1 Corinthians 3:10-17

Divisions in the Church

Some follow after Paul, some after Apollos

Others after Cephas and others after Christ

Is Christ divided? and who are we anyway?

We are all fellow workers in the same field

We all have our own job to do - but we (the body) serve the field (the Church)

God assigns the job - and He gives the growth

take confidence in this!

Romans 9:11 God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—”

Romans 9:15–16 “For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”

Say with confidence: Once saved, always saved

because it aint you that does the saving

So we are secure in the plan of God, we have security in His promises

Problem: do you believe it?

If God is sure to bring about His plan in us, then also too in others

LW -> we spoke on the individual jobs that build up the church and the worship of God

Now zoom out and widen our scope - from little c to BIG C Church

From:

Edifying the church and encouraging believers:

Janitorial, Worship and Praise experience, Prayer for the body, Communion, Fellowship coordination, to the Sermon Prep, community Service

To:

Mission field

Evangelism, Representing the Light of Jesus to the World, raising children, making good decisions with integrity

From the marks of the Church (what we do in here) to the work of the Church (what we do out there)

Paul has both of these things in mind

Remember: this is the mark of Christian maturity - putting our faith to work

So God assigns the Job to the believer, He equips us adequately, He gives the growth

BUT, are we faithful with the Job? are we faithful with His giftings?

And with that - a change in analogy

1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

READ TEXT

The Building

Story of the kids and Legos - build it as high as you can, try to make it not fall

Start: with the end in sight

Any good builder has a vision (vision needs to be clear before we pick up the tools)

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “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.”

Revised Pastor Dave Version

“YALL” - the Church is the Temple of God

We are building the Temple of God

The Plans, the Schematic, The Drawings, The Blueprints: It is Holy

Holiness:

We are commanded to be Holy:

Leviticus 19:2 ““Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

It would be good to know what it is

Joy this past Friday: I asked the Lord to show me what holiness was and I was exhausted in five minutes

Basically: To be holy is to be Set apart

But (from what to what) becomes a problem

Been a problem since the Garden -

God makes all things in six days and says… and gives us a job to do (represent Him well to all of creation)

Woman (with Man standing next to her) opens her eyes on rebellion and says...

God says

Be set apart from the temptation of Satan from the Garden unto Me

The flesh of man becomes corrupted by sinfulness - so be set apart from that

Then the effects of sin has repercussions on the World - so be set apart from that

God has not left us alone in this endeavor:

This is not your will against the wiles of the Devil

Remember: Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

God’s Spirit dwells within us - this is how we come to Him, in order to stand any chance

That is the plan

The Master Builder

v10 - By the Grace of God given to me

Paul needs us to understand that it is God’s grace that has purposed him on mission

and equipped - and will make sure

A skilled master builder - I have been equipped by the Lord Himself

Paul was quite literally tutored by the Lord Jesus - As an Apostle

This is what Apostle means - Walked and talked with the Lord Jesus and commissioned to found the Church of Christ

Training of Paul:

Galatians 1:11–18 “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.”

So I laid the foundation in Corinth - and in other places (as an Apostle)

The Foundation laid: is Jesus Christ

The Foundation

Peter Gives good insight to the implications of building the Church on the Rock

Setting Jesus as the foundation of OUR faith

Peter: “you have been saved - Christ has been offered to you”

Saved from: Satan, the Flesh, and the World

So build your faith on this!

1 Pt 1:13ff

The Builders

Now we turn to the Works of the Church and the Believers

“I laid the foundation, but someone else is building upon it”

Someone else is immediately Apollos

But as a leader of the local Church: know this

I will not be here forever

You will probably not be here forever

I am honored to build upon the foundation that has been laid

(because God has been gracious to me)

But, inevitably I will not be your last pastor (and that is okay)

Regardless if we are considering pastoring, teaching, cleaning, worship leading

We are building on the foundation - either things that are perishable or things that are imperishable

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The perishability of our works are not necessarily made known right away - but they will be made known

It is not WHAT you are doing but WHY (Motive)

You are building on the foundation

either gold, silver, precious stones (things that will be preserved when tested)

or wood, hay, and straw (things that will perish when tested)

The Test

God will test the works and motives of His people throughout our time here

Fire has an interesting way of testing different materials

As we move closer to The Day (the return of Jesus in ultimate Judgment)

He is testing the works of the Church

Wood, hay, and straw - get burned up

Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones get purified (they get cleansed)

Consider the tests that you have been through

Sometimes what we are building stand strong in the fire and we come out purified, and even more grounded to the foundation

Sometimes our work is burnt up

The Reward

Revelation 22:12 ““Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”

Our rewards are illustrated to us in the bible as Crowns

Whether or not, on the Day of Judgment, we are given crowns or not

The one Characteristic that is clear: they are imperishable

They will not fade away

So when the Day of Judgment draws near:

Will you be confident that you have been storing treasures in heaven?

Or are your treasures being stored up here, to be burned up?