Wise Master Builder

Point 1 | A Wise Master Builder is not the builder

1 Corinthians 3:1–7 NASB95

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Opener

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Husdon Taylor)

One Author writes of Hudson Taylor, “A missionary in Africa was once asked if he [Hudson Taylor] really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. “Do I like this work?” he said. “No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonable refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse. But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ‘Go,’ and we go. Love constrains us.”

Of course Paul said something similar didn’t he in 2 Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 5:13–14 (NASB95)

13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us...

and in

2 Corinthians 12:15 (NASB95)

15 I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls....

Paul in verse 10 of our passage today calls himself a “wise master builder” and that is the title of the message today. If you want to be a Wise Master Builder you must demonstrate humility and love. Love and humility will make you a wise master builder or selfishness and strife will tear down the body of Christ. Point number one today is “The Wise Master Builder is not THE BUILDER”

Disunity

Disunity runs through the entire book of 1 Corinthians. There are literal factions. Clicks. They had immorality with no accountability. They had completely misunderstood the sanctity of marriage. They had disorder and chaos in their meetings. And perhaps worst of all they were getting drunk and showing impartiality toward the poor in their congregation while celebrating communion together. Communion is sign of our unity in Christ through the cross and that very symbol they had turned into a grievous demonstration of selfishness and disunity.

In this passage Paul literally says, “for you are still fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1 Cor 3:3).

The church is supposed to be welcoming. It is supposed to be bringing people in. It is supposed to reflect the impartiality, that is not showing favoritism, of God. Jesus modeled this so wonderfully in how he put himself around those with physical needs, those steeped in sin, the tax collector with no friends, sex workers with not a single person willing to stick their neck out for them. But I want you to think about the heart of God in an even deeper way. The simple fact that God would dwell with man. Anybody who you have even looked down upon for any reason… you have infinitely more in common with them at their worst than God does with you at your best. In other words if anyone had a reason to separate themselves from us, its God. And yet He not only doesn’t do this. He doesn’t do this even when we are steeped in our sins. It is while we were yet sinners Christ died for us! What is it that causes disunity? It is a focus on oneself and comparing oneself to others.

The 10th commandment in the Law says, though shall not covet. We sometimes think that is completely abstract terms. It is me and amazon.com baby… try not to covet. But the command is very connected to the human element of this.

Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbors, house, wife… or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” What is interesting about the 10th commandment is both Jesus and Paul link it back to being a violation of the 1st. This is fascinating for multiple reasons we don’t have time to go in now. But Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul does it in places like Colossians 3:5 where he reference, “greed which amounts to idolatry.” Do not miss this… wrong relationship with neighbor (coveting my neighbor) is directly linked to a wrong relationship with God (idolatry).

The Solution is God (Corresponding to the truth)

Here is the interesting thing. The solution to covetousness. And specifically this crime and competing against your neighbor (jealousy and strife)… whether its in your home, the church, your workplace… is God. Listen to Paul:

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 NASB95

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

This is in the context of jealousy, strife, and factions. The remedy to that is getting the eyes off yourself and putting them where it counts! God. And its not just this do this because its good advice. If you don’t experience more peace and harmony in 30 days you can have your money back! No the reason you do this is because it is true. Don’t you want your motives to line up with what is objectively true in the universe. You see the problem with pride is it is always a lie! It is never true. Could Adam and Eve really be like God in any way they truly would have wanted when they ate that fruit from the tree? No they couldn’t.

Jordan Peterson, speaking as a clinical psychologist, says in his many years as a counselor he has never seen anyone get away with anything. When they think they are getting away with something it is like they are bending the fabric of reality and always comes back, snaps, back and the suffer the repercussions. Now Biblically that is only partially true. But it is generally true that when we go against God’s truth, in His Wisdom as Creator, we suffer the natural, the designed, consequences. And with jealousy and strife there are lots of them. There are endless and unimaginable ones. They are not worth it.

Herbert Vander Lugt writes,

By Herbert Vander Lugt

“Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, was reared in a godly home and admonished to accept Christ by his grandfather Jonathan Edwards. But he refused to listen. Instead, he declared that he wanted nothing to do with God and said he wished the Lord would leave him alone. He did achieve a measure of political success in spite of repeated disappointments. But he was also involved in continuous strife, and when he was 48 years old, he killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He lived for 32 more years, but through all this time he was unhappy and unproductive. It was during this sad chapter in his life that he declared to a group of friends; “Sixty years ago I told God that if He would let me alone, I would let Him alone, and God has not bothered about me since.” Aaron Burr got what he wanted”.

You see he got what He wanted but what he wanted and the way he wanted wasn’t in accordance with the truth.

Augustine famously said, “You O God have made us for yourself and our hearts our restless until they find rest in you.”

God gets all the glory

Here is the truth of the matter. We could not even exist one more moment if God didn’t will it. Christ upholds all things by the power of His word the Bible says. We would not even exist to begin with if God did not will it, He has determined the very time and place we would be born the Bible says. The things we are the absolute best at, no matter how hard we may have trained or studied are more dependent on the grace of God to have those gifts than our own stewarding of them.

For example i don’t care how much Usain Bolt trained to reach a top speed of 43.99 kilometers per hour (Kilometers sound better than MPH)… he wouldn’t be able to run at all unless God gave him legs… not to mention his unique make up. I am not suggesting hard work doesn’t matter it does. But we are stewards and servants of God more than we are creators.

Paul proves this when he says:

1 Corinthians 3:5 NASB95

5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one.

The great preacher and the great missionary of the early church… if they are not anything on their own but servants than how much more you and I.

The Gospel at its very core is a Work of God and not of man so that no one can boast. We are saved by grace. Glorious, glorious grace. We must believe. We must have faith. Faith has been called the great anti-work. It is a looking to God and not yourself for your salvation. But then having been saved by grace we bear fruit… but not of ourselves.... by being plugged into Christ.

John 15:5 NASB95

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

And then as a servant of the Lord advancing the Gospel we strive in our own strength to promote this Gospel that has saved us right? Wrong!

What does Paul say here?

1 Corinthians 3:6–7 NASB95

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Then in verse 10 he says he is a “wise master builder” but only “according to the grace of God.”

Here is the thing. We exist by grace, we are saved by grace, and we labor as Christians by GRACE. By the strength God supplies.

If you want to be a wise master builder on mission with the Lord you must stop promoting yourself, and say what Paul says here, “neither the one plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” Give everything for the glory of God and for the betterment of those around you. In that you will build according to the truth. And you will build something that lasts!

Point 2 | A Wise Master Builder builds on Christ

1 Corinthians 3:8–11 NASB95

8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Fellow Workers

Now notice in verse seven Paul says the one who plants and the one who waters is not anything, but then in verse eight it does say we are something… something by grace. And what are we? We are God’s fellow workers, God’s field, God’s building. Again by God’s grace He is making us into something glorious in Christ. But we are not just the field or the building we are also His “fellow workers”.

One famous quote says, “Without God, man cannot, and without man, God will not.” As part of God’s plan for redemption… seeing the end from the beginning he makes us fellow workers in brining the message of the finished work of the cross to our fellow creatures. Though we were complicit in death reigning through sin in this fallen world we, having trusted in the unmerited grace of God, get to partake in brining Christ to those who do not yet know. Isn’t that glorious. We are united with Christ in every way. We are family, but we are also co-workers. It is important we understand this. And as co-workers with God in this redemption story what is the key to being a wise master builder?

A wise master builder was in their day is similar to our day. Research suggest that there would have been different skilled laborers using their services in a project but one person in particular they reported to that made sure it all came together according to design. And Paul as this wise master builder, by the grace of God, always made sure the foundation was Christ!

The Bible tells us all things were made through Him and for Him and all things were redeemed by Him. So He is our Creator and Redeemer.

I had an old 80s Jeep Commanche Truck. It was the 1st vehicle I ever owned. Bought it with my own money. But with in the first year I got in an accident and ran into the back of I believe a 71 Chevelle. The guy was amazingly nice about it. But I only had liability on my old truck. So I fixed the entire front end of it myself. It actually looked cooler by the time I was done. But when I was done. That truck was even more mine than it was before. It is hard to explain. But I had not only bought it I had restored it. In an infinitely deeper way you are the Lord’s. He is your creator and your redeemer.

It is crazy when human beings live for themselves and not for God for they are NOT living for the one in whom they were made.... but there is something even more crazy than that. It is when these same human beings having been redeemed, having been rescued from sin, become self focused and self glorifying again. You see it is worse because we do this not with just God as our Creator but also our Redeemer. We do this in ministry when we lose our christo-centric ways. You see being a co-worker of God in redemption it is particular important to get this right because this is the very work that saved us in the first place.

To not get this write is to like saw off the very branch you are sitting on.

Example | Jesus is the pinnacle of Scripture

Practically speaking this means Christ must be the main thing.

1 Corinthians 3:11 NASB95

11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Look I love God’s Word. And it is not an uncommon thing for someone who loves Scripture and love searching out truth to get caught up in tangental issues. And its not that secondary or tertiary issues aren’t important. I can show you in Scripture where they are very serious. But what they must never do is steal the spotlight from where Scripture itself shines the spotlight.

Jesus is the pinnacle of Scripture. All the Old Testament wrote of Him He says. He is the fulness of the Law and the Prophets. He came to Fulfill all righteousness. He is the be all end all. And HE must, He absolutely must, be the be all end all of our ministry. He is the beginning and the end of our faith. So one of the most practical questions you must ask yourself is in the ways I am laboring for the Lord am I presenting Christ as the only foundation and am I majoring on Him.

Applications

Do our home groups seek to major upon Him. Does my discipleship of others major upon Him. Does our preaching and teaching major upon Him. Does my sharing of the Gospel focus on Him… You may go how does it not…

Testimony. well if all you ever do is tell your testimony and you never get to the cross I would say you have work to do.

Jesus Ends to a Means. I know another young man that wanted more than anything freedom from his mental illnesses. He would do almost anything you would ask him to do in pursuit of freedom. Alter calls, retreats, prayer times… but He wanted Jesus only as a solution to his problems. The problem with that sentence is the word only. You can want Jesus as the solution to your problems but you also have to want Jesus for Jesus. You need to come to true faith in Him. You need to be able to say “The Lord gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” In other words no matter the circumstances I am your man. In the words of Jesus take up our cross and follow Him. You see Jesus wasn’t the beginning and the end of His faith… he was only mere means to end.

Jesus and Relationship. I knew another young man who knew someone who had back slidden… and he thought if only I do this one religious activity with them they will be fine. But the real problem was the persons relationship with the Lord. They didn’t know how to abide in Christ. No religious ritual can replace knowing Christ. Jesus must be the beginning and the end of our faith.

Sharing The Gospel, Healing, and Sanctification are all very Christian things to grow in, but they themselves must flow from and flow to Christ. And all of our heart, soul, mind and strength must be focused on Him fist and foremost. We were created for this purpose and we were redeemed for this purpose.

1 Corinthians 3:21–23 NASB95

21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.

Why strive and toil for this presence world when all things are yours in Christ.

Amen!

Point 3 | A Wise Master Builder has a reward

1 Corinthians 3:11–17 NASB95

11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 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.

alright lets break this down. I think this is a fascinating passage. It actually has a depth of insight that is probably more clear than some other passages that talk about rewards in the Kingdom. A wise master builder needs to know how this works.

Notice in verse 9 it goes “fellow-worker, field,” then “building”. Then notice the foundation of this building is Christ and only Christ in verse 11. Then notice the building is a temple 16, which is quite fitting for the spiritual analogy.

1. Christ the Only Foundation

For you to even be in the conversation about rewards in the Kingdom you have to be in Christ. Those who preach another Gospel or no Gospel are not even in the Kingdom. They can’t even enter the conversation.

2. Two kinds of builders

Notice there are two kind of builders. One does it with precious lasting material and the other does it with common perishing material. The teaching here is that in the final end God will test it, exam it, to see if you built with Him according to true knowledge and all discernment… according to the teachings of Christ, Scripture, with pure motives… that is Gold Silver Precious Stone. Or if you didn’t carefully divide the word of God, if you did things with wrong motives, or you had compromise in your ways… maybe being lazy or unwilling… whatever it is… that won’t last. Now Paul is clear you will last but your work won’t. Your faith was real but your labor was lame. And he uses strong language. He says, “he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved”. This loss is the loss of his wage. He will have squandered reward in heaven with King Jesus because they were not good workers in the Kingdom.

Now what are the rewards? We don’t know exactly but analogies used in the New Testament is being put in charge of many Cities which fits the reigning with Christ and the Kingdom of God themes in the NT. In revelation His servants are crowned. And Paul of course referred to the churches as his joy and crown. Jesus tells a story in the Gospel of Luke about using wicked wealth to lead many people to the Lord so a host of people will be waiting for you one day when you pass into eternity waiting to welcome you home. I think people, each other are the ultimate reward. But there seems to be more to it as well. We want to hear the Lord say, “Well done my good and faithful servant”, and not, “Look you trusted in me, but what were you thinking?”

3. Destroying The Temple of God

Lastly look at verses 16 and 17 again:

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 NASB95

16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 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.

Now let me tell you what these verses are not talking about. They are not talking about suicide. The “you”s here in the original language are plural. We don’t have that in English. They do in Koine Greek. He is saying you all are God’s temple. You, the Corinthian Church. And if anyone works to destroy the church God will destroy them.

It is His Church. He is a like a loving Father and anyone who seeks to come into a loving fathers house and mess with his kids will receive his wrath.

It is not uncommon for me to get into philosophical conversations. And some young guys from time to time like to ask me some hypothetical questions about self defense, “Steve is someone broke into your house and were a threat to your kids… Oh I would shoot them. Happily. Now I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to. But if I had too. Without a doubt.”

I am a Dad. This verse in the Bible makes perfect sense to me. If you start to preach a false Gospel. if you start to lead people away from Christ. If you are like the so many people who opposed the advancement of the Gospel in Paul’s day… Well God opposes them. Now they are not without hope. Jesus died for them too. But you do not want to end this life and step into the next having ended with being an enemy of the Gospel by preaching a false Gospel. Paul himself started as an enemy of the Gospel… yet by the grace of God he was saved.

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Conclusion

This is the end of the matter then. We are saved by grace, there is no other foundation than Christ. And we labor according to the the grace of God by abiding in Christ. And if we keep our eyes on Jesus we will be Wise Master Builders.

Ministry becomes drudgery when it becomes Christ-less. It loses its purpose.

Ministry becomes burdensome and discouraging when we try to do it in our own strength. There has been many of times when I have been tired, I am starting to feel it, and I think of Paul… and I think how i haven’t even walked a mile by comparison to what he endured. The sleepless nights, the imprisonments, the beatings, being stoned with rocks, shipwrecked, etc. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 that he out labored all his contemporaries… then he immediately says, “not I but the grace of God within me.” When I get tired and I know I have more to do… it is in those moments I pray “God teach me, grow me… I haven’t even begun to labor for you. Would you by your grace pour out your Holy Spirit to do your will. Would you by your grace anoint me afresh for the work you have called me to.” You see it is not that I need more time, more energy, more resources… I need more of God for His Glory.

I am confident you all are wise master builders. And I really believe if you continue to labor in the Lord as you are you will be presenting gold, silver, and precious stone to the Lord and you will he the words:

Matthew 25:21 NASB95

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’