Building for God requires adherence to His specifications, as outlined in scripture, with Jesus Christ as the sole foundation. The sermon emphasizes that God's work must be done God's way, using the metaphor of building to illustrate the importance of a solid foundation and careful construction. Just as a wise builder digs deep for a strong foundation, believers must ensure their lives and ministries are built on the person and work of Christ, using costly and eternal materials rather than cheap, temporary ones. The ultimate test of our work will be by fire, revealing its true worth and determining our reward.
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Let us turn in our Bibles to First Corinthians chapter three. And we want to begin our reading this morning at verse ten. First Corinthians chapter three and verse ten. Most of you know that Sarah Murdoch is one of our missionaries that we support and she's in Bolivia and her mother leaves this week on Wednesday to go down to see Sarah and spend a little time with her. This week I took time off and made a few tapes for her that she could take to Sarah the tapes of our brother David Morris that he ministered here and a tape by Dr.
Roloff on Dr. Law and Dr. Grace that I think every but he should hear sometime or rather than a few others as well and it's a delight to know that someone is going to be in contact with Sarah from this area and I know that her mother would appreciate our prayers as she journeys to South America now first Corinthians three verse ten where the Apostle says according to the grace of God which is given unto me. That word according is a measuring line.
It's on the basis of this. By means of that amount of grace that God has given to him, he says, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, stubble, 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. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man maw, defile the temple of God, him shall God maw. or destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. And may the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. I'm going to ask our brother Dave Nethery to lead us into the presence of the Lord. Now let us again just look to the Lord in a word of prayer.
loving Father, graciously minister to our souls this morning as we wait in thy holy presence. May it please thee to speak to our hearts, deliver us from any thought that would detract, from anything that would unsettle, and may our hearts calmly rest upon that which thy word declares. And may it please thee to speak in no uncertain way unto us, that the trumpet may not make an uncertain sound, but a certain sound, for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. The most contemporary church epistle in the New Testament would be that of the one written to the church at Corinth. Whenever you read First Corinthians in particular, We need to remember that you can find the twentieth century church in the first century church at Corinth. For that church exhibited to a large extent what we see today in contemporary Christianity. The problem there, which manifested itself in many other problems, was that of a pervasive man-centeredness rather than God-centeredness.
And this same condition exists today in many places. A man-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. If we were writing in a theological journal instead of speaking from a platform, it would probably be written like this. An anthropocentric centeredness rather than a theocentric centeredness. Beloved, it's so easy to be centered on man rather than on God. And what we need is to have our minds and hearts centered upon him.
Now in the third chapter of First Corinthians, this man centeredness is brought to our attention and Paul lays down principles to cure us of the problems. And if we pay attention to them, it will mean an effective Christian walk and an effective Christian life. The first principle that we examined was that God's primary concern is with a worker and not the work. We have a tendency to get all excited about the work. But God is more important, God is more interested in the worker.
Is the worker... pure and holy and walking with him. The second principle is the work is God's work and not ours. And we have already examined those two principles on previous Lord's Day. Last Lord's Day morning in particular. But today we want to add two principles from the passages that we read. And the first of these is God's work must be done God's way. It was The great man who went to China, J. Hudson Taylor, who made the statement that God's work done in God's way will never lack God's blessing or God's support.
I'm convinced of that, that the God's work done in God's way will never lack God's support. The work must be done God's way. Now we didn't read verse nine. But verse nine forms a bridge between that which goes before and that which comes after. Verse nine is a bridge verse where he says, for we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's farm, God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. You'll notice he had been talking about planting, watering, and reaping, giving the increase in the previous verses.
He that planteth is nothing, neither is he that watereth anything. So Paul is talking about the horticultural aspect. He are God's farm. But now he says, you're God's building. And now he talks about building. And as we build, the work must be done God's way. So you see the metaphor changes. from that of a farm, a plowed field, to that of a building. Now Paul calls himself in verse ten a wise master builder. He says, in verse ten, according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth their own, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
So you see, Paul here calls himself not so much an architect as he does a supervisor of building works. And it's so important to have a good foreman on the job if you know anything about construction at all. The foreman has a responsibility for the work. And Paul calls himself this. God's ministry and His grace to the Apostle Paul, the ministry given to him, was evident of the wisdom that he had to build.
Paul was a builder, and you and I, by the grace of God, are called upon to build for God. Now, beloved, the building that He's being built is the church of Jesus Christ. Paul is writing to a segment of the church in the city of Corinth. And you and I must take this serious. He's writing to a segment of the church that he's meeting in this building here this morning. Now, it must be according to the specifications. If you've ever been involved in building, usually if it's a large building, I've been, I worked in buildings.
where we had a set of specifications, a book about that thick. And it had to do with all the various parts of the building. There was a set of specifications for the plumber. There was a set of specifications for the pipe fitter. There was a set for the electrician. There was a set for the bricklayers. There was a set for the carpenters. And it was all important. Now the word of God, beloved, is a set of specifications. Here are the specifications for God's work. And God expects the work to be done his way.
Well, whether you know it or not, the real building is going to be done God's way. You may not do it that way, and I may not either. But as we're going to see later, We'll learn in due time where we failed in either the gaining of a reward or the losing of it. This is very important. Now building, according to Paul, the first thing he does, he lays emphasis on foundation. Someone else is building on the foundation. According to Paul, the foundation has been laid.
And we're building upon that foundation. Now when he says, I have laid the foundation and someone else is building thereupon, it teaches us the equality of the servants of the Lord in the sight of God. So when we read previously using the metaphor of the pod field, neither is he that kindeth anything, neither he that watereth, they're alike. It is God who gives the increase that's all important. Now Paul's calling and wisdom is recognized here in the passage, and the primary importance of laying a good foundation, erecting a good building, and that calls for patience.
Foundations are important, and a foundation must be laid, and we must learn to work God's way. And God's way is always to lay a good foundation. Remember at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew seven, our Lord, as he came to the close of his sermon, he says, Whosoever, therefore heareth these things of mine, and doeth them. I will liken him unto a wise man who built. And then he gives the contrast of two builders, the one who built on the sand and the building collapsed in the time of storm.
and the one who built upon a rock and the building stood. And that's very important. A personal foundation in your life in terms of obedience and solid character. That's what our Lord was talking about in Matthew seven. Whosoever therefore, and that becomes a personal thing, whosoever therefore heareth these things of mine and doeth them. I will liken him unto a man who built. And when you contrast those two men in Matthew seven who built, you see one man is not interested at all in foundations. He builds on the sand.
He doesn't look to the future on the long term. He is interested in getting the edifice up quickly. And you know in the Christian life, in Christian work, we can be very interested in getting the job done awfully quick. We think in terms of time, we are a time-oriented society. And you see, people look at the man who's building on the sand, and he says, boy, isn't he going somewhere. You see, the building's going up in a hurry. But is it going to stand the test of the storm?
That's what is important. And for everyone, beloved, the storms do come. Sooner or later. I remember my dear dad. He said to me when I was young. He said, you know, when you're young, everything goes right. Everything goes right. No problem. They just get a few years on you and you start to have problems. I've never forgotten what he said. I didn't believe it when I was young. But I'll tell you this, I believe him now. I believe him now. You see, the man who builds on the sand, he builds rather rapidly, and he's interested in quick jobs.
The other man, he begins to dig, and gradually he's even out of sight. If he's going down to where you can get a good foundation, he's out of sight. You can't see him. And he's not, and he's determined, not to build up. until he's laid a foundation. And beloved, as a child of God, there's a lesson here. Our Lord said, Whosoever heareth these things of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his heart on a rock. Be sure your life has a good foundation.
And the only foundation is salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord. Be sure you're saved, and you have learned the principles of the gospel. That's a good foundation, beloved. And until we learn the principles of the gospel, we don't have a foundation. Now we may look big, and we may be impressive to the world, but without that foundation... In solid character, in terms of obedience, we are nothing.
You see, people watching these two builders that our Lord speaks about in Matthew seven, as they watch, they may get entirely the wrong idea. They may look at the one and say, boy, look what that father's doing. That place is moving. He's building. He's building. But that other fellow, he can't even find him. He's down there in the hole. You can't even find him. If you see the fellow down there in the hole, he's laying the foundation. He calls for patience. He calls for labor, hard work. Now, beloved, the same principle applies in the work of God.
We need not wonder what Paul is speaking about when he says that he laid a foundation at Corinth. It was a good foundation. See, in chapter eighteen of Luke, I mean chapter eighteen of the Acts, Dr. Luke, who also wrote the Gospel by Luke, Dr. Luke, he tells us that Paul, on the Sabbath day, he reasoned in the synagogue And that word reason is a very interesting word, persuading both Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Messiah. In other words, Paul laid a foundation. He labored Sabbath day after Sabbath day and during the week as well.
For remember, Paul's hand supplied the needs, his own needs, and the needs of those that were with him. He was a tent maker by trade. So Paul labored making tents and he labored persuading Jews and Gentiles concerning the person of Christ. But what does that tell us? It tells us that Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching and testifying to the Jews and to the Greeks that our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the promised Messiah. The Messiah promised in the Old Testament Scripture. And Paul did this.
Now Paul saved there one and a half years at Corinth teaching the Word of God. Now this is how Paul laid the foundation. This is how he laid the foundation. Now beloved foundations are often hidden. You can't see the foundation to this building. You can walk around this building, but you never see the foundation. You see, foundations attract very little attention. Beloved, if you're past, is foundation laying? Don't be divergent. Lay good foundations. Like Nehemiah.
Oha Sanballas and Tobiah and Gesham the Arabian tried to divert Nehemiah. from the building of the wall. You remember? And Nehemiah, working on the wall, he said, I'm doing a great work. I cannot come down and take time off at you. Beloved, do we realize this morning the importance of the gospel and the importance of reasoning the gospel with others in order that a foundation will be laid in their life? It's tedious work. It's time-consuming work. when it is necessary work.
God's church, beloved, is built on a good foundation, and that foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ. So that principle Paul lays down very definitely. So the work must be done God's way, beloved. And if the work is ever done, it must be done his way. But then second, God's work done in God's way involves great costs and corresponding rewards. I like that expression. See, in verse ten, he says, Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
In building, beloved, care must be exercised with respect to the foundation. But in building, care must be exercised in respect to the edifice that he's being built. Two things, and they're very important. Now, Paul deals with his first respect for the foundation in verse eleven. He says, Let every man take heed, how he builds on that foundation. That's care in respect to the foundation. And then in verse, beginning in verse twelve, he deals with a second. Care must be exercised in respect to the edifice that is being put out.
I was working once on a large building, getting the electrical pipes in the wall as the building was going up, and I was up there in the scaffold on the second floor with a bricklayer. And he had just laid about maybe fifteen or eighteen courses of brick, and I looked out over the wall. and I was shocked. I was shocked because that wall went like this. I said, say, why don't you put your level out there against the wall? And when he did, at one place it was three quarters of an inch off and at another place a bit more.
I said, you can be glad I'm not the boss on this job. I'd take my foot. While all those bricks are still green and out they go, the whole wall would come down that you laid down. But it didn't bother him. He just kept working. Shoddy workmanship. Respect to the foundation, beloved. Respect to the building. Now while we're living in an age when anything passes, We have had in this country such an overdose of the ordinary that anything passes.
Nobody complains about anything. And shoddy workmanship abounds on many sides. It calls for us if we're building for God to pay attention to what He said. We need to have respect for the foundations. We need to have respect for the edifice that's being built. It's so important. There is the possibility, you see, that anyone coming after the foundation layer may try to tamper with it. And you see, Paul was concerned about that occurrence.
For everywhere that Paul went he laid a good foundation. He certainly did among the Galatians. And yet in the Galatian assembly the Judaizing teachers came around and began tampering with a foundation. Beloved its soul today, when he says other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Paul describes himself, and you remember the opening verses when we studied First Corinthians chapter one. I sought to dwell at length on what that word apostle meant, for it's so important.
Paul describes himself there as an apostle. So is it to tell us that he is not only the founder of the church. That means he's the evangelist who went to Corinth, who broke new ground. who planted the church there. But he's also the foundation of the church at Corinth as an apostle in terms of his teaching. And the great verse for that is Ephesians two twenty, where we read that the church, the household of God, is built upon the personal order, not the personal, but upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself.
being the chief cornerstone. But you see, the personal foundation of the church is not the apostles. The personal foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And here is he right in First Corinthians three. Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. And we must build, beloved, in relation and in respect to that foundation. Here Paul is stressing the personal foundation of the church as the scriptures have revealed him. And Paul preached him.
How did the scriptures reveal Christ? And how did Paul preach him? Well, first of all, the scriptures reveal Christ as one who is both God and man. Full deity, full humanity resides in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Great is a mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Furthermore, he is presented as one who was born of the virgin. You cannot be a believer and deny the virgin birth of Christ. He was born of the virgin.
Furthermore, he was perfect in his obedience and by offering one sacrifice of sin, forever for the sins of men in his death. He was raised bodily by God the Father on the third day from the dead. He is exalted to the right hand of God the Father in glory. From that glory Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead and his appearing in his kingdom. This, beloved, is the foundation. This is a Jesus. upon whom the church is built. This is a solid teaching concerning the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, beloved, any attack upon the person and work of Jesus Christ is an assault upon the very foundation of the church. And men stand in the pulpit at Christmas time and talk about the birth of Christ Well, they deny and don't believe that he was truly born of the Virgin. But he was. Now, beloved, when we say a personal attack upon the person of Christ and an eroding of the foundation, this is not a novel or twentieth century phenomenon for people to be making that kind of an attack.
They were made in the first century and in the second century and in the third century. And in every century since, our Lord was here. I like what C.K. Barrett of the University of Durham said on this subject. This is what he says, and I'm going to quote it. He says, man has no choice in the matter of the foundation of the church, namely Jesus Christ. Paul does not mean that it would be impossible. to construct a community on a different basis, only that such a community would not be the church.
And there are other communities that are formed, friends, and they claim to be the church. But they're not the church. They're not the church. And you see, beloved, this is what we need to remember. when there is an eroding of any form of the doctrine of the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot permit any eroding whatsoever of any teaching or doctrine concerning the person of Jesus Christ. So we see the builder who builds on the foundation has to build in respect to the foundation.
But more than that, he has to build in respect to the edifice that he's building. And verse twelve teaches us that we can build with wrong materials. Verse twelve says, Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. You see, the second way in which the believer... or the builder needs to be warned to take care of in verse twelve is to build the wrong material you see there are two ways to build and there are two kinds of materials and these are distinguished in the text and they're distinguished from each other in two ways you'll notice the one is costly you can build with costly material gold Silver, precious stone.
Now if you're going to build with gold, you have to do some digging. There's work connected to building with gold. You're going to build with silver. You're going to have to do some digging and refining. You're going to work with precious stones. You're going to have to do some digging and some cutting. That's what's implied in the text. On the other hand, you can build with that which is cheap, wood, hay, straw. You don't have to do much to get wood. You don't have to do much to get straw.
See, not much work is connected with that. Now the other distinction is, the one building is temporary. The other is eternal. One is permanent. One is temporary. Not a telling point in this portion is this, that everything that is of eternal worth is costly. We sing a lot of hymns, beloved, of the freeness of the gospel, and I love that. I believe in preaching free...