Use The Best To Stand The Test

Use the best to stand the test

Some time ago, I saw a question which read, “What on earth are you doing for Heaven’s sake?” That question could be taken any number of ways. I definitely wish more preachers had used this text so as to remind us that our deeds are important, and that this life is the only chance we have to do something for the Lord Jesus Christ. It would have made a difference in my life.

Our text is taken from 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, beginning with verse 1, from the New American Standard version of the Bible:

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. 10 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. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Introduction

Paul’s visit to Corinth is in Acts, chapter 18. Luke tells us Paul found a synagogue of the Jews and preached Jesus to them. Crispus and Sosthenes, both leaders of the synagogue, became believers in Jesus! Paul was now in another location (perhaps Ephesus) and wrote several letters to the Corinthian believers. First Corinthians was probably written 3-5 years after Paul left there.

The image of a child, not growing

One would think that this would have been plenty of time for these believers to have grown in the Christian faith but that apparently wasn’t the case. In chapter 1, Paul tells them one of the problems they were facing, namely, that these Corinthians were divided. Some were following Paul, others Apollos, still others Cephas or Simon Peter, and there were even some who claimed to be following “Christ”! We don’t have all the information but when believers are divided, it’s hard to accomplish much of anything. Certainly it would be difficult to grow.

And just as our own children grow, their appetites grow. As they get older, they come to need more than just milk and soft stuff like baby food: they one day become ready for the solid food. It’s normal, it’s natural, and it’s part of growing up for children as they head towards adulthood.

But that wasn’t the case for many believers in Corinth, as Paul stated in the first few verses of this chapter. He said that he couldn’t speak to them as mature believers, but as babies in Christ. If a child hasn’t grown at least somewhat, normally speaking, in two or three years, something is probably wrong. At Corinth, something was definitely wrong: they had not grown, in the faith, in several years, and that was not good at all.

The image of leaders, not competing

Besides the problem of not growing in the faith, these believers were apparently focusing on the differences between or among the “founders” or leaders. Paul was clearly one of the most educated men of all time, and yet, there seemed to be some obstacles. Paul would later write to these same Corinthians, of himself, “For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible. (2Cor 10:10)’”.