The Master Builder’s Plan: How Are You Building on the Foundation of Christ?

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Please join me in standing as the one true living God calls us to worship this Lord's day.
[00:00:56] O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
[00:01:04] The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
[00:01:08] This is the Lord's doing.
[00:01:09] It is marvelous in our eyes.
[00:01:12] This is the day that the Lord has made.
[00:01:15] Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
[00:01:19] Indeed, let us rejoice and sing praises to our God and King as we open our hymnals to 389 and we'll sing together, This is the day that the Lord has made.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy
[00:02:00] He rose and left the dead, and Satan's empire fell.
[00:02:23] To me the saints his triumph spread, and all his wonders tell.
[00:02:24] Hosanna to the mighty King, to David's holy Son,
[00:02:26] Let us be the Lord who comes to name with messages of praise Who comes in God His Father's name to save our sins
[00:03:02] Let's pray together.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Almighty God and everlasting King, indeed this is the day that you have made.
[00:03:21] And we receive it with gladness and rejoicing in our hearts.
[00:03:27] We thank you that you have given us one day in seven for rest and worship.
[00:03:33] Where we can worship you as the creator, sustainer, and ruler of all things and also rest in your goodness unto your people.
[00:03:43] We can rest in knowing that we have salvation through the work of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
[00:03:51] We can rest in knowing that you are at work in the world around us by the power of your Holy Spirit and by your holy word going forth.
[00:04:00] And so we praise you this morning, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for you have made us, those who are scattered, you have made us a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for your own possession.
[00:04:14] And so we pray that during this time we may proclaim the excellencies of you who have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light.
[00:04:24] We praise you, God, that you have made us who were not a people now your people,
[00:04:29] We were once far off from you and had not received mercy and yet we have received your mercy.
[00:04:35] What an awesome, powerful, merciful God you are.
[00:04:40] We pray that you would be with us now and lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit so that all that we say and do would be pleasing in your sight and so that we may be encouraged by the truth of your word.
[00:04:52] We pray these things in Jesus' name.
[00:04:54] Amen.
[00:04:56] Please remain standing and turn with me in your bulletins to the inside pages for our corporate voice of faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, question 55.
[00:05:14] Christian, what do you understand by the communion of the saints?
[00:05:19] First, that believers, one and all, are members of the Lord Jesus Christ, are partakers with Him in all treasures and gifts.
[00:05:32] Second, that each one must feel himself bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the advantage and welfare of other members.
[00:05:45] Please be seated.
[00:05:58] And turn with me in your Bibles for our Old Testament reading this morning.
[00:06:01] 1 Chronicles chapter 29 verses 1 through 9.
[00:06:13] And as a bit of context, in 1 Chronicles, this is King David sort of paving the way for the building of the temple under his son Solomon.
[00:06:23] So let's hear now the word of the Lord, 1 Chronicles chapter 29, verses 1 through 9.
[00:06:31] And David the king said to all the assembly,
[00:06:41] Solomon my son whom alone God has chosen is young and inexperienced and the work is great for the palace will not be for man but for the Lord God so I have provided for the house of my God so far as I was able the gold for the things of gold the silver for the things of silver and the bronze for the things of bronze the iron for the things of iron and wood for the things of wood
[00:07:10] Besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble.
[00:07:19] Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God, I give it to the house of my God.
[00:07:32] Three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir,
[00:07:36] and seven thousand talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the house and for all of the work to be done by craftsmen gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver who then will offer willingly consecrating himself today to the Lord
[00:07:57] Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work.
[00:08:10] They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand derricks of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.
[00:08:24] and whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite.
[00:08:33] Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord.
[00:08:41] David the king also rejoiced greatly.
[00:08:45] The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of God will stand forever.
[00:08:51] Amen.
[00:08:55] Children, we want to invite you forward now for our children's message.
[00:09:21] Good morning.
[00:09:23] So we just read a passage out of 1 Chronicles with the word talents over and over again, didn't we?
[00:09:29] And talents was a measurement of the things that they would need to build God's temple in the Old Testament.
[00:09:38] And what I want to talk about this morning, really briefly with us, is that in the New Testament we are told that we are God's temple.
[00:09:48] That we, the church, are God's temple.
[00:09:50] So we just read that passage about all that gold and silver and bronze that would be made and I have a picture for you that can kind of give you a visual of what the temple looked like.
[00:10:04] Everybody see this?
[00:10:06] See all the gold and bronze and silver and all the pretty things inside the temple that was built?
[00:10:13] Sure, y'all can pass it around.
[00:10:16] The temple was where God would meet with his people.
[00:10:20] And I wonder if you know the way God's people knew that he was with them in the Old Testament.
[00:10:25] Can you think of a time, maybe in the wilderness, where God showed that he was with them?
[00:10:35] With the Israelites?
[00:10:36] Yeah, how was he with his people in the Old Testament?
[00:10:38] How did he show them?
[00:10:46] In the night he appeared to them as a pillar of fire, right?
[00:10:50] And then he parted the Red Sea, that's right, and he led them by a pillar of cloud during the day.
[00:10:56] And also in 1 Chronicles it's said that he showed them himself as a cloud in the temple
[00:11:03] One day out of the year that he would come and meet with them.
[00:11:05] So what I want you to think about is not only is that temple where God meets with his people, but now in the New Testament we hear this amazing truth.
[00:11:15] This is from 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
[00:11:16] Pastor Andrew is going to preach about this.
[00:11:18] This is what God tells us today about where his temple is.
[00:11:23] Listen to this.
[00:11:24] Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
[00:11:32] So in the Old Testament, God led His people by a pillar of fire and smoke, and He let them know that He was with them, and now He leads us by His Spirit being with His church.
[00:11:42] The Holy Spirit is with us.
[00:11:44] So where is God's temple today?
[00:11:48] Here.
[00:11:48] That's exactly right.
[00:11:49] We are God's temple.
[00:11:51] Isn't that amazing?
[00:11:54] Isn't that amazing, guys?
[00:11:55] We got distracted on the handout.
[00:11:57] That was a rookie mistake.
[00:11:58] I'm sorry.
[00:11:59] All right, let's pray and thank God that he has made us his temple now.
[00:12:04] Let's pray together.
[00:12:06] Let's pray.
[00:12:06] God, we thank you that you dwell with your people.
[00:12:14] Thank you for making us your temple.
[00:12:20] We pray that you would help us worship you today.
[00:12:25] In Jesus' name.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen all right you can go back to your seats i invite you to open up your hymnals once more this time to number 585 we'll sing together the first four verses of take my life and let it be let's stand

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Take my life and let it be Consecrated more to Thee Take my moments and my days Let them flow in ceaseless praise Let them flow in ceaseless praise Take my hands and let them move
[00:13:27] In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[00:13:49] Amen.
[00:13:49] Take my voice and let me sing Always only for my King
[00:13:55] Take my listener that can be Filled with messages from thee Filled with messages from thee

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Let us pray together.
[00:14:37] Lord our God, as we have just sung, it is our prayer that you would take us, our lives, and let them be consecrated to you and to your service.
[00:14:46] And Father, as we just heard from 1 Chronicles of the people giving freely and rejoicing and being able to give to you and to your work.
[00:14:54] So, Lord, this morning we want to be those who give with cheerfulness and rejoicing in heart as we honor you with your tithes and our offerings.
[00:15:03] Knowing that these are gifts not given to a particular person but are given to you, our Lord, and knowing that you will take these gifts and to use them for the good purposes that you have ordained for building up your church.
[00:15:15] for proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ both here and abroad.
[00:15:20] So Father, we thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this work and we pray that you would bless us as we do.
[00:15:26] In Jesus' name, amen.
[00:15:29] You may be seated.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let's pray.
[00:16:48] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Praise God from whom all
[00:17:50] Please be seated.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Please bow with me as we go to the Lord in a few moments of prayer together this morning.
[00:18:34] O Lord, our God, we come before You this morning proclaiming that You and You alone are God, that Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.
[00:18:50] For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours.
[00:18:55] Yours is the kingdoms of the world, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all.
[00:19:02] Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all.
[00:19:06] In Your hand are power and might, and in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
[00:19:16] And we thank you, our God, and we praise your glorious name.
[00:19:22] Father, indeed, you are great and greatly to be praised.
[00:19:26] And we, your people, come before you this morning acknowledging, recognizing, and celebrating all of your great benefits to us.
[00:19:37] That not only are You our Creator who made our being and gave us the breath of life, You are also our Sustainer who keeps us even to this day.
[00:19:46] And through Jesus Christ, You are our Redeemer, calling us out of darkness into Your marvelous light.
[00:19:54] And Father, we praise You and we thank You for all of these gifts that You have given to us.
[00:19:59] We thank You for the work that You are continuing to do in our lives through Your Holy Spirit, having now called us to Yourself.
[00:20:06] You are building us up into that temple, into that dwelling place, we collectively Your people.
[00:20:15] And so, Father, we would pray then that we would be
[00:20:19] We would behave, we would be found in such a way that gives you glory and honor as your temple.
[00:20:27] Father, we thank you for preserving and upholding us in this last week, a busy week in the life of this congregation.
[00:20:33] We thank you for sustaining us through a barbecue week, for answering our prayers, for safe conduct, for giving us great success, for the fellowship we enjoyed standing side by side with one another in all of our many labors.
[00:20:48] We pray Father that throughout the course of this weekend and particularly today we would rest and recover well from that week.
[00:20:56] Lord we also pray that this would have been a week of testimony to our community as well as people came to us not only to eat a meal but to perhaps see the hospitality and the love and the grace of Jesus Christ extended even to them.
[00:21:10] Father we do indeed want to be a light on a hill, an example of your love and your grace to our community.
[00:21:18] Father, we want to do that not only through a meal, but also through our spoken word, through outreach, through evangelism.
[00:21:24] And we think in particular of our desire to plant a daughter church in the near future.
[00:21:30] Lord, as an opportunity to put another stronghold for the gospel in our larger community, we would pray for that effort.
[00:21:37] We would pray, Father, for our church planting team as they continue to seek Your wisdom in finding the right person to do this work.
[00:21:45] And we would also pray for those in this congregation who perhaps even now you are preparing to go out as part of a core team that can help to establish that new congregation in drawing men and women, boys and girls to yourself through the proclamation of Jesus Christ.
[00:22:02] Lord, we would also pray for the families within this congregation.
[00:22:07] As we live out our lives in our neighborhoods and places where we work, Lord, we would pray for strong families.
[00:22:13] We would pray for parents to love their children well, for children to honor their fathers and mothers, for them to grow in grace, that You would give endurance, that You would give patience, and that You would bless the families of this church.
[00:22:29] Lord, we thank you that as a church we also are a family.
[00:22:32] We thank you that we are knitted together through our shared faith in Jesus Christ and we would pray that we would continue to love one another well, that we would seek to ease the suffering of those who are in times of difficulty, that we would celebrate with those who are rejoicing, and that we would be found faithful with the covenant children that you have entrusted to us.
[00:22:54] We thank you for your church.
[00:22:57] We thank you for your body.
[00:22:59] We thank you for this local expression of that and the privilege it is to be a part of it.
[00:23:05] Father, we pray that you would continue to help us to be faithful in all our ways for your glory into the future.
[00:23:12] And we ask this all now in Jesus' name.
[00:23:15] Amen.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Jesus, lover of my soul, Let us to thy bosom fly While the nearer waters roll While the tempest still is high

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I be, O my Savior, high, Till the storm of life is past, Take me to the haven's guide, O receive my soul at last.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
[00:24:23] More than all in thee I find, Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick and lead the blind, Just and holy is thy name, I am all of righteousness, false and false,

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
I am, a Word full of truth and grace.
[00:25:02] Plenteous grace with me is found, Grace to cover all my sin.
[00:25:12] Let the healing streams abound, Make and keep me pure within.
[00:25:21] Thank you choir.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
I invite you to turn with me please to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 as we continue our study of this letter of Paul to the church at Corinth.
[00:25:59] We're picking up this morning at verse 10 and working through the rest of the chapter.
[00:26:06] When our children were younger, one of the things they loved to do was play with wooden blocks.
[00:26:11] I'm sure some of your kids enjoyed doing the same.
[00:26:14] And sometimes we would see their creativity come out as they would build fairly elaborate castles or forts in order to play with their action figures with.
[00:26:24] And other times they would simply do what every kid tries to do with wooden blocks, see how tall of a tower they could build before it came crashing down.
[00:26:33] The trouble was they often tried to build these towers on carpet and you know how that goes.
[00:26:39] That's fine for the first couple of layers but at a certain point the height and the weight forces the carpet down on one side and everything comes crashing down.
[00:26:47] So one of the things we had to teach them was when they're going to build a tall tower the first thing is to lay down the flat blocks first to build a solid foundation and then they could start building their tower and they would have much greater success.
[00:27:04] With a solid foundation, a building can be stable.
[00:27:08] A building is going to last.
[00:27:12] But it's also true that a foundation by itself is not enough.
[00:27:16] A foundation is incomplete.
[00:27:19] It's how you build on the foundation that's important too.
[00:27:24] Well, as we return to 1 Corinthians 3, we see Paul use this kind of language when describing the church.
[00:27:33] In Jesus Christ, we have our foundation.
[00:27:36] We have a sure and solid foundation.
[00:27:40] But how we build on that foundation is of utmost importance.
[00:27:46] And that is Paul's focus in our verses today.
[00:27:50] So hear now the Word of God from 1 Corinthians 3, picking up at verse 10.
[00:27:59] 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.
[00:28:09] 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.
[00:28:19] 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.
[00:28:38] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
[00:28:45] If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
[00:28:53] Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
[00:28:57] If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.
[00:29:03] For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
[00:29:07] Let no one deceive himself.
[00:29:10] If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
[00:29:16] For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.
[00:29:20] For it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness.
[00:29:24] And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.
[00:29:29] So let no one boast in men.
[00:29:32] for all things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cethus or the world or life or death or the present or the future all are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's let's pray together Lord our God we come to your word this morning
[00:29:56] And we recognize that as we do, we even now are building upon that foundation that Paul speaks of, which is Jesus Christ, that chief cornerstone.
[00:30:07] And so I would pray that I would be found taking care this morning on how to build upon that foundation that we, as we receive the Word, would take care how we consider this Word, this encouragement, this warning in this text today.
[00:30:23] Lord build us up as your temple and we ask this in Jesus name.
[00:30:29] Amen.
[00:30:31] You know, in the natural course of the life of a congregation, there will be an ongoing succession of pastors and of teachers and of leaders.
[00:30:43] It's the natural course of things.
[00:30:46] Men come and men go.
[00:30:48] We can attest to that here at Cottle Creek.
[00:30:51] This congregation has been here since 1753 and it was initially supplied by supply pastors and circuit preachers.
[00:31:00] It wasn't until 1788 that the first minister was actually installed, a man by the name of John Boyce.
[00:31:10] And in the 237 years since his installation, there have only been 16 pastors of this congregation.
[00:31:19] Put that in some perspective, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of this nation the following year after John Boyce in 1789, and there have been 45 men who have served as the president of this country.
[00:31:33] Now, of course, they are limited to term, but that puts some things in perspective.
[00:31:38] Even that, there have been 16 different pastors, well, 17 now, including our associate pastor Luke, who have served this congregation.
[00:31:49] That's the nature of ministry in a world marked by change and death.
[00:31:54] Leaders come and leaders go, but what remains?
[00:31:59] Well, in God's providence, the church remains.
[00:32:02] And the Corinthian church had experienced this as well.
[00:32:05] They were still a relatively young church and yet they had already seen a number of leaders come and go.
[00:32:12] We've discussed before how Paul himself was the founding pastor.
[00:32:16] We saw that when we looked at Acts 18 in the very first sermon in this book.
[00:32:21] How he had arrived in Corinth and spent a year and a half establishing the church.
[00:32:27] But then he left.
[00:32:29] And sometime after he left, Apollo showed up and picked up the good work that Paul had left off.
[00:32:35] And then sometime after Apollo, Cephas, who we also know as Peter, showed up after that and then he left.
[00:32:42] And now it seems others had stepped up into the role of leadership.
[00:32:47] And of course, all of this is completely natural within the life of a congregation.
[00:32:53] What matters isn't that leaders come and go, but what they do
[00:32:59] And Paul's point in our passage today is that whoever is in that role of leader must take great care how they build upon the foundation that has been laid.
[00:33:17] And that foundation, as Paul makes abundantly clear in verse 11, is none other than Jesus Christ.
[00:33:23] And Paul knows this for sure because he was the one that laid that foundation.
[00:33:27] Look again at what he says in verse 10.
[00:33:30] He 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.
[00:33:42] Again, keep in mind, when Paul arrived in Corinth, there was no church.
[00:33:45] When he showed up, there were a bunch of lost pagans and some Jews meeting in a synagogue, but there were no Christians.
[00:33:53] There was no church.
[00:33:55] And so to borrow some language from last week's agricultural example, Paul had to break the ground before he could ever even sow the first seed of the gospel.
[00:34:06] Or to use construction language as he does today, he was the one who had to lay the foundation before he could build anything.
[00:34:13] He had to lay a foundation, and that was what we've heard him say about the last couple of weeks.
[00:34:18] When he came to Corinth, all he did was preach Christ and Him crucified.
[00:34:21] He just preached Jesus, because these people didn't have any foundation in Him.
[00:34:26] And so that was Paul's task, to lay this foundation.
[00:34:31] This was his assignment.
[00:34:33] This was what God had called and equipped him to do, which is why he says at the beginning of verse 10, according to the grace of God given to me.
[00:34:44] This grace that Paul speaks of here wasn't saving grace.
[00:34:47] He had already received that on the road to Damascus.
[00:34:51] No, this grace that he's talking about is the grace of call, of calling, of being commissioned to serve as God's apostle
[00:35:00] to the Gentiles.
[00:35:01] And what's interesting is he uses very similar language in Ephesians chapter 3.
[00:35:07] I want to read just a few verses for you from Ephesians 3 verses 7 through 9 and listen to how he speaks about the grace of God in this.
[00:35:17] Paul says, of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of His power.
[00:35:26] 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.
[00:35:40] Paul understood that it is a precious gift
[00:35:45] To be entrusted with the proclamation of the gospel.
[00:35:49] It is a work of God's grace in a person's life.
[00:35:55] And I'll confess this is something that took me a long time to understand in my own life as well.
[00:36:00] In fact, it was only about four and a half years ago that I came to a realization of the reality of this truth.
[00:36:07] It was while I was preaching through Ephesians in this congregation and I came to chapter 3 that the Holy Spirit really enlightened my eyes and my mind to the reality of the call that He had placed on me.
[00:36:21] I've shared before that pastoral ministry was never anything I wanted to do.
[00:36:27] And even when it became clear that God was calling me and shaping me for this role, I resisted it as long as I could.
[00:36:34] And even when I finally submitted,
[00:36:36] If I'm honest, it was somewhat begrudgingly.
[00:36:41] But it was when I was preaching through the book of Ephesians nearly five years ago and came to these words that I just read from Ephesians chapter 3 that the Holy Spirit convicted me that this call that God has placed upon me is a gift.
[00:36:57] Paul says that he was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace.
[00:37:02] He wasn't looking for it.
[00:37:03] Paul wasn't looking for it.
[00:37:04] In fact, do you remember what Paul was looking for on the road to Damascus?
[00:37:07] He was going to persecute the church.
[00:37:09] He hated them, and yet he was met by Christ on that road, saved, and then shortly thereafter commissioned to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
[00:37:23] And rather than sulking or bemoaning this call, Paul recognized it for what it was, a gift of God's grace.
[00:37:30] And he endeavored to fulfill it to the glory of God.
[00:37:35] Now why am I bringing this up?
[00:37:36] Why am I belaboring this small point in this larger passage?
[00:37:42] Because I need the men in this congregation, the young men, the middle-aged men, even the older men in this congregation to contemplate and to consider, is God perhaps stirring within you a similar gift of grace?
[00:37:57] It is no secret, or if you open your eyes you'll see it's no secret, that we are in a time within the history of the church in this land in which fewer and fewer men are entering into the ministry of the gospel.
[00:38:10] Seminaries have shrinking enrollments.
[00:38:13] Churches have opened pulpits now for years on end because of the difficulty to find qualified men to serve as pastors in their churches.
[00:38:23] And so I would encourage the young men
[00:38:26] Middle-aged men, even older men, to contemplate, is God stirring within you an interest, a desire for ministry?
[00:38:37] I think so often parents, I think we're guilty of this, we set our kids up and get in their minds this idea of getting a really good job, of being wildly successful, of making a ton of money in the course of their lives, and that's fulfillment.
[00:38:51] And that might be fine if that's what the Lord has called a person to, but how often do we also mention, particularly to our sons, that God may well be calling and equipping you for ministry.
[00:39:02] That he might be gifting you with his grace, the calling to proclaim the gospel from a pulpit.
[00:39:12] And so I would encourage you men to prayerfully contemplate this.
[00:39:15] Fathers, talk to your sons about this.
[00:39:17] And if any of you have felt perhaps the Lord's nudging you in this direction, come talk to me.
[00:39:23] Talk to Pastor Luke.
[00:39:24] Talk to one of our elders.
[00:39:25] Let us come alongside you in that contemplation to pray with you, to speak with you, to think about that.
[00:39:32] Because it is the Lord who calls.
[00:39:34] And it is the Lord who equips.
[00:39:37] And all of this is a gift of God's grace.
[00:39:43] Well, coming back then to our passage, Paul's calling was to Corinth.
[00:39:49] And Paul's calling in Corinth was to lay this foundation to preach Christ and Him crucified.
[00:39:55] And he did that.
[00:39:55] He fulfilled his task.
[00:39:56] He laid that foundation.
[00:40:01] But to what end?
[00:40:03] What was the point of that?
[00:40:04] What was the goal?
[00:40:06] What was the end of that work?
[00:40:08] Well, we don't have to guess because Paul tells us later on.
[00:40:11] Jump ahead to verse 16 and 17.
[00:40:12] What was being built?
[00:40:16] Well, Paul says, Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
[00:40:21] If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
[00:40:32] What was God building in Corinth?
[00:40:34] Why had He sent Paul to lay the foundation?
[00:40:38] Because God was building His temple.
[00:40:41] And in case you're thinking of brick and mortar, let me be very clear, He was building His church.
[00:40:45] And the church is the people.
[00:40:47] The people are God's temple, where His Holy Spirit dwells.
[00:40:52] That's true, as Paul says in this passage, collectively.
[00:40:54] We, as the Cottle Creek ARP Church, are a local expression of this temple.
[00:41:02] And it's also true, as we'll see later in 1 Corinthians, that you, as an individual, are also the temple of God.
[00:41:09] But in this particular instance, Paul is speaking of the church.
[00:41:12] We are the temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
[00:41:16] And so what we've seen then in this passage so far is the beginning and the end.
[00:41:20] Paul has laid the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, and God's goal is to build up His temple.
[00:41:28] But how do we get from one to the other?
[00:41:30] How does the church move from that solid foundation to being this glorious temple?
[00:41:35] And that's what Paul is so concerned about in the middle of this text.
[00:41:40] Paul is concerned about those who would take up the mantle of preaching and of teaching and of leading because they are the ones who are now building on the foundation.
[00:41:49] Paul says in verse 10, I laid a foundation and now someone else is building on it.
[00:41:55] And he says that person had better take care.
[00:41:57] of how they build on the foundation.
[00:42:05] They had better build in a worthy manner.
[00:42:09] They had better use materials, so to speak, that are worthy of the foundation that is Jesus Christ.
[00:42:17] Look at what he says in verse 12.
[00:42:21] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, and then that sentence kind of ends rather abruptly, at least in the ESV, it's kind of, Paul interrupts himself, stops himself.
[00:42:36] But let's just pause for a minute and consider what he's just listed off.
[00:42:40] The foundation has been laid.
[00:42:41] No other foundation can replace it.
[00:42:44] How will future leaders build on the gospel of Jesus Christ?
[00:42:47] Well, Paul borrows some construction language here and talks about using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw.
[00:42:56] And all of these are used as metaphors for the sort of quality that a person will use when building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
[00:43:05] And there's a difference in this list, isn't there?
[00:43:07] There's sort of a descending order of quality.
[00:43:10] On the one side you've got gold, silver, and precious stones, and on the other side you've got things like hay and straw.
[00:43:20] There's a vast difference between those two in cost and in value.
[00:43:25] And hopefully, as you think about this, especially the gold, silver, and precious stones, you're also hearing echoes of what Luke read for us earlier from 1 Chronicles 29, as David is listing out the supplies that he had stockpiled for the building of the original temple.
[00:43:44] You remember, David had wanted to build a temple to God, and that was a worthy and commendable desire that he had, but God said, no, you've been a man of war.
[00:43:53] You've shed too much blood.
[00:43:54] I like the idea, but you don't get to do that, David.
[00:43:57] It's going to be your son Solomon who will be a man of peace, a king of peace.
[00:44:00] He'll be the one that builds the temple.
[00:44:03] What we heard in 1 Chronicles 29 is that didn't prevent David from stockpiling the materials for his son.
[00:44:10] And did you hear what he was building or amassing?
[00:44:13] He talked about gold, he talked about silver, precious stones, marble, onyx, all of these valuable things that would adorn the house of the Lord.
[00:44:25] These were worthy items, worthy materials for the glory of God.
[00:44:34] Well, it's no accident that when Paul is talking about building up the temple, the people of God on the foundation of Christ, he speaks of gold and silver and precious stones.
[00:44:46] But what does he mean there?
[00:44:48] He's not talking about the actual materials themselves.
[00:44:51] They're metaphors.
[00:44:53] Paul is talking about things like faithfully proclaiming the Word of God.
[00:44:57] That seems like it should be so simple, right?
[00:45:00] If you're the church and you're built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, what should we preach?
[00:45:04] What should we teach?
[00:45:06] It should be Jesus, right?
[00:45:07] And everything that He's given us in His Word.
[00:45:08] That is a fairly simple task.
[00:45:14] And yet, for so many of you who have visited many churches looking for a church home, your number one thing that you looked for and couldn't find, sadly, in so many churches in our community was what?
[00:45:26] A church that would just preach the Word of God.
[00:45:28] And this is not me bragging.
[00:45:31] It should be a simple, obvious thing that churches do, right?
[00:45:34] We open up the Word of God, we read it, and then we talk about it.
[00:45:39] Instead, there are too many today who are building with hay and with straw, who are building with the wisdom of man, who are leaning on entertainment, who are leaning on gimmicks.
[00:45:50] That kind of stuff doesn't last.
[00:45:53] What's gold?
[00:45:53] What's silver?
[00:45:54] What's precious?
[00:45:56] It's the Word of God.
[00:45:57] Faithfully preach.
[00:45:58] It's not just that.
[00:45:59] It's also the right administration of the sacraments, of baptism, of the Lord's Supper.
[00:46:04] It's upholding and preserving the peace and the purity of the fellowship of believers.
[00:46:11] And what's so sad is that that's what was lacking in Corinth.
[00:46:14] And we've already talked about that.
[00:46:17] The Corinthians were guilty of trying to build with hay and straw as well.
[00:46:20] They were arguing over their favored apostle.
[00:46:25] They were dividing themselves over spiritual gifts.
[00:46:28] They were abusing the sacraments and they were attacking one another.
[00:46:36] They had been given this precious foundation of Jesus Christ and they were using, I'm going to edit what I was about to say there, less than worthy materials to do so.
[00:46:49] And listen to what Paul has to say about this in verses 13 through 15.
[00:46:54] Paul says 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.
[00:47:06] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
[00:47:12] But if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
[00:47:22] Friends, when Jesus Christ returns, there is a day set when Christ will return.
[00:47:28] We who are His people, we know that we will be spared the judgment and wrath of God and that is a glorious thing.
[00:47:35] That is the number one blessing of our salvation that Jesus Christ has already made atonement and propitiation for our sin.
[00:47:42] There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.
[00:47:46] And yet, knowing that,
[00:47:51] We also find that what we have done with our lives since we came to faith in Jesus Christ, what we have done for the kingdom of God will be scrutinized.
[00:48:03] That's clearly what Paul is teaching here.
[00:48:05] That when Jesus Christ returns, we will not face the judgment and wrath of God, but we will have to give an account for how we behaved in the name of Jesus Christ, particularly in that time that we knew Him as Lord and Savior.
[00:48:21] Paul says each one's work will become manifest will be revealed and tested and Paul even says here tested by fire now obviously not the fires of hell because we are spared that as his but in continuing with his construction language he's speaking of a fire that might sweep through a building and what would fire consume it would quickly consume anything that was made of hay or straw or cheap wood
[00:48:49] But it would pass over, it would leave things that are quality like gold, silver, and precious stones.
[00:48:56] And Paul's point is, for those who have built on the foundation of Jesus Christ with those qualities, on the gospel of Jesus, in pointing others to Christ, in not wavering in biblical truth,
[00:49:11] They will receive a reward.
[00:49:13] They will be the ones who are told, enter into your master's joy, well done, good and faithful servant.
[00:49:24] But for those whose work is consumed, for those whose work is burned up, who have concerned themselves with entertaining people or building their own empires or feeding people spiritual junk food, Paul says he will suffer loss.
[00:49:40] Now, much has been made about this verse.
[00:49:49] People have gotten worked up into a tizzy about this, but it's pretty simple to understand what Paul is saying.
[00:49:55] And to understand it, we need to go back to something Pastor Luke made very clear last week.
[00:49:59] Paul, in this letter, in this passage, is very clearly addressing Christians.
[00:50:04] He is addressing the people in Corinth who have turned to Jesus Christ in faith.
[00:50:09] They have made an authentic profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:50:13] The trouble is, they're still babies in the faith.
[00:50:17] They are still immature in their faith.
[00:50:19] They haven't grown like they should have.
[00:50:25] And that shows in their behavior and it shows in their teaching.
[00:50:30] But though they aren't yet where they should be in terms of growth in grace and their sanctification, they are still believers.
[00:50:40] And their salvation in Jesus Christ is sure and certain because it rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
[00:50:48] And so Paul's point in verse 15 is that they will be saved, even if they continue on in their immaturity, they will be saved, but they will miss out.
[00:50:58] on the reward for good and faithful service.
[00:51:05] And that leads to Paul's closing admonition in verses 18 through 23.
[00:51:12] Paul says, let no one deceive himself.
[00:51:14] If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.
[00:51:19] For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.
[00:51:22] For it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness.
[00:51:25] And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.
[00:51:28] So let no one boast in men, for all things are yours.
[00:51:33] Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future, all are yours, and you are Christ's.
[00:51:43] and Christ is God's.
[00:51:47] There's really two main exhortations in these closing verses.
[00:51:51] Let no one deceive himself and let no one boast in men.
[00:51:56] And if you think back to everything as Paul has said since chapter one, that's what he's been getting at.
[00:52:01] Stop deceiving yourselves.
[00:52:02] You think you're wise, but you're not.
[00:52:04] You're fools.
[00:52:06] It's time to become wise according to God's wisdom and stop boasting in men.
[00:52:10] Stop holding up Paul or Apollos or Cephas as if they're the end-all be-all of your existence.
[00:52:18] That was the problem with the Corinthians.
[00:52:20] For all the grace that had been shown to them, they were too short-sighted in their faith.
[00:52:25] They were too easily distracted and too easily satisfied with lesser things.
[00:52:32] They thought clinging to a particular apostle or bragging about a particular spiritual gift was the pinnacle of their faith and their existence.
[00:52:42] When in reality, Paul is saying here, you've got Jesus Christ.
[00:52:47] And because you have Jesus Christ, all things are yours.
[00:52:52] Friends, think about what this means for you.
[00:52:54] If you are in Jesus Christ and Paul says all things are yours, here's what that means.
[00:53:00] Matthew 5.
[00:53:01] We will inherit the earth.
[00:53:05] The earth.
[00:53:06] So why are we squabbling about a favorite preacher or a particular gift that we have?
[00:53:11] 2 Timothy 2.
[00:53:12] We will reign with Christ.
[00:53:17] With Him we will reign.
[00:53:18] 1 Corinthians 6.
[00:53:21] We will judge angels.
[00:53:25] Ephesians 1.
[00:53:27] We have received every spiritual blessing in Christ.
[00:53:32] All is yours.
[00:53:34] You are Christ's and Christ is God's.
[00:53:37] And Paul is saying it's time to be who you are.
[00:53:40] It's time to grow up.
[00:53:44] Stop being satisfied with some of the frills and recognize everything that you have been given in Jesus Christ.
[00:53:53] You are God's temple.
[00:53:56] You are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit being built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
[00:54:07] So as you go home today, contemplate this.
[00:54:14] What are you building with?
[00:54:17] If you are in this church,
[00:54:20] This is a church founded upon Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:54:24] If you are in this church, what are you building with?
[00:54:28] If Jesus returned today and He examined the portfolio of your life, would you be proud, in all the right ways, would you be proud to present it to Jesus?
[00:54:43] Or would you be hesitant and ashamed and embarrassed to turn it over to Christ for His examination?
[00:54:51] That question begins with those of us who have been given the responsibility of teaching and of preaching and of leading, but it extends to every single one of you because Paul says you are the temple.
[00:55:04] What are you building with?
[00:55:06] How are you building on the foundation of Jesus Christ?
[00:55:09] Or to put it another way, how are you adorning the temple of the living God?
[00:55:16] Let's pray together.
[00:55:20] O Lord our God, we do thank You that You have given us solid footing in our faith.
[00:55:27] You have given us Jesus Christ, who is Himself the chief cornerstone, who is the foundation for the church, for the temple that You are building.
[00:55:38] And Father, we know that Your plans will succeed, that we are Your temple even already.
[00:55:44] And yet, You also call us in the course of our lives to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
[00:55:54] And Father, we would pray that we would be found as qualified workmen.
[00:55:59] That we would build with quality materials.
[00:56:02] That we would not stray from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[00:56:06] That we would not buckle under the pressure of a cultural moment.
[00:56:10] Father, that we would hold fast and hold true to your word and to the testimony that we have received.
[00:56:18] And Lord, we would pray too that you would continue to raise up leaders for your church.
[00:56:22] That you would extend the gift of your grace
[00:56:26] To others, to step in to ministry, to step in to the pulpit and to proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness and into marvelous light.
[00:56:38] Lord, we thank You for the good heritage that we have received as a congregation.
[00:56:45] Lord, we would pray that we would not rest on the past, but that we would continue to move forward in faith.
[00:56:52] and that we would be found faithful and that our works would last.
[00:56:57] And we ask this in Jesus' name.
[00:57:00] Amen.
[00:57:04] Our closing hymn this morning is a celebration of that great foundation that we have been given in Jesus Christ.
[00:57:10] Let's stand together and turn to number 347.
[00:57:13] We'll sing the first four verses of the Church's One Foundation.
[00:57:17] Let's stand as we do.

[00:57:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The Church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord She is His new creation By water and the Word From heav'nly gates

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
To me his holy bride With his own bloody water And for a life he died He left from every nation Yet one for all the earth
[00:58:25] One Lord, One Faith, One Word, One Holy Name she blesses, one text, one holy food, and to one own

[00:58:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Christisms rent asunder by heresy's distress.
[00:59:08] Yet saints their watch are keeping, their cry goes on how long?
[00:59:18] And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.
[00:59:31] Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy

[00:59:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Now receive God's blessing.
[01:00:08] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father Almighty, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all both now and forevermore.
[01:00:17] Amen.

[01:00:26] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen, Amen, Amen