The Gospel at Work

INTRO: There are few things more rewarding to a disciple-maker than to see Christians growing. Indeed, the apostle John wrote:

3 John 4 NASB95

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

When we consider our calling to GO and make disciples, we know that God saves sinners just as they are, but He does not save them simply to leave them where they are. That’s why our calling isn’t simply to sow the seeds of the Gospel.

Now, admittedly, we can become overwhelmed by this great feat or we might simply lose sight of its importance.

If you were here with us last week, we took a good look at the path of discipleship and, if you remember, we took our discipleship path and turned it into the pattern in order to walk others down that path. Hopefully, that was helpful to you. Yet, even with that perspective, you and I need to understand how the Gospel works and how we are involved.

That’s where we are this morning. For the Corinthian Church, this teaching took form partly in rebuke. As you may recall, they had become divided over their preferences and pride, exposing their lack of spiritual maturity (1:12). The only division that there should be is that between believers and unbelievers; those who are perishing and those who are being saved. And maturity brings about greater understanding of God’s wisdom.

Thus, Paul’s tone is corrective. The Corinthian church had gone astray from their path. They had gotten so bogged down in peripheral discussions that the strength of the Gospel was lost. They needed to be brought back.

Perhaps you can relate? Perhaps you have gotten side-tracked. Maybe you have allowed your life to be so overrun with the things of this world that your faith is minimized. Maybe you have forgotten what is most important… maybe you too need to be reminded of how the Gospel works and why we are called as a church to join into the work of the Gospel.

So let us learn together. If you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide as we study 1 Corinthians 3, the sermon is entitled “The Gospel at Work” and we will look at 3 principles that will allow us to see how the Gospel is at work in our lives.

Let us begin. The first principle is:

Healthy Christians Grow (1-7)

It’s in these first few verses that we see a rebuke as Paul lays out this principle. Let’s read v. 1-7 (READ)

Paul uses 2 metaphors here to explain this point: Growth is natural and part of God’s plan and work in the life of believers.

First, is the metaphor of a child. Paul speaks about how when he met the Corinthians, he gave them milk- or as we learned last week, the simple gospel. He did this because that was all they could handle.

ILL: You would not give a T-bone steak to an infant.

But, the problem is that the Corinthians were still on milk. They had not grown as they should have. The picture is that while they should be eating solid food, they have not embraced growth and thus only desire milk. They weren’t growing because they would rather nurse and be coddled. They were selfish and fleshly (v.3), still applying the gospel to their own salvation and not to the mission.

Again, this would be like a 10 year old still expecting to be breast-fed. Just like the Corinthian church, there are some baby Christians who have been saved for many years, yet have refused to receive and apply the solid teaching of God’s word.

If a child was not growing- say they were 5 years old, but still were infant-sized, unable to speak, had no teeth, couldn’t walk, etc., you’d know that something was not right. This is not what a healthy child looks like. Just as a healthy child grows, so do healthy Christians.

The second metaphor is that of a plant. The point of this is that the Corinthian church could not blame their teachers for their lack of growth, just as they could not credit them for growth. Any growth that we experience is by the grace of God.

Growth is natural because that is God’s plan. You cannot force a seed to grow into a plant. You can till the soil, plant the seed, and water it, but ultimately it is up to God.

But, just as a seed predictably grows because that is God’s design, so the healthy Christian grows because of God’s design.

If you have been saved and have not grown, then you may be unhealthy. You might be surrounded by worldly influences that choke out growth. Perhaps you only want to surrender partially to God… maybe just an hour a week. Friends, that is not healthy!

Imagine if a plant only received water and sunlight for an hour a week. How healthy would that plant be?

The principle is this: Growth is natural. You should see growth in your life. You should be able to look at your life today and see that you are more mature as a follower of Christ than you were this time last year. Are you less like the world and more like Jesus?

Discuss: Are you a healthy, growing Christian?

Healthy Christians Grow. God gives that growth. But God invites us into the work of the Gospel. Like the planting and watering Paul mentioned in his plant-metaphor, there is a level of involvement that Christian leaders/ disciple-makers have in ensuring the health and growth of one another.

This is the second principle Paul points to:

Discipleship Must Be Intentional (8-15)

In v. 9, Paul identifies he and his cohorts as God’s fellow workers and the Corinthians as God’s field/ building.

Here, he begins to switch metaphors so that we can better see what he is getting at.

Let’s read v. 10-15 together again. (READ)

So, once again Paul points to how he shared the simple, pure Gospel. This is the foundation of our faith. We cannot have any misconceptions here. But look at how he explains how the Gospel is put to work in our lives:

Other mature believers are called to build upon this foundation.

Now, if you know anything about construction, you know that good builders build according to a plan. Paul says he laid the foundation according the the master plan and other workers are now called to build upon that foundation in accordance with the blueprints.

But the plan is not just what we are called to build, it’s also the material we are called to build with. (Look at v.12)

Here’s what we need to see. It doesn’t take much work to gather hay and wood. But recognizing that what we build will be tested by fire, we must build with that which will withstand the testing. It’s not about doing what is easy, but rather doing what is good.

What we as disciple-makers must do, is mine the precious minerals of God’s Word and build with this. We don’t try to build with worldly wisdom and fleshly values. No, we are building by pointing to and modeling God’s image. This means that we look not just as knowing God’s word, we must look to apply and obey it also.

This also means that it takes multiple workers pouring into the work.

Our children need to have the Word of God taught and lived out by parents, grandparents, SS teachers, deacons, etc. in order for them to stand strong on God’s truth.

Our goal is not to simply build up each other so that we look nice from the outside, but to build so that we can stand in the face of persecution. So that when we face the winds and storms trials and temptations, we stand in strength.

This does not happen on accident. Why do so many teens walk away from the church when they graduate HS? Because they have walls that were patched with hay and sticks and they are unable to see the beauty and wonder of who they are in Christ.

Folks, we must take our role seriously. Read v. 15 again with me.

Indeed, we must be intentional about bringing forward the treasures of God’s Word as we make disciples.

Discuss: How would you describe your intentionality in making disciples?

So far, we have seen the principles that healthy Christians grow and that discipleship must be intentional. Finally, Paul point us to the principle of our identity, that is:

The Church is Precious to God (16-23)

Let’s read 16 again (READ)

This is in reference to the church body. Paul will later address your bodies as individuals in chapter 6.

Here we have to take into account that the intentionality of disciple-making is rooted in our identity as a temple of God. In other words, we are set apart for God’s presence to dwell among us, therefore our church gathered must reflect the genuine character and spirit of Christ-followers.

Warren Wiersbe says it this way: “...each of us builds into the church what we build into our own lives”

This is a serious thing, as we mentioned earlier. Here, Paul addresses this by saying

1 Corinthians 3:17 NASB95

If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Holy. Set apart. Precious.

I want you to use your imagination with me for a minute. We are designed by God to bring Him glory; We sing “Holy Spirit You are welcome here..”

Now, let me ask- would you expect God to dwell in a house that is filthy- built with cheap materials that cause allergic reactions. Would you expect to present to God a place for His glory that reflects the values of the world?

Friends, we exist for Christ. All the solid Biblical teachings we receive and apply are meant to draw us closer to Jesus. You belong to Christ; We are His possession. He has sealed us with His Holy Spirit and He will never give us up.

Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 581.