Untitled Sermon (13)

TRP Bible Study 2/19

If you do not wish God’s kingdom, don’t pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it.

John Ruskin (Art Critic and Social Reformer)

1 Corinthians 3:5–22 ESV

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 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. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,

v.10-11: The foundation of our life, truth and the church is Christ

v.13-15: What kind of reward will you be given?- Bible note

Jude 22–23 “And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

There are 3 kind of classes:

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 1

The three classes are: (1) those who contend with you (accusative case in oldest manuscripts), whom you should convict; (2) those who are as brands already in the fire, of which hell-fire is the consummation: these you should try to save by snatching them out; (3) those who are objects of compassion, whom accordingly you should compassionate (and help if occasion should offer), but at the same time not let pity degenerate into connivance at their error. Your compassion is to be accompanied “with fear” of being at all defiled by them.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 1

hating—Even hatred has its legitimate field of exercise. Sin is the only thing which God hates: so ought we.

We are to not even entertain the territory of sin, we are to avoid it in complete as we try to save those from the fire.

The reward is not the gift, this is not referring to salvation.

Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”

v.16-17: Bible note

The destroyers are not the unwise but those who have the ambition to destroy the church which is the temple of the Lord

v.18-21: Pursing the wisdom of God is infinite - bible note

v.22: Bible note