Building, burning & remaining

We're going to go into this passage here straight away and what we're going to do is we're going to start with kind of a lesson that looks at last week's passage briefly and then steps into this week's passage. So we'll start with the first nine verses that precede the verses that Wayne just read for us.

Going back on what we've been looking at for some weeks here, the believers in Corinth are divided by following various human leaders and teachers. And the pattern in Corinth was for those who are more well-to-do to try to buy a following. They would buy a following by contributing large amounts to some public effort or public structure. They would look for people to follow their fancy oratory. And in doing so, try to climb a social ladder that they had there. The social ladder was, of course, something of the world and not something that was to be in the church at all.

Now, in this passage here in the first nine verses, chapter 3, Paul told them that they are all God's people, that you're not Paul's people and Peter's people and Apollo's people, you're all God's people. Those who are doing any good at all here among the body are just God's workers in God's field.

That's what he was trying to get across to them in this passage that preceded this here. Next, and this is the one that we're looking at here this morning, verses 10 through 15, he tells how God's workers are rewarded. That's what this whole message is about here. And so in doing so, at the very end of verse 9, he switches from an illustration of a field, and God's workers in the field, to an illustration of a building, and the church is that building that is the body of Christ. It is as if we here this morning, gathered together, are a building in process, a building under construction. That's the illustration that he's using with them here. It's a building analogy from this point on in the passage that Wayne read for us.

His reason for doing so, for setting things up the way he did in this passage, is to tell them how God's workers are rewarded to show that all believers, including those who teach and those who lead, but all believers are stewards. That is, we have a stewardship.

We're not the big wigs, so to speak. We're not the brass. But rather stewards by His grace, and He emphasizes by His grace, and under God's authority, to God's glory. Not to the glory of any human being. None of us is at the top of any supposed spiritual ladder. There isn't any such ladder. It's invisible. That's why in the picture the person has no rungs to climb on. God is the one who graciously gives us the opportunities and resources for our ministries. God is the one who graciously gives us the opportunities and resources for our ministries.

He starts off in 3.10 with a very important pair of words. They're not exactly together, but they're in the same sentence. This word pair that we have is grace...given. It's found 11 times in the New Testament, that is in that form where grace and given are typically not together, and they're found only in Paul's letters. He uses them repeatedly, and this is one of those instances.

You have on the left side of this slide on your first page there the list of the passages, including in bold here on the front, 310 being one of those places, one of those 11 places. In most cases, when you look at the context of each one of those, feel free to look them up, the word pair refers to a ministry within the body of Christ. Grace given is a ministry within the body of Christ. Now, you might kind of puzzle at that, thinking grace given is a ministry?

Yes. Grace is a really big word, not just big on the screen, but it's a big word in definition. Grace means so many things. As a matter of fact, if you have not concluded that grace is amazing, you don't understand it yet. Grace is indeed amazing grace. Grace was a word that among the Greek pagans was used for a favor that was done, say, for a friend or a relative.

That was how it was used. It was also used, I'll add to this, as an expression of greeting. In other words, we'd say hello or good morning or something like that. The Greek-speaking peoples would greet one another with grace, keres. And so that would be how they would say hello.

But grace was adopted and adapted by the Christians. they greatly expanded its meaning. They put more meaning and depth, as a matter of fact, infinite depth of meaning into that word grace, so that the word became to hold a much, much larger meaning than it was understood as in the common Greek-speaking culture. God's grace is even to those who do not begin as friends.

As Paul put it in Romans 5.8, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Unlike with the Greek pagan culture, the non-Christian culture, where you did a favor with no expectation of return for friends. No, this was different. Here is a favor God did for us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.

He goes on in verse 10, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. He's kind of a combination, the chief architect as well as the contractor. Paul is contrasting here the idea of wisdom. There's the worldly wisdom that many of these Corinthian believers are trying to build a following with, having some worldly wisdom here. And then there's godly wisdom.

He's making a contrast, he says the reward between the two is vastly different, greatly different. They're not the same at all. They're not even to be compared. And he says, let me tell you how different they are. Let me tell you how great a contrast there is between God's wisdom and the world's wisdom. In this passage, he puts that wisdom into designing and building, picturing the church body as under construction. As under construction.

Now, a lot of you may feel comfortable with that description. You feel like, well, yeah, I'm under construction. Okay? And that's just fine. That's exactly the picture he's using here. The church body is something under construction. The Lord's not done with us yet, unless the Lord decides to take us home before the service is over. Okay? The Lord is not done with us yet. He's still having us under construction until that moment.

The church, as he's going to tell them one verse after this passage, is in fact the temple of the Holy Spirit. I'm glad we have a building. This is a great physical building and it's a tremendous convenience for us to be able to meet together like this. But this isn't the temple. You're the temple. The church, the body of Christ, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The foundation that Paul laid was Christ, and as he told them before, Christ and Him crucified.

That foundation isn't something optional or it would be even desirable. It's not an incidental item. It's absolutely necessary. It's an essential. He laid the foundation. And another is building on it. Paul's writing a letter to the people at Corinth, to the believers there. Why? He's not there. Somebody else, however, is working on building up the body of Christ there, at least by the name of Apollos and perhaps others. Another is building on it, using this building illustration again.

Paul had come to Corinth. He had established the only foundation for the church that was possible, the one that he told them about previously, Christ crucified. It's that simple. That's the only foundation upon which the church can be built. Now that Apollos, he was the Apollos mentioned in the book of Acts, and others are building on that foundation, he says they should be careful, careful. What do we mean by that? Every one of us in the body of Christ has a place of ministry. That ministry is one or more areas. And that ministry can take all sorts of different forms. It may even change during the course of our life.

One of the things that was shared as we gathered together with Bertha this last Sunday, and by the way, you can pray for her. She's in a rehab situation there in the hospital. But one of the things we're thankful for is Bertha prayed for us. That's a different ministry that she's had at a different time in her life. And I think that's something else to consider.

The Lord will have us with different ministries at different times of our lives. If you've got small kids, moms, if you've got small kids, my guess is that that's probably as much ministry as you can likely handle. Maybe not much more. They demand a lot and they ought to have it. There are lots of different ministries that we have in time. The Lord's had me in different ministries. The Lord will have you in different ministries. And that's fine. Sometimes we may have a lot to do, sometimes not as much. But the Lord has a ministry for us all by His grace.

Now, what he's talking about here is the quality of the material that you build with matters. And let me just give you a simple definition. The quality of materials matters because the definition of quality is Christ. The definition of quality is Christ. It is his life in and through us that is exactly the quality that he wants. That's it. It's that simple. So how does one be careful, to use Paul's term here? Careful is not the same as fearful. Not the same at all. Careful is not the same as fearful. Being careful, but not being fearful. Paul is making a spiritual analogy.

He wanted people to be careful to build up the body of Christ with the kind of ministry that would last, not building ivory towers for one person or the next, not building up this or that person's name, but building up the body of Christ in the name of Christ.

That is exactly what he was looking for, a ministry that has a character that is lasting. When we invest time in ministries that the Lord has given us, they have eternal import and consequences. And that's wonderful. That is a wonderful thing. Ministry among ourselves, and I put this in blue font just to draw attention, ministry among ourselves that is done with the intent to glorify Christ and is done by faith in and dependence upon Christ is the kind of ministry that is of enduring value on into eternity. You want to do something that lasts forever? Do it in the Lord's strength. You want to do something that has impact for eternity that never ends in its benefit, do it in His strength. The works that He's prepared by His strength.

Only Christ is this point here in verse 11. Nobody can build up the body of Christ apart from Christ Himself and Him crucified. The one foundation. People can do all sorts of things. We might even say, hey, this or that's impressive. There might be different things that are impressive, but in the end, nobody can build up the body of Christ apart from Christ crucified. Everything else is guise. Everything else is only appearance. Only in Christ can the body of Christ be built up. Christ and him crucified.

The world's best wisdom won't substitute for God's wisdom expressed in and through Christ. It's critical that believers discern, and that's what Paul was trying to get them to see, between what God intends and desires for the body of Christ and that which only appears to be successful and satisfying to the world or to self. Believers, as Paul is exhorting the believers here to do, believers need to discern the difference between God's wisdom and what God has in mind and what looks impressive to the world. The world may be impressed with phenomenal buildings and great incomes and super programs, but it is only in Christ that people are truly built up. It is only in Christ and by Christ that things are such that He is glorified. We're not here to put on a show. Oh, I'm not saying that there aren't some things we look at and say, that was really neat, but we're not here to put on a show ultimately.

We're not here to teach people prosperity doctrine. You can't out-give God and things like that. We're not here to play games with God or anybody else. So that's not happening. We're not here to fool around. We're not here to play games with God or each other.

Oh, go ahead and play games, but that's not our purpose here. We're not here to water down the Word of God. Some churches have decided, oh, well, we need to water down the Word of God so that it makes it more palatable for everyone. That's not our purpose. That's not our point. That's not what we're here for. That will not build up the body of Christ any more than watering down the soup or throwing more rocks in it will help us grow and have strength.

He comes on in verse 12 with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. And what he's talking about here is a day when we will stand before the Lord. And you know, as I was studying through this thing, I became increasingly excited for that day when we'll stand before the Lord. That is a phenomenal day for us to ponder. A day when we'll stand before the Lord.

And you know, It will be initially a day of judgment, but I think it's very important we make this distinction. It will be a judgment of evaluation for rewards if you're a believer. The unbeliever will have a judgment of condemnation. For you, it's a day of judgment of evaluation of rewards.

As we'll make clear later here, Jesus Christ is motivated to reward you to the maximum. He wants you to be rewarded to the ultimate, to the maximum possible. That is how He is motivated. That is what He desires for you. On that day, He wants to reward you in full. Isn't that neat? He wants to reward you in full. That is how He is motivated. right now up to that very day. That's what he desires for you. He wants to reward you to the max.

Paul uses a pair of threes here and he draws from the pictures of the day. Here is the temple in Jerusalem which by the way was under construction from 20 BC up until the time he was writing this letter and then still for another almost a decade. And that building had gold, and in fact you see some of the gold in the picture, and silver, and precious stones, which would include not only precious smaller stones, but even just the large stones that were in it. Some of the stones in the temple structure that the apostles made note of to Jesus were as many as 50 tons, and that cost a little bit of money.

And then wood, hay, and straw. Why would he say the hay and straw? Well, in the bricks that the Jews built, for example, that they put together for the Egyptians, remember they had hay and straw that they put in the bricks. It was kind of a low-quality construction item. but something you could get. And one of the difficulties is if there was any moisture, there was a tendency for the hay and straw, which over time would decay to break down and then the mud would just be subject to the elements then and come apart. So the wood, hay, and straw was looked at as a possible choice, but a low quality, not so long lasting item.

So in the same way that a designer or builder can choose various materials, and a critical aspect of the quality of that material is how well it endures, the first three endure, the last three do not, so we believers choose what we build with among us here in the body of Christ. These gold, silver, and precious stones represent building in the body of Christ with what is enduring and of value. Wood, hay, and straw will have a more temporary nature. It just won't last.

It is possible for us to be malnourished as believers. We do not want to do that. It is possible for us to feed the church in such a way that the church is split. Ever heard of a church split? An illustration to make the point here. We want to feed this church in such a way that the church is built up biblically with what God intends. We want to feed the church in such a way that the church has things that are of enduring value, a value that are rewardable for eternity.

Certainly, as human beings, we have days that come and go, and there are certainly a great many things that take place in them. Our time, however, here is temporary. Our time here, even the great days pass, and thankfully, even the more difficult days pass too. But our time here, it's going to be over at some point.

But there will be a day, that day, that will be more important than all these days put together. It will be that day when we go to see Christ the Lord. So I always said, when we see Him face-to-face, I'm looking forward to the day when faith will end.

Now before you hang me as a heretic, I'm looking forward to the day when faith will end. Why? Because rather than seeing Christ by faith, I will see Him face-to-face. And every believer here this morning will do the same. We will see Him face-to-face. I'm looking forward to that day when faith will end. and love will remain.

Isn't that a wonderful thought? And on that day, that day when we go to see the Lord, this evaluation for reward, again, not evaluation for condemnation, evaluation for reward will take place. It will determine our capacity to glorify Him for eternity. It's possible, of course, to have days here on planet Earth that seem pivotal and valuable, and certainly there are days that are of big import. There's no question about it. There are days that we should remember, even though there are some days we might wish to forget.

But only the days here that are lived for that day, when we go to see Him, will ultimately be of eternal value. We as believers should be living this day for that day. And when tomorrow comes, if the Lord grants it, that day for that ultimate day. That day when we go to see Him face to face. Would that we would live this day for that day. That day when we see Him. When we see our Lord.

So what's the Lord looking for? Verse 13 begins to address this. Paul is giving more detail about what he reveals in Romans 14-12. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. There's also in Hebrews chapter 13 even a reference to the leaders in the church giving account for how they have taken care of the church. Each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

What's the purpose? Not so that we can sit there trembling and say, oh no, I hope he doesn't condemn me. No, because the Lord wants to, He desires, He is motivated to reward us in full. He wants that for you. Do you know that He wants to reward you in full? That is how He is motivated. That's what He longs to do. Isn't that wonderful?

1 Corinthians 3.13 says the Lord will test our works by fire. So what's He looking for? He's testing by fire. No, and an important point to make, notice that He's testing the works by fire, not us.

Okay? Alright? He's testing the works by fire, not us. Okay? It's looking for the quality of the works. It is not a matter of us thinking, oh boy, when I go before the Lord, He's just going to scorch me. No, that's not the point. He's testing the works, not the saint. Okay? So what's He looking for? What will endure that testing by fire is what is done in dependence upon Christ.

While we are living in fellowship with him, in which he grace motivates us, motivated by grace. This is why Paul would write repeatedly, I am thankful, you be thankful. And he empowers us for what to do to his glory. Isn't it amazing? For anything that God wants us to do, He intends that we would be motivated by grace. For anything that God intends for us to do, He enables and empowers and energizes that activity. Everything, okay? It is all to His glory. Isn't it amazing that He longs to reward us in full? And what does that look like? He longs to reward us for the things that He does in and through us.

He says, I don't want you to do it. Don't try to be a good Christian. Please. He is not looking for people who try to be good Christians. Give up on that. That's enough of that. He is looking for those who will depend and rely upon Him. People through whom He can work by His energizing, by His power, by His enabling. and what He does in and through us all by His grace, that He's going to reward us for. Isn't that wonderful? So if you're trusting the Lord and walking in fellowship with Him while you tie your shoes, He'll reward that. But if I get up here and give a sermon in the flesh, that's wood, hay, and stubble. That doesn't do anything for eternity. Isn't it amazing the difference? It's phenomenal. It's wonderful. You have on page two a slide that goes like this. I won't go into the details on it other than to point out these things.

To give us a little more insight into what these crowns and rewards are, that is, those things that are rewardable, that are tested by fire as gold, silver, and precious stones, are the five crowns and the three rewards. And by the way, and I think this is speculation, it may well be that there are other crowns and rewards, but these are the ones that are specifically identified. The five crowns, that word crowns is a Stephanos crown. And it's a victor's crown for an athletic competition. That's the word that's used consistently for the rewards that people get, that believers get, for things done in the Lord's strength and for His glory. And so these are the five crowns that are identified in Scripture.

Like I say, it's a matter of speculation, but I believe there may be more. These are the ones that are specifically identified and listed. There are three rewards. Solid foundation reward, a voluntary service reward, and an inheritance reward. Those are all identified in the New Testament epistles as well.

And so those you can take the time to take a look at. We won't look at them other than I think to put it this way. Just what is He looking for? I think verse 14 begins to address this. To put it simply, God rewards us for what He does through us. God rewards us for what He does through us.

It is all of grace. Are you saved? Yes, by grace. Have you been given a ministry? That's a grace. Has God enabled and empowered and energized and motivated what He wants you to do? Yes, and that's by grace. And what is amazing is He will reward us and He's motivated to reward us fully He rewards us for what is done entirely by Him. How gracious is that? Isn't that wonderful?

He motivates by grace what He also empowers, enables, and energizes through each of us to His glory. If He is glorified, He rewards us for that. That is what's eternally rewardable. So what exactly are these rewards that we're talking about, or these crowns, that believers will be receiving? You, on that day. The grace-given capacity to glorify Him for all eternity.

What is happening as I walk about here on planet Earth, and as I trust the Lord, is I am determining my capacity to glorify Him for eternity. It's not by my effort. It's all of Him. But to the extent that I depend upon Him and rely upon Him and His resources, I am determining my capacity to glorify Him for all eternity. That's the nature of the reward. It is not a pile of gold that you would hoard in some mansion up in the heavenlies. It's not some selfish hoard that you keep for yourself. It is a capacity to glorify Him for all eternity.

That's why we began with this verse here, Revelation 4.10. The 24 elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne. In biblical times, the custom was if a senior royalty was approached by a lesser royalty, Those of the lesser royalty would take their crowns off and lay it before the senior royalty and would pick it up and put it back on and then lay it down again and again and again. That's the picture that's given here. We won't cast our crowns before Him and say, okay, now I'm done. We will do so again and again and again. We will glorify Him. We will have the capacity with those crowns to glorify Him for eternity.

The last verse is saved as yet through fire. The believers in Corinth, if they stayed on the path that they had been taking, where they were basically seeking their own glory, building up the glory of this person or that one, would have little to nothing remaining into all eternity for all their time on earth.

Oh, I go to church every week. So what? You're there to glorify this guy or that one. Oh, I'm very regular in my getting together with other believers. Yes, but it's not to glorify Christ. That's what Paul is saying to them. Because they've been relying on earthly wisdom, expecting to use the church to climb the world social ladder, when it's all said and done, and sometimes I'll state this jokingly, it's as if those who have relied entirely upon themselves Saved?

Yes. But it is as if they will enter heaven naked and smoking. They will have nothing to say. They will have nothing to say for all that happened on planet earth. Will they be saved? Yes. Will they be with the Lord? Will they see Him face to face? Yes. But their capacity to glorify Him eternally will be diminished from what it could have been.

The Lord is motivated to reward us fully. 2 John, verse 8, Watch yourselves that you do not lose what you have accomplished, but that you may receive, what? A full reward. The Lord is motivated to reward us fully. That is exactly what He has in mind. It's interesting when we read the very last verse of the book of Revelation. I think these are really exciting things to look at. The last verses include this statement from Christ, who says, Behold, I am coming quickly. And that means I'm coming imminently.

When I come, I will come at any time. And my reward is with me. I've got your reward for you. I'm strongly motivated to give you a full reward. May I please do so? Will you let me work through you so that I can give you a full reward? I would love to, he says. Isn't that tremendous? Isn't that amazing? Isn't that just infinitely gracious? How wonderful.

Let's pray. Lord, as we look at this passage here and we see what you have, there will be a day when we'll see you face to face. There will be a day when all we who believe will get to heaven. and what a day of rejoicing that will be. But place in our hearts an understanding such that we live this day for that day, such that we do all in dependence and reliance upon you, trusting you for each and everything, recognizing that the things we go through, the trials that we are put through, are all so that we might be conformed to your image, all so that you may be glorified, that we may look more and more like you. We thank you, Lord, for the truth revealed in this passage because you love us so very much. You indeed love us with amazing grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.