"A Study of 1 Corinthians" by Neal Pollard - Part 3

Good morning. You might be wanting to turn in your

Bibles to 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. We are in the

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

middle of that chapter. As you look at the studies

that we're doing in 1 Corinthians, and we haven't really tried

to give you an outline, but I would suggest that chapters 1 through 4 really

work together as a unit. The Apostle Paul is

dealing with a mindset, a concern, a problem that

is permeating the church there, and it's going to lead to some

of the other issues. And as we think about what was

studied last week, I think that Hiram got about halfway through 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, and this was the outline that he

was following. And just in the spirit of that, I'm going to keep the seeds

going when we go through chapters 3 and 4.

But in verses 1 through 4, he says, you got to come to terms,

Paul does, and I think this is a good way to express that, with spiritual

immaturity. These guys are still in the flesh. They're thinking in fleshly ways

and they're being in the flesh and walking like men. How did that

show itself in the context of what we've seen so far?

Okay, so at the heart of it all, and we'll keep coming back to this,

is that by walking in the flesh and thinking like mere men, first of all,

Levi said it, It's causing divisions.

What does it mean to walk in the flesh and to walk like mere men?

How were they showing that? How could Paul tell?

Okay, certainly in their lifestyle. How about in the church context?

Bickering, dividing.

Okay, so they were lining up behind personalities in the congregation.

Perhaps the teaching and preaching was a part of that, maybe not confined to all

of that. I want to suggest to you, though, I think the principle

is true. Paul's going to say in chapter 4 and verse 6 that we

have applied these things in a figure to ourselves,

Paul and Apollos. I don't know that

it is the entirety of the case that the congregation was

lining up at Corinth behind Paul and Apollos and

Cephas. Perhaps it would have been other names,

and maybe Paul's trying to spare their feelings, and so he doesn't say it's Aristarchus

and Sosthenes or whoever

else, but maybe they were lining up behind them, but they were in their

fleshly, their worldly wisdom. So you see that throughout

chapters 1 through 4, they're showing themselves to be immature.

They're thinking like the world, they're living like the world.

And when you live like the world and you think like the world, there's going

to be division. And so Paul is writing to counteract that

by saying, to be of the same mind and the same judgment is to think

with the mind of Christ, to use heavenly wisdom. So you think about in chapter

2 where he says, we have the Spirit of God, we have the mind of

Christ, and the mind of Christ isn't going to lead to this divisive

behavior that you're exhibiting. He's given us His revelation so that

we can know His will. He said, but you guys have a problem,

and that is that you're still thinking like you did before you obeyed

the gospel. You're acting like the culture of the world around you,

and there's division everywhere. Okay, and then in verses

5 through 9, the idea was that we want to correctly

see the servants of God. And I think a great emphasis was made

in that. Takes a lot of pressure off of us.

We're not winning people to us. And we'll see that principle as we go through

today's lesson, that it's all about God.

You may be a part of the process, and you will be, and hopefully you

are. You may be a planter, you may be a waterer, but who causes the

increase, the growth? God. Okay, so God's the—

He's the one in charge of the vineyard. He sees to its success.

We're just laborers in that vineyard. And that's where Paul is when we pick up

today and we begin looking at verse 10. And in verse 10, the Apostle

Paul alludes to the fact that he is the one who has— is

the one who established the church. He's the one who planted the

church. And so he's acting like a wise master builder.

So Take yourself back to Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Paul has gone on the second missionary journey and he's done that 18 months

worth of work and they won these converts to Christ. This is how the

church started in Corinth. And so Paul goes back to

that and he said, I followed a plan. I was going after

a particular approach and I tried to work as a master

builder. And so how did he build? First of all, think about this.

That conversion relies upon God and

converts are built upon the foundation of the Son of God.

So what does he say in verse 11? What's the only right foundation?

It's Christ. Now, I want you to think

about this for a moment. When you sit down and you try

to study the gospel with somebody, and by the way, this is an evangelism paragraph

right here, what are we trying— what should we emphasize?

In trying to bring them into Christ and help them to obey the gospel.

So should we, should we emphasize in the study that

we're the church that doesn't use instruments in worship?

How about we don't have women preachers?

How about baptism is for the remission of sins?

Okay, so here's— so everybody's going, uh-oh, what's Neil doing?

Look, what's the foundation? What are we converting them

to? See, a lot of the division that takes place is when we

put our focus in the wrong direction. Now let's make Jesus the foundation,

and if we make Christ the foundation, what does that consist of?

Christ left heaven, became one of

us, lived a perfect sinless life. He died

on the cross for us. He was raised from the dead.

He ascended to heaven. He's at the right hand of the throne of God,

and he must be Lord of our lives.

He must be the master. He has to be the one in charge. If we

can establish that, if we can get that in the hearts and the minds of

the folks that we're trying to teach the gospel,

won't the rest follow? If we see him as the authority in

all things, Colossians 3:17, and we can let

Colossians 3:17

everyone understand that the way that you interact with the

one who saved you from your sins is that you try to ascertain his

will, know what it is and what it— what you're supposed to do with it.

And you're going to respond to that because of what he's

done for you and because of who he is and because of what position he

needs to take in your life. So when Paul says, other foundation

can no man lay than that, this is not in any way to

be critical, but to remember that this is to be the emphasis. All right,

now having said that, any thoughts before we get into this 3rd

point? If you're going to correct congregational division,

you've got to construct wisely. We've already kind of talked

about the first part of that. In any building, you start with the foundation,

and now we're going to talk about what's put on top of that foundation.

Any thoughts? All right, so turn your Bibles to verses

12 through 15. If converts

are God's building, then they are the materials like Paul mentioned. So let's look

at verses 12 through 15. Now, if any man builds on the foundation,

what's the foundation? Christ, with gold,

silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's

work will become evident, for the day will show it

because it is revealed, it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself

will test the quality of each judge each man's work. If any

man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself

will be saved, yet as through fire. All right, so what's Paul saying

here? We've got a foundation.

We're building on that foundation.

That's what they were doing, I think. Wasn't that some of

the particular things they were bringing back, some of the old

laws and things like that? Okay, so Miss

Dolores is saying that this has to do with the teaching. Is Paul talking about

the teaching here? Look at verse 12,

if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,

wood, hay, and straw. Let's just kind of break that apart.

Who's the— what's the gold, silver, precious stones,

wood, hay, and straw? It's materials.

It's the converts. These are the people who

are won. It does presuppose that they've been taught the right thing.

Okay? Paul compares those

who are converted to these different materials. So what's the difference

between them? Do you detect the difference? In those materials?

Some are strong and some aren't. Okay?

So you've got— what would you put in the strong category?

Gold, silver, precious stones.

All right, so he's got 2 couplets here, 2 groups, 2 groupings,

just to kind of flesh out the illustration. So you have some materials that

are stronger, more endurable— more durable, and in a specific way. We'll see that

in just a moment. And then you have the others, the wood, the straw,

and the hay. Now,

what happens to all of these materials? Yes, ma'am, go ahead, Kim. I have

a question. Okay. Is there a distinction

here between God and Jesus?

Because it talks about the grace of God given to me, but then

it says the foundation, which is Jesus Christ.

So, and every time we say God, we say Jesus Christ. So I'm

wondering if there's a No. And so, you have

the process of revelation, which involves the Spirit, but not the Spirit alone.

You have the process of conversion, which is the master plan

of God, but of course, it's built upon the foundation

of Christ. And so, no, there's no distinction.

They're working together. Each has a different role in that.

Okay? All right. So,

So what happens to all these materials?

Okay. All right. So you have a fire. So let's look

just before we get to that and notice what he says in verse 13,

each man's work. That's— who's

each man? The soul winner,

the person who is winning people. Each man's work will

become evident for the day will

show it. What's the day? You would think, but keep

with the context. For the day will show it because it is to

be revealed with fire, and the fire itself

will test the quality of each man's work. Do we have to wait for the

judgment for that to take place? What's the day if

it's not the judgment? And I suggest that it's not.

Okay, in one sense you can say that, but it's the day of trials.

It's the day when you're tested. Okay, 'cause in that

day when you're tested and you're tried, you can aptly describe

that as fire. Maybe it's the fire of trials or the fire of temptation or

the fire of somebody disappointed you and tempts you to stumble.

And in that day, not when you're sitting out at camp and you have this

wonderful fellowship and you're just filled with the euphoria of being

around God's people and you're singing beautiful songs to God,

not when you're in the, the comfort of the assembly and we

have the encouragement, this is not where the day of testing typically comes.

It's out there Monday through Saturday when you're out in the world or in some

crisis that comes in your life. And here comes the fire.

And what happens when that fire comes?

Different things. What happens to the gold,

silver, and the precious stones when the fire's acted

upon it? It's refined. It is not destroyed.

It may struggle. There may be problems, but on the other side

of that, they're going to come out and things are going to be great.

They're going to be spiritually fine, or at least spiritually

alive. What about the wood, the hay, and the straw?

Maybe in varying degrees. I think it's very interesting. I don't know that the Apostle

Paul is trying to do this with this illustration, And you

might see a difference even on the other side of that with the way that

fire acts on gold, silver, and precious stones. Perhaps there's a little difference.

Somebody who knows a lot more about that kind of thing than I do might

say that higher temperatures, different kind of refinements take place.

But think about it for just a moment. How long does it take for fire

to get rid of straw? Hey, what about wood?

Maybe a little less time, but it's still going to get consumed. And so it

falls into that category. And so here you are in your Christian life, and the

Apostle Paul is saying, that each one of us is building on the foundation

of Christ. And as we build, we are building

with materials. And what are the— so Paul was the first builder at Corinth.

He did the first work. And then what happens after Paul's left

Corinth? What does he suggest is still happening? More builders

have come onto the worksite and they're continuing to build. See, this house is always

being built because what is this house? It's the church.

And so the materials are still being added on. And so Paul says

each person is coming in and they're placing stones,

pieces of the building on top of the foundation,

but not every piece is the same.

Some are going to endure and others are not going

to endure. Now, I think that there is

some further explanation. Look at verse 14 and 15. If any man's work which he

has built on it remains, remains, he will receive

a reward. What does that mean? Say it again.

What will the reward— okay. So what if you convert 15

people and they all fall away? Do you lose heaven?

No. Okay. So I certainly think there's an eternal

perspective in this, but how would one be rewarded

if he built on the work and the work that he built on the

piece of the building that he puts on is gold.

What would the reward be?

It would be— it would take place in heaven. Yes,

ma'am. Okay,

we'll talk about that in just a moment. That's a great thought, but not necessarily

connected to this. If you win somebody to

Christ, and they endure the trials and the temptations,

are you ever going to know about that?

Maybe not here. Will you ultimately know about it?

What kind of a response would that be? Or let's say you outlive

your convert and they have been faithful.

You've helped to win them to Christ. You're a planter, a waterer. God caused

the growth. But on the other side of that, they live faithfully, and then you

go to their funeral, And by all apparent

perspectives, they died walking in the light of

Christ. How do you think that would make you feel?

Would you be able to use the word reward? Each would receive a reward there?

I would suggest that's what Paul's saying here. 'Cause Paul, I mean,

if anybody knows about that, it's Paul, because Paul's been going all over

the known world and he's sharing the gospel with different individuals. And he is seeing,

he has been able to see, think about him in 2 Timothy 4. He's at

the end of his life. And he's thinking about people who have made it,

who have stayed with him, Luke, John Mark. And then

there are those that have departed like Demas. And it's

got to be, and maybe even Paul's intimating that when he was first

arrested, that maybe some were showing that they were hay and wood and straw and

they weren't, and so that was disappointing. It was heartbreaking.

But if the work, if we understand that the work that Paul

is talking about here, those different materials are people who are won to Christ,

And if that work which he has built upon remains,

they don't fall away, he will receive a reward.

Now, somebody might ask, is this talking about degrees of reward and punishment?

That might be the truth, but I don't think that's Paul's point here.

I think what Paul is saying here is that in the process of winning

a soul to Christ, when they remain, when they stick, when they remain faithful,

that is rewarding. And anybody who's ever been involved in influencing

somebody to obey the gospel can appreciate and testify to

that fact. Now, if any man's work is burned

up, he will suffer loss. We've got to make these parallel, and this kind of

helps us with the interpretation of verse 14. What's Paul saying?

That's it. That's it. Thankfully, he's not

saying, if you— if anybody you win to Christ falls away,

then that's it, you're going to— you're going to be punished for that.

Now, if you're a stumbling block and you cause that to happen, we have

passages that talk about that. Even Paul in 1 Corinthians is going to talk about

not being that kind of a stumbling block.

But if you're feeling, thinking,

sensing people and you're out there trying to win

people to Christ and you have poured your heart and your soul into

somebody and they obey the gospel,

you watch them, man, what a wonderful moment that is, and then you see

them maybe in a short period of time, maybe it's years before it happens

and they fall away, it's going— especially if you were directly

involved in that, man, you're going to suffer loss. It's going to hurt.

I think this is maybe what Paul has in mind in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11,

2 Corinthians 11:28

verse 28 and 29, when he said he had pressed upon him the daily

concerns of the church. He says, who is weak without me being

weak? And who is led into sin without it impacting me?

In this direct way,

I want you to think for a moment about people that

have obeyed the gospel. And let's just pan out a little bit. Let's say the

last 10 years, maybe that makes it a little emotionally safer.

There may be individuals in the last 10 years who,

as the result of efforts done by members in this congregation,

have obeyed the gospel. I want you to take the time for just a moment

to do some mental inventory. Are there some faces that

are missing? And I want you to particularly think about somebody that maybe you have

influenced and they're no longer faithful.

Now, if you can summon up somebody in your mind,

maybe it wasn't that you taught them the gospel, but maybe you poured into their

life after they became a Christian. You were one to try to help them to

grow in their discipleship. You were interested in them and

you invested time into them, and now you

know that they're no longer faithful. They've fallen away. Maybe they ghosted

us. Maybe they gave us a reason for whatever it was. They're gone.

How do you feel? That's what Paul is conveying

here, it seems to me, in verse 15. Now,

let's deal with one other element of this. Will be

saved, yet so as through fire. First of all, who's the he?

The converter. All right, the teacher. He himself will

be saved if the one that he has reached with the

gospel is wood, straw, or hay. He's going to feel

the pain of that loss, yet he himself will

be saved. What does that mean?

What does this mean though, Chuck? What does this mean? We'll get to the overall

He himself will be saved. What does that mean? Well, he will be saved because

he secured the boat. The boat

is focusing on the believer's works, but he will be saved because

his salvation is secure through Christ. It is secure through Christ.

How? You'll answer for yourself.

Now, here's the cool thing about that in verse 15. This analogy

puts us on both sides of this. You are a builder,

but you're also a stone that somebody else has built.

Isn't that right? Now you go back to Paul, Paul's the first builder in Corinth,

but other people came along and built. You are to be a soul winner,

but if you are a Christian, you're somebody else's work.

How are you going to be saved? By being

gold, silver, and precious stones when the

day of trials and temptations are the fires that come into

your life. And in the face of that and in response to

that, if you don't fall away, if you continue to be saved,

you're— it's— I mean, to me, it's an incredible thing to put this

in a 2,000-year context. Now, when did somebody who's a

historian for this congregation— '53, '55, is that when

this congregation was planted? '55.

Okay, so the church didn't begin to meet here until 70 years

ago, but we're all part of a continuum of evangelism that

has taken place throughout time. It started in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

and the gospel went to the whole world, Colossians 1:23,

Colossians 1:23

and the gospel was planted at different times in different places.

Maybe we'd say that it really took off again about 200-something years

ago in this country through the work of restoration

individuals who were trying to get us back to Christianity,

but we're all part of this continuum, this building

process that's been going on for 2,000 years. And somebody

laid us on the foundation of Christ. And as those laid there,

we're all to be trying to put others on that foundation atop

of us. And it continues, and that building will go on until the end.

And it seems to me that's what the Apostle Paul is saying here.

He's saying, man, you have been putting the glory on the

planters and the waterers, but God causes the growth. And he causes the

growth by putting it on the foundation, which is Christ. And each one of us

are building. And what we're aiming at is making sure that we can win as

many people as possible who endure. But if they don't endure,

that's as the result of their being tested by fires and trials in just

the same way we will. Okay? Yes, sir. 2 things.

One is, uh, Ezekiel specifically says if

you make the effort to teach and they do

not stay, God will still credit you as if

they did stay because you made the effort. Okay. And then the second

thing, you yourself are a perfect example of

what Paul is saying here.

Think about all the young men that you've taught in your life.

You know, you've taught innumerable young men, and I'm

sure you followed their lives and their stories as

they've gone out to preach themselves. And you think about

all the ones that they have converted who are now Christians because of

their efforts, but it's also because of your efforts too.

You're a rewarder of the efforts of those men because

they're rewarder of your— you're rewarded because of their efforts.

And that's, I think, exactly what Paul is saying

here. And then secondly, think about the ones that you've

taught, because I'm sure there are many you've taught and you're very well aware of

who've fallen away. Sure. Who didn't continue in the teaching.

It's very sad, but would you have done anything different in

your teaching to them? You know, as Ezekiel says,

that's their problem, they fell away. Right. And the reward

is you look at it and you think that I've done all I could do

on that and I could not have done anything else to save

them. You can't save all people. That's right. You still have the reward both

ways. Yeah. You yourself in your example, in your life, I think

are a great illustration of what Paul was trying to say here.

Well, and Paul, thank you for that. Paul is trying to,

again, direct the focus to God's efforts

and God's work, and he's working through individuals. And some of that's

just the unexpected nature of

conversion. When you sit down to study with somebody,

all you get to analyze is what's on the outside and maybe

the factors that are given to you, the person as they are in their present

state. Not what they could be or what they're going to

open up their heart and allow the gospel to do in their lives and they

develop and grow. And I think all of us could think of individuals

who far exceeded our expectations,

that we had no idea when we were sharing the gospel with them that they

were going to be so hungry for souls and they would go

out and they would win others.

And I just want to randomly, I'm just picking one.

I know I could pick 50 others, but I think about Dawson Hendricks, for example.

Dawson obeyed the gospel, and who knew? I mean,

I don't know that there's anything on the outside that said this guy was going

to be influencing all of his friends and getting them into Bible studies and helping

them to see their need to obey the truth.

And how many will ultimately be won through Dawson?

See, and that perfectly illustrates the principle that Mike has

said there is, you know, it's that whole idea of how many apples are in

a seed? When somebody is won,

you have no idea the amplification. And I suppose that

each of us could think back in the background if we've been in church for

any period of time and think about how the gospel went to one person and

that one person reached out and won somebody else and that person won somebody

else. And the next thing you know, that the fruit on that tree extends several

spiritual generations. And who knows at the end

of that? I think about Andrew. Man, what's the fruit to his account? Who did

he bring to Christ? His brother Peter. And how

many folks did Peter win? I can think of 3,000 in

Acts chapter 2, 5,000 in Acts chapter 4 and 5—

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 4 · chapter mention

3 through 5. Man, think about all that came out of that

initial effort. But on the other side of that,

it's heartbreaking when it doesn't go that way. For sure. All right,

any other thoughts on verse 11 through 15?

Now Paul's using this metaphor of the vineyard, and now he's

using the building metaphor, and he expands on that. He changes

this. He refers to this spiritual building as a what?

It's a temple. All right, and this is the same picture

that Paul builds for the church in Ephesus. He says to the Christians there,

he says, you're no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens of the saints.

And members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the

apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief

cornerstone. He's saying the church at Corinth is a temple

of God with the Spirit of God having his residence among

them. That makes division doubly

deadly, doesn't it? Because what does he talk about somebody

doing with the temple here?

Defiling it, destroying it, maybe your version may

say. So here's the question, how does that happen?

In context, how does one destroy the temple of

God, the church? That's certainly

true. That's certainly— and that's a prevailing New Testament principle,

teaching false teaching. How about in 1 Corinthians specifically? How does

one destroy the temple of God? Division.

Now that takes in false teaching, but that takes in lining up behind personalities,

that takes in fleshly wisdom instead of spiritual wisdom.

And so Paul says, when you divide,

when you line up behind men and you make

your loyalties lower than Christ,

here's something else you need to keep in mind. You are negatively

affecting the temple of God. And why is that important?

By the way, Paul's going to use an image here, not an image because it's

not just an image, He's painting a picture for us,

a true picture. In chapter 6, he's going to talk about

the Holy Spirit being in the individual. It's one of

14 statements in the New Testament explicitly saying the Holy Spirit of

God is in the Christian, but he's speaking in the plural

here. He's saying, now, before you line up

behind me and you are divisive in your behaviors and you're quarreling

and you're causing disruption in the local church,

I want you to step back and look at the church as a temple.

Think about the sacrifice that was made. Think about the

work that goes on. Not only that,

but the Spirit of God is in that temple.

And when you wrangle and fight, you are

harming, you're doing damage to

the temple. And what happens when that happens?

What does Paul say? Him, say it again.

Him God will destroy. Paul's saying this

isn't little, this isn't trifling stuff here. This is important.

And so keep that in mind. All right. Any other

thoughts about that before we move into the next section? All right.

As you build, don't deceive yourselves. This is what Paul is saying in verse 18

through 23. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you among you thinks

himself to be wise in this age, he must become foolish so that

he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.

Does that sound familiar? It's chapter 1. For it is written,

he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord

knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless. So then let no

one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos

or Cephas or the world or life or death

or things present or things to come, all things belong to

you. And you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to

God. All right, so Paul is saying what he

said in chapter 1, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.

He says that in verse 19. And he says that for a

particular reason in chapter 3. It's to drive home the point

that they should not boast in men, whether we're talking about Paul or Apollos

or Cephas or whoever the personalities are that are causing

the problems. But it's also to show that their glory and

their worth are tied to their being in Christ and their belonging to

him. We wrestle with so much pride,

our earthly accomplishments and the things that make us stand

out, but those are not the things that are going to get us into heaven.

It's not the stuff that's going to bring about unity.

Worldly wisdom is a dead-end street. If you think of it this way, the I

in Christ is small. Not big. And so that's me.

I'm little. I'm serving in

a role in the body of Christ along with everybody else. And Paul's

about to show them that the way that a steward and a servant acts,

how they behave, chapter 4 and verse 1. And so we want to be humble

in our service to Christ, and that's going to unify the body. That's how

Paul closes this idea of be careful how you build.

You're part of the process, and there's— it kind of

comes back to where— how he started the chapter. Don't rely on earthly wisdom.

Don't rely on your physical accomplishments

because God's the one who is causing the growth.

Christ is the foundation upon which we're building.

Any thoughts on chapter 3 or questions?

All right, let's move into chapter 4. All right, if we're going to avoid

or correct congregational division, we've got to consider our work.

That's what Paul says in chapter 4, verse 1 through 13.

Now, this chapter break is man-made here. Paul's not changing

the subject. I think what he's doing is he's drawing a conclusion based on what

he has just said in chapter 3. If anybody

uses the NIV, I think they actually do a good job here. They say,

it says, so then. If you have the ESV, it says,

this is how. The New American Standard and the New King James says,

let a man. But Paul is drawing a conclusion

based on what he's just told them. So here's the conclusion.

Since we belong to Christ, we need to look closer

at our responsibility to Christ. And here's what he shows us. That first

of all, we're to be faithful stewards of God's mysteries. This is verse 1 and

verse 2. This is how— here's what Paul says. This is how one should regard

us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, Moreover,

it is required of stewards that they be found

faithful. All right, so when you think about the teachers

and the influences in your spiritual life,

how should you look at them? How should you regard them

according to Paul?

All right, yeah, you are to regard them well. Now let's think about that

more specifically. Were these folks regarding their

Pauls, Cephas, and Apollos as well? Did they highly regard their

guy? They did. So what's Paul saying here

in chapter 4, verse 1 and 2? When we're talking about Paul and

Apollos, these evangelists who have caused so much growth in the body of

Christ, when you look at them, what should

you think of according to verse 1 and 2? What are they? They're servants

of God. They're also something else.

They're stewards of God. What's a steward?

That's a caretaker. It's a manager. So when you think

about those who have been building on the foundation of Jesus Christ, I want you

to see them as God's slaves, his bondservants,

the one who is out there doing the bidding of the master. Remember,

when we build on the foundation of Christ, we're saying he's the master, he's the

Lord, and if we can get somebody converted to that idea, then they're going to

take off. They're going to be obedient to Christ. They're going to do his will.

And they're also going to take seriously the charge that we collectively have.

I don't think it's confined to evangelism, but I do

think in context, that's what he's talking about here.

How can you be a steward of— in the

realm of evangelism? I'm not talking about Hiram and me, I'm talking about

all of us. How are you

a servant of Christ in this process and how are you a steward?

I'm not asking what have you done? I'm asking how does one fulfill those roles

as a member, a builder in the body of Christ?

Okay, it's certainly going to take in your example and the

way that you live and making sure that you are away from

the assemblies and away from the body, that when you're by yourself

Monday through Saturday, that you are Matthew 5:13-16ing.

Matthew 5:13

It's your light and salt out there.

Okay. All right. So, so we're getting— we're going to get more and more

uncomfortable. That's uncomfortable to try to make sure I'm living like

I say I believe when I'm singing and I'm praying. It gets a little more

uncomfortable when I'm, I'm peeling my eyes and

it's the person that I can have influence in, in my, in my life and

not just seeing them but actively looking for

a way to reach them.

Okay, and that makes one both a servant and a steward. Anything else?

Okay, feeling the

weight. Did Paul feel the weight?

What does the Apostle Paul say to start the letter to the Romans?

Before we get to, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, what does he say?

I am a what? All right,

I am a bondservant. Yep, I'm after that. He says, I am to the Jews

and the Greeks, to the wise, to the barbarians, I'm a debtor.

All right, here's what I say when I look at that. If Paul was a

debtor, what am I? I mean,

here's Paul out there slaving away. And look, by the way, I'm not trying to

make you— I'm not— this isn't a guilt trip. I'm trying to help us make

1 Corinthians 4:1-2 live in our lives because Paul is talking

1 Corinthians 4:1–2

about he and Apollos and as examples to them saying,

here's what we are. We're not idols to be worshiped. We're not men to

line behind and say, this is my guy. I am a— we

are stewards and we are servants.

But if that's true of them and we're in the body of Christ, we're the

same thing. And what does that mean in our lives? Yes, sir.

I think it says stewards

of the mysteries of God. Good. That's an important point.

We have an obligation to try to learn

the scriptures and live it,

of course, and try to explain that to someone

else. That's exactly right. If you'll go back to chapter 2 and

verse 1, The mysteries of God are the testimonies of God.

If you go back to chapter 2 and verse 7, these, the mysteries

are the once, that once hidden message that other writers,

Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3:1 and following. What's the

Romans 16:25 Ephesians 3:1

mystery? What is the mystery the New Testament talks about?

The gospel is for all.

Now that doesn't sound like some big revelation to us, does it? Why is that?

Because we have the New Testament to tell us this. If you think about that

in the first century context, who did they think the gospel was for? For the

Jews for a while. And so you have the work that's being done to take

the gospel to the entire world. And so Paul's saying, this was

long held in the mind of God and now it's made known to you in

Ephesians chapter 3. It's this wonderful mystery that Christ came to die,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

not just for a race or a particular nation, but for everybody. We're stewards

of that. So how do we become stewards of that? I'm going to— you're—

by the way, you are being stewards of that right now.

As you do this, and as you— and in fact,

even, even more, as you do this and then you, you do this and

you make those connections, and as you're drawing, you're writing, and you know,

you're saying, I want to know this better, not just so

I'll become more informed, but so I will sense

my responsibility, look for my opportunities, live as an example

so that I can go out there and and I can show somebody the

gospel.

Absolutely not. We've got to be consistent. All right,

let me move ahead just really quick here. We're to remember who's examining our

work. Paul says, now here's something that should comfort you. Don't worry about

what other people are saying and thinking about you.

Don't be concerned about the perpetual critic

and the armchair quarterback, but also don't go polishing your trophies and emphasizing

your accomplishments because in the end, who's the evaluator?

You'll stand before him. He's going to evaluate your work.

And in a sense,

given the doors that the Lord opened in

your life, were you always slamming those

or were you trying? Hey, look, man, maybe you just messed it up

really bad. Maybe you were awkward or maybe you just,

you know, that whole thing that we dread, The thing we dread in soul winning.

Hey, would you, would you like to study the Bible? No, go away. Well,

who are you? That's what we think. Don't you think every time that's

what's going to happen? At least sometimes we might think that way.

The Lord's not going to make us responsible for that. We're, we're builders who are

trying to build. Um, but the Lord's going to evaluate,

you know, what we did with the opportunities and how we responded. Huh?

Keep knocking. That's right. Look for doors to open and then do our very

best and be like Paul. As prolific

as he was in this regard, he is always wanting more boldness.

You know, I say this often.

I work alongside the boldest person that I've

ever met in soul winning, and I follow

his example all the time. I try to,

and it makes me say, man, I want to be bolder. Help me.

Help me not— help me get over myself because

there's souls in the balance. There are people who need to go to heaven,

and God's counting on me. But that's

something I'm doing in relationship with God because he's

the one who's going to evaluate the work that I'm doing, okay?

Let's just hit this really quick together. We need to follow good examples

of humility. So Paul's driving them back. Stop following worldly wisdom,

earthly wisdom. Pursue the example of

Christ, our example, as we've shown it to you. And that's what he's going to

lean on here. He says, these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself

and Apollos. This is why I think he's trying to soften the blow for them

and to save their feelings. He's not really talking about them.

He's talking about their little pockets of personalities that are causing problems.

For your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to

exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant

in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior?

What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it,

why do you boast as if you did— had not received it? You're already filled,

you've already become rich, you've become kings without us. And indeed,

I wish that you had become kings so that we might also reign with you.

For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of

all, as men condemned to death, because We have become a spectacle to

this world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake,

but you're prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you're strong.

You are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour, we are

both hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, roughly treated, homeless. We toil,

we work with our own hands. We're reviled, we bless. We're persecuted, but we

endure. When we are slandered, we try to conciliate. We have become as the scum

of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. Just take away

from this, that they were proud and haughty and they were lining up behind

me. And Paul says, here are your examples.

How are we seen? How are

those who've been involved in soul winning? Just go through the list there. We're dregs.

We're the scum of the earth. We've been rejected. We've been persecuted.

We're not— it's not this glamorous thing.

We're servants, we're humble. He's not saying we're humble,

but that's the picture that comes out of this. And so you need to

change the approach that you've been taking and be humble.

And if they're humble, by the way, what would be the result in the local

church at Corinth? They would be united. All right,

that's Paul's point. Let me just say this. I don't know, is it okay if

I go ahead and just finish chapter 4? Cultivate unity through instruction.

Look at verse 14 through 21. I do not

write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would have many

fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the gospel.

Therefore, I exhort you, be imitators of me.

For this reason, I have sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child

in the Lord. He'll remind you of my ways in Christ, and so forth.

Paul is saying here, you know what?

Hiram will help you know what it means next week when he teaches,

because worship's coming in a few minutes. Thanks very much for your attention. We'll pick

up in 4:14 next week.