WWUTT 1466 You Are God's Building (1 Corinthians 3:10-12)

On the day of Christ, everyone will be judged, whether you are a Christian or not. But for the Christian, we are judged not unto death, but unto our reward in Christ, when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Paul as a Skilled Master Builder in 1 Corinthians 3

Thank you, Becky. Back in the studio and picking up where we left off a couple of weeks ago in our study of 1 Corinthians 3. I'll begin reading in verse 10, we'll go through verse 23. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in his age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is folly with God, for it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness, and again the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile. 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.

So we come back here to verse 10, and as I mentioned in the sermon last week, so I wasn't in studio, but I played some sermons from the series I did in 1 Corinthians about four years ago, and at the conclusion of the sermon that you would have heard on Friday, I mentioned that we've shifted metaphors.

So when you go back in verse 9, it says that we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building. So we've gone from the previous metaphor to a new metaphor. The previous metaphor was talking about Paul planting, Apollos watered, but God provided the growth.

In all things, God gets the glory for this. It is not by any man's work that there is a church that has been built up here in Corinth. God has used humans. He has used people, the people of God to spread the gospel.

But this is all by God's sovereign hand, that even Paul would be on that road to Damascus to round up Christians so that Christ would appear to him and make him an apostle to the Gentiles. This still was all by the sovereign hand of God, providentially God moving these pieces into place to accomplish what he had decreed before the foundation of the world.

So all the glory belongs to the Lord. It is by God's grace that we are included in this work that he is accomplishing. Through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit transforms the hearts. We are made new.

We are born again by a work of God, not by a work of man. So Paul did something, Apollos did something else, but all are servants of the Lord and servants for the benefit of these Corinthians. And so it is the same with myself as a pastor, with Pastor Tom, with your pastor.

These are men who have committed themselves to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, that those who hear may be convicted of their sin, will turn, put faith in Jesus and so be saved. And also that we would sanctify you, that we would preach the word of Christ, that through this word you would be grown in holiness, in Christ's likeness.

Pastors who are under shepherds of the great shepherd, as Peter puts it in 1 Peter 5, we are servants of Christ for your benefit. My job as a pastor is to prepare the flock of God to stand before him on that day of judgment.

And that's what Paul is doing here with the Corinthians. He is a servant of God for their benefit. And according to the grace of God given to me, he says in verse 10, like a skilled master builder. So we go from growth, we go from the analogy of the field, that the people there in Corinth are being grown up into Christ by these fellow workers, Paul and Apollos.

There's no division between Paul and Apollos. They're working together for the benefit of the saints. And Paul says to the Corinthians, you are God's field. So you are the field that we are working. Then he says God's building.

And that's what we shift to here now in the analogy that's given in the in the next section here of chapter three, we've gone from the field to the building. And I kind of jumped the gun on this a little more than a week ago when I went ahead and drew from first Peter chapter two, where in verse five, Peter says, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion, a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Christ is that cornerstone. And then we are living stones that are being built up on top of that.

So the cornerstone is the main foundation stone. Every other stone that is laid is laid according to the cornerstone. If the cornerstone is off, every other stone will be off. But Christ is sure and steadfast and true.

He is the foundation upon which we are built. And Christ even laid a foundation of the apostles and prophets. That's what's talked about in Ephesians two and three. And so as we're being built up, we're building upon a foundation of the gospel that was laid by those apostles that Christ had sent out to preach to the nations.

So we're still submitting to apostolic authority even today, not that there are any new apostles, but whenever we open the New Testament and read it, we are coming under the authority of that apostolic ministry that Christ appointed to be the first to go out and preach the gospel.

It started at Pentecost in Acts chapter two, and it has since gone out into all the world. The apostle Paul being the first to get to the capital city of the world, which was Rome, preaching the gospel there.

I listened to a great sermon about that from Steve Lawson yesterday, as a matter of fact, where he talked about while Paul was in house arrest, he was under house arrest in Rome. He's chained to the Roman guard because you'll see in his letters references to being in chains, the prison letters like Ephesians, Philippians.

He talks about being in chains. Wasn't he under house arrest? Yeah, he wasn't in a dungeon prison cell, but he was chained to a Roman officer. And they're under house arrest. Everybody could come see him.

He couldn't go anywhere, but people could come to him. And likely the house was full of people all the time listening to the gospel that Paul proclaimed. This was all by the ordination of God that he would call Paul to this.

So Paul says here again in verse 10, according to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder. I laid a foundation. I laid a foundation. What is that foundation that Paul laid? He preached the gospel, the cornerstone.

He showed them the cornerstone. And as you are going to be built up as living stones, you will be set by God according to this cornerstone. And each stone is going to be set on top of the foundation that Christ had given of the apostles and prophets that were going out to preach the gospel.

So we have this house that is continually being built up a house unto the Lord. Every Christian, every person that turns from sin to Christ who becomes a Christian, who is a saint by the grace of God through faith in Jesus.

They are another stone that has been added to this building. This building is continuing to be added to and will be so until the day of Christ. And Paul talks about that day here in this particular paragraph that we're looking at here.

So Paul says, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation. Remember that when he came to Corinth and preached, we read about this in Acts 18, when Paul came to Corinth and preached, the Jews rejected him.

And so we went out to the Gentiles. And when that happened, he shook his garments of them there in the synagogue. And he said to them that he had preached the whole counsel of God to them. So I am innocent of your blood.

Your blood will be on your own heads. From now on, I'm going to the Gentiles. And he leaves the synagogue and he goes out and he preaches to the Gentiles there in Corinth, which he continues to do for a year and a half.

And God was with him that no harm would befall him as he was preaching the gospel there, the whole counsel of God. He left nothing out. So this is the reference that he makes to being a skilled master builder.

He taught them everything that they needed to hear and know to be a part of this spiritual house unto the Lord. I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. He's just talking about how the work is continuing to be done.

Apollos comes in. He continues the work. Cephas comes in. He continues the work. Clement of Rome, latter part of the first century. He continues the work and on and on it goes as each person comes along preaching the gospel, giving the full counsel of the word of God.

It is by this word that we are sanctified and being built up. Each person that leaves sin and comes to Christ is another stone that is added by faith in Christ Jesus. We are made living stones being built up as a spiritual house unto the Lord.

I laid a foundation. Paul says someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it so that what is being used to build up this house is not any work of man, but it is the work of God by the word of God.

Paul had said to Timothy at the very beginning of first Timothy chapter one, charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

If the church is going to be built up, it is going to be by the word of God. It is not going to be by myths and speculations that will take away from this work that needs to be accomplished before the day of Christ.

At the end of the letter in first Timothy chapter six, Paul says, if anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.

Imagining that godliness is a means of gain. So what is Paul saying here that if somebody is teaching other than the sound words of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're actually tearing down the house of God.

They are not building it up. In the next letter, Paul tells Timothy, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth, but avoid irreverent babble for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.

That which does not come from God does not build a people up into God. Rather, it tears them down into ungodliness and worldliness. And so that's what Paul is warning about here. Even with the Corinthians, let each one take care how he builds upon this foundation, not by any word of man, but with the word of God, not by myth and speculation, but with the truth of God's word.

The Foundation Is Jesus Christ

Verse 11, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So this is the foundation that is laid. It is the gospel of Christ. Everything built upon Christ, every doctrine that they have to learn and know is ultimately going to point them back to Christ.

Remember that Paul says, I've got some deeper things I need to share with you, but I can't because you're too immature. You are like infants in Christ. You are people of the flesh, not ready for the meat and potatoes of these deep doctrinal truths that I have to show you.

Now, you must grow up into eating this solid food so that you may become mature, that you may continue to be sanctified, that God may be glorified in this work, because ultimately, that's the goal. That's the aim.

Why do you need to mature in faith? Because God is glorified. As you mature in faith, you're going to help others in the body of Christ mature as well. And God is glorified in all this work that is done.

The glory belongs to God. And so knowing that he alone is worthy of our praise, we desire to mature. We desire to know more of Christ. We desire to know more of his word because God is glorified as we increase in Christ likeness and in godliness.

So Paul says the foundation is Jesus Christ. It all comes back to Christ. Every doctrine you will learn comes back to Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, this is verse 12.

It goes on to then add wood, hay, and straw. So of these six building items, which ones are going to last? Of course, it's going to be the gold and the silver and the precious stones. Those are the longest lasting jewels, gems, stones, building materials.

And then he also has wood, hay, and straw. They don't last as long. Wood lasts longer than hay, which lasts longer than straw. But those things are going to wear out much faster. And this building is not going to be long lasting.

It will not endure. I mean, we're still looking at buildings that were built thousands of years ago that still have traces of gold in them and silver and precious stones. Now, grave robbers and other archaeologists and treasure hunters and things like that, they've pretty much taken all the valuable stuff out of it.

But you can still see those stones and the precious metals and things like that that have endured. They're still there. They're tourist attractions now. You can go and look at the ancient world with the pillars and the statues and the stones and the pyramids and the temples and on and on it goes.

All of these things built with stuff that lasts. But how about the wood and the hay and the straw? Well, there's nothing of that. None of that's thousands of years old. It doesn't last anymore. So these things will eventually come to waste.

That which is precious and good will endure. And Paul's using a metaphor here. He's really talking about building with something that will last for an eternity, not just for a limited time. So the gold, silver, precious stones were referring to something that will last forever.

And that which is built upon Christ, that which comes according to his word. These are the things that are precious, that endure forever. But everything else that is of man, everything that is of the flesh.

And once again, Paul is addressing the Corinthians as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. There's still a lot of stuff going on with these people that they're not going to be rewarded for and is not an offering that they can give to God for his glory.

Now, that doesn't mean that God will not be glorified. He will be. He will be glorified whether a person is saved or whether a person is destroyed by his wrath. God will be glorified. But what Paul wants the Corinthians to do here is desire to glorify God and have something great to honor God with.

As we grow in holiness and Christ likeness, we have more of ourselves, more that is worthy of God that we can give to him so that God may be glorified and we will partake in glorifying God forever. So Paul says in verse 13, each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it.

And in your Bible, that word day is going to be capitalized because we're specifically talking about the day of the Lord, the day, the day that we're all anticipating and waiting for when Christ returns and we join him forever in his eternal kingdom, everyone's work will become manifest on that day for the day will disclose it and it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each person has done.

In Matthew chapter 12 verses 33, Jesus said, starting in verse 33, either make the tree good and it's fruit good or make the tree bad and it's fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, the good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak for by your words, you will be justified and by your words, you will be condemned. So again, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, and it is by what you say that you show who you belong to.

Do you belong to Satan or do you belong to Christ? In Revelation 20 verse 12, John writes this. I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne and books were open. Then another book was open, which is the book of life and the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.

My friends, if you are in Christ Jesus, you are saved, you are justified, you are guaranteed an inheritance in his eternal kingdom forever with God. But that does not mean you will not be judged. Everyone will be judged, Christian and non-Christian.

The Christian will be judged by the works that he has done and the reward will be appointed to him accordingly in the eternal kingdom that he will receive in Christ. The non-Christian will not be rewarded for any work that he has done, but he will be cast from the presence of God forever into hell, and that fire will not be purifying, but consuming death and suffering forever.

We have nothing to fear of that if we are in Christ Jesus, but there is a judgment that will come. The fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. We'll explain that passage a little bit more tomorrow. In the meantime, be about the Lord's business.

Read his word, desire to be like Christ, and in this we are sanctified, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure, as it says in Philippians 2 .13. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this good word that we have received today, and I pray it convicts our hearts that we not just live idly a certain way because we know we're Christian, so it doesn't matter what I do.

There is still a responsibility upon all of us to grow up in Christ, and as we desire to be more like Christ, we have more that we may offer to our God who is in heaven until that day when we join you forever in that eternal kingdom, and we will hear you say, well done, good and faithful servant.

Now great is your reward. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Forgive us our sins. Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake. Amen.

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