1 Corinthians 3

Chapter 3. The Ministry of the ChurchSo then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1)I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6)For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it (1 Corinthians 3:9-10)God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. (1 Corinthians 4:9)Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15)His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. (1 Corinthians 3:13)These various passages convey to us under a great variety of imageries a most complete and vivid picture of the Christian ministry. Speaking of the ministry we do not refer exclusively to the ordained ministry or the technical ecclesiastical office. God makes His ministers, and then the Church recognizes them and sets them apart; but man cannot make a preacher any more than he can make a convert. The Christian ministry, while it has divinely appointed varieties and offices, yet is open to every earnest soul who will receive the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit and use them in humility for the glory of God and the good of man. And as we use these gifts we reach a higher degree of efficiency, and a larger and more divinely equipped ministry. In what we shall say therefore we include all classes and degrees of Christian workers and witnesses for Christ, with special reference, of course, to those who are more fully set apart as ambassadors of Christ to men. They are described here by six striking figures: Ministers

1. The first figure is “ministers.” “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:1). Literally, the word might be translated the “sub-ministers.” There is a touch of humility about it that is beautifully in keeping with the spirit of Paul himself and of his great and lowly Master. The very name of Paul was adopted because it means “the little,” and his humility deepened in the ratio of his spiritual blessing. He wished to take the lowest place in the Christian ministry even as his blessed Master, who girt Himself with the towel of a servant and said to His disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Once, indeed, He struck a deeper chord when He said: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). The spirit of pride is bad enough in a private Christian. It is worst of all in a Christian minister. The very apostasy of the early Church came about through the competing claims of the rival bishops, patriarchs and popes, and the sectarianism of today is largely due to the partisanship which exalts men or leads men to exalt themselves to the dishonor of Jesus Christ. The minister who would be honored by his Lord must lie low at His feet, even as the bending stalks of the autumn grain tell of their rich and ladened ears of corn. Stewards
2. Next, Paul speaks of stewards of the mystery of God. The efficient steward is the housekeeper. To him were committed the treasures of his master, his wardrobe, his supplies and the management of his domestic affairs and often of his business. He was a trusted chief servant whose business was to take care of his lord’s estate and to dispense his hospitality to his guest and family. Such a steward was Eliezer, Abraham’s servant who took his master’s treasures and went forth to win for his son a bride. He attracted her confidence and love toward his noble master, first showing her and then bestowing upon her the rich treasures which he had brought. The ministry of Christ is appointed to dispense the richest treasures of God’s grace. To us are committed the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Paul tells us what some of these mysteries are. One of them was the glorious secret of Christ’s indwelling through the Holy Spirit. This was the mystery that had been hid from ages and generations, and was at last made manifest to the saints, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This glorious mystery the apostle longed to communicate to all the world, to tell them of the power and of a Presence that could be a substitute for all their weakness, failure and sorrow; that could sustain them amid all emergencies, distresses, temptations and conditions, giving them a charmed life and a talisman of power and victory, no matter what might come. Another was the mystery of the Church, the body of Christ, the wonderful fellowship, not of cultured society, political alliance or even family and kindred ties, but of a common life in Christ and a common love to one glorious Head, and all the glory to be revealed in that heavenly body and blessed bride. This was one of the glorious mysteries that he loved to proclaim. Another was the mystery of the kingdom, the coming of the Lord, the plan of the ages, the meaning of the times, the purpose of the dispensation, the secret of the last times, which so many have missed and which is so blessed to understand. Oh, that the ministry of today might better know and more faithfully impart to the household of faith the mystery of the kingdom and the treasures of the Father’s house. Then would we cease to sorrow over the wretched degeneracy of the modern pulpit and a large part of the modern Church. Then would men lose their taste for the silly sensation, the empty trivialities, the lengthy recreations which bear so often the very name of religion, and invade so frequently the sanctity of the pulpit and the very sanctuary of God. A day or two ago we had a report in one of the daily papers of the sermon of one of our greatest preachers, a sermon that probably has been circulated among hundreds of thousands of readers, and it was all about this much misused text, “Oh, wheel” (Ezekiel 10:13). He began at the spinning wheel, the factory wheel, the locomotive wheel, he wound up with the modern bicycle, and sent his people away extolling the glories of modern civilization and worshiping the wheel and the man that rode it. What a sad travesty of the Christian ministry! Happier is he who, like the wise expert builder, brings out of his treasures things both new and old, and, like the faithful and wise steward, waits on his Master’s household and gives them a portion of meat in due season, feeding them on living bread, and knowing and displaying the treasures on which angels gaze with longing wonder. Examples
3. Next, Paul points out that we are patterns and examples. “We have been made a spectacle,” he says, “to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). We stand, as it were, in an arena, and the galleries are filled with invisible beings. The world is looking at us, the angels are looking at us, the demons are watching us, the Lord Jesus Himself is surveying us and expecting us to do our duty. In every thought we think, every action we perform, every battle we lose or win, Christ is honored or dishonored. There is a devilish leer on the devil’s face and a shadow upon the face of Jesus when we do ill, but when a shout of victory comes from angel watchers, then the call, “Well done,” comes from our loving Lord. Perhaps this is the greatest work we do: to be gazed at, to be living examples of what we teach and preach. Paul recognized it, and how nobly, patiently and humbly he lived his life! He tells us modestly in this passage, he fought with others not to have the best place, but to be the greatest sufferer and the lowliest and most self-sacrificing of all. This is the silent testimony that every life is either recording or missing. This is the book that men will read whether they read our tracts or not; and this is the illustration of our teachings and testimonies, which adds 10 thousandfold to their force and effectiveness. Spiritual Fathers
4. Those in the ministry are spiritual fathers. So deeply sympathetic, intense and personal was the apostle’s ministry that he even imparted, as it were, his own very life to his children in the Lord. “In Christ Jesus,” he says, “I became your father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). What he meant was “I am more than your teacher, I am more than your example, I am more than the servant who waits upon you and the steward who feeds you. I am the very progenitor and medium through whom your life has been derived.” True ministry will not stop short of giving its very self, and God will give to us the power through the Holy Spirit to love and win and draw to Jesus the lost to whom He sends us with a soul-begetting power. If the Church is the Bride of the Lamb, her children are the fruit of this divine union, and when our hearts are filled with Christ’s great love we will find an outstretching longing and affection for sinful men which will really communicate to them the very life of God. Then they shall be to us even as our own life, and like Paul we shall bear them upon our hearts, suffering for their temptations, trials and even sins, and nourish and cherish them as we would our very children. The true minister is a real father. Falsely has the name been appropriated by a false ecclesiastical system, but nonetheless ought it to be true because the caricature and counterfeit has misused it. Husbandmen
5. Next Paul declares that we are husbandmen. The fine figure of the spiritual husbandly supplies many lessons for the true ministers of Christ. Of course, the soil must be prepared. No wise worker will throw the seed upon the barren rocks, but will seek, by watching and by prayer, the breaking up of the sods, the softening of the ground and the opportune season for casting in the precious seed. Then, of course, the seed is essential. All our plowing and harrowing and watering and culturing will be useless without the living truth. We cannot deceive or coax people into the religion of Jesus. We cannot mesmerize them into being Christians. There must be the real grain of truth. The wise worker will always give them the gospel, the clear statement of saving truth through Christ’s blood and righteousness and by simple faith in Him. Then there is watering as well as planting. The seed may not immediately germinate. It may require much prayer and care and many a tear before we will see it spring. The true husbandman will not forget the necessity of transplanting. Out in China and Japan it is beautiful to see the rice fields when they are first sown broadcast, and the plants spring up a perfect sea of green on the soft and watered plain. But that will never make a ripe harvest. Each of those plants must be separated and replanted quite a distance apart in regular rows, with room to develop. Then they grow into fruit-bearing rice plants. So our souls must be led on to the next stage, to the deeper life, to the second experience, to the full surrender and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. All Christian work that stops short of this will end in bitter disappointment. The apostle always expected his disciples to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to be sealed and stamped with the touch of God Himself, and thus armed against failing. Then every true minister will want his fruit to bear fruit in its turn, to go on unto reproduction and multiply his seed, sown again and again. Our fruit would be like ourselves. If we are soul-winners the souls we lead to Christ will be soul-winners, too. If we are easy and self-complacent they will be the same. It is glorious to propagate our work and multiply it a thousandfold in the lives of others. Once in a Scottish parish a criticizing elder had made the remark to his pastor at the close of a communion service, “Only one addition to the church, and he is only a boy.” The elder was disappointed and the pastor was deeply humiliated. That had been the whole result of three months’ work, apparently. That Sabbath night he was deeply affected, and pleaded with his people for a revival among them, and asked those who were interested and wished to talk with him to remain. When the meeting closed the congregation went out, including the elder, and when he stepped down from the platform to take the after-meeting there was only a boy waiting. It was the new member. The pastor prayed and then he talked with this boy. He found that he was a young Scottish lad who desired to be a missionary. This cheered him greatly, and gave him a kind of an outlook of something better. He encouraged him, and after a while the lad went to college and in due time was appointed a missionary to Africa. Very many years passed, but one day a distinguished and venerable missionary was being talked about all through the land. He was preaching in the most influential pulpits. He was speaking in great assemblies. He was dining at the tables of nobles and princes. He was consulting with the British potentate. He had been instrumental in adding half a continent to the British empire, and opening up South Africa to civilization and the gospel. It was Robert Moffat, the prince of missionaries. Before that season was over he had hastened to the Scottish parish, and clasped the hand of the minister who had wept one day because of the fact that there was just one new member and he was only a boy. The handful of grain upon the top of the mountain had grown to be a mighty forest that shook like Lebanon. God make us such spiritual husbandmen and give us such glorious harvests. Builders
6. Finally, Paul mentions that we are builders. He calls himself a wise masterbuilder. It is no small thing to be a wise builder. The wise builder will look well to the excavation. The first thing is not a stately house, but an ugly hole. Death must come before life, going down before going up. A true worker will not be afraid of thorough work and deep conviction. Then he will be careful about good foundations, great, solid, eternal truths, and deep and strong convictions. Not so much mere emotion as thorough purpose and will, full set and unreservedly decisive for God and righteousness and Jesus Christ in His atoning blood, His perfect righteousness and His finished work, the basis of faith and hope. Conversion that is founded on mere emotional excitement will be followed by backslidings as numerous and quick. It is the truth about Christ that saves. “Other foundation can no man lay than that which is lying there,” as the words literally mean, “which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11, author’s translation). It is not, however, the truth about Christ merely—it is the personal Christ, the receiving of Christ, the union of the soul with Christ, which is the real foundation and the living stone. Again, the wise masterbuilder will look out for his materials. He wants real transformations, souls radically regenerated, lives divinely transformed. Not the flesh but the spirit. Not the old nature pleased and coaxed into the Church by modern attractions, but hearts that have really felt the touch of God and belong to the spiritual kingdom. Not wood, hay and straw, but gold, silver and costly stones. Then the wise builder will be sure to see that the building is erected according to the drawings and the pattern shown. Alas, how much Christian work is not according to God’s plan! Men are building up a partisan cause trying to please the luxurious and selfish class, trying to fit into the tendencies and conceits of the people, trying to get the world converted, or, as a good many are doing now, believing it is not so badly wrong anyhow, and just swimming with the tide. God’s plan is very clearly laid down: to preach the gospel as a witness to all the nations, to gather out from the many the Bride of the Lamb, to haste and meet our coming Lord. But the builder’s work will be thoroughly tested. Our church reports and our lists of membership will soon pass away. Only that will remain which can stand the fire of testing day: “revealed with fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13). There are six kinds of work that shall be tried. Three are good. The gold represents that which is divine and comes from the Holy Spirit. The silver also represents that which is precious, and connected with redemption and the gospel. Precious stones probably represent the adornments of the Christian character, the beautiful graces of the Christian life, the qualities that will shine in the day when He makes up His jewels. All that we have done to build those materials into the Church of the living God will remain for our joy and eternal recompense. But, on the other hand, there is the wood, the best of the perishable materials; useful for much, but only temporary. It represents the transient work of the humanitarian or educational or social improvements which cannot pass into the eternal and spiritual. The hay represents a lower class. Hay is good to feed horses, and may represent that which is indirectly used to help God’s agencies, but is not an integral part of these great spiritual forces. There are many who help with God’s work without being a part of it and really in it. They are of some use here, and those that count upon them will get something from them; but they will drift away in the ashes of the last great hurricane. The stubble seems to represent the worn out, exhausted, withered wreckage of things that are dead and worthless. All these things will dissolve in the conflagration of His coming, and woe to him who will suffer the loss of all his lifework and who is to be saved as by fire. But happy is he who will not only stand the test himself but will have the souls that he has loved and led for his joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of Christ at His coming. Many years ago a bold adventurer entered into a contract to build a lighthouse at the extreme point of England’s storm-swept coast. When it was finished he dared the howling tempests to do their worst, and entering the lighthouse on the eve of a frightful storm he cried, “Blow, ye winds; rage, ye waves, and try my work.” When the morning dawned eager watchers from the shore looked out in vain for even a vestige of that work. The cruel waves were breaking over the wreck of his life and his labor, and all was lost. Long afterward a wise and humbler builder erected the Eddystone lighthouse. Fencing out the waves and digging deep down to the living rock, he anchored his foundations to the bedrock, and slowly and steadily built the dome, where he placed as the motto of his work this mightiest inscription, “Praise to God.” Many a storm has tested it, but it has stood them all, the monument of his genius as well as his humility. God grant that when the last storm shall sweep and the ashes of a dissolving world shall drift upon the hurricane of that tremendous day, watchers from yonder heavenly heights, as they look out upon the testing of our work, shall say, “Thank God, it stands!”