Casting Crowns, Christ the Only Foundation

Our text today is from 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 1 through 15.

For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, because you are still worldly.

For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

For whenever someone says, I belong to Paul, and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not acting like mere humans?

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the

Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants, nor the one who waters is anything, but only

God who gives the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God's co -workers, you are God's field, God's building. According to God's grace that was given to me,

I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it, but each one is to be careful how he builds on it.

For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is

Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious.

For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire. The fire will test the quality of each one's work.

If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the power of your word, Lord, that it points us to you, the foundation upon which all life and your church is built.

So God, I pray that as David comes to share your word, to exposit your word for us, that the power of your spirit would be present in each of our hearts, that we would see conviction,

Lord, that we would see encouragement, Lord, that we would be equipped for the work that you have laid out for us.

And God, as co -laborers, that we would not shirk our duty, or that we would go out and do the work that you've laid out for us, that we would be honoring you in the work that we've done.

Lord, bless David as he preaches. Lord, may we be emboldened by the power of your mighty word.

It's in your name we pray. Amen. Every life, every ministry, every church, every family is building something.

We're all building something. Is that good?

Alright. We're all building something. We're building careers and families and reputations and ministries and all kinds of stuff, but what are we building on?

Are we building on the one foundation that's true, or are we building on Christ? Paul brings the only secure foundation, which is

Christ. There's four major issues that we're going to be dealing with. Number one, we're going to deal with the immaturity of the church in verses one through four.

Paul's going to rebuke them for being fleshly and divided. I think we've heard a lot about division, not only within the church, but within the church worldwide, and how we judge one another, and how we think we're the only ones that know the truth.

Number two, the servants of God's work. Paul and Apollos are mere servants of God, and God gives to growth.

The church is the field and the building. And number three, the foundation and building.

Paul laid the foundation of Christ, and others must build carefully on Christ.

In the testing of the works in verses 12 through 15, the materials will be tested by fire.

Reward for the faithfulness, loss for carelessness. Paul emphasizes spiritual maturity versus immaturity.

Christ has the only foundation. Human leaders are servants, not saviors.

Eternal accountability for your life and for ministry. Paul starts out most of his letters, or the letter of Corinthians, with love.

When you read in, we start out in chapter one, he talks about how much he loves them.

He says in verse four, I thank my God always concerning you.

And when we get later, we'll get into verses four, chapter four, verse 14, I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

And in verse 15, he goes on to say, for if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would have not many fathers.

For in Christ, I became your father in the gospel. Therefore, I exalt you, copy me, follow me as I follow

Christ. Therefore, I exalt you, and I've sent you for this reason, I've sent

Timothy, my beloved son, which will remind you of my ways, which is in Christ, just as I teach in every church.

He loved them enough to send his most beloved son, Timothy, to them. In verse 21, what do you desire?

Shall I come to you with a rod, with love, and a spirit of gentleness?

Paul was not only loving, but he was firm. He gave them a tough love.

He didn't just give them what they wanted to hear, but he gave them the truth. He stood to them, he stood up, and he challenged them.

When Christ is in the foundation of life, spirituality shows childish.

It's quick, it's jealous, it argues, it competes, it reveals a lack of spiritual maturity.

The only foundation that endures is Jesus Christ. All other ground is shifting sand.

Christ alone must be the bedrock of our lives and ministry. I know it's easy for us to look back and judge the

Corinthian church. We can look back and judge

Israelites as they go through the wilderness. We look back and we see the miraculous miracles that the

Lord has done for them. And we look and we say, we look down our noses and say, how can they doubt

God? He just did all these miracles for them. And are we not in the same boat?

Do we not tend to do the same things? When trials and small things come in our lives, whether it's financial or health, do we not doubt?

And we've been given a greater light. Not only do we have, not only do we have the scriptures, but we have one another to encourage one another and we fail to do those things.

So now I'm going to begin reading in 1 Corinthians, I'm going to read 3, 5 through 9.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believe.

Even as the Lord gave to each one, I planted and Apollos watered.

But God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything.

But God causes growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his labors.

For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

This reminds me of a quote from J .C. Ryle, and his quote is, and I'll read it to you.

He says, the best of men are only men at their very best.

Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, fathers, reformers,

Puritans, all are sinners who need a savior. Holy, useful, honorable in their place, yet they're all sinners.

I think the Lord has shown us in the most recent history that even the greatest of men fail and let us down.

Scripture tells us to give honor to whom honor is due. We tend to give too much honor and too much respect to people, and we don't hold each other accountable.

We can look at the people that have passed recently, who have gone on to glory that were great men of God, that were used of God.

We have people like R .C. Sproul, John MacArthur, and most recently, Bode Bauckham.

Have we placed those men too high, and the men that have failed and fallen in front of us?

It's almost as if Christ has cleared the chess board. All these great men are gone and failing.

What will happen? I think the reason is to show that it's

Christ, and if we lose our focus and worship men and serve men, we're sadly mistaken.

Again, the only foundation is Jesus Christ. If you're looking towards anything else or anyone else, you're sadly mistaken.

I would ask that you would pray for your leaders here, that you would pray for Josh and for Corey. Lord, they're not above temptation.

They're not above failing. Lord, they need you.

They need the congregation to hold them up, to lift them up, to pray for them, encourage them. Scripture says that when you think you stand, and that's for each and every one of us here as well, when you think you stand, take heed lest you fall.

Don't be prideful. Don't think you have it. Don't think you've got it all on your own and you're above any sin.

Depend completely on Christ. It's all of Him. I also think about a song.

I don't know if many of you know it, probably some of the old people do. There was a song by a contemporary

Christian artist by the name of Wayne Watson. And he had a song, and the name of the song is Touch of the

Master's Hand. And if you ever get a chance, you should listen to that song or just listen to the words or just look the words up to that song.

But it states basically that, you know, all the works that are done, it's of Christ.

Your worth is in Christ, it's not in you. And we'll move on to verses 10 through 11.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder,

I laid a foundation and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

For no one can lay a foundation other than what was laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Again, Paul's claim is that there's no other foundation laid except for Christ. Paul did not build the

Corinthian church on charisma and culture and cleverness.

He built it on Christ. He even expressed that his words were not, he didn't come in eloquence of speech.

He didn't build it on vain foundation on anything else or on people. We don't build on the certain personalities, on rigid tradition, on talents, on gifts, emotional movements,

Christian culture. Now, all these things can be a blessing, but no one can bear the weight of eternity.

It's Christ alone. Christ alone bears the weight, Christ alone, Jesus alone saves,

Jesus alone sustains us. Only Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Everything else, no matter how impressive, eventually collapses. Each man, each man's work will be tested.

Jesus says in Revelations 22, 12, behold, I am coming. I'm coming quickly and my reward is with me to remember to render to every man according to his works.

Now, if anyone builds a foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident for the day will indicate it because it will be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.

If any man's work, which he has built, if it remains, he will receive a reward.

If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved.

Beloved, believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive rewards for which they have done in the body.

Paul says that each person's work will be tested. You will be saved, but some reward will be lost.

This is a sobering reminder of how we should live. Salvation matters.

In Scripture, fire is a sign of judgment, of great judgment, but it's also a sign of the refiner's fire.

As silver is refined, Lord, our works will be refined and the works that are a waste will burn up and all that will remain will be pure works done in Christ.

Paul says that the person's work will be saved or will be tested, but you will be saved.

Christ himself will evaluate your works, your motives, your methods.

This is not a test of your salvation. It's a test of the quality of your work.

Did we build with eternal materials or temporary materials? There's two possible outcomes.

Work that remains will be rewarded, and some works will be burnt up.

You have to ask yourself, what is the foundation that I'm building on? What materials am

I using? Will my work endure in Christ's judgment? Beloved, I want to encourage you.

I want to encourage you, it's God who does the work in you.

Philippians 2 .13 says, for it is God who is at work in you, both to do and will to work for His good pleasure.

Be encouraged. You are a gift to Christ from the

Father. Christ says in John 6 .37 -40, all that the

Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me

I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.

Now this is the will of Him who sent me, that all that He has given me I will lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will be raised up on that last day.

Beloved, you are what God has given to the Son. Jesus also spoke in John 17 .1

-3, which is known as Jesus' high priestly prayer. Jesus spoke these things, and He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and He said,

Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that the

Son may glorify You, even as You have given Him authority of all flesh, that to all whom

You have given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that we may know

You and You only, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom

You have sent. Let's sit in verse 24. Father, I desire that also whom

You have given Me be with Me where I am, so that they may see

My glory which You have given Me, for You love Me before the foundations of the world.

We will receive rewards for work that's done in Christ. Scripture talks about rewards as God's blessing for obedience and faithfulness, both now and in eternity.

Rewards are promised for faith and perseverance and obedience and service in places like Matthew 5 .12,

Colossians 3 .23 -24, Revelations 22 .12.

They include both earthly blessings, peace, provisions, and joy, and eternal inheritance, life with Christ.

Crowns. Crowns are symbolic.

They represent special honor, victory, eternal joy. They symbolize the believer's triumph in different areas of faith, highlighting specific victories in the

Christian life. Together they show God not only saves, but He also celebrates

His people's faithfulness with lasting recognition. There are five crowns which are named in Scripture.

One is the crown of life in James 1 .12, Revelations 2 .10.

There's the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4 .8, the crown of glory in 1

Peter 5 .4, and an incorruptible crown in 1

Corinthians 9 .25, and the crown of rejoicing in 1

Thessalonians 2 .9. Now what are we to do with these crowns, and what are they for?

Are they for our own glory, for our own pleasure, to make our own selves feel good?

I will say that the ultimate purpose of our rewards and of our crowns is for us to cast them at the feet of Jesus Christ in His glory.

Our ultimate glory, our ultimate reward will be to give back to Christ what

He has given us. In Revelations 4 .10 -11 it says,

The twenty -four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne and will worship

Him whose lives forever and ever will cast their crowns before the throne saying,

Worthy are You, O Lord, our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

For You created all things, and because of Your will they exist.

And were created. Casting our crowns before God will be our ultimate reward.

Why? Because everything that we ever accomplish was the work of Christ in them.

The crown was never for display. They're only for worship.

There's a very real danger when we think about works and we think about rewards.

The real danger is to focus inwards. We focus on our navel and we think it's all about us.

Yes, it is about us, but it's all about Christ and what

He does in us. Yes, we should examine ourselves. We should examine our motives and our reasons.

But we should always understand that there's a very real danger in piety.

And piety is thinking that we can have a good works, that we can do good things.

The tendency with people is to go from one extreme to the other.

So if there's a problem in one area, we tend to go off as far as we can to the other side.

Scripture says that your faith without works is dead.

But it also says works without faith is dead. We either go to one extreme where we want to work.

And we have this list of things to show all the good that we've done. Look Lord, I've done this,

I've done that. But what is the motive behind it? Or we can sit there and say that we have this great faith and do nothing with it.

We have to get out and do things for the Lord. I just caution you, please, don't add anything to Christ.

Christ alone, Christ plus anything, Christ plus your works,

Christ plus your sacrifice, Christ plus anything is heresy.

It's all of Christ. Your works, your life, your rewards are all in Christ.

Focus on Him. Focus on the

Father. And bring in glory and honor to their name in all that you say and all that you do. Help one another.

Look at one another. Hold one another accountable. Realizing that each and every one of us need each other.

As we look towards Christ, let's walk together. Let's encourage one another. Let's love one another.

Let's seek one another out and seek how we can help. And what the need is in this church and these people.

I'm going to pray.

Before I pray, though, I want to talk. Especially to the...

There's a big responsibility for the leaders of this church and for any church.

As it says in Timothy, the leaders will be held with greater responsibility and they will be judged with harsher judgment.

Remember that Christ is our only foundation. Christ is the cornerstone.

Christ is the builder. He's the rewarder for faithful service. Christ is the one whom all rewards return to.

All glory and ultimately belongs to Jesus Christ. Christ is the wisdom of God, contrary to the wisdom of the world.

Jesus is the only foundation of our faith. Only what is done in Jesus will endure.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, which is sharper than any two -edged sword, which pierces our heart and exposes our immaturity.

We confess that too often we've built our lives on wood, hay, and stubble.

We chase worldly wisdom. We're selfish and ambitious. We flee after success.

Forgive us, O Lord. Thank you for giving us the one true foundation,

Jesus Christ. Thank you that He is the cornerstone of your temple, the judge of all the earth, and the rewarder for those who diligently seek

Him. We ask you that you would help us to grow into maturity, to move beyond milk to solid food, to build our lives with gold, silver, and precious stones, truth, holiness, love, and sacrifice.

Lord, keep us from being boastful. Remind us that the pastors and teachers and leaders, they're only servants, and that you are alone the only one who gives growth.

May we be unified and not divided. May our lives be marked by humility and faithfulness.

Prepare for us the day when our works will be tested. One day we will stand before you.

May we joyfully cast our crowns at your feet, and declare, worthy is the

Lamb who was slain. Give us courage to live lives that are eternally countable, so that when the fire does come, our work will stand.

And we will hear the words we all long for, well done, good and faithful servant.

We pray all this in the name that's above every name, in the name of Jesus Christ, our only foundation, our judge, and our rewarder.