1 Cor No.6 Building for God p1

Starting at verse 10. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 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. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.

If it is burned up, then he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don't you know that you are yourselves God's temple, and that God lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Amen. And as we come to our portion of study for this morning, I remind you that we're looking at those verses, including and between the 10th and the 17th. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 10 to 17.

And just to link into what I was sharing with you last week by way of reminder and to set the context for those who are only with us this Sunday, let me inform you that the apostle has earlier in this chapter been referring to certain problems that there were in the church in Corinth. He refers from the first verse right down to the fourth verse of this third chapter with the pastors, the men who had been leading this particular church, Paul himself and also Apollos. And then he tells us a little bit about the congregational reaction to these men and how later on, not as a result of these men themselves vying for positions of authority, but simply because of the defects of human personality.

There were some who said, I'm an Apollos man. And some who said, I'm a Paul man. Some who went on to say, I'm a Peter man.

And then the real super spiritual element who said, I'm a Jesus man. And Paul said, no. It's not a question of being broken into groups.

You're all one in Christ, or you should be. And if you're not, then you're indicating that you're immature. And so he spells out from the fifth verse down to the ninth verse the illustration of a farm, of agriculture, of people working together on God's farm, so to speak, all having different things to do, but dependent upon the Lord of the harvest to make things grow and germinate and therefore for work to be profitable.

Now right to the end of the ninth verse, not only does he refer to the farm and agriculture and farm laboring, he also has a comment about God's building. And it's that that he latches on to when in the tenth verse through to the seventeenth verse he starts to speak to us about one of the most important, indeed the most important edifice in the world. And I refer to the Church of God called here from the fifteenth verse, or rather from the sixteenth verse, the Temple of God and elsewhere described in Corinthians as the Body of Christ.

You say, what is a Christian? Well, a Christian, my friend, is a person who's part of the Church of Jesus Christ. You see, the Church isn't a building. This is one of the hardest things to convince Protestants of.

The Reformation wasn't thorough enough. There is no such thing as a church in the form of a building. The Church is people.

The Church of Jesus Christ is the aggregate, the total number of Christians around the world. This morning you didn't come to church. You brought the church to the building.

When the tabernacle is empty, it is not a church. It is just a beautiful sanctuary, but it is no more than that. So if you're part of the Church, you're part of the building of God.

And that's what Paul is telling us from the tenth verse right through to the fifteenth verse. And he describes, if you like, work on a building site. There's a flurry of activity.

There are laborers. There are people who are engaged in doing a multitude of jobs. And the net objective is the completion of the building of the Church.

And later on from the sixteenth to the seventeenth verses, comment is as to the identity of this building. Not only is it referred to as a building itself, it is described as a temple, a special temple, because it has a special guest to whom reference will be made in a moment or so. Well then, if you want to know what Paul is referring to in these verses, I've just spelled it out for you.

We're thinking in terms of God's building. Putting the building up. Aye, that summarizes the tenth to the fifteenth verse and its content.

Putting the building up. And from the sixteenth and seventeenth verses, using the building well. All right, putting the building up.

On the human level, if you're engaged in building, then what is necessary? Three things. First of all, a foundation. And secondly, on top of that foundation, there is a superstructure.

And thirdly, you're concerned that someone from the town hall authorities will come along and inspect what has happened and tell you whether you've got a building that's suitable to be sold for people to live in. So there are three ideas that are basic to a building site. Foundation, superstructure, and inspection.

And that's exactly the case in putting the building of God up in this world, the church of Jesus Christ. It has, says Paul, a foundation. And he makes reference to that word on three occasions, on consecutive verses from the tenth and following.

What sort of foundation is this, Paul, we ask? Well, it's a foundation which has as its basis the Lord Jesus Christ. Later on, when he writes to the Ephesians, he makes the point very clear. When at the end of the second chapter of that letter, he tells us that we are God's people.

This is Ephesians 2.19. We're God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. The basis on which the church is built is Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation that can take the weight.

The whole thing would collapse if it wasn't for putting Jesus in, so to speak, as a foundation. That's why the apostle in the second chapter most passionately argues for the fact that the main emphasis of his preaching is the gospel of Christ. I came to you not with the words of men's wisdom.

I came to you with a faltering tongue, stripped of all eloquence. But when I came, I preached to you Christ and him crucified. There is no other foundation.

You can't build a church without Christ. This is vital for the construction of the temple of the living God. So the apostle makes it so clear in this tenth verse and following.

I laid a foundation as an expert builder. Verse 11. No one can lay any other foundation than the one already laid.

And then verse 12. If any man builds on this foundation. What is the tabernacle, my friend? It's a group of people who come together to worship God.

And our community is built like every other Christian gathering on Jesus Christ. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

All right then. Here is the apostle talking about putting the building up. It requires a foundation.

That foundation is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's a solid foundation. It can bear a superstructure.

That is what is placed on top of the base. And it's to that that he starts to make reference as he develops his theme. He tells us that the material, the people involved, are human agencies.

This comes out particularly clearly in a similar passage of Scripture. I refer to 2 Peter and chapter 2. Or rather, 1 Peter and chapter 2. Where in the fourth verse we're told of the foundation who is Jesus Christ. The foundation of the church.

And then we're also told about our particular ministry within the church. You come to him, says the fisherman. 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 2 and verse 4. You come to him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him.

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. Not only are we the laborers, we're also, so to speak, the material.

Again, the point becomes obvious. We are those who are built into the church of Jesus Christ. And as we proclaim the gospel, so others too become members of the building.

The apostle makes it once more very plain to us. He says in gospel proclamation, look at verse 10. I laid a foundation as an expert builder.

As a master craftsman, I think the A.V. gives it to us. As a wise master builder, rather, the A.V. Here is the apostle and he's describing his ministry as he wants to build other people into the church. He's not just an ordinary laborer.

He's an architect. That's what the Greek word means. He's a skilled evangelist.

He's a skilled craftsman. And that, it seems to me, separates the Christian community. Because there are those who labor in a very crude way and perhaps don't work as much as they should.

But there are others on the building site. They're expert builders. They know what they're about.

They recognize the basic element of gospel proclamation as being vital to the placing of a superstructure that's tall and strong, built onto the foundation. And if God wants us to be anything here in the tab, I believe it's not just for us to be ordinary laborers. Expert builders.

With concern to preach the gospel, to go for the main thing. And in so doing, we offer our Lord good quality material that can be built into the superstructure that's being erected. Look at the materials to which reference is made in the twelfth verse.

If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is. Here are two lots of ingredients, if you like. Two piles of basic material that could be used in construction.

Let's take the latter. This is what the peasant in Palestine would use for the building of his home. He'd take some wood.

He'd take some hay. He'd mix the hay with some mud, and he'd put up the walls. He'd put straw thatch on as a roof, and the wood, well, that would serve for the door and for the window.

There's no element of permanency about it. It's just a home. It's not substantial.

It won't last for a long time, but it'll do its job. Ah, but that's not the way they built the temple. You see, the temple was going to last.

They didn't take wood and straw and stubble for Solomon's temple. They took all the best materials that there were, and they made an edifice which became the wonder of the world. They built for permanence.

So, the temple of Jesus Christ. So, the church of God. So, the laborers on this building site, they're concerned for quality material.

Have you ever read some of the car adverts? You know why you buy a Volvo? Well, don't ask my family doctor, because he's not very happy about Volvos at the moment. But they tell me that a Volvo is built to last. So, when you read the adverts for British cars, the idea is that they don't last, and the Swedish lot, they do.

Building for permanence. I'm not sure that that advert is right, but I understand what they're trying to say. And I use the illustration to make the point that Paul makes here.

We're building for Jesus Christ, and we're using not wood, not hay, not straw. We're building for permanence. We're building for eternity.

So, let that superstructure do justice to its foundation. As you live for Him. As you work for Him.

As you invest for Him. Take the best that you've got, and use it to build up the church of Jesus. The foundation.

The superstructure. But what about the inspection? Because if you put up a block of flats in Worthing, Erlang, they'll come from the town hall, and they'll check what you're doing. As they check the extension of our coffee house here.

The inspector will come along. He has to. It's part of the regulations that govern local authorities.

And as far as building for God is concerned, there's going to be an inspection of the work that you've been doing. That will show whether you were just an ordinary laborer or an expert builder. That will determine whether you used wood, hay, or straw, or gold, silver, or costly stones.

Listen again to the apostle in the thirteenth verse. His work, the work of the Christian, will be shown for what it is. Because the day will bring it to light.

What day? What's Paul referring to? Well, very often in scripture, you come across the word day, and it should always have, in this context, a capital D. As it does in the NIV in this verse. It's referring to the last day. It's referring to the day when our Lord Jesus Christ shall return.

Listen to Acts chapter 2 and verse 20. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. In the gospel of Matthew, at the end of the seventh chapter, where our Lord has been preaching what we call the Sermon on the Mount, further reference is made to this particular day.

Matthew 7 and verse 21 and 22. Not everyone, says Jesus, who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me, on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.

Away from me, you evildoers. What's our Lord referring to? He's referring to the time when he shall return again to this world. When he shall come to judge men and women and assess the work that Christians have been engaged in as they have labored for him.

Listen again to Matthew and chapter 24. Once more, it's our Lord who's speaking. The 42nd verse, he's warning us of the fact that he will return to this world.

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. And if you drop down to the 46th verse, here's a piece of timely advice. It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

I got several more scriptures I wanted to cite to illustrate the point that Paul here is underlining. The day of inspection is coming. The Lord Jesus Christ shall return.

You see, this is what was bothering the apostle. It's what was worrying him about the Corinthians. He feels that when Jesus came, if they remained in the condition that they're in when Paul writes to them, he'd be embarrassed.

Because their building site is so full of squabble. The quality of the material that's being used is inadequate. So right at the beginning of the letter, Paul tries to make a corrective.

He commits them to Jesus. And in the 8th verse of the opening chapter, in faith he affirms, he will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Back to the third chapter, here is Paul.

He's spoken about the foundation on which the church is built. He's encouraged them concerning the superstructure. And he says that Jesus is coming back again.

He's going to assess what people have been doing. This has got nothing to do with salvation, my friend. These were Christians that Paul is addressing in Corinthians.

They trusted Jesus as Savior. They can never lose that salvation. Not at all.

But when the Lord comes, he comes to judge what we have done for him. In terms of our service. In terms of rendering help in the advance of the gospel.

He'll test your work. And Paul uses the element of fire to illustrate the point. The day will bring it to light.

The day will expose it. All your work will be tested with fire. Look, take some stubble.

Take some hay. Take some gold. Take some silver.

Imagine a bonfire. The heat is intense. Throw the lot into the fire and let it burn.

And wait until the fire has died down. And then go to the center. No more fire.

No more wood. No more stubble. No more hay.

But the gold is there. The silver is there. It's tested by fire.

It's durable. It lasts. So says the apostle, what you do for Jesus Christ is going to be tested.

Work on the building site. He will come back, the great architect, and see what you have been about. The apostle makes it very clear.

He will receive his reward. That is the faithful laborer. The faithful master builder.

He will receive his reward from whom? From Jesus Christ. John says on the Isle of Patmos, speaking for Jesus, Behold, I come quickly, and my reward I bring with me. Don't be under any illusion, my friend, that because you're a Christian, you're never going to be judged.

You will. You'll not be judged on the basis of your salvation. There was nothing that you could contribute towards that.

He did it all. But you are going to be judged on the basis of your activity on the building site. What did you do for him? Building for Jesus.

Did you give him what someone has crudely called the fag ends of your time? Or did you invest as much time as you could in his service? What about the way that you used your money? Because that's part of what he has given you. Not to allow to flitter through your fingers. But to be invested properly for him.

Some of us put far more expertise into handling a mortgage on a house that we're buying than what we do in the way that we handle money in the name of Jesus. You'd have to be a fool for the amount that the inland revenue claw back from your salary. Not to claim the relief on your mortgage.

But many people give pounds to the work of God which her gracious majesty allows the government to give the tax back on it to the church so it can be used in the service of the king of kings. And some of us are so slovenly we don't bother taking up the privilege that the British government makes available to us. More expertise in the handling of things which we call our own, our homes than the way that we handle what we've put aside for the Lord.

More time invested in watching Coronation Street and the rest of what's put out in the name of entertainment than gathering together for that holy art of intercessory prayer which is the cement that builds into the church of Jesus Christ those new converts who need to be followed through with our prayers. How many of you parents want all the people here to pray for your children, and rightly so. And you're not with us when we're praying for them.

Oh, the absurdity, my friend, of spending time and finance in legitimate occupations that have only a temporary value when there are other things in which we're engaged in building for time and for eternity. The fire is coming. Jesus will test all our work, all that we're doing and only the gold, only the silver, only the precious stones of our service shall remain.

I haven't time to go on to the second part of what I want to say. That can keep till next week. But the burden's heavy on my heart this morning.

We've got a foundation that's the best in the world. It's the gospel of the Christ. It's the thought of Jesus dying on that cross.

It's the foundation. There's nothing else that's important. Forget your denominational squabbles.

Forget your personality cults. Those are all the way in which Satan has brought dissension and disunity into the church of Jesus Christ. Because, you see, when you squabble on the building site, the work doesn't go on properly.

Check British Leyland this week. Not that I've got it in for British Leyland. But this new car that they brought out, already a strike, already quarrels, already squabbling.

Don't criticize them. It's an illustration of the church. We haven't just got a new model car.

We've got a gospel, a foundation, a superstructure in which we have the privilege of building, of proclaiming the gospel of Christ to everybody. When they built the temple in the Old Testament times, that temple that was raised in Solomon's day, all the Hebrews were involved, and they used the best material. And that's what God wants of us as we promote the gospel of Christ.

Master builders with expertise, using all that we have in His service, which will ultimately be a memorial unto us in eternity, as much as the lady who brought homage to Christ and washed His feet before His death was informed that her act would last throughout eternity. God wants master builders on the building site of this world. May we be among the number.

Amen. 516. Christ is made the sure foundation.

Christ the head and cornerstone. Christ is made the sure foundation. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire. Lord, deliver us from being those who, like Lot, were saved by the skin of their teeth.

By fire. Nothing to offer. A wasted life.

Nothing built on the foundation. Good God, deliver us from that, we pray. And help us to work out, in terms of our own talents and capacities and resources, what is that gold and that silver and those precious gems which we can give to you, which in turn brings investment, interest, at a phenomenal rate, in the bank of heaven.

Lord, help us to evaluate correctly what is of worth and what is valueless. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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