"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."
I Corinthians 3:10-17
Good Morning Beloved,
Welcome to worship today!
We're so glad your here.
Today's Message: Build With Care
First, let's bow our heads in prayers.
Heavenly and gracious Father,
We thank You for Your Word for us today.
Father, we thank You for those whom You have gathered together with us today
we are so thankful for each one of them. Help us to reflect upon this very important portion of Your Word, commit it to our hearts and bind it. Remind us of that which we should do for Your sake, for Christs' sake. Give us Your sweet Spirit of humility and of love, that we might love others, even those we disagree with n unity.
May it all be for Your glory!
In Jesus' name
Amen
So, Paul is continuing trying to help the divided Corinthian church by giving yet another answer to one of their problems. In this portion of his letter Paul adds to what he had just told the believers when he said, “You are God’s building.” There were some troublemakers in the church that were set on destroying the church. They were endangering their eternal destiny and Paul needed to make them realize it. So let’s listen as Paul describes the building of the church.
Open your Bibles with me to I Corinthians, as we continue our study of the apostle Paul's epistle to the church in Corinth, we come to a very rich, important part of the passage in verses 10 through 17.
Paul is saying here, there is coming a time when all the works of all believers, particularly those who preach and teach, will be subject to a test by fire to determine whether they are worthy of reward. This truth was one of the greatest motivating truths for Paul and his ministry, Jesus is coming back
and when He does, He's bringing His reward with Him.
Allow me to read to you to get this very important portion of Scripture settled in our hearts and minds, as you follow along in
I Corinthians 3:10-17.
"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 man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 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. If any man’s work which he has built on 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, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 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."
Paul wanted to prepare himself for this glorious day. As he later states in I Corinthians chapter 9:24,
"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." Beloved, this is very important subject in the life of every believer, in order that they may prepare for themselves for that coming time.
Here is verse 10, Paul says "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." Paul is the one who planned the church at Corinth. He laid the foundation. And he said it was all by the grace of God. It was God who enabled, empowered, and equipped him to do the job.
What's Paul telling us? Paul is teaching us, that was just the instrument through which God built the church. I'd like to point out here, that Paul wasn’t talking about a physical building. He was talking about a church of people. God gave him the ability to reach people for Jesus Christ and to assemble them together. The location of where they met was irrelevant, it was insignificant, the location didn’t matter. However, what did matter, was that they were one in their trust in the Lord, their belief, worship of God, and their purpose and mission to reach their neighbors and the world with the message of God’s great love. Paul said he was an expert builder. Paul knew what God had called him to do, and that to plan and establish churches all over the world, and so he did. And he did it as an expert.
Then Paul goes on to say, that others built upon his work in Corinth. When Paul left Corinth, God raised up others to minister, to teach, to lead and to carry on the ministry. God calls the master builders still today, someone to surrender himself to God and go forth for God. That’s how churches are started. I believe, that this process needs to continue, because two thousands of years later, people still need to be reached.
Our warning here is to let every believer be careful how he builds upon the foundation of the church. The foundation of the church has been laid. It is now to be built upon but we must make sure we are careful in how we build upon it.
In verse 11, he tells us, "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
This is very important, because Paul is teaching us, that there is only one foundation of any church and that foundation is Jesus Christ. All other foundations are sinking sand. They can’t stand against the storms of life. What does it mean to say that Christ is the only foundation? It means that Christ Himself, His person, is the only foundation upon which men can build their lives. It means that the teaching or doctrine of Christ is the only foundation upon which men can build their lives. It means that Jesus Christ is the only foundation upon which men can build a true church.
And here is verse 12, Paul is teaching us that the structure of the church can be built out of two possible materials: either permanent or perishable materials. Though there may only be one foundation but there are many different kinds of materials within the market of the world.
There are the permanent and valuable materials, the materials that aren’t corruptible, materials that do not deteriorate, they don't decay. Scripture says they can be compared to gold, silver, and costly stones. What could be the more permanent materials when building a church body?
They are the fruit of the Spirit, the spiritual qualities that last beyond this life.
They are the things which are to be added to our faith—the lasting things that are so desperately needed by the church, and they are the things that the believer is to use in building the church.
They are the souls and lives of men, women, children, who become living stones in the church.
Then Paul tells us that there are the perishable and combustible materials like things that rust, decay, and deteriorate. What are these referring to? They could be the treasures, wealth, and cares of this world. They are the works of the flesh, the acts of the sinful nature. They are the false teachings that are always dangerously floating around believers and the church.
Verses 13 through 15, is speaking of the day of inspection. The building of the church will be inspected. The day of inspection is sure to come. The building was started in order to be finished. When it’s finished, the inspector, Jesus Christ, will come to either approve or disapprove it. Every man’s work, the work of every believer, will be manifested and declared. Every believer will stand before the Lord and have his works revealed and tested by the Lord. This is in reference to the judgment seat of Christ.
We are told they will be tested with fire. Fire, in the Bible, is a symbol of judgment and trial. Fire, is a sign of purification. Therefore, the building is to be set on fire and only the permanent, lasting materials of the Spirit will survive. For believer whose works survive testing, there will be a great reward, so great, in fact, that it transcends the human mind.
So, what are some of the rewards? Here are a few of them:
We are adopted as children of God.
We are made blameless and pure.
We obtain the crown of Life.
Eternal rest and peace.
We receive a glorified body.
And, if that's not enough, we also receive the gift Eternal life.
Given the value of knowing Christ Jesus.
We receive the Kingdom of God.
We are given a position of rule, of authority and placed in charge of many things.
We become an heir of God.
We receive an incorruptible inheritance.
Enduring wealth and prosperity.
Treasures of heaven.
Talk about rewards! That's all coming to those of us in Christ whose works with stand the Test of Purification. It is any wonder why Paul tells us in Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"
However, in contrast to that, the believer whose works perish in the fire will suffer loss. He will still be saved, but he will suffer the loss of reward.
Now the building is identified. It is God’s temple, the church. This verse is sometimes applied to the individual believer as God’s temple, indwelt by God’s Spirit. But this particular verse doesn’t apply to the individual believer.
Within the context of this verse, it is the church as a whole that is called the temple of God. The Greek language clears this up a little. The word "temple" in this verse, in the original Greek, is singular, but the word "you" is plural. So it is literally saying, "You —all the Corinthian believers— are the temple and sanctuary of God in who the Spirit of God dwells." The stress is upon the presence of God. God dwells among all the believers of the church, His Spirit lives in the church no matter where they meet. The church, the body of believers, is the sanctuary for God’s presence.
This is critically important. If the body of believers as a church is the holy temple of God as Paul is saying, then the Corinthian church was being defiled by some. Some were grumbling, creating discourse, misbehaving, and being divisive. They were in danger of the severest judgment. They needed to hear, to learn and fear, for they were defiling the very temple of God!
In verse 17, Paul tells us, "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." Beloved, dividing and destroying the church is serious business! So serious, that the person who defiles or destroys the church will face terrible judgment. From the Greek interpretation, the root word for "destroy" and "defile" is the same. That means that the person who troubles the church will suffer the same kind of trouble himself.
And doesn't Galatians 6:7 warn us of such things, when it says, "Don't be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap."
In Closing....
Beloved, trouble making destroys the spirit of unity and love within the church. To corrupt and destroy the church is to invite God to corrupt and destroy the troublemaker. Churches today, often get in a turmoil over what to do with people who continually stir up or try to stir up a church body. Let me assure of this, we don’t have to do a thing. God will take care of them! And, haven't we already seen that first-hand?
The church can be destroyed in at least two ways:
Troublemakers can make it utterly impossible for the Spirit to work within the church. Grumbling, griping, complaining, quarreling, arguing, will all destroy the spiritual fellowship of the church.
Troublemakers can divide the church. They are assertive, so opinionated. Their opinions spill over in the way they talk and act. You can literally feel it. And, that attitude spills over into the good of the church body and spoils it and the church begins to disintegrate.
The Spirit of God alone is what brings about a spiritual fellowship. Only as church members fellowship with the Spirit of God can they be drawn and bound together in a spirit of unity and oneness and love. If a person is disconnected from God, there is no way that person can contribute to the well being of the church. In fact, they are detrimental to the church.
This self-serving, egotistical, inflated opinion, self-absorbed, self-centered, selfish, worldly-minded group of people was what was dividing the church at Corinth. I'm here to tell you, thousands of years later, this same group can still exist in our churches today.
Beloved, we are all in the church to work, to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and do His will, serving others. To preach the Word, in truth, study the Word, and make disciples of others. Contrary to modern popular belief, we are not here to create social gatherings and events or parties.
I encourage everyone under the sound of my voice, to heed Paul’s warning today:
"Don't be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap."
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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