Spirituality And Spiritual Gifts

OCTOBER 19, 2022 STUDY NOTES SERMON SERIES: “SPIRITUALITY AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS” SCRIPTURE: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:10-15 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES INTRODUCTION Do you know how important it is for you to live a daily Christian life? Do you know how important it is for others to see you live a daily Christian life? Paul is going to show us how important our daily Christian life really is The Christian life is of daily importance, earthly importance, and eternally important Paul uses the construction of a building to illustrate the importance of building a spiritual life Certain guidelines must be followed in the construction of an earthly structure You must have a set of blueprints and someone who can read and understand them The foundation upon which the building will stand is most important Many different kinds of materials are available for the construction of an earthly building The blueprints will tell you what kind of materials to use in every phase of the building The location and the purpose of the building determines the type of materials to be used Paul wants us to realize all of those things as he instructs us to spiritually build our life Our life must be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:11) The set of blueprints for the construction of a spiritual life is the Word of God We must use the right materials in the construction of our spiritual life What kind of materials are you using to build your daily life? Time and the storms of nature will test the quality of the buildings that man builds Our spiritual structure will be tested as walk the steps of everyday life Our “Spirituality” is tested by difficult times and the emotional storms we face in life The normal steps of life that we take every day will test the spiritual life that we have built A strong spiritual structure is important for the life we face daily in this present world But as Christians we face another test of our spiritual life It is known as the “Judgment Seat of Christ” And that is why it is so important to build a solid spiritual structure today We need to learn to look at and study the blueprints of life daily We need to evaluate our daily thinking and our daily steps of life Paul wants us to be sure that we are a “Wise Master Builder” Are we growing spiritually and sincerely serving Christ day by day? THE GRACE TO BUILD--1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Paul often refers to that which God has given to us by His Grace Here Paul is grateful for the God-given opportunity to serve God daily Our salvation is a gift of God and our ability to serve Him is a gift from God Paul is telling us that we have a responsibility to use what God has given us And that we must use it wisely to build a spiritual structure known as “life” Which brings us back to the importance of “Spirituality,” which requires a wise master builder The term “master builder” identifies a workman of high rank The master workman, the superintendent, the chief carpenter, or the general foreman Referring to the one who is overseeing the construction work of the building The one who makes sure that the right material is being used Page 1 of 6 The one who sees that every piece is properly placed when and where it belongs But remember that Paul is speaking to us about building our spiritual building God is the one who is responsible for providing the building materials We are responsible for properly using the materials, we must be a “wise masterbuilder” We each one must be skilled spiritual builders, skilled in building our life and helping others We must be wise as we face Satan who is seeking to destroy a life, 1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Christians have a ministry of spiritually repairing damaged lives, Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Paul is presenting to us how we each one must do our part and work together in ministry to others Paul said, “I have laid the foundation,” so, had did Paul lay “the foundation?” In verse 11, Paul tells us that the foundation of life is Jesus Christ Paul came to Corinth to preach Jesus Christ, 1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Paul “laid the foundation” by preaching the gospel, 1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; Without the foundation of the gospel all else is “vain,” 1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. The foundation for building a life begins at the cross, 1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; A spiritual structure must be built upon the foundation that was laid at the cross But we are not left alone to build our spiritual structure upon the right foundation Building spiritual lives is a united effort of wise master builders, which is the church family “And another buildeth thereon,” another Christian, another spiritually gifted believer As a church family we are each one important because we are each one gifted to spiritually build We are each one spiritually gifted to do our part in building spiritual lives Paul said, 1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. Paul said, I did my part, Apollos did his part, and he tells us we must “all” do our part And when we do, “God will give the increase” (1 Cor 3:6-7) Paul just told us that we must all work together for the same purpose, 1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. And now Paul tells us that we must pay attention to our own spiritual work--“But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” “Take heed” means to pay close attention to what you are doing daily, it is eternally important Your spiritual life requires your undivided attention daily, not just on Sunday How many times a day does Satan attempt to turn your attention away from your spiritual life? Paul is warning us, telling us how important the daily building of our spiritual life really is Keep your mind upon the blueprints, read the blueprints every day, read and study the Bible daily All must be according to the blueprints, Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; “Take heed,” be sure that you are using the right spiritual materials “Take heed,” be sure you are putting the pieces of life together according to the blueprints 1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Sinful man wants to lay his own foundation according to his old sinful nature Man wants to build his life upon his own selfish desires and sinful ways Page 2 of 6 Satan offers many foundations for you to build your life upon The only foundation for a life is life itself, the life of a person, the person of Jesus Christ All other foundations will fail, life built upon any other foundation will ultimately collapse Any foundation called life apart from Jesus is not life at all but death There can be no foundation other than Jesus, “than that is laid,” the foundation already laid Jesus left heaven and came to the earth to lay the foundation of eternal life, Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Life begins with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. There is but one foundation of life, “which is Jesus Christ” Earthly foundations determine the size, shape, and strength of the building you can build upon it Consider the life that you can build upon our spiritual foundation, a super-spiritual structure The NT church is built upon the confession and acceptance of who Jesus is, Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Our foundation) Heaven itself had to reveal the truth of the “Person of Jesus,” Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Our blueprints) The realm of the dead has no power over the life of the church, Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (The strength of our spiritual structure) Individual Christian lives are united in Christ to make up the spiritual structure of the church Paul has already warned us about the importance of building our individual spiritual life The time for building a spiritual structure known as life is today We build day by day as we live our life upon this earth How important is that building project? Paul is going to show us that we are now building for life in eternity We do not work for God in-order to be saved--we do not work for God in-order to go to Heaven We work for God because we are saved, and because we are going to Heaven The house that we are now building, which is known as life, will be lived in throughout eternity You do not build your spiritual life after you get to the eternal state You live the life in the eternal state that you built while you were upon the earth That is why Paul so strongly cautions us in this passage of scripture, “take heed” how you build His subject is not, “get saved and go to heaven” His subject is, “you are saved and going to heaven,” so prepare your life for living in Heaven As Christians we are accountable unto God for the daily life we are now living Christians will face the future judgment known as the “Judgment of Christ,” Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (We shall all) The purpose will not be to determine whether one is saved or lost, or to answer for sin in our life Only those who are saved will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, “all” of the saved will The purpose of the “Judgment Seat of Christ” is revealed in, 2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (We must all) Paul is explaining the “Judgment Seat of Christ” to us in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Page 3 of 6 Paul uses an earthly contrast of building materials to illustrate the life we are building today Literally he is saying, we are building, and we are continually building each day of our life “This foundation” has already been explained, it is the only foundation we can build life upon “We” who are building is identified as “any man,” referring to each-and every Christian Christians are the “all” in Romans 14:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:10, no Christian is exempt We are all building, but the question is, what kind of material are we building with? Paul presents two classes of earthly materials to illustrate the results of the judgment The “good” of 2 Cor. 5:10 is the gold, silver, and precious stones of 1 Cor. 3:12 “Good” represents divine things, that which is of God, from God, things of our new nature “Good” has the meaning of that which is profitable, good for you and benefits others “Good” represents the daily life of “Spirituality,” a daily Christ-like life The class of gold, silver, and precious stones will endure the fire and receive rewards The “bad” of 2 Cor. 5:10 is the wood, hay, and stubble of 1 Cor. 3:12 “Bad” has the meaning of worthless, of no value to self and harmful to others “Bad” represents the works of the old sinful nature, fulfilling the desires of self-glory “Bad” represents the daily life of worldliness, a carnal lifestyle (1 Cor 3:1-4) The class of wood, hay, and stubble will be consumed by the fire, there will be no reward 1Co 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. “Every man” must take heed how he builds his spiritual structure, verse 10 Because “every man's work shall be made manifest,” the work of each-and every Christian “Manifest” means to cause to appear, to be made plain, seen, understood (Every step of life) When will that happen? “For the day shall declare it,” what day? The day of the judgment of the works of all believers, 1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. Christians are to examine their own works, we must continually evaluate our motive and ministry Church leadership must evaluate the witness, the teaching, and ministry of church workers Immorality, false teaching, unfaithfulness to God, the church, and one another must be corrected James explains what Paul is telling us, Jas 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. To “speak evil” is found 3 times in this verse, James makes a strong point The commandment is clear, “do not slander others,” do not criticize others Stop speaking against one another, stop accusing one another, stop running one another down Stop talking against your church family and tearing one another apart Stop trying to lift yourself up by lowering others with your tongue “One another” indicates that this was-something that was going back and forth They were doing to others what had been done unto them, which is a “get even” attitude The degree of the wrong was intensified because they were “brethren” Another strong point, the word “brother” is found three times in this one verse That is why James is so concerned about the slandering that was going on Members within the family of God were running one another down Slander is a sin that most people don’t place on the “most sinful list” It is not a sin that you put in the same class with adultery, murder, or stealing “To speak evil or to slander” means to blaspheme or insult with speech People will say, “I am not talking about them, or being critical,” I am just telling you the truth There may be truth in what was said, but the sin is the evil intention behind the words Page 4 of 6 The sin is the evil intention of the one who is speaking against someone Deep down they mean to bring fault and harm against them Judging one another has the meaning of criticizing and condemning Referring to someone who is constantly backbiting, fault-finding, and criticizing others James does not mean forming an opinion of someone who is in the wrong, we should do that But to judge, condemn, or slander is not an evaluation of others for the purpose of correction If you are judging others through slander, you are taking the position that belongs to God You are attempting to determine right from wrong, in so doing you are not right, you are wrong We attempt to know what is right for others when we do not know what is right for us Instead of the law governing your life you are now governing the law You have taken God’s law into your own hands and have set yourself up above the law You are not preparing your life for the eternal future, you are not spiritually prepared Which takes us back to Paul’s words in, 1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come The day that the Lord comes will be the day, that “day shall declare it” (1 Cor 3:13) The Judgment Seat of Christ will be one of the events occurring when Christ returns “Declare” means to make known, to clearly show the motive and the purpose of our works Nothing will be hidden, every man’s work “shall be revealed by fire” “Revealed” means to remove the cover so that all the unknown, will be made known “Fire” is probably a symbol of God’s penetrating discernment that will test every man’s works It doesn’t matter what the fire is, it is the results left by the fire that matters “And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is” Every work of every believer will be examined, it will not be the quantity that is tested The quantity of works is God’s work, it is “God that giveth the increase,” (1 Cor 3:6-7) It will be the quality of our works that will be tested, faithfulness will be tested, 1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. The only way to be prepared for Jesus’ return someday is to live for Him today To be prepared for the “Return of Christ” you don’t have to: Know all-of the answers to all-of the present-day questions concerning His return You don’t have to understand all-of the events that will take place when He returns You don’t have to be able to put together the correct chronological order of those events But in-order to be prepared for the Return of Christ you must “abide in him” (Spirituality) If you abide in Christ today your works will abide in the day of the Judgment Seat of Christ 1Co 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. This verse describes the “wise master builder,” the works of gold, silver, and precious stones The faithful works of a Christian will survive the test of fire Build your spiritual life today upon the foundation of Christ and you “shall receive a reward” Don’t lose rewards daily, gain rewards daily, 2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. This verse is a word of warning, we must be on guard, keep a close watch, especially for self The key to understanding this verse is the word “wrought” “Wrought” has the meaning of to work, to labor, that which is produced by our performance Identifying with our personal testimony of faith, love, and hope, which we have worked for The Thessalonians are an example, 1Th 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; (A life of Spirituality) True faithful believers will receive a reward, Paul is an example of “a full reward,” 2Ti 4:7 Page 5 of 6 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: A full reward will be given to those who keep the faith and live daily for the return of Christ, 2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Salvation is by grace through faith and rewards are by grace through faithfulness Christians cannot lose their presence in Heaven, but they can lose Heavenly rewards Which is possible “if” you are not faithful in your daily walk of life Pray attention to “if any man,” 1 Cor 3:12, 14, 15, 17, 18 1Co 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. You have often heard the expression, “it all went up in smoke,” what a tragedy How sad it will be for a lifetime of works to go up in smoke, his “work shall be burned” That which will be burned is the worldly works of wood, hay, and stubble A carnal Christian life will “suffer loss,” which is not the loss of salvation No scripture indicates the possibility of a Christian losing their salvation Paul makes that point clear, “he himself shall be saved,” there is no loss of eternal life Our salvation is not earned, salvation is in Christ, salvation is secure in Christ Heavenly rewards are earned through faithful service for Christ, through Spirituality Heavenly rewards can be lost, the “fire” will test each-and every opportunity to serve God Again, it doesn’t matter whether we understand what the “fire” really is We must understand the results of the test of the “fire” CONCLUSION The question is often asked, will there be rewards in Heaven? If so, will there be varying degrees of reward in Heaven? Yes! There will be rewards in Heaven--Yes! There will be degrees of reward in Heaven The rewards will not be an external gift for all others to see, Heaven will not be look at me Christians will not be comparing their rewards with one another, not let me show you my halo It will not be one Christian showing off their mansion on main street While another Christian is ashamed for others to see their shack by the tracks There are many verses that teach the truth of eternal rewards in the OT and NT Speaking of God’s Law, the Psalmist said, Psa 19:11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. God rewards those who faithfully keep His Law, Psa 18:20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. A clean and righteous life of the Christian will be rewarded presently and throughout eternity In the Old Testament, divine reward is viewed primarily in terms of material blessing from God God continually promised blessing or curse for Israel Blessing for their obedience and curse for their disobedience (especially turning to idolatry) Their blessing came in material possessions and military victories Their curse was the loss of material possessions and times of oppression from their enemies The New Testament emphasis upon blessing is the promise of “spiritual blessings” Present and eternal blessings are promised to those who are faithful in their service for Christ Christ will return to the earth for many reasons, one will be to reward the faithful Christian, Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Page 6 of 6