Let us RECAP THE CONTEXT.
• Paul has been addressing the divisions in the Corinth church, honestly and directly.
• The believers were taking sides, glorifying certain leaders and human wisdom.
• Paul said it clearly in 3:1 “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”
They are “brothers” in Christ but “people of the flesh” and “infants in Christ”. They are not spiritual but worldly in their conduct.
• Any works that destroy the unity of the church and create factions are not spiritual, not of the Lord, but the flesh, carnal and immature.
There is nothing wrong with being spiritual infants. We all went through that stage when we first got to know Jesus. But we don’t stay there.
• It is quite another thing to remain as an infant for long. Something is wrong if we are not learning and growing in the things of God.
• We cannot serve God to our fullest potential, the way God intends us to if we remain as children in the faith.
The Corinthians were not behaving like spiritual adults when they boast about human wisdom and quarrel over their favourite leaders.
• They side-lined the wisdom of God, which is the centrality of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. They have shifted their focus from Christ to men.
• Paul has to explain “WHAT are the WORKERS” (3:5) in last week’s text, and what are the spiritual WORKS that matter in today’s text.
Last week’s text was about the WORKERS. Let’s recap.
• Paul did not ask WHO are they but WHAT are they, directing at the Corinthians’ error in focusing on their performance.
• 3:5 “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.” [KJV uses WHO but more accurately, it is WHAT in the original Greek.]
• Why are you glorifying their achievements, when they are servants given assigned tasks? One plants and the other waters, as the Lord has so arranged.
Paul uses the analogy of agriculture, which illustrated his point perfectly.
• “I can plant and Apollos waters but only God can give the growth.” (3:6)
• We are instruments assigned by God to work in His field for one common goal. God is the true ACTOR who brings about the harvest.
• The salvation and the growth of the Corinth church come from Him, not the leaders. We are subordinate to the role of God.
So why exalt the leaders?
• “We are not heroes to be adored or masters to be followed, we are simply servants of God whom God assigned by His grace to be instrumental in your coming to Christ. So whatever that is being achieved here is accomplished by God.”
• It is absurd to place our emphasis on leaders, regardless of their gifts, talents, eloquence, or styles of leadership.
• It is absurd to pit them against one another when one plants and the other waters because the Lord assigned them.
• They are not competitors but partners in ministry working towards the same goal. And the truth is, they are both important. We need both of them to make it work!
• They complement each other in the work of God!
Beware of the spirit of comparison and competition, it divides.
• It draws our attention away from Christ and onto human wisdom and achievements.
• Division happens when we forget that we are all servants under one Lord and that the workers, the field and the harvest are all His.
Having said all he needs to say about the WORKERS in God’s field, Paul now turns his attention to the WORKS the Corinthians are engaged in. WHAT ARE THEY DOING?
• He shifts his analogy from agriculture to construction, from farming to the building of God’s building.
• He made that switch in 3:9 when he said “You are God’s field, God’s building.”
1 Cor 3:10-15
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.
The attention now turns to the WORKS of the believers. The THREE POINTS he made:
(1) The church has only ONE FOUNDATION;
(2) WATCH HOW WE BUILD upon it; and
(3) BE REWARDED FOR WHAT REMAINS on the final day.
THERE IS ONLY ONE FOUNDATION
“The foundation is certain and it’s not you or me,” even though Paul founded the church.
• “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (3:11)
• It is by God’s grace (3:10), Paul stressed, that he came to Corinth with the Gospel and laid the foundation like a skilled master builder.
There can be many leaders serving here but only one foundation. Take that away and you do not have a church.
• The church is founded in Christ and we are all “builders in Christ” called to build the church upon this one foundation.
• Everything revolves around Christ, not the leaders.
BUILDING A BANK
A man looks out of his window one day and noticed that construction has started on a plot of land opposite his house. He watched each day as workers cleared the land, dug the place, and moved the dirt, with trucks moving in and out.
He saw them pour in the concrete and then later they began to shift in a big steel-like box on top of the slab. In the next few days, the workers began to build a concrete wall all around that big metallic container and added different kinds of panels.
The man decided to walk over and ask them what they were building. “A bank. We are building a bank,” the foreman said. “The vault has to go in first, the most important part of the bank. Everything else is built around it.”
Because of the large size of the vault and its heavy weight, they had to start with it, otherwise, they would not be able to fit it through the door later on. And because it is the most important part of a bank – containing riches, treasures and wealth – it has to be built correctly and then the rest of the building can be constructed around it.
For the church, everything revolves around Christ, not the leaders. He is the church’s one foundation and he is the “head over everything for the church.” (cf. Eph 1:22)
WATCH HOW WE BUILD UPON IT
3:10b “Let each one take care how he builds upon it.”
• Christ is the foundation, but how we build upon it is our responsibility.
Paul uses the imagery of gold, silver, precious stones and wood, hay, and straw to make his point. They are materials that the Roman world understands.
• The first three are commonly used in the huge structures all around Roman Empire – the buildings, the columns, the statues…
• While the other three are seen in the construction of the slave dwellings in Rome.
Paul set them in a context – 3:13 “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.”
• The Day is singular so it can refer to the Day of the Lord, the day of His return and judgment.
Paul’s intention is not to highlight these materials and then ask, “So which one do you want to use?” If that is the case, then the answer is obvious.
• Paul is talking about the aftermath. What happens to them at the end of the day when they are put through the fire!
• He is issuing a WARNING. At the end of the day, will your works stand the test of fire? Fire will reveal the true worth of your works! It burns up wood, hay and straw.
• Only the works of gold, silver or precious stones will remain.
“Corinthians, watch what you are doing today. On the final day when tested by God, your carnal works will be revealed. And you might be surprised to know that they are trash in the eyes of God.”
• Your conduct is not building up the church but tearing it apart. You are producing nothing of eternal worth or significance.
• God’s judgment will burn up all human efforts and pride.
Time will tell, the way Paul puts it. But you can change your ways now and invest in that which turns out to be “gold, silver and precious stones”.
• Build up the church, edify the Body of Christ, put your trust in Christ and not human wisdom, be humble and don’t glorify human efforts, unite and give glory to God.
Notice the emphasis in 3:13b “the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.”
• NIV “the fire will test the quality of each person's work.”
• It won’t be, “how many people come to church” but “are we impacting lives for Christ”? It’s not, “how big is your church” but “how spiritually mature are they”?
• If it is an evaluation done on that Day, then it must be something that is of worth and value in the light of eternity because everything earthly is worthless.
When you present your work to your boss, he says, “So let me see what you’ve got.” He wants to see our achievements.
• When we see our Lord on that day, he will say, “So let me see what you’ve left.”
• We ask, “Can our work stand the test of time?” Paul asks, “Can your work stand the test of fire.” Are they perishable or imperishable, temporal or lasting?
• Even giving a cup of cold water to someone in need is remembered. The Lord says in Matt 10:42 “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
BE REWARDED FOR WHAT REMAINS
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…
When our work is tested before God, we will be rewarded according to what remains.
• 2 Cor 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
• If nothing endures, then it means our works have been “wood, hay and straw”, nothing really valuable in the light of eternity.
• If we have been faithfully serving God and doing what He has entrusted to us, then it will be a day of reward and joy.
• We can hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt 25:23)
Paul was quick to add that he was not talking about their salvation.
• 3:15 “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
• Paul warns that the one who persists in his present course of worldly wisdom is in danger of losing everything, except his salvation.
• What a waste. He could have received praise and reward from the Lord but he lost that chance.
The Colosseum in Rome was completed in AD80. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built and part of it still stands today after 2000 years. It was built of limestone, volcanic rock, and concrete.
Many ancient buildings in Rome can still be seen today after thousands of years because they were constructed of stone and BUILT TO LAST.
The Romans wanted their greatness to be etched into human history. The buildings, palaces, monuments, columns and statues were constructed with great effort because they were intended to tell future generations how great the Romans were.
But that’s only on earth, and it will still pass away one day.
For us as builders in Christ, entrusted with the sacred work of building the Body of Christ, the church, we build to last too - for the glory of God and eternity.
• So let’s watch how we build. Stay humble, obedient and faithful.
• Invest in the works of God that can withstand, not just the test of time but the fire of God’s judgment, on the last day.
• May our works be found to be works of gold, silver and precious stones, eternally valuable in the eyes of God. LET US BUILT TO LAST and give glory to God!
PRAYER:
Help us serve you Lord with humility and godly wisdom. Let us work together as one Body, using the gifts and abilities you have given us, to build one another up, to love and encourage one another.
Give us the grace to build our faith upon the one foundation that matters, Jesus Christ. Let us anchor our lives upon the truth of your Word and let us be faithful and fruitful builders in Christ.
We pray this in your Name, AMEN.
You can hear the audio sermon with slides at https://youtu.be/cQwB20vXcyo
Feel free to visit earlier sermons on English Service Playlist at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService
