landscape to enslave the simple minded who are gullible to whatever is fed to them. Our criminal justice system is insane. You expect carnality in the world outside of the church, not inside it.

Paul had the proof of carnality from others reporting it and seeing their behavior, jealousy, strife, and walking like human men. But with God all things are possible in his presence. Growth is fully available to the church in 2026.

Remember beloved, human leaders are just servants. One will plant, one waters, but God receives the glory for establishing growth. We are God's field in this crazy political environment. The devil is trying to destroy the nuclear family.

The church (his born-again saints) are also God's building. The power to mature is already working inside you if you stop resisting it. A baby drinking milk is beautiful, and adult who refuses to eat solid food is a tragedy.

Carnal Christianity is a state of arrested development where you want the benefits of the cross but refuse the maturity of discipleship. (Like a bucking horse, you refuse to learn). You should want to move past spiritual infancy.

Stop intoxicating yourselves with what this culture calls "brilliant" and return to what God calls truth. Staying a spiritual infant is a choice of negligence rather than a lack of resources. In the book of Romans, Paul explains about the mind.

Paul says why the carnal mind cannot grow. It is functionally locked in opposition to God because it relies on the fleshly nature instead of the Spirit. Many false religions do not even acknowledge there is a Holy Spirit.

When you look at strong Spirit led churches (though not perfect), they do not allow the instability of childishness to linger long in their midst. That's because mature Christians attempt to stay anchored in Christ.

(Hebrews 5:12-14; Romans 8:6-7; Ephesians 4:14-15).

 

🚫🚫🚫 The Solution to Carnality-

We've heard the words "Common sense" used a lot in today's society. Have we lost moral sense of right and wrong? What happened to separate spaces of decency for men and women's bathrooms?

Paul speaks about the dangers of worldly wisdom and its empty intellect. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." It cannot grow inside the church. The light of the world and the darkness of man's wisdom cannot co-exist.

The carnal mind loves to boast in human ideas, human wealth, and human status. We should never boast in man's fleshly mental creativity over God's Holy approach to building his church. Why would you boast in a tiny piece of the wo

God has come to give us the whole Kingdom. Which is better, the world or a kingdom? Think about it thoughtfully and carefully. Paul delivered those in Corinth a powerful reality check.

You don't need to fight for your worth, your platform, or your validation using carnal methods. You belong to the creator of the universe. When you realize how much you already possess in Jesus, the cheap prizes of the flesh lose all their appeal.

Paul's strong testimony of how Jesus changed his life, let him realize that throwing away worldly status, intellect, and pedigree was worth it to gaining Jesus Christ. Beloved, can you see how empty the world is compared to Jesus?

Paul knew this was foretold in the Old Testament concerning human security, from earthly assets to divine relationship. What does it profit you to own the world? Paul gives a practical application for dismantling worldly wisdom.

It can only be accomplished through intentional, daily mind-renewal by "The Person of the Holy Spirit”. (Philippians 3:7-9; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Romans 12:1-2).

So, how much influence do your desires have on your life? Your goal should be to let God’s desires be yours. Being controlled by your own desires will stunt your growth. No matter how wise a human being may appear, God is far wise

Nothing that a wise human being can do is beyond God’s understanding. Beloved, It's time to lay down your half-surrendered carnal life and submit to the leading of the Spirit. Jesus didn't die halfway for you, don't live halfway for him.

"Stop living like a spiritual beggar fighting over crumbs in the dirt, when God has already handed you the keys to the entire Kingdom!"


🛐 Here’s a prayer you can pray to go from beginning work to completed work in maturity. "Heavenly Father, thank you, for giving us the spiritual blueprint for growth and success. From personal to corporately working together in peace.

Lord, today's message I pray would humble our hearts (starting with me), that your word would cut straight to our hearts, and be deeply encouraged by your grace. Forgive us for the times we have anchored our lives in infant tirades.

Forgive us for being chained to jealousy, petty divisions, gossip, and the pride that makes us look like we belong to this world rather than to your Kingdom. Lord Jesus, we don't want to live a half-surrendered life anymore.

We don't want to survive on spiritual milk when you have called us to deep, mature faith. I pray for every person, members, first time attendees, and those searching after leaving carnal filled churches they used to attend.

Lord, break the power of the flesh over our minds. Deliver us from the trap of worldly wisdom and human approval. Remind us of who we are, that we belong to you, and you belong to God. Give us the courage we need to grow.

Help us to stay out of the devilish quicksand and mud of division and sail into the deep waters of your purpose. May our lives reflect your holiness and unity. In Jesus' mighty and transformative name, we pray, Amen."


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