Sermon Brief
Date Written: March 20, 2014
Date Preached: March 23, 2014
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Series From 1 Corinthians
Sermon Title: What Are You Building?
(on the foundation of Christ)
Sermon Text: 1 Cor 3:10-17 [ESV]
Introduction:
We have learned a great deal about the church in Corinth and about the Apostle Paul through these first few chapters. We learned how much he loved and cared for these believers, and we have learned how he believed God was NOT done with them as a fellowship! We learned that even though they had their issues, they loved the Lord and they were trying to serve God!
A couple of weeks ago we looked at the 1st 9 verses of this chapter and we looked at Christian Immaturity and how Paul was calling them to move past their spiritual immaturity into a stronger and more mature faith and walk with Christ…
Paul wanted to feed them the ‘meat’ of the Word but he could not because they had gotten caught up in selfish & immature behavior… This letter was an attempt to straighten that spiritual behavior out so they could begin to mature in their walk in Christ…
Today we travel a bit further in ch3 as we will be engaging v10-17. Paul’s teaching is still revolving around maturing in the faith, but here he uses an illustration of construction work to get across his point! Let’s read all 8 verses first and then we will jump into what Paul is saying and how those verses apply to us today…
10According 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. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13each 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. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Now when take a look at these verses we can actually break this section down into three parts…
Foundational Construction
Setting the Foundation v10-11
Building ON that foundation v12-15
Expectation From the Foundation v16-17
Setting the Foundation – v10-11
10According 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. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Here in this passage we have Paul laying out some truths about what he had come & taught when he planted this church & was with them for 18mo.
He wanted them to remember what he had taught them… but here he wanted to point out that he was not a fraud, but that he was the real deal – a REAL apostle of God!
He begins his approach in humility! He tells them that HIS teaching was superior to the teaching they were now dealing with, but it was NOT because HE was superior…but it was because of the grace of God!
Look at v10, “According to the grace of God given to me…” He understood that what he taught & the foundation he had laid was NOT from him but it was a grace-given gift from God himself!
This grace given gift was the very simple Gospel of Jesus Christ as Savior and redeemer, that Jesus and Jesus alone could save and redeem one from sin and death!
According the grace of God… was a phrase that told the Corinthian believers that Paul was lifting himself up but was pointing to the source of his teaching AND their redemption – that was Jesus!
But don’t mistake Paul’s humility for a limited expertise! I want us to understand that Paul was a finely tuned instrument in the hands of God. Paul’s submission to God’s calling enabled God to use Paul in a great way! This is how & why Paul could compare himself to a SKILLED MASTER BUILDER…
I have met many carpenters in my life as I worked construction thru most of my college years and before. The best carpenters were the ones who were confident in their ability, but they would also be the first one to tell you that they had learned what they knew from a mentor…someone who had invested time in them and taught them the trade!
Well Jesus did not invest ‘years’ into Paul, but Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus and when Paul surrendered to Him, Jesus invested into Paul, but it was a supernatural ‘mentoring’ by Jesus! Paul was filled by the Spirit on what to teach!
Here Paul is letting the Corinthian church know that he was an instrument in God’s hands… but also that he was one of God’s best instruments! This was NOT because of his abilities BUT According the grace of God…
Paul states he had a job to do when he came to Corinth! That job was to lay the foundation of Jesus Christ & the Gospel message about Jesus! Here he informs these believers that he had done just that… he HAD laid that foundation by the grace of God & with the skill and precision God had given to him…
In other words, Paul is letting the Corinthian believers know that his message was from God and if ANYONE was going to continue teaching and attempt to build on that foundation… they had better watch what they were teaching!
Look what he says in v10b:
Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
My brothers and sisters, this is a warning that points to all who teach the Bible! It points to me as pastor, to our staff as ministers, to the SS teacher, to the VBS worker, to the small group leader… If you are building on the foundation of Christ then you must take care in what you teach! He continues in v11…
11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
What Paul is saying here is that the way we go wrong is when we stray from the path that is the simple Gospel message! If we depart from the Gospel message THEN we are NOT building on the firm foundation (which is Jesus) and THAT will come back to hurt us!
So Paul sets the table here by letting the believers in Corinth know that he had come to them with God’s message & laid a foundation that God had intended and he had done it with the grace of God and skilled by the direction of God!
But what about those who come after him in Corinth? What about these new preachers with these new doctrines and this new ‘gospel’?
Paul addresses anyone who comes after him and tries to build on that foundation must take care because only those who build on that foundation with the message of Jesus Christ and the Gospel…
Paul says they will come to ruin! In other words, when Paul says, 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
What Paul is basically saying is that when anyone tries to build a false gospel on the foundation Jesus Christ… it is going to fail! You cannot build up others in Christ by teaching a false gospel… it just won’t work!
Now I want us to understand that this principle is relative to the spiritual realm… I CAN be evident in the physical realm but usually we relate earthly success with being in tune with God.
But I can tell you that just because you have a large church… just because many people follow you or believe you teaching is right… doesn’t mean it will stand!
Paul said that the foundation was Jesus and that He was a gift of the grace of God and thru the grace of God… he had been made a finely tuned instrument in God’s hands to deliver this Gospel!
v10-11 reveals what Paul was led by God to share about maturing in the faith… But what does this mean for us today?
It means simply this… The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY Gospel by which you can be saved! It is the ONLY foundation upon which we can build our lives… all other foundations will fail us!
When we come to know Christ and receive Him in our hearts, that foundation is laid in our lives & we are called by the HS to grow in maturity & to BUILD up our lives on that foundation of Christ!
Maturing in our faith is what God desires for our lives… His desire is for ALL who accept Him to make it a priority to mature in their walk with Him by building upon the foundation we all have IN His Son Jesus! So, we ALL must build upon THAT foundation.
If you expect to mature in the faith, THEN you will take care on how you build on this foundation and… with what materials you will use to build on this foundation as well! Let’s look at building on that foundation…
Building on the Foundation – v12-15
12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13each 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. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Paul switches from the larger picture of building a building to the details within that construction! He shares that when we begin to build on the foundation of Christ in our lives that we must use the most quality of resources…
Paul uses 2 sets of building materials here… many miss what Paul is saying in this part of the passage as the see it as 2 negative things or merely 2 sets of building materials… but these 2 sets of materials represent the quality of building materials being used.
There is the wood, hay and straw that represent that which is cheap and easy, but not quality! Then there are the gold/silver/precious stones which represent expensive and hard to obtain BUT quality building materials!
Here Paul is emphasizing the kind of building materials that are going to endure the fiery storms of life and judgment! When we invest quality building materials into our Christian walk, such as prayer, fasting, Bible intake, forgiveness, fellowship and ministry… our Christian life will mature and grow!
BUT if we use building materials that ‘may seem’ like they will do (but are NOT quality materials) we are going to experience disaster! Building on the foundation of Christ with spiritual materials with the quality of things like wood, hay or straw result in disaster for our spiritual walk!
Let me give you an example of what I mean… Many Christian try to build their walk on their own self-reliance, self-indulgence, pride, a lone ranger mentality or a lack of forgiveness. When they do this and the storms of this life hit… those storms will sweep across their Christian walk and leave them scorched and burned!
So Paul tells these believers that when they build on the foundation of Jesus Christ that they must use quality materials! What materials are you using today? I ask this because Paul tells us that our work will be judged!
The materials we use in building on the foundation of Christ in our lives will cause an outcome… and whatever we do for the Lord is going to be judged… good or bad… our work will be judged!
He uses the illustration of being judged by fire… like a testing from God. Fire is a way that precious metals are purified and tested… and our deeds will be subjected to a testing as well.
Now whether Paul is speaking about the Day of the Lord judgment OR whether he is speaking about God’s judgment of our works while here in this world… it is not really clear, but the context of this passage leads me to teach you that this is both/and… there is an allusion to the day of the Lord but Paul also emphasizes the here and now.
V14-15 speak to the results of this testing... They are pretty straightforward in their message to us. IF what we build in our lives survives the fiery test, then there will be a reward… but if what we have built on this foundation does NOT survive, but it is burned up… these verses tell us that we will suffer loss!
I don’t know about you but I don’t like to suffer loss…do you? Suffering loss is one of life’s greatest hardships…and I do NOT like to experience loss of ANY kind!
But I want to point out here that the ‘loss’ that Paul is speaking about here is NOT in reference to salvation. Paul is saying your work will be judged NOT your salvation! By ‘work’ he means that which you have built upon the foundation of Christ.
He even says, “…he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire…”
This tells us at least 2 things, & they are linked…
FIRST this implies to us that true believers can and will make wrong decisions and go the wrong way! We are all sinners saved by the Grace of a loving and merciful God!
SECOND … it reassures us that we can suffer loss in our Christian walk and NOT lose our salvation! This lets us know that God’s focus is NOT on our destruction, but on our growth… but that growth must be ‘good’ growth or He will weed it out of our lives!
Now what the actual loss may be… only the situation can dictate that…
It could be the loss of trust by another person…
It could be the loss of your Christian witness with a particular grp of people…
It could be your loss of membership within a certain fellowship…
Loss CAN seem devastating and loss ALWAYS is painful! But this loss will not strip you of your salvation!
Look at it like this… A man, married with children wakes up one night to see that his house is on fire. He gathers his family and they escape to safety but the house is a total LOSS!
This man while building his house made some choices to save time and money and he cut corners with some critical electrical equipment which caused an overload which started the fire…
Now, it could have happened right after the house was built OR it could have delayed until years later… the point is that when we build with substandard parts, it will be revealed and GREAT will be the loss!
Now this man has suffered greatly, all of his possessions and the memories of all his families lives have been swept away by fire! They were saved FROM the fire, but NOT from the loss! They are still a family & they will be able to rebuild, but the loss is painful & it will take time to rebuild!
It is like that when we choose to build on the foundation of Christ with unChristian and unbiblical materials. What we build may last for a time, but there will be a time when the ‘fiery storm of life’ or judgment of God will sweep away those substandard materials…
We will suffer loss, it will be painful, but Jesus has said that NO ONE can take you from His hand and He is steadfast in that promise and here Paul reassures us that even in LOSS our eternity in Christ is secure!
So don’t let anyone tell you that this passage means you can lose your salvation! It is simply NOT true! The focus here is what we build on the foundation of Christ in our lives… with WHAT do we build, with quality materials or with substandard and unbiblical materials?
But then Paul switches gears… He has set the standard by laying the foundation with the Gospel of Christ for the church in Corinth. Today we have rec’d Christ into our hearts as the foundation of the Gospel in our lives…
Paul then says when ANYONE builds upon that foundation of Jesus Christ… to take care in HOW you do it… use the best of materials to make sure it will last… to make sure it will endure the fiery storms of this life and/or the fire of God’s judgment!
In our Christian walk we are called to mature and to build up our faith and for us to do that, we must live to the standards set forth in God’s Word. Otherwise we will not be ready when the fires of testing come into our lives…
So how do we live to God’s standards? God expects us to build up our faith thru using the quality materials found in His Word and thru prayer, & fasting…thru missions, ministry, fellowship, stewardship, loving, forgiving, showing grace and telling others about Him!
Look what Paul tells the believers in v16-17: He had shared there was only ONE true foundation and that was Christ! He shared for one to build on the foundation of Christ they must choose wisely the building materials they use! BUT here he tells them that they should KNOW the difference between good and bad spiritual building materials!
Expectations From the Foundation – v16-17
16Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
So what is Paul saying here in these verses? Before we get to them, I want to address something here that these verses have been used for by many preachers and churches in the past…
The phrases ‘you are God’s temple’ and ‘anyone who destroys God’s temple’… have been misrepresented by many religious leaders who believed they had to control their people thru controlling their behavior. In other words, they believed THEY were the believer’s HS… SO…they attempt to use these 2 verses to forbid things/actions…
One example of this would be a tattoo… now I want you to understand that I do NOT think it is wise to tattoo your body. My thoughts are that it is senseless and useless. However, I want to point out that this verse is NOT prohibiting tattoos on the body!!
It also does not prohibit any other action… we cannot use this verse to teach prohibition of a thing for the believer because it simply NOT a verse about prohibiting anything! Please understand that I am NOT saying to run out and get a tattoo…This verse is focused on the subject at hand and that maturity in our faith! but what I am saying we cannot use this verse to prohibit one either!
This is just one of the areas where this verse applies… Your body does belong to Christ, but it is NOT your physical body Christ is interested in, but as Jesus put it in Matt 22… it is you heart, your mind, and your soul!
So in these 2 verses Paul is taking these believers to task about their apparent LACK of spiritual judgment/discernment… What Paul wants them to understand is that ‘in Christ’ the believer has the HS to guide you and you should KNOW what is right and what is not right for your Christian walk because of the HS in your life!
The teachers who had come into the fellowship at Corinth and had stirred things up with what they were teaching… had cost these believers a great deal.
I am sure that the infighting and the bickering had a negative effect on their witness… I am sure that the ‘world’ around them did not see the love and unity that Christ had prayed for in His high priestly prayer of John ch17…
Jesus told a story about a man who was going to build a tower, but before he began construction… he took the time to assess the situation, his resources and what he could and could not do… he took the time to count the cost of building this tower!
In a sense this is what Paul was telling these believers when he reveals the expectations of the foundation they had in Christ. The foundation of Christ in their lives expected them to count the cost of their actions… to count the cost of the spiritual materials they were using…
People when we allow a doctrine that is NOT biblical and does NOT carry the truth of God’s Word to infect our fellowship we are costing our fellowship its witness and ability to serve God as He desires!
When we allow faulty doctrines and traditions to cloud our spiritual judgment… it is GOING to cost us! And as Paul states here in this passage, judgment of our deeds will happen and where we fail, it will be made known… and there will be great loss…
My brothers and sisters there will be a day when you stand before the Lord and He judges your life, and there will be things in your life where you did NOT use the best of spiritual judgment after you came to know Christ and you WILL be judged on those decisions!
Your judgment will NOT be whether or not you get into heaven as Christ’s work on the Cross gives us that… but it will be our standing before God… our ETERNAL knowledge that we have let God down, that we were NOT what He desired us to be!
Paul did NOT want the believers in Corinth to have to stand before Jesus on the final judgment day and hear His judgment of their failure to use the Holy Spirit as discernment for bad doctrine… and rid themselves OF that doctrine!
Conclusion:
So what does this mean for us today? Well the SURE thing we have is a SET foundation in Christ Jesus! Jesus Christ is our Savior and upon Him all eternal security rests! He is the foundation of our Christian faith!
But God has sent many into your life, many into the life of this church where the foundation of Christ is built upon… there have been MANY who have been faithful to build upon Christ and NOT to vary or change that foundation, but there have been others who attempted to stray from that foundation of Christ… and some who were in this fellowship listened to them!
What Paul was correcting here was for the people of the church in Corinth to open their spiritual eyes and for them to see what they were being taught through the lens of the Holy Spirit… and allow the HS to guide your discernment!
How can you do that? First you cannot settle for insufficient building materials that this world tries to offer you:
Things like:
A self-reliant spirit that believes they can handle everything
A prayerless life where God is only reached out to when trouble comes
A routine of self-gratification that fills the body and pleases the eye but leaves the soul wanting
A desire to please yourself at the cost of hurting others
An apathy toward the lost, no focus on others needing Christ
A habit of judging b/c others don’t measure up to your standard
A reputation of loving things and using people
A standard of withholding compassion from those who reject you
These are building materials made of wood and straw and will quickly be consumed by the fiery trials of life and you will be harshly judged…
INSTEAD, you must seek to use the ‘good building’ materials of maturing in your Christian faith. They are the precious stones and precious metals of the Christian realm:
First, you must exhibit a firm faith in Christ evidenced by your actions which should be:
A life of prayer to God, giving thanks and recognizing Him for who He is!
A routine of comprehensive Bible reading and Bible study,
A desire to fellowship with and minister to other believers,
A burden that burns in your heart to reach out to the lost and share Christ,
A habit of showing love to those who are hard to love,
A reputation for showing kindness to those who do NOT deserve it,
A fortitude to show compassion to those who don’t believe they NEED it!
These are the precious metals and stones of the spiritual life that will build a solid and will grounded Christian walk…so that when the fiery storms of life come, you will persevere!
Are you counting the cost of listening to something OTHER than the word of God… Are you counting the cost of building your spiritual walk on something OTHER than the foundation of Jesus Christ? I pray that you are not…
However, there may be something in your life that this message has touched or brought to light. This morning I am going to open up the front for you to come and offer prayer and the personal sacrifice of your submission to God…
As Jason comes to lead us… I want to ask you to come if Jesus is calling you to let Him come in!
Come if you know Him already but need to confess sin to Him!
Come if you want to follow the calling of the Holy Spirit on your life… whether that is surrendering to the ministry, or joining our church…
I am going to ask you to step out after I pray and as Jason begins to lead us in our hymn of invitation. PRAY NOW
Dear God…Today You have revealed Your word thru song, Scripture and this sermon. God help us to count the cost of serving You and of straying FROM serving You!
Give us the flaming desire to serve You and build up our walk IN You with the good building materials… Lord if there is anyone here today who does NOT know you as Savior, I pray Your Holy Spirit convicts their heart to turn to You and be saved.
Lord if there are those here who need to confess sin, and submit to Your will for their lives…Lord I pray the H.S. will lead them to that decision!
Finally Lord if there are those who seek to serve You by joining with our fellowship, I pray they step out now and come forward… In Jesus name we pray!
Bro Jason would you lead us…
