The following papers were in substance delivered by the author in a seriesof addresses at the Northfield Conference of 1895, but later rewritten andrevised by him for this permanent and authorized publication.
1 Corinthians 3: 1.—And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as untospiritual, but as unto carnal.
The apostle here speaks of two stages of the Christian life, two types ofChristians: "I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as untocarnal, even as unto babes in Christ." They were Christians, in Christ,but instead of being spiritual Christians, they were carnal. "I have fedyou with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it,neither yet are ye able, for ye are yet carnal." Here is that word a secondtime. "For whereas"—this is the proof—"there is among you envying, andstrife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while onesaith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?" Fourtimes the apostle uses that word carnal. In the wisdom which the Holy Ghostgives him, Paul feels:—I can not write to these Corinthian Christiansunless I know their state, and unless I tell them of it. If I givespiritual[pg 8]food to men who are carnal Christians, I am doing them more harmthan good, for they are not fit to take it. I cannot feed them with meat,I must feed them with milk. And so he tells them at the very outset of theepistle what he sees to be their state. In the two previous chapters he hadspoken about his ministry being by the Holy Spirit; now he begins to tellthem what must be the state of a people in order to accept spiritual truth,and he says: "I have not liberty to speak to you as I would, for you arecarnal, and you cannot receive Spiritual truth." That suggests to us thesolemn thought, that in the Church of Christ there are two classes ofChristians. Some have lived many years as believers, and yet always remainbabes; others are spiritual men, because they have given themselves up tothe power, the leading and to the entire rule of the Holy Ghost. If we areto obtain a blessing, we must first decide to which of these classes webelong. Are we, by the grace of God, in deep humility living a spirituallife, or are we living a carnal life? Then, let us first try to understandwhat is meant by the carnal state in which believers may be living.
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