God's Field and Temple

Let me pray for the preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

it is your word that is powerful and efficacious.

Your word that's conveyed by your powerful spirit.

Not the words of men.

And so we ask God that your word would be proclaimed faithfully.

We pray that you would speak to us,

address us as your people through this passage.

And form us as your people who belong to you

and honor you and boast in you alone.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So 1 Corinthians 3, 1-23.

It's great to be back with you all.

I missed you all.

And eager to preach God's word to you this morning.

I once heard a story about a man

who was just standing

and maybe just got his office car

at a parking lot in a shopping mall.

And he saw at a distance

what he thought was the most beautiful woman

he had ever seen coming in his direction.

And he told himself,

I just cannot miss out on this opportunity.

So he told himself,

I need to strike up a conversation with her.

And he happened to spot this really expensive

and nice-looking luxury vehicle nearby.

And so to try to make himself look a little cooler,

he kind of leaned on the car.

And as she came, he said,

Hey, how are you doing?

And she said,

I'm fine, thank you.

Now if you would please move out of the way

so I can get into my car.

And I heard another preacher use that illustration

to talk about the fact

that just some of the church leaders in the church

act like the church belongs to them.

As if the church exists to make them look good

when the church belongs to God.

It doesn't even belong to them.

Right.

And so in the Corinthian church,

it wasn't so much the leaders themselves

who were seeking to claim the church as their own,

but the people themselves had this erroneous view of the church.

And they were saying to themselves

and boasting in their human leaders,

saying, I follow Apollos, I follow Paul.

And in this passage,

Paul uses several memorable imagery

to teach that the church does not belong ultimately to men,

but to God.

And his main point is this,

that the church that belongs to God

should not boast in men.

And so in verses 1 to 9,

he talks about God's field.

In verses 10 to 23,

he talks about God's temple,

really the two main images that he uses.

So first, Paul addresses the fact

that the Corinthian church is God's field

in verses 1 to 9.

Chapter 3 flows directly out of chapter 2,

where Paul argued that the true wisdom

that we should seek

is not the wisdom of this world,

which is doomed to pass away.

Taryn talked about that last week,

the temporary wisdom of this world.

Because the Corinthian believers

were pursuing the wrong kind of wisdom,

and because of that,

they were being divisive.

So Paul addresses their divisions

in the name of their leaders as well,

here in verses 1 to 4.

And we know from the contextual clues

within this letter itself,

that they, the Corinthian believers,

were challenging Paul's own authority

as to teach them,

and as their apostle.

And in particular,

they criticized the fact that

his teaching didn't meet their standards

of lofty speech,

and the wisdom of this world.

So from verses 1 to 2,

we could further deduce

that some of the Corinthians

believed that they were so spiritual

that they had graduated

from Paul's preaching of the gospel.

They belittled Paul's teaching

as baby food, right?

And they were seeking

what they considered solid food,

and worldly wisdom and speech

from other places.

And so Paul corrects this

with biting irony in verses 1 to 4.

Please read with me.

But I, brothers,

could not address you

as spiritual people,

but as people of the flesh,

as infants in Christ.

I fed you with milk,

not solid food,

for you were not ready for it.

And even now you are not yet ready,

for you are still of the flesh.

For while there is jealousy

and strife among you,

are you not of the flesh

and behaving only in a human way?

For when one says,

I follow Paul,

and another,

I follow Apollos,

are you not being merely human?

And the reason why Paul

couldn't address

the Corinthian believers

as spiritual people

was not due to his inadequacy,

but due to their deficiency.

Notice the repetition of words

like flesh and human

in these verses.

He calls the Corinthians

of the flesh or fleshly three times.

He describes their behavior

as human two times.

And later in chapter 15,

we learn that

the Corinthian believers

view themselves as so spiritual

that they deny the necessity

of the future bodily resurrection

and consummation.

And so Paul is really putting them

back into their place

when he says that

they're fleshly and human.

You think you're so spiritual

that you graduated from my teaching.

In fact, you're just fleshly.

You're of the flesh.

Now there's a common misunderstanding

about these verses

that I need to address

because all of our church members

come from various different backgrounds

and some of you may have been exposed

to this teaching.

And what I mean is this.

Some people argue

based on this passage

that there are three classes

of Christians, right?

So in chapter 2, verses 14 to 16,

Paul contrasted the natural person

from the spiritual person, right?

You guys remember that?

And here in chapter 3, verses 1 to 4,

Paul contrasts the spiritual person

from the fleshly person

or the carnal person

as the old translations had it, right?

And based on these categories,

some people argue

that there is the natural person

who is an unbeliever,

not a Christian,

who has rejected Christ.

And that there is the carnal person, right?

Who is a believer

that is living in his own strength

and not following the Spirit of God.

And then there is the spiritual person

who is a believer

who is following Christ full-heartedly.

And sometimes this is described in this way,

that the carnal Christian,

so-called carnal Christian,

accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior,

but not as his Lord.

And that this spiritual person,

the spiritual Christian,

is the one who accepts Christ

as both his Savior and Lord.

So this is,

some of you guys are nodding your head,

you've probably heard of this before.

And this three-level view of Christians

misses what Paul is getting at

because Paul's not saying

that the Corinthian believers

do not have the Spirit of God, right?

Because Paul addresses them

as brothers in verse 1,

which means he assumes

that they are members

of the family of God.

And then by definition,

then these brothers and sisters,

it's in Greek,

commonly the plural form

of the word brother,

it refers to both brothers and sisters.

And so Paul considers Corinthians

brothers and sisters

in meaning that they possess

the Spirit of God

because for Paul,

there's no such thing

as a Christian

who does not have

the Spirit of God.

The very meaning

of what it means to be Christian

is to have the Spirit of God.

So he writes in Romans 8, 9,

you, however,

are not in the flesh,

but in the Spirit,

if in fact the Spirit of God

dwells in you,

anyone who does not have

the Spirit of Christ

does not belong to him, right?

What then does Paul mean

when he addresses

these Corinthian believers

as people of the flesh, right?

In verse 1,

the phrase,

as people of the flesh,

is parallel to

as infants in Christ.

So Paul is saying

that the Corinthians

were spiritual babies

when he calls them fleshly.

So they have the Spirit,

and that's precisely the problem.

They have the Spirit of God,

but they're acting

as if they didn't have

the Spirit of God.

They're acting fleshly,

as if they were of the flesh

in a worldly way.

And that's something

that Paul is saying

they need to grow out of.

So they are spiritual

in a real way,

but their thinking and living

give evidence to the contrary.

And so Paul claims

that they cannot address,

that he cannot address them

as spiritual people,

but as unspiritual people,

which is ironic

because they pride themselves

on being spiritual,

but they are acting

in a fleshly way.

And what is this fleshly behavior

that Paul's talking about?

He tells us in verse 3,

For while there is jealousy

and strife among you,

are you not of the flesh

and behaving only

in a human way?

Right?

Jealousy and strife

are mutually exclusive

with spirituality

and maturity.

You cannot be simultaneously

spiritual and divisive

because we share

in the one Holy Spirit,

and that leads

to profound unity.

So jealousy and strife

that now characterizes

the Corinthian church

is evidence

that they are acting

in an unspiritual way.

So Paul's not here

giving us three classes

of Christians.

Of course,

there is a spectrum

of immaturity

and maturity

among Christians,

but the New Testament

never teaches,

and it consistently teaches,

that there are only

two classes of people.

Right?

The people of the flesh

and people of the spirit.

And that's why

in his second letter

to the Corinthians,

right,

when he is addressing

Corinthians who are still

following afterworldly wisdom,

he says to them

in 13.5 of his second letter,

examine yourselves

to see whether you are

in the faith.

Test yourselves,

or do you not realize

this about yourselves,

that Jesus Christ is in you,

unless indeed you fail

to meet the test.

Right?

So if you persist

in the way

the Corinthians are doing,

what that shows

is that they are not

actually in the faith,

that they are actually

failing the test

and they are not

in Christ,

right?

So there is no

in-between category

of carnal Christian

between a natural person

and a spiritual person.

And this is important

to get right

because this misunderstanding

about three categories

of Christians

can lead,

on the one hand,

to spiritual pride,

and on the other hand,

to spiritual complacency.

Right?

On the one hand,

some Christians can think

that they are better

than other believers

because they are

the spiritual ones

while other believers

are carnal.

Right?

They belong to a

fundamentally different

category.

Right?

They live by the Holy Spirit

while other believers

do not.

This misunderstanding

can lead to spiritual pride.

The truth is

that they are not.

No believer is fundamentally

different from another believer.

We have the same spirit.

We have the same baptism.

We have the same Lord

and the same faith.

Right?

Sure,

there are varying degrees

of maturity,

but we all belong

to the same class.

Right?

We're all Christians,

brothers and sisters.

On the other hand,

some people can think

that just because

they believed in Jesus Christ

and that now

they are safe

and secure

and even if they don't

live in obedience.

Right?

So they could think

to themselves

that being so-called

carnal Christian

is permissible

and they could get

into the mindset

of fulfilling

the minimum requirement.

Right?

Oh,

I kind of like

being a carnal Christian.

I could enjoy

the pleasures

of this world

here and now

and then I'll enjoy

the pleasures

of heaven later

after I die.

Right?

But in the Bible,

there's no such category

as a middle category.

There's no such thing

as a halfway Christian.

There's no such thing

as a partial Christian.

A person that thinks

that way

is giving evidence

of the fact

that they have

an unregenerate heart

because people

who are true Christians,

they want to love God,

they love God

and they want to obey Him.

So that's inconsistent

to think that way.

So Paul is not here

rebuking them

for being in a third

category of believers.

Rather,

he's rebuking them

for living in a manner

that's inconsistent

with who they are,

their identity in Christ

as spiritual people.

It's also important

to note

that while Paul

talks about

how he fed them

with milk

and not solid food

because they were

not ready for it,

for Paul,

the milk and solid food

are actually

one and the same.

They are the message

of Jesus Christ

and Him crucified.

And this is clear

from what proceeded

in chapter 2

where Paul speaks

of deliberately rejecting

the wisdom

of this world

so that he could preach

what he perceives

what he calls

the wisdom of God,

namely that Jesus Christ

died for our sins

and rose again

for our vindication.

And Paul's,

when he says this here

that he fed them

with milk,

not solid food,

he's not admitting

then what the Corinthians

are arguing

that there are things

deeper than the gospel itself,

more advanced

than the gospel itself

that he intentionally

didn't teach them

because he didn't think

they were ready for it.

That's not at all

what he's saying.

That would be to confirm

the Corinthians'

misunderstanding of the gospel.

And so it's

the fact that they think

that Paul's teaching

is baby food,

that it was milk,

shows that they are

infants in Christ.

Paul's not saying

that, oh yeah,

I just gave you baby food

because you're acting

like babies.

He's saying the fact

that you think

my teaching is baby food

shows that you are babies

is what Paul is saying.

And the Christians

never advance

beyond the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Tim Keller explains

this in a memorable way.

He writes,

the gospel is not just

the ABCs

but the A to Z

of Christianity.

The gospel is not just

the minimum required

doctrine necessary

to enter the kingdom.

It's the way

we make progress

in the kingdom.

When we struggle

with fear

or anxiety,

it's because

we have not understood

or appropriated

the gospel

and God's radical

and providential

care for us

displayed in the

crucified Lord.

When we struggle

with anger

or discontent

toward people

and our circumstances,

it's because

we have not understood

the gospel of Jesus Christ

which reveals

the depth

of our own sinfulness

and our desperate need

to rely on God

and not on ourselves.

And when we struggle

with spiritual lethargy,

when we lack love

and zeal

for God

and his people,

it's because

we have not experienced

the depth

of God's love

for us revealed

on the cross

of Jesus Christ.

Because we do not

know his love,

we do not love him

in return.

Christians never

graduate

from the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

What the Corinthians

needed was not

a different diet

but a different

perspective.

The solid food

that Paul fed them

seemed to them

like milk

not because

of the immaturity

of Paul's teaching

but because of

their own

spiritual immaturity.

And because

the Corinthians

in their immaturity

pursued wisdom

other than

the wisdom of God,

this led to

divisions and factions

in the Corinthian church.

And so Paul

addresses this

in verses 4 to 5.

For when one says

I follow Paul

and another

I follow Apollos,

are you not

being merely human?

What then

is Apollos?

What is Paul?

Servants

through whom

you believed

as the Lord

assigned to each.

You could hear

Paul's disdain

for this kind

of divisive

slogans

that the Corinthians

were using,

right?

What then

is Apollos?

What then

is Paul?

Servants

through whom

you believed

as the Lord

assigned to each.

Paul's undercutting

the Corinthian

believers'

infatuation

with certain

leaders in the church

by teaching

these leaders

that they are

merely servants.

And Jesus

himself taught

this in Mark

10,

40 to 45,

right?

He says,

you know that

those who are

considered rulers

of the Gentiles

lord it over them

and their great ones

exercise authority

over them,

but it shall not

be so among you.

But whoever

would be great

among you

must be your servant

and whoever

would be the first

among you

must be slave

of all.

For even the

Son of Man

came not to be

served,

but to serve

and to give his life

as a ransom

for many,

right?

Servant leadership

is the paradigm

for Christian leadership

and it finds

its prototype

in Jesus Christ

himself.

And the pattern

of this world,

the pattern

of the rulers

of this world

is to domineer

and to lord it

over people

under them.

But the leaders

of the church

must be servants

of all.

So why then

do you boast

about servants?

They're your servants,

servants of the Lord.

They're merely doing

what the Lord

assigned them to do

as the Lord

assigned to each,

right?

And a person

cannot receive

even one thing

unless it comes

from heaven.

The servants

did not merit

or earn their rank

or task.

Rather,

the Lord

sovereignly assigned

it to them.

So there's no sense

that in boasting

about those leaders

and holding them

in such high regard.

So Paul and Apollos

are merely servants

through whom

you believed.

And notice how

he says that,

through whom you believe.

So Corinthians

are saying,

I follow Paul,

I follow Apollos,

but Paul is reminding

that,

did you believe

in them?

Did you get saved

in their name?

No, of course not.

They are servants

through whom you believe.

You didn't believe

in them.

So why say,

I follow Paul

or I follow Apollos?

And Paul continues

this line of thought

in verses 6 to 7

with a metaphor

of the field.

I planted,

Apollos watered,

but God gave

the growth.

So neither he

who plants

nor he waters

is anything

but only God

who gives

the growth.

So since Paul

addresses the

Corinthian believers

here in the plural

consistently

throughout this passage,

he's not thinking

here of a conversion

of an individual believer,

but he's thinking

about the planting

of the whole church.

So Paul says

that he's the one

who planted the seed

meaning that Paul's

the one who founded

the church

and then Apollos

watered it,

meaning Apollos

had nourished them

by having a teaching

ministry among them.

But the most important

part of this

growth process

is not Paul

and it's not Apollos,

but it's God

because it says,

but God

who gave the growth.

So neither he

who plants

nor he who waters

is anything

but only God

who gives

the growth.

This metaphor

is particularly

appropriate.

Hannah and I

have notorious

black thumbs.

I hear that

that's the opposite

of green thumb,

right?

Anything green

that comes into

our house dies

and that's part

of it due

to our negligence.

We just don't know

how to take good

care of it.

But even if we

take good care of it,

we can't in any

meaningful sense

claim that we

made the plants

grow, can we?

Right?

I mean, yeah,

you can create

an environment

that's conducive

to its growth.

You could expose

it to sunlight.

You could water it.

But can anyone

make a plant grow?

No.

The growth comes

apart from us.

In the same way,

that's the point

that Paul's making.

God gives the growth.

Paul can plant

something

and Apollos

can water something,

but unless God

gives the growth,

nothing will come

of it.

So why give

such credit

to the people

who don't deserve

the credit?

The credit belongs

to God.

Glory belongs

to God.

For this reason,

Paul writes

in verse 8,

he who plants

and he who waters

are one

and each will receive

his wages

according to his labor.

This verse

highlights both

the unity

and the diversity

of Christian labor.

Right?

So on the one hand,

there is no sense

in holding

either the planter

or the gardener

in higher esteem

than the other

because they have

no independent significance.

They are one.

They're on the same team.

They're doing different parts

of the same work.

But at the same time,

they're going to be rewarded

according to their work.

They're going to receive

wages according to their...

Each will receive

his wages

according to his labor.

So there is a division

of labor

and each will receive

their distinct reward.

So Paul's talking about

both the diversity

and unity of the work

and he will elaborate

on the rewards later

in verses 10 to 17.

And then Paul gives

one final reason

why the Corinthians

should not obsess

over various leaders

in verse 9.

For we are God's fellow workers,

you are God's field,

God's building.

The word God

is repeated

three times here

in this verse

for emphasis.

And in the Greek,

it's actually even more emphatic

because the first word

of each phrase

is God.

So if you were to read it

literally,

it says this,

God's therefore

fellow workers,

we are.

God's field,

God's building,

you are.

So Paul's not saying

that he and Apollos

are fellow workers

along with God.

God,

to say that

would be to undermine

what the point

that he's trying to make

and namely that God alone

deserves the credit.

What he's saying is

that he and Apollos

are fellow workers

who both belong to God.

So NIV makes this

a little bit more clear.

He says,

for we are co-workers

in God's service.

So the emphasis

on God's possession

and ownership,

God's fellow workers,

God's field,

God's building.

In short,

you are a field

and God is the owner

of the field

and Paul and Apollos

are just farmers,

laborers,

servants.

So stop your nonsense

about I follow Paul,

I follow Apollos

and bring your focus

back to Christ

and his gospel.

Too often,

the leaders of the church,

the clergy,

so to speak,

can pay lip service

to the fact

that the church

belongs to God.

Oh yes,

the church belongs to God.

But for all intents

and purposes,

act as if the church

belonged to them.

We get possessive,

we get defensive,

and we use the church

to enlarge

our own prestige,

our influence,

wealth,

rather than pointing

away from themselves

to Jesus Christ.

And that,

this doesn't mean,

what Paul's saying here

doesn't mean

that the leaders

need to abdicate

all form of leadership

and authority,

they still need to lead.

But as they do that,

they need to recognize

that they are under

God's authority

and that they are

accountable to him.

And therefore,

remember that God

is ultimately in charge

and that they are

merely servants

at his service

working for his pleasure.

In a similar way,

some of the members

of the church

can also mistakenly

think and act

like they own the church.

I've been attending

this church all my life.

I'm the biggest tither

in this church.

I'm the most gifted

member of this church.

I serve the church

more than anyone else.

But strictly speaking,

the church doesn't belong

to its members either.

Strictly speaking,

it belongs to God

and it belongs to them

only insofar

as they themselves

belong to him.

We all belong to God.

The church is God's field.

In the last phrase,

he says God's building

as well.

That introduces

a new metaphor

and that brings me

to my second point

which Paul continues

in verses 10 to 23.

God's temple.

In verse 10,

Paul says,

according to the grace

of God given to me,

like a skilled master builder,

I laid a foundation

and someone else

is building upon it.

Let each one take care

how he builds upon it.

Just as he described himself

in the earlier metaphor

of planting,

as a planter,

here he describes himself

as the one

who laid a foundation,

meaning he was the apostle

who did the foundational work

for the Corinthian church.

He's the one

who originally planted it,

the first builder

of the church.

And this was no credit

to himself

because he insists

it was according

to the grace of God

given to me.

Paul sees his own apostleship

as a gift of God's grace.

That's what he said

in Ephesians 3.8,

To me,

though I am the very least

of all the saints,

this grace was given

to preach to the Gentiles

the unsearchable riches

of Christ.

And sometimes,

as Christians,

we can make much

of gifted people,

and I used to do this

with Apostle Paul himself,

right?

We sometimes talk about

his impeccable Jewish heritage,

his peerless scholarly training,

biblical training that he had.

And sometimes we mistakenly think

that that's the reason

why God chose to use Apostle Paul

in the first place.

But for Paul,

he never made that mistake

in thinking that.

Sure,

God used his extensive training

and background,

but Paul never let himself forget

that he was chosen

as an apostle,

not because of his qualifications,

but because of God's grace.

In fact,

he says he had no business

being a Christian,

let alone an apostle,

apart from the grace of God.

And Paul testifies,

so it's no credit to himself,

but never does he testifies

that he didn't do this work

in a haphazard way,

in a careless way.

No,

Paul says,

I laid a foundation

like a skilled master builder.

There's a biting irony here,

again,

in Paul's statement.

So first,

he says,

I was not an average,

you know,

run-of-the-mill construction worker,

right?

He's saying,

I was a master builder.

He describes himself in that way.

So that means he didn't,

and secondly,

he says he didn't lay a foundation

in a clumsy,

incompetent way.

He says,

he did so as a skilled builder,

right?

And the word translated,

skilled here,

is actually the same Greek word

that's translated as wise

in different parts

of 1 Corinthians.

And the word wise,

or wisdom,

is a key word

that recurs throughout this book.

For example,

in chapter 1,

we learned that the Corinthians

believers were seeking

worldly wisdom,

and they believed

and touted their own wisdom,

that they were wise.

And knowing this,

Paul says again,

in this chapter,

in verses 18 to 19,

let no one deceive himself.

If anyone among you

thinks that he is wise

in this age,

let him become a fool

that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world

is folly with God.

Right?

So contrary to the Corinthians'

claim and accusation

that Paul's teaching

was elementary and infantile,

Paul laid the foundation

of the Corinthian church

with wisdom.

He was a wise master builder.

So contrary to the Corinthians'

claim that they knew

greater wisdom,

their failure to recognize

Paul's wisdom

in the wise and ways,

the God's wisdom

in the way Paul built the church,

betrayed their own foolishness.

So Paul laid the foundation

as a skilled master builder,

and he says,

now others are building on it.

He says in verse 10,

let each one take care

how he builds upon it.

So who does he mean by this?

So who's building on the foundation

that Paul left?

We could assume Apollos,

obviously from the earlier reference,

but I don't think

this is a reference to Apollos

or Cephas or other believers

that he has mentioned by name.

And the reason for that is this.

If you look at verse 6,

it says,

I planted, Apollos watered.

He mentions Apollos by name there.

But here in verse 10,

Paul says more genetically,

each one,

let each one take care

how he builds upon it.

And also in verse 6,

Paul said Apollos watered,

past tense,

he watered the church.

But here in verse 10,

the verb builds

is in the present tense, right?

So it's a reference

to those who are currently,

presently building upon

Paul's foundation,

not Apollos,

because Apollos,

we learned from chapter 16,

verse 12,

he's no longer in Corinth.

So Paul's addressing

people in Corinth,

the very ones probably

who are causing these divisions,

the leaders of the church.

And he's saying,

hey,

take care as each one,

how you build

on the foundation.

And why should they take care

of how they build?

Paul gives the reason

in verse 11.

For no one can lay

a foundation

other than that

which is laid,

which is Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Right?

We cannot denigrate

the foundation

that Paul expertly laid

because that foundation

is Jesus Christ,

the good news

of his life,

death,

and resurrection

on behalf of sinners.

And there's no other foundation.

You know,

buildings collapsing

due to,

you know,

inadequate foundation

is a common occurrence

even today,

right?

One of the deadliest accidents

in recent memory

was in 2013

when Rana Plaza,

which is a five-story

garment factory

in Bangladesh,

collapsed,

killed 1,134 people

and injured 2,500 people.

And several reasons

were cited

for the building's failure

and the main reasons

were that the building

was built on a filled-in pond.

It had a cross,

it had a compromised foundation.

And then secondly,

the builders had used

substandard construction material

compromising the structural integrity

of the building.

Similarly,

Paul says,

no foundation

can bear the weight

of the church

except for the person

and work

of Jesus Christ,

which is the gospel,

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

if we build a church

on the foundation

of a charismatic personality,

if we build a church

on the foundation

of a sleek

and snazzy service,

if we build a church

on the foundation

of marketing

and managerial techniques,

if we build a church

on the foundation

of pop psychology,

if we build a church

on the foundation

of denominational traditions,

if we build a church

on self-righteous legalism,

you might build

an impressive social club,

You might build an impressive nonprofit organization.

You might even build an empire,

but you will not build a church.

And the church built on such foundations

will invariably crumble

because there can be no other foundation

than the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And because this foundation is so precious and worthy,

Paul says in verses 12 to 15

that we have to take special care to build on it

with quality materials that will last.

His reasoning is this.

The foundation that we're building on

is the Lord Jesus Christ,

the Son of God who shed His own blood for you.

He died to save you,

and on that will you build carelessly

with materials that will not last.

That's the reason.

Look at this in verse 12.

He specifically lists six building materials

in the order of descending value.

Now, if anyone builds on the foundation

with gold, silver, precious stones,

wood, hay, straw,

much ink has been spilled throughout church history

to explain the meaning of these various materials.

Some people have allegorized each of these materials

to represent some specific type of ministry.

But such speculation is unwarranted

because Paul himself never comments

on the value of each of these materials,

and he doesn't explain what they each mean.

Rather, the clue to this meaning

is found in the immediate context itself.

Look at verses 13 to 15.

Each one's work will become manifest

for the day will disclose it

because it will be revealed by fire,

and the fire will test what sort of work

each one has done.

If the work that anyone has built

on the foundation survives,

he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned up,

he will suffer loss,

though he himself will be saved,

but only as through fire.

So testing by fire

on the day of judgment

is what Paul has in mind

when he lists these building materials,

and that's the decisive contextual clue.

So when we keep that in mind

as we read verse 12,

you notice something.

The first three materials,

the valuable materials,

they are not combustible.

They don't burn, right?

The last three materials,

the cheap materials,

they are combustible, right?

In fact, they so readily catch fire,

they're the materials

that are used for kindling, right?

It's the wood, right?

Hay, the straw, right?

And so what Paul is saying is this, right?

That's Paul's point,

that we should build with materials

that will survive

the fiery judgment of God.

Build with imperishable materials

that will survive the test of God.

And what kind of church would that be?

Paul only tells us one thing,

the church that is built in accordance

with the character of the foundation

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so gold, the silver, the precious stones,

they represent what is compatible

with that foundation.

And the wood and the hay and the straw

represent what is incompatible

with that foundation,

all forms of worldly wisdom.

So that means only the church

that reflects the love of Christ,

the truth of Christ,

the mercy of Christ,

the humility of Christ,

the courage of Christ,

the suffering of Christ,

the power of Christ.

In short, only the church

that is built on the gospel

of Jesus Christ

will survive that testing.

And let's not forget

the emphasis of this passage here, right?

Paul is not writing an essay

on the different forms

of acceptable ministries.

He's rather writing a letter

to warning the ministers, right?

The church leaders, of course,

but also all those involved

in various forms of ministry

in the church in varying degrees.

So he's telling them,

if you build carefully

on the gospel of Jesus Christ,

you will receive a reward.

But if you build shoddily

on worldly wisdom,

you will suffer loss.

Now, the idea of reward

recalls what Paul said earlier, right?

Remember, he talked about wages

that we'll receive,

like Paul's receive.

And sometimes Christians

have a hard time reconciling

this idea of heavenly reward

with wages for our labor, right?

Because it's, oh, I mean,

sorry, those two things are the same.

So Christians at times

have a hard time reconciling

our heavenly labor

and the reward for our labor

and the wages that we'll receive

with the free grace that saves us, right?

Salvation by grace alone.

Are those two things

mutually exclusive?

Isn't salvation a gift?

Freely given in accordance

with God's grace?

So what's all this talk

about receiving a reward?

It's suffering loss, right?

So those two ideas

are not mutually exclusive.

And let me explain it.

There's two reasons for that.

So first, the reward

that Paul is talking about here

is not salvation, right?

Notice that both

he who receives a reward

and he who suffers loss

are saved, right?

Paul says in verses 14 to 15,

if the work that anyone

has built on the foundation survives,

he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned up,

he will suffer loss,

though he himself will be saved,

but only as through fire.

So both will be saved.

So the reward

that he's talking about here

is not salvation,

but only he whose work survives

will receive a reward

for that work.

And he whose work is burned

will still be saved,

but only as through fire.

And so I also have to,

should explain this,

especially in this neighborhood.

So this verse

is really kind of the lone verse

that is taken out of context

in justification

for the doctrine of purgatory, right?

So the purgatory

is what the Catholics believe,

a lot of Catholics believe,

to be this in-between state

where after their death,

Christians receive

temporary punishment

for their yet unpurified sins

before entering heaven.

However, this passage

has nothing like that in view.

Because look at verse 15 again carefully.

If anyone's work is burned up,

he will suffer loss,

though he himself will be saved,

but only as through fire.

What's being burned?

It's not the worker.

It's the work.

There's no mention at all

of punishment

or purification of the worker.

Only the burning

and testing of the work itself.

Think back to the last time

you had to go through a fire drill

because we live in a condo.

We regularly have fire drills still.

And remember when you first received instructions

about fire drill,

what did they tell you?

Don't gather up your belongings.

You guys remember hearing that?

Leave everything behind.

Just take yourselves

and get out of the building

as soon as possible.

Do you guys remember this?

Am I the only person that got that?

I mean, so why?

And I was always wondering

as a young man,

like, but why?

Like, I want to grab my stuff.

Like, you know,

why did you tell me

to leave my belongings and go?

And of course,

the idea is that the fire

is nothing to trifle with, right?

It could spread so rapidly

that you might not even save yourself

if you dilly-dally.

So you should not take time

even to gather up

your most precious belongings.

Just get out as soon as you can.

That's the idea, right?

And that's really what's meant here

when he says,

you will be saved

but only as through fire.

A Christian worker

who builds with perishable materials

will still be saved

but only as through fire,

just himself

with no work to show for it.

This verse is not about salvation

but about a reward

for a loss of our work.

So that's the first reason

why salvation by grace alone

is not incompatible

with this idea

of receiving a reward.

The second reason

why this does not contradict

the principle of grace

is this,

because even our labor

is a result of God's grace.

For example,

Paul says later in this book,

1510,

Paul writes,

I worked harder

than any of them

though it was not I

but the grace of God

that is within me.

Right?

Even the wages

and rewards

that we receive

for our labor

are predicated

on God's grace

not our merit.

And because of that,

even when we receive

a reward for the work

that we did,

ultimately,

we don't deserve the credit

and we cannot boast about it.

God deserves the glory for it.

So it's not incompatible

with the doctrine

of free grace.

But what exactly

is the reward

that we receive

for our work?

I don't know

what that reward is

and I'm glad I don't

because that means

I can look forward

to it all the more,

you know,

like a gift

that you don't know

what it's going to be.

You know,

but the question remains,

right,

wouldn't all Christians

be fully satisfied?

I mean,

they have God

and they're going

to be united with Him.

So what do you mean

the additional rewards

and loss?

And the Bible

doesn't give a specific answer

except to teach

that there will be

some differentiation

of reward.

But I do think

I can say one thing

about the nature

of the reward

and that's this.

I don't know

what the specific reward is

but I do know this

is that the labor

of love

is itself a reward.

Right?

It's that we all

like to serve

people that we love.

We all like to give

to people

that we love

and that is itself

a gift to us,

a reward to us

to be able to do

such a thing.

Right?

And so think about it

this way.

Let's use this analogy

and elaborate on it

a little bit.

Right?

There are two builders

and each was charged

with the responsibility

of building a house

for his beloved father.

Now,

each had the same

starting point.

the father had left them

this foundation

of inestimable value.

Infinite value.

It will never corrode.

It's beautiful.

It's eternal.

It's glorious.

And then one builder

built a house on it

for his father

and if it could be

called a house

it's shabby

and it's made of

cheap perishable materials

and he took

a lot of shortcuts

in the building process

and it shows.

The other builder

he built a house

for his father

he did so

with blood,

sweat and tears.

Even though

it was hard

he only used

costly,

beautiful,

sturdy,

imperishable materials.

Many people

told him

hey,

it would be

a lot easier

if you built it

this way.

It would be

a lot quicker

if you built it

this way.

But he always

responded the same way

that would not

be fitting

for so great

a foundation

which my father

left me.

you would not

be suitable

for my dearly

beloved father.

So he labored

on

and the day

of reckoning

came and a fire

swept through the town

one builder's house

was all burned up

but the other house

remained

so that

he could present it

to his father.

The other builder

has nothing

to show his father.

Isn't that

in itself

a gift?

Yes,

by God's grace

but that you

can present

something

of work

that you did

yes,

you could give it

to him,

show it to him.

Yes,

it's all a result

of grace

but isn't that

a reward

in itself

and don't you

desire that reward

more than anything

else in this world

to be able

to serve God,

to love him,

labor for him.

Similarly,

when our union

with God

is finally

consummated

in heaven

we will all

be fully

satisfied in him

and we will

experience his joy

but while some

will have nothing

to show for their

life here on earth

others will have

the joy and privilege

of presenting

the fruit

of their labor

of love to God.

some will have

because of that

the greater capacity

to appreciate

the love of God

and to express

his own love

for God.

That's what we

strive for.

That's what we

labor for.

Sorry.

And note the

timing of this test

when all

will be revealed

is in the future

and that's helpful

for us

because that tells

us that we

can't be an

accurate

ultimate judge

of all the work

that we are doing

or even that

others are doing

until that day.

The day

that Paul is

talking about

is shorthand

for the judgment

day,

the day of judgment

and that's when

the Lord Jesus

will be revealed

second coming

and all the work

that we do

will be revealed

for what it is.

But until that

day we can't

know.

It's so easy

as Christians

to seat ourselves

on the judge's

bench and then

to judge people's

ministries and works

and say,

you know,

oh,

and then we

elevate some

Christians and

put them on a

pedestal and say,

oh,

wow,

that person is

doing great

ministry.

And then other

people we relegate

to the doghouse

and say,

oh,

that person's

ministry is

nothing,

right?

There's nothing

valuable there.

But because of

this,

the fact that

until that

day,

the final,

the real nature

of the work

will not

ultimately be

revealed.

So we need

to reserve

and withhold

final judgment,

ultimate judgment

until that day.

And we should be

slow to judge

the works of

others.

We should be

slow to judge

even our own

work.

And that doesn't

mean that we

don't exercise

discernment.

We do need to

make some

judgments and

we do need

to discern,

right?

However,

we should reserve

that final judgment

and we should be

slow to judge

other people's

work.

So then having

warned about

the day of

judgment and

having solemnly

exhorted people

to build well

on the foundation

of Jesus Christ,

Paul takes it

up a notch

again,

verses 16

to 17,

and intensifies

his warning

by reiterating

just how important

this building

project is.

Do you not

know that you