Building Unto Christ

Some time ago I asked Lyle if
he would kind of begin to pull the saints to see what would
be the best day for me to share my heart and just speak from
my heart. He came up with August 23rd and
today’s the day. I had a lot of time to think as
I drove across the country, almost literally across the country,
because it started up in Spearfish, went all the way to Southern
California. And the Lord laid a number of things on my heart.
And if you’re visiting us today, maybe I should apologize ahead
of time. I’ll catch you at the door. Be a very different service
today. Because in a sense, I want to put an end to Providence
Bible Church as we know it. I want to put an end to the way
that we’ve done things in a lot of different ways, and I want
to use the cross as a metaphor. I’m not meaning to be cheap about
this illustration in the least. We just sang, and I know full
well the infinite value that that idea, that that image elicits. But I want to present to you
the previous cross that hung here. And note that I called
it the previous cross, not the old cross, because in a very
real way, it’s a modernized cross. It’s stylized, it’s sanded, it’s
polished. Now, mind you, it’s dated. I
probably would put a date of about 1950 on it. It looks like
that style. It’s really more of a piece of
art than anything, isn’t it? The new cross that hangs up behind
me is rough, realistic. I’ll explain a few features about
it. It’s rough hewn. not sanded, not finished. In a very real way, it’s very
much like what the cross that Christ suffered and died upon
would have been like. They wouldn’t have taken the
time to sand it. They wouldn’t have taken the time to stain
it. They wouldn’t have taken the time to measure it, not carefully. They wouldn’t have taken the
time to precisely line up the nail holes, they would have slammed
it together quickly. I tried to pick up several of
those features in building this cross. It isn’t perfect. And to tell you the truth, it
is stained. Let me tell you how I even arrived at the color.
I took a piece of the paneling from up above and I knew that
the kind of the golden orange that we see on the walls was
probably not fitting. And this is more
the artist in me. What I picked up, if you glance
up, what I picked up is the color of the knot holes. That was my
goal. Because to me, the knot holes represented sinners, all
centered and focused at the cross. This cross is stained And I can
promise you that the cross that Jesus died upon was not put together
with Bosch power tools. It wasn’t measured. And while
this cross has not only my sweat and my finger that I hit with
a hammer, and even my blood, it’s not perfect, but it’s more
like the real thing. And that’s the point. The real
thing was an object of torture unto death. And I sense that
we in this church have a previous cross mindset. Stylized, polished,
dated, more like art. And today I’m calling for change. With regard to the pursuit of
yet another degree, I wanted to talk to this church. I wanted to talk to the people of this church and
essentially explain, or at least think out loud with you, why
on earth would I do this? Why would I seek yet another
degree in expository preaching? Why would I drive more than 3,000
miles during which, by the way, I saw license plates from 38
different states? Why would I sign up for a program
that costs $15,000? And by the way, just to clarify,
that was $15,000 of my own money, not the church’s. Why would I
willingly be away from both family and church three weeks out of
the year? Why would I go and sit on a hard
chair for eight hours a day for two weeks. The answer to that as I drove
and wrestled and wondered and prayed, I could not bear to face
the Lord if all I had to offer is what I’ve done thus far. Something has to change. John, without even prompting,
used my word, complacency. We’ve kind of begun to plateau. And I’m not gonna blame the whole
thing on a piece of art, a cross hanging in a building, but it
is a good metaphor. I graduated from seminary 22
years ago. If the Lord were to give me 20
more years of ministry, I have fewer years remaining in the
service of the Lord. I’m not content to just muddle
along. I’m not content with status quo.
I want to be faithful to the end because Jesus Christ deserves
more. He deserves more from me and
he deserves more from you. My time away was confirming.
It remains to be seen whether it was confirming that I need
a doctoral degree. And if you would pray for me,
I am actively wrestling with even whether to return. I had a lot of confirmations
along the way, the way that I go about the study of the word.
The way that I arrived here, even at this place, what the
Lord has done the last 17 years, 17 years next week. Expository preaching and my Dogged
commitment to that was affirmed. The doctrinal stands that we’ve
taken were affirmed. And it was also affirmed that
of my own heart, something and maybe everything has to change. I drove up the Poudre Canyon
a few weeks ago, and I watched the rafts being put in. and all
the people standing around. And at the first place that I
noticed, the water had been very smooth. And I could tell by the
rafters that were preparing to climb into the raft, these were
the novices, right? They didn’t know which end of
the oar to even use. Standing around, scratching their
heads, letting the guides put the boat in the water. And then
I got a little further up, and I noticed the water getting rougher.
And then I noticed another crew putting a raft in, this time
everybody was involved. This time these people wore helmets
and looked every bit the expert. And that’s because there were
rapids. There were rapids ahead. About eight years ago, prior
to the 08 election, I shared from the book of Habakkuk that
I see difficult days ahead for our country. I talked to you
just about a few things then, both of which have come true.
The homosexual agenda embraced and advanced, the Supreme Court
captured by the left. There are rapids ahead. And sometimes
I think that we’ve just shown up for a boat ride. There are
rapids ahead and some of us don’t even have our oars in the water. Would you take your Bibles and
turn to 1 Corinthians 1. I may be pressing my luck because
last Lord’s Day we looked at four chapters. A four chapter
illustration to get to our passage in the
Gospel of John. This week I just want to try
to tackle the better part of three. Three chapters beginning
in 1 Corinthians 1. In chapter 1, Paul begins with
just his standard, very standard greetings. Paul, called as an
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our
brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with
all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their love and ours, their Lord and ours, grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
always concerning you for the grace of God which was given
you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched
in him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony
concerning Christ was confirmed in you. so that you are not lacking
in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom
you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. And if you know the book of Corinthians,
you know that almost from that point forward, Paul rolls up
his sleeves, and puts his dukes up. And he really gets after
the Corinthian church. And it starts immediately. Look
at verse 10. Now, I exhort you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is no casual appeal,
that you all agree and there be no divisions among you, but
that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same
judgment. If you’ve known me for two days,
you know that that’s one of the key verses that I hold to. That there should be tension
in the church. There will be tension. We cannot
possibly agree on every point of doctrine. But the goal ought
to be, the goal ought to be to work together and to work through
those things, to dialogue and discuss and wrestle, and to come
at a place of unity. shouldn’t be this division, there
shouldn’t be this idea, this quick and simple, let’s agree
to disagree. That’s not Paul’s approach. Verse 11, for I have been informed
concerning you by my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there
are quarrels among you. And Paul goes out, goes so far
as to detail exactly what the quarrels were about. And I’m
sure it turned his stomach when he heard it. Now I mean this,
that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos,
and I am of Cephas, and I of Christ. You know what, that’s
a common occurrence even still in the church, the greater church
today. I’ve certainly heard and seen
it also in the local church. And you might even say that this
mentality is the seed of schisms. of factions. It’s the seed of
a party spirit that grows into a full-fledged division. As soon
as you start saying, well, I am of so-and-so. Paul, I’m sure
it just sickened him to know that people were lining up under
Paul. And he gives two arguments against
it. I’m going to be brief on this.
We’re going to go very quickly. He gives two basic arguments
against this. The first line of hypothetical
questions occurs in verse 13 regarding the nature of ministry.
Just glance at it. Has Christ been divided? Are
there different camps in Christ? Are there different flavors in
Christ? Paul was not crucified for you,
was he? Is there any reason that you
should be following me? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? The whole, the line of questioning
is absurd. I thank God that I baptized none
of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that none would say you were
baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household
of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether
I baptized any other. Paul doesn’t put any stock in
it. He doesn’t encourage them to put any stock in it. And that’s
because he goes on to say, look at verse 17, Christ didn’t send
me to baptize. That isn’t the main part and
feature of my ministry, but to preach the gospel. And not in
cleverness of speech, not in this wisdom of the day, the sophistry
that was so popular in the day. Not in cleverness of speech so
that the cross would not be made void. He preached the plain and
simple, the unvarnished truth of the gospel. Paul appeals by
insisting that the very idea of making an idol of the person
who baptized you is outlandish. It wasn’t even Paul’s main calling.
He was called to preach, not baptize. Not only was baptism
not a core of his ministry, not even cleverness that derived
from worldly wisdom. Look at verse 18. For the word
of the cross is foolishness. Just pause there a moment. The
word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The
word, this idea that a savior would die a cruel death on the
cross was to the vast majority of people utterly ridiculous. But not to everybody. For the
word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. To look
and know that the Lord Jesus Christ paid our penalty on the
cross. That is the means of salvation. That is God at work in your heart
and life. Paul uses a second argument.
It’s the argument from wisdom. See, wisdom was so popular in
that day and age. Oh boy, the Greeks just loved
wisdom. Fond all over the idea of being
wise. Paul says, you know what, this
idea, this idea of following after an individual, that just
feeds human pride. You think that you have picked
your leader. You think that you have picked
your faction. It’s foolish. Transitions to
this argument against worldly wisdom, which he explains is
at a core of this spirit of factiousness in the Corinthian church. Look
at verse 20, here’s the line of questioning. Where is the
wise man? And he basically baits them to
look around and point me to the one who’s wise. And they couldn’t
have done it. They couldn’t have said, well,
you know, Bob over there, he’s really sharp. That’s a sharp
tack there, that guy. Where is the scribe? Where’s
the debater of this age? See, God doesn’t use worldly
wisdom as a means of saving people. Rather, God makes use of what
the world would call foolishness, the cross of Christ. And that’s
what Paul goes on to say, has not God made foolish the wisdom
of the world? For since in the wisdom of God,
the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God
was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached
to save those who believe. God sent a savior born as a baby
that grew up, locked horns with the religious elite because of
their sinful practices, and ended up in a skirmish that ended up
in an arrest that ended up in a trial that ended up in a crucifixion. And the world stood back and
looked at that as utterly foolish. Look at verse 22. For indeed,
Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block,
and to the Gentiles, foolishness. But to those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. In other words, he
says, you know what? This idea of putting yourself
in different camps, you didn’t put yourself in the kingdom of
God. You didn’t put yourself in the
kingdom of God. To put yourself in a particular camp is to play
into the exercise of the world’s wisdom. And then he goes, and
I’m gonna read it, it’s just great words. Verse 26, consider
your calling, brethren. There were not many wise according
to the flesh. That’s not a put down to them.
He wasn’t being unkind to the Corinthians. He just says, look,
it wasn’t because of your letter degrees that God chose you anyway.
not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to shame the wise. God has chosen the
weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and
the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen
the things that are not so that he may nullify the things that
are so that no man may boast before God. This is the New Testament
equivalent of Gideon, right? Send the troops home. I’ll take
care of it. God says, look, I don’t need
the Greeks’ wisdom. I don’t need the Jews to tell
me how to save a people. God says, I’ll do it my way. And in verse 30, here’s your
sovereign grace for the day, but by His doing, you are in
Jesus Christ. It’s God that does the saving.
It’s God that put you in the kingdom. How foolish it is, he
says, to enter into this debate of which camp you’re in. Foolish. Chapter two, we’re still not
to my passage, by the way. Paul’s practice was consistent
with the nature of his gospel ministry. Look at the message
of Christ crucified. Chapter 2, verse 1, and when
I came to you, brethren, he says basically, look, remember, mark
my words, remember back when I came, remember my practice,
remember exactly what I did? When I came to you, brethren,
I did not come with superiority of speech. You see, that’s what
the Greeks loved. Oh, bathe us in flowery words. I didn’t come with superiority
of speech or of wisdom. proclaiming to you the testimony
of God? For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.” There was nothing more important to
Paul than that core element of the gospel. Paul came with the gospel. Paul
came in spiritual power. Look at verse 3, I was with you
in weakness and fear and in much trembling. You say, what can
a guy like that get accomplished? Amazing things if he trusts in
God. and my message and my preaching
were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest
on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.” Amazing. Paul relied completely on the
Holy Spirit because that’s exactly what he wanted the people to
do. Look at the declaration of God’s
wisdom beginning in verse 6. We do speak wisdom. Paul says,
look, I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
We do speak wisdom. I love wisdom. We do speak wisdom among those
who are mature. A wisdom, however, not of this
age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. But
we speak God’s wisdom. A wisdom, in a mystery, the hidden
wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory,
the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood.
For if they had understood it, they would have not crucified
the Lord of glory. It was a different kind of wisdom
entirely. Look at verse 10. For to us. And what a glorious observation
this must have been. Not for the apostle to make it,
but for the Corinthian people to hear it. For to us, God revealed
them these mysteries through the Spirit. There were people
that were longing to know deep things, clamoring to know wisdom. They couldn’t get there. But
the Corinthians, God had opened his storehouses and God by his
spirit had poured out wisdom into their hearts. Paul made
use of wisdom, but it was God’s wisdom that he used. Then finally, what was Paul’s
example when he came? It was the spirit of God. Paul
came in the spirit of God. Look at verse 12. We have received
not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God. so that we may know the things
freely given to us by God. Now what Paul does here is just
so masterful. He’s making the point that these
divisions, these party, group parties and lining up under individual
leaders is just wrong. It’s to play into this wisdom
of the world. What he does here is drive home
the point that, look, you didn’t put yourself in the kingdom of
God. The Holy Spirit came and revealed these things to you,
and it isn’t that way for everybody. Look at verse 14. A natural man
does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. They read
through the same text that you do, and they end up scratching
their head until it’s raw, for they are foolishness to him,
and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually
appraised. You say, well then how does anyone ever come to
understand the deep things of God? How does anyone ever come
to know that God is real? How does anyone ever come to
know that God crafted a plan of redemption and put it in place
and sent the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for sinners? How does
anyone ever come to know that? By the Spirit of God. But he
who is spiritual, He who is assisted and attended by the Holy Spirit.
He who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he is appraised
by no one. For who has known the mind of
the Lord that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ. And so Paul returns. He calls
them to remember what he was like when he came there and ministered
to them. And now he returns to this idea
These divisions that exist, look at chapter three. And we see
the context of Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians. And I, brethren,
could not speak to you as to spiritual men. In a very real sense, Paul says,
look, you are acting like a bunch of babies. You were acting foolishly. And it’s even worse now. I couldn’t talk to you the way
I really needed to talk to you. Could not speak to you as to
spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not
solid food. I had to keep going back over
the basics and over and over again over the basics. It was
likely a very sad and disappointing thing for Paul to find this kind
of party spirit in a church that he had planted the seeds of faction
here in Corinth. And it limited his ministry to
them. And it revealed their immaturity in the Lord. Look at verse. The end of verse
two, indeed, even now you’re not yet able for you are still
fleshly. For since there is jealousy and
strife among you, are you not fleshly? Are you not walking
like mere men? For when one says, I am of Paul,
and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? He said,
look, you’ve fallen into this really foolish period. And you know what? Just to make
it absolutely clear, that’s not the problem of this church. It’s
not a factious church. Not a bunch of people that are
following one and then another and another. This isn’t my passage
yet. In the conclusion that he reaches
regarding Apollos and division, look at verse five. What then
is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through
whom you believed even as the Lord gave opportunity to each
one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
What a great principle of ministry. We’re not in competition with
one another. So then neither the one who plants nor the one
who waters is anything but God causes the growth. Now he who
plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his
own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow
workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. And then Paul comes to the passage
that I’d like us to consider this morning. A passage wherein
he gives the great motive for excellence in our service to
Christ. And that’s our problem. We become complacent. We become
too casual. We are people of the previous
cross. Look at verse 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 upon it. But each
man must be careful how he builds on it, for no man can lay, no
man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which
is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man builds on the
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
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. If any man’s work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss. but he himself will be
saved, yet so as through fire. What Paul gives us in those few
short verses is what I would call a great motive for excellence
in our service to Christ. And that’s the reason that I
would title this section, this message, Building Unto Christ.
There are a lot of people that are busy, and some might even
conclude that they’re building. But are they building unto Christ? Some would say that they’re doing
it in His name, but are they doing it unto Christ, for Christ? At the end of the day, when you
look at your work, can you really honestly say, I did this for
the Lord Jesus Christ? First of all, look at the building’s
beginning. According to the grace of God, which was given to me
like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. Note that the very
first thing that Paul says about this building project is that
he has gratitude for the divine enablement to participate in
it. According to the grace of God given to me, it wasn’t deserved.
Paul acknowledges that everything that he has, his salvation, his
giftedness, his calling to serve, his opportunity, his wisdom,
all of it came from the gracious hand of God. Same is true for
each one of us. Could we not spend entire days
just thanking God for our salvation? We could. We should. Beyond that, He gave us gifts.
He invited us to serve in His church. Can we exhaust our gratitude
for that? Paul notes, when he calls himself
a wise master builder, the word there, you’ll hear it, architecton. He was an architect. Not just
any architect, he was a wise master builder. Not just a handyman,
not just a carpenter, But an architect, and an excellent one
at that, it’s unimaginable that anyone would ever build on the
sand. That’s the illustration that
Jesus uses in the Gospels. How foolish an endeavor that
would be. to think to erect a structure without a foundation. No self-respecting
contractor would apply his own efforts to a faulty foundation. When he arrives at the job site,
if he sees the thing crumbling, he packs up his tools and drives
back home. This wise master builder was
one who meticulously scrutinizes every detail of the building
project from the planning to the completion. The wisdom is
applied to ensure that the building is in the end perfect, fitted
for the master. As one characterized his efforts,
Paul’s object is to combat the individualism that has led the
Corinthian church astray Comparison of their own personal claims
and antagonism are fatal to the healthy growth of Christ’s body. As the context will clearly show,
the foundation that was laid is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. It’s Jesus Christ. Not only the
building’s beginning, but look at the building’s construction.
Paul just says it so simply. Another is building on it. Paul had already packed up his
tools. His was just to participate in the setting of the foundation
and his job’s done. He’s the general contractor.
He’s the wise master builder. Now he is just to oversee everybody
else building upon the foundation that God used him to lay. Now the context shows that Paul
is referring at the very minimum to Apollos. We know that Apollos
was also building on Paul’s foundation, but Paul likely is using this
even more broadly to refer to anyone who would come after him
to be part of this building project even down to this day. When you
participate in ministry, there’s not multiplicity of ministries,
there’s one ministry. There’s one foundation, and when
you participate, you build on that one foundation. You add
to the foundation that is the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s not
the slightest hint of disdain in Paul’s words here. Paul knows
well that he alone cannot possibly build the church on his own,
and what pastor doesn’t feel the same way? Paul knows that
the church needs the very gifts and skills that God places within
the church. The foundation, as we have seen,
is Christ. The building is the church. And
the others who will build are those who are part of Christ’s
church. Not just the apostles. Not just
pastors. Not just those with official
ministry titles, wherever those come from. But the very variously
gifted saints. which God has gifted and placed
in the church for His service. In a building project, once the
foundation is laid, the framers will come along, they’ll begin
to produce a structure. Others will also come to the
job site to exercise their skill, plumbers, electricians, drywallers,
finished carpenters, painters. And likewise in the church, there
are variously gifted people all working on the same project,
building upon the same foundation. The foundation is the Lord Jesus
Christ, the building is the church. Third, in considering this great motive
for excellence in our service to Christ, not only the building’s
beginning and the building’s construction, but look at the
building’s blueprint. That’s what an architect needs,
doesn’t he? He needs to go back and say, now what was this designed
to do? How was this supposed to look?
He’s got to look at the blueprint, and then he’s got to communicate
to all the various workers. Look at the end of verse 10.
But each man must be careful how he builds on it. There’s a plan. There are particulars
to this building. There is a blueprint. Each man
must be careful how he builds on it, for no man can lay a foundation
other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. You see
the image, this image of Christ being the foundation, it’s not
a new illustration. Isaiah 28, 16, thus says the
Lord God, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
a costly cornerstone. Psalm 118, the stone which the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, it’s Christ. Christ is the foundation. Quoted
in 1 Peter, quoted in Ephesians 2, 19 through 22, you are no
longer strangers and aliens, you are fellow citizens with
the saints of God’s household, having been built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
cornerstone. It’s not merely the doctrine
of Christ, but Christ himself who is the foundation of the
building called the church. He’s the foundation of all Christian
faith and life and practice. Unless you get sidetracked in
your thinking and begin to conclude that this is a passage exclusively
about Paul and Apollos, I want you to note something. Perhaps you might even say that
If this passage is more than just about Paul and Apollos,
maybe it’s about ministry professionals, pastors and the like. I want
you to look at something though. Already in verse 10, Paul is
acknowledged that another will come and build on his project.
And we said that it’s, that refers to at least Apollos, right? It’s
absolutely undefined. And because of that, it’s absolutely
unlimited. Watch what Paul begins to do
at the end of verse 10 and throughout the remainder of this whole passage.
Look at the end of verse 10. I laid a foundation and another
is building upon it, but each man must be careful how he builds
on it. For no man can lay a foundation
other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if
any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident. For
the day will show it because it will be revealed with fire
and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss. Why Paul couldn’t be speaking
here any more broadly? each man, any man, anyone who
has a gift and comes to serve in this great building project
called the church. He couldn’t have spoken any more
broadly. While there is only one foundation,
the Lord Jesus Christ, there are a manifold number of gifts
that God gives and uses in the church and he expects them to
be employed in the church in the completion of this project.
Each subcontractor is absolutely responsible for God, before God
rather, for the faithful exercise of his or her own particular
God-given skill. Every subcontractor. There’s a great motive for excellence
in our service to Christ. Are we really and truly building
unto Christ? That’s the question. We looked at not only the building’s
beginning and the building’s construction, the building’s
blueprint, but look finally at the building’s inspection. You
didn’t know that was coming, did you? We kind of forgot about
that one. We kind of forgot that we were
gonna have to get signed off on this project. But we do. Look at verse 12. Now, if any man builds on the
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
this idea is that there’s a variety of materials. And that, as one said, the figure
is of a building on which many workmen are engaged. Some use
proper materials, others wood, hay, and stubble. The building
is to be subjected to the test of fire. The wood, hay and stubble
will be burned up. Only solid material materials
will stand out. That’s a pretty good description,
but I want us to be cautious here. When he speaks of proper
materials, we might be tempted to think of one gift is superior
to others, say preaching. And worse yet, we might conclude
that preaching efforts will inherently stand up to the fire, but others
will just be burned up. It’s not true. It’s not true
at all. Those various elements, gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, they refer to a variety
of work within the ministry of the church, they speak not only
of their inherent value, but of the carefulness and the excellence
with which the work is done, the attitude with which the service
is rendered. Now, not only is Paul alluding
to truth as opposed to error, but also wholehearted effort
as opposed to half-hearted effort. He’s certainly not saying that
some gifts in the church, say teaching Sunday school, making
food, serving as a deacon, are lesser gifts and therefore they
are wood, hay, and straw. That’s not the case at all. He’s
not saying that, and I believe that with all my heart, the most
basic gift in the church, if it is exercised in faithfulness,
if it is unto the Lord as to Christ, it will be received by
God as the greatest sermon ever preached. It’s not what the gift
or skill is, it’s how it’s exercised. And he mentions these two great
sections, gold, silver, precious stones, those that don’t burn
up, wood, hay, straw, those that do, Each man’s work in time will
be known for what it is. Each man’s work will become evident
for the day we’ll show it. I remember a time back in college.
We had a seminary, not a seminary professor, a professor in college
who had some physical infirmities, and it was kind of like bringing
an apple. We went to his house. We were invited to his house
to come and do some yard work. My grades needed it, so I went.
And we each had a little job and there was a guy on a job.
His particular job was to plant flower bulbs. And he worked, seemed like he
worked hard. His knees were dirty. He had
dirt under his fingernails when he was done. Sweat on his brow,
you know, that kind of thing. And everything looked great until
the true test came in the spring when the flower bulbs bloomed.
And it was just this scattered mess. There was no care or effort
put into it at all, half-hearted. And it showed. Whatever your gift is, whatever
your effort is for Christ, spring is coming. It’s simply referred to here
in this passage as the day. Each man’s work will become evident
for the day will show it. What day? He’s talking about
the day of judgment, the day of the Lord, the day of reckoning.
And Paul says that one day God is going to test every man’s
work. He’s going to test it with fire. Peter uses the same image,
and this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little
while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold,
which is perishable, even though tested by fire. That’s the image.
Every person’s work will be tested, tested by the very flame of God.
Whatever is worthless, wood, hay, stubble, half-heartedness,
faithlessness, selfishness, will be utterly consumed by that fire.
Thankfully, whatever is done to the glory of God, whatever
is done out of a heart of faithfulness and gratitude to God, whatever
is done unto Christ will remain Look at verse 14, if any man’s
work which he built on it remains, he will receive, I mean, this
is inconceivable, a reward? You know, in keeping with his
illustration, Paul looks at the after effects of judgment. Fire
has come, it’s tested the entire structure, and it’s still standing. Much of it is perfectly intact. We want our work. We want that
to be true of our work, don’t we? We’ve given our lives to this
effort in response to the incredible gift of salvation. The fact that
in addition, God has gifted us and enabled to serve in his church.
And we want nothing more than in the end to be found faithful,
don’t we? To do our work in such a way
as to see it standing after the fire. You know, look at it. The passage
mentions a reward. But it doesn’t even say what
that reward is. And I want you to be very careful here. Whatever
the reward is, it’s not salvation. You don’t earn your way into
salvation. You don’t earn your way into heaven by your deeds
or your faithfulness, all your hard work. You don’t do it. It’s
faith alone and Christ alone and that’s it. The faithfulness
comes after. And the faithfulness is what
renders here what Paul just simply refers to as a reward. Salvation
is already granted. It’s the reward of faithfulness
that is in view here that we see even more clearly in the
final verse in a moment. But won’t it be enough? Wouldn’t
it be enough for you if all the reward constitutes is to see your work remaining?
To see your efforts still standing? Isn’t it true for you that even
to walk into a room, to have somebody greet you and say, it’s
great to see you, isn’t that uplifting to you? Wouldn’t it
be so much more true when we see Christ and to see his smile? We long for accolades, don’t
we? We long for the approval of parents, friends, employers,
bosses. We would almost work for free,
almost. Just for a simple word of appreciation
from our boss, wouldn’t we? How much more when we get to
heaven to get that kind word of affirmation that comes from
God himself. Well done. Good job. I appreciated the way you planted
those flower bulbs. Look at verse 15, and this is
a heartbreak. If any man’s work is burned up,
he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved,
yet so as through fire. And I want to pause, and I want
you to grasp the significance of that statement. Here’s the
scene. Some saint Some child of God,
a real Christian, has just spent his entire life applying his
particular gift. His skill has been applied to
the building project. Yet when the building is tested,
his effort is literally consumed by fire. Utterly destroyed. He worked so hard. On the face
of it, he was faithful. But in the end, it was lost,
burned up, completely destroyed. And notice carefully, the man
is a Christian. It says that he will be saved. He doesn’t
lose his salvation merely because of his faithless and half-hearted
efforts. As one so excellently put it,
God will not punish with the loss of his presence the man
who has acted up to the highest dictates of a conscience that
is not yet fully enlightened. In other words, this is an immature,
careless Christian. Not gonna lose his salvation. The work perishes but he who
believed himself to be actively serving God when in fact he was
doing harm shall not be driven into outer darkness. But your work, your lifelong
application of your particular gift to the church, it’s burned,
it’s ashes, it’s nothing, nothing left to show at all. And for
those to whom that happens, in addition to the unimaginable
grief of wasted efforts, there is loss, great loss. legitimate, substantial loss.
This means something. You cannot possibly, if you’re
a Christian, look at this and come away saying, oh, well, I
tried hard. I did my best. No, you didn’t. And that’s the entire point. It was a half-hearted effort
at the very best. And the loss is real loss. It’s
a loss of reward and whatever else that refers to, even if
it’s just the faint lack of a smile of God at the end of your life,
the absence of affirmation, well done, my good and faithful servant,
that would be a deafening and heartbreaking silence. And I
do you no favors to ignore this. This passage, this study, this
is from the heart because it’s primarily about me. But I don’t do you any favors
to ignore applying it to you as well. You too are also called
to consider the how and the why of what you do in the service
of Christ. We will give an account, each
one of us. Our service to Christ will be tested by fire. And as
I said, I’m not doing anybody any favors to ignore it. I’m
not urging people today to do anything. I’ve done that. Many
passages I’ve looked at service, serving in a church, we gotta
serve, roll up your sleeves, I’ve done it. What I’m talking
about today is those who do serve and examining your service in
how you serve. Doing what we do, whatever we
do with excellence to the glory of God. I penned down just a
few. application for the saints. I asked the deacons last week,
what would happen? Pick your favorite president. I’ll use
Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan invites you to
his house. I’d like you here by nine. What
would happen if we showed up at 9.01? How badly would we feel? Yeah, we don’t think twice about
stumbling in before the Lord to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. I asked the deacons, what would
happen if we all got here about 8.30 and prayed before the service? What a magnificent thing that
would be. On the other end of the scale,
this is just a favor. This isn’t an act of faithlessness. Say goodbye. There’s a brother that sat right
behind me for a number of years, Bill Pillar. The only interaction
I ever had with the man was right here in service. I wouldn’t know
anything about him if we didn’t have our greeting time and if
he didn’t shake my hand at the end of service. I didn’t know
anything about him. Tried. Larimer County Sheriff, he was
always busy. When you leave, tell me you’re
leaving. Tell me goodbye. Give me one
last chance to sync up with you about whatever there may be to
talk about. I knew, I knew that it wouldn’t
be true today. Today, the church is full enough
that this isn’t an issue. But what would happen if you
went to Reagan’s house and you sat off in a corner sideways
to the President of the United States? When you come into the church,
please sit forward. It gives life. It gives energy. to not only the singing, but
to everything that we do. With regards to my ministry,
and I’ll share part of this at our Sunday school kickoff in
the weeks to come, for me, preaching, I know that I can do better.
And I’m committed to doing better. That’s what this program is about.
I don’t know that I need to pay $15,000 to do it. I need to write
more. The more I write, the better
the sermon is. When I greet the saints at the back door and they
tell me, oh, that was a great sermon, it’s because I spent
time writing. I need to write more. I need
to pray more. I need to preach more. Not necessarily longer,
but I want to get back to sermon notes, providing the saints sermon
notes. I want to cultivate and fan an
exercise, a passion for souls, lost souls that do not know Christ. I want to finish the job. I want
to finish well. I’ve preached through Luke and
Romans and a lot of others. I want to finish John. I want
to get to the Psalms. I want to preach through second
Corinthians if the Lord gives time and Colossians and others. I want to cultivate membership.
And I’m not just talking about getting people to join this church. What I’m talking about is cultivating
the members of this church as members to serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. It’s not a ministry. It’s not
other people that they serve. It’s Jesus Christ and He’s worth
it. I want to teach and disciple
and train. essentially the hallmark of who
I’ve been and what I’ve done for the last 20 years. And I’ll
give more example of that when we lay out our Sunday school
plan. Acts 20 has a nice ring to it. When Paul said, I did
not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable
in teaching you publicly and from house to house. If I’ve
got to come to your doorstep, if you’re interested in learning
it, I’ll come. I want to develop more elders,
more deacons. I want to duplicate. I’d love
nothing more than for somebody in this church to follow when
I vacate. Duplicate the pulpit, duplicate
ministry, duplicate worship. Paul was very serious when he
told Timothy, the things which you have heard from me in the
presence of many witnesses, Entrust these to faithful men who will
be able to teach others also. Let’s pray. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your presence. And Lord God, we did not deserve
the salvation that you have lavished upon us, calling us not into
a payment plan but bestowing on us complete forgiveness, the
righteousness of Christ. Lord God, in addition to that,
you gave us gifts. With which to serve you in this
church. Lord God, we pray that you would
give us eyes to see and examine. To be careful how we build. And
to do all that we do to the glory of our Lord and Savior, our Lord
Jesus Christ. We pray all of these things in
His name. Amen. Let’s stand as we close and sing,
My Worth is Not in What I Own. My worth is not in what I own. Not in the strength of flesh
and bone But in the costly wounds of love and crime My worth is
not in skill or name In win or lose, in pride and shame Caught in the blood of Christ
that flowed. Rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest
treasure, wellspring of my soul. I will trust in Him no other,
my soul is satisfied in Him alone. As summer stars we fade in time
Fame, youth, and beauty But life eternal calls to love I will
not boast in wealth or might For human wisdom’s purpose But
I will boast in knowing Christ I rejoice in my Redeemer Greatest
treasure Wellspring of my soul I will trust in Him, no other
My soul is satisfied in Him Two wonders here that I can claim
My worth and my honor My value depicts my ransom paid
at the cross. I rejoice in my Redeemer, greatest
treasure, wellspring of my soul. My soul is satisfied in you