Quality Is Job #1
Series: Study of 1 Corinthians - 1 Corinthians 3:5-9Pastor Ed Riddick - Sunday, November 28th, 2004
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God’s Field
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth….For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field. TS: (You are) God’s building.” ESV
God’s Building
1 Corinthians 3:10-17 ” 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. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 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.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” ESV
He’s talking about
The Role of God’s Servants - Snapshots
1. Fellow Servants of God, 3:5-9
Servants with an assigned task
Paul who started the church, planted,
Apollos, who followed, watered
They work in complementary roles, rather than competitive roles. Both are engaged in the same work, in the same goal of making disciples,
But God caused the growth.
The root of jealousy and strife is pride that likes to get vicarious praise by boasting in somebody else’s bandwagon: “I belong to Paul!” “I belong to Apollos!”
One planting—that’s Paul. The other waters—that’s Apollos. But God alone gives the increase. So God should be the one we boast about, not men. Compared to the greatness of God’s work, ours is as nothing. “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord! I hope we are getting the point in these first three chapters of 1 Corinthians!
2. Fellow Workers for God, 3:10-17
I. Builders For God, 3:10-15
“The usual explanation of this passage is that it describes the building of the Christian life. We all build on Christ, but some people use good materials while others use poor materials. The kind of material you use determines the kind of reward you will get.
“While this may be a valid application of this passage, it is not the basic interpretation. Paul is discussing the building of the local church, the temple of God.”
A. A team of gifted workers
“By the grace God has given me”
Lesson: Constructing a building requires a team of differently gifted workers.
3:10 Paul laid the foundation of the church in Corinth by founding the church…others added the walls and continued building on that foundation.
Paul’s special mission from God was to found churches (Rom. 15:20). He readily acknowledged that it was only by God’s grace that he could do so as a skillful master-builder.
B. Accountable to God to use wisdom in building
II. Three Warnings
A. Be careful how you build – or the builder could lose reward
He added a word of warning that the quality of workmanship and the materials that went into building the church are very important.
Not warning Apollos. Warning new teachers in Corinth.
“By laying the foundation he did—Jesus Christ and him crucified—he was the truly ‘wise’ master-builder in contrast to the ‘wise’ in Corinth, who are building the church of totally incongenial materials and are therefore in danger of attempting to lay another foundation as well.”
The Building Inspector will examine 3 things
1. The foundation
The foundation must control the materials used
Only one foundation – Christ Himself. Not only the foundation but His influence must control the entire building process! Pre-eminant.
3:11 Christ Himself is the foundation of the church (Matt. 16:18; cf. Isa. 28:16; Rom. 9:33; 1 Pet. 2:6). The condition of the building depended the foundation on which they built.
Isaiah 28:16 ” Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. ”
Romans 9:33 ” just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”” NASB95
1 Peter 2:6 ” For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ” NASB95
Basing a church on the work of any other person is improper. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church in a secondary sense only (Eph. 2:20).
2. The value of the building materials
Quality depended on the building materials used “The six materials in 1 Cor 3:12 are arranged to denote a descending scale by moving from a unit of three good qualities to a unit of three bad ones. The verse uses pictures to represent what Paul calls ‘work’ in vv 13 and 14.
Paul’s main point is to encourage building with quality materials that will meet with God’s approval and receive eternal reward. Paul in the symbols combines several things that lead to Christ’s good pleasure and a believer’s reward.
3. The durability of the materials
3:12-13 In Paul’s day contractors built buildings of durable and or combustible materials, as they do today.
In the building of the Corinthian church durable materials were those activities that sprang from reliance on Christ and Him crucified, the foundation. These works contributed to the permanent spiritual strengthening of the believers. The combustible materials were activities that arose out of human “wisdom” in all its forms. These made no lasting contribution though they may have served some temporary need.
Durable: Examples include instruction in the Word of God, training in evangelism, and the refutation of error.
Combustible: Illustrations would be the teaching of popular ideas not rooted in Scripture, social work that excluded the gospel message, and the use of time and money for simply temporal purposes. However, Paul’s main concern in this metaphor was those doing the building rather than the building itself.
A high quality , enduring house where God’s Spirit may live in His fullness and not a structure of self-exaltation, competitiveness, human pride.
Valuable / Durable Materials to use:
1. Living in conscious dependence on Christ
2. Be devoted to prayer
3. Motivated to please Christ and not ourselves
4. Study and teach the truth of God’s Word.
5. Put off the old and put on the new self. Eph 4:22-24f
6. Live in love – 1 Cor 13; Eph 4:31-5:2
7. Join the volunteer army. Get involved in ministry. Eph 4:15-16
Why? Because of a future day of accountability
God will expose the work of each of God’s servants on “the day.” This is a reference to the day when the believer will stand before God and give an account of the stewardship of his or her life at Christ’s judgment seat
if you build into the church doctrines or attitudes or actions that do not fit with the foundation of of Christ, then the fire of judgment at the end of the age which 1 Peter 4:17 tells us begins with the house of God!
1 Peter 4:17 ” For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” ESV
2 Corinthians 5:10 ” For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. ” ESV
2 Timothy 4:8 ” Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. ” ESV
Revelation 22:12 ” “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.” ESV
This fire can only test the work not the laborers.
Two Types of Building Materials Used – Two Results
If the servant of the Lord has made a lasting contribution to the building of the church by emphasizing the gospel, he or she will receive a reward.
If someone has not because he or she has pursued human “wisdom,” that person will not, though he or she will retain his or her salvation. Paul likened the unfaithful servant to a man pulled to safety through the flames of his burning house. Those who suffer loss as being Christians who seek to build the church with materials that do not please God. Those who’ve used poor workmanship and materials
Side note: The testing in view here provides no support for the unbiblical doctrine of purgatory. It is the believer’s works that God subjects to the fires of testing, not the believer personally.
No reference to purifying fires.
The fire only tests not purifies – approval or disapproval
Revelation 20:10, 14-15 ” And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever….Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” NASB95
1 Corinthians 3:13 ” each man’s work will become evident; 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. ” NASB95
ILL: Hurricane Andrew
The rewards in view seem to be opportunities to glorify God by serving Him (cf. Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27). The Christian will have greater or lesser opportunities to do so during the Millennium and forever in proportion to his or her faithfulness on earth now. The New Testament writers spoke of these rewards symbolically as crowns elsewhere (cf. 9:25; Phil. 4:1; 1 Thess. 2:19; 2 Tim. 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10; 3:11). It is perfectly proper to serve Christ to gain a crown. We will one day lay it at the feet of our Savior. It is a symbol of a life of faithful service that we performed out of gratitude for His grace to us (cf. Rev. 4:4, 10).
Matthew 25:21 ” His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” ESV
“[The] whole subject of rewards for the believer is one, I am afraid, rarely thought of by the ordinary Christian, or even the average student of the Scriptures. But it is both a joyous and solemn theme and should serve as a potent incentive for holiness of life.”
“The Bible describes the judgment seat of Christ for one main purpose: to affect the way we think and live—to motivate us to anticipate with joy His return and to live our lives to please Him, not worrying about the way others treat us or what they may think about us. . . .
“Though not the only motivating factor, I am convinced that the doctrine of the judgment seat (bema) is meant to be one of the major scriptural motivations for godly living.”
“It is unfortunately possible for people to attempt to build the church out of every imaginable human system predicated on merely worldly wisdom, be it philosophy, ‘pop’ psychology, managerial techniques, relational ‘good feelings,’ or what have you. But at the final judgment, all such building (and perhaps countless other forms, where systems have become more important than the gospel itself) will be shown for what it is: something merely human, with no character of Christ or his gospel in it.”
B. Don’t destroy the church 3:16-17
This is perhaps the strongest warning in the New Testament against taking the church lightly and destroying it with the world’s wisdom and division.
1. You are the building
You = plural - The community of believers, not a building.
Not the individual believer but the community of believers is the place where God dwells. Addresses the church community because they are responsible for how they view the leaders.
He meant the collective body of believers that made up the local church, The local congregation was not just any building (v. 9) but a sanctuary (Gr. naos) that God inhabited.
2. Build it up the church. Don’t tear it down!
Destroys: false teaching, strife/division, pride, moral impurity (defiles)
Corrupts – doctrine or mental attitude and interpersonal relationships.
Unforgiving spirit
Nursed wounds that turn to anger and bitterness and poison.
Mars: personally wounds others
Spoils: the work of God in people’s lives
Ruins: the witness and reputation of a local church
The affects of God’s work in people’s lives
long lasting affects of carnality!
Principle: If you harm God’s temple, God will harm you!
Ephesians 5:25-27 ” Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” ESV
The church is God’s own possession.
Does this harm refer to eternal ruin?
Or the lose like those who use cheat materials?
Ways to Built It Up Ways to tear it down
Maintain unity Insist on destroying unity
Complement others Compete with others
Respect God’s leaders Criticize God’s leaders
Hold each other accountable Let obvious sin slide
for obvious sin
Take little account of wrongs Keep score, harbor hurts
Actively work on your Allow unresolved issues to
Marriage destroy your marriage
Be careful how you Take no thought of others
exercise your freedoms in the way you live.
Nurture a thankful spirit Grumble and complain
Use your gifts to serve Make excuses not to
Confess known sin Harbor secret sin
Resolve interpersonal issues Harbor an unforgiving spirit
3:17 If any servant of the Lord tears down the church instead of building it up, God will tear him or her down (Acts 9:1-4). He usually does this by sending temporal discipline in one form or another (cf. 5:5). The Gk word “destroys” (phtheiro) also means “defiles.”
It is a very serious thing to destroy or defile a holy temple,
In the ancient world destroying a temple was a capital offense. The church is holy in that God has set it aside to glorify Himself even though it is not always as holy in its conduct as it is in its calling.
In Paul’s discussion of the local church
Paul stressed the importance of the work that all God’s servants were doing at Corinth.
He stresses the need for unity of viewpoint in the congregation. “. . . He makes it clear how important the local church is to God himself.”
C. Don’t deceive yourself, 3:18-23
A warning against personal pride.
How prone we are to self-deception. Limited perspective.
Tunnel vision. Super-sizing the sins of others while
Down-sizing our own.
Blindness to the truth of God.
Personal determination to go head-long into harming the church.
Cure:
Psalm 139:23-24 ” Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.” ESV
Hebrews 4:12-13 ” For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. ” ESV
3:18 God’s wisdom vs human wisdom.
He urged his readers to turn away from attitudes the world regards as wise and to adopt God’s viewpoint so they would be truly wise.
3:19-20 Again Paul used Old Testament quotations to give added authority to his thought. Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11.
The reasoning of human wisdom is useless regarding the most important issues of life. In 1:18-25 Paul had said that the wisdom of God is the way of suffering and sacrifice. Phil 2:4-5
3:21 “So then” = conclusion. It is wrong to line up in cliques behind one or another of God’s servants. In doing so, the Corinthians were only limiting God’s blessing on them. They were rejecting God’s good gifts by not appreciating all the people God had sent to help them.
“Perhaps we cannot help but have our personal preferences when it comes to the way different men minister the Word. But we must not permit our personal preferences to become divisive prejudices. In fact, the preacher I may enjoy the least may be the one I need the most!”
3:22 All of God’s servants were God’s gifts to them. The world (Gr. kosmos, universe) belongs to the Christian in the sense that we will inherit it and reign over it with Christ one day. Life and all it holds contains much blessing for us. Even death is a good gift because it will usher us into the presence of our Savior. This list is similar to the one in Romans 8:38-39 and, as there, is a way of saying “everything.” The figure of speech is a merism.
“The five things . . . represent the fundamental tyrannies of human life, the things that enslave us, the things that hold us in bondage.”
3:23 All the Corinthians belonged to Christ, not just those of the “Christ party” They belonged to Him, not to one of His servants.
Even Christ belongs to God in the sense of being under the authority and protection of the Father (cf. 8:6; 11:3; 15:28). This is functional rather than ontological subordination. All things belong to Christ.
And in Him we possess all things
Paul made several references to the administrative order of God when correcting disorders of various kinds in the Corinthian church.
~ the Father over the Son,
~ the Son over the man,
~ the man over the woman (e.g., 8:6; 11:3).
The apostle stressed divine order because the Corinthians were disorderly having failed to submit to the Holy Spirit’s control.
But the problem is larger still; so he turns next to deal with their attitudes toward him in particu