Church Building

If you would, please turn back
to first Corinthians chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three.
And even as you’re turning, I’ll give you the exact address in
a moment, but I, I’m curious how you would answer the simple
question. What motivates you? What motivates you sometimes
in life it’s money. And we all have to admit that.
We need to make a living. We do what we do to get a paycheck,
and that’s all. We’re motivated by money. Sometimes
it’s fear. And it’s been said that fear
is a great motivator, and that is true for good reason. Sometimes
it’s someone in authority over us, and we may not particularly
like them, but we don’t want to cross them. And authority
is a great motivator. Sometimes it’s love, the natural
affection for a spouse or a child, a loved one. We get up and we
do what we do out of love for our family. But of all the things
about which Paul has spoken here in the first nine verses of this
chapter, in his discussion about ministry, he hasn’t addressed
motivation. Why does he do what he does?
Now in this chapter, you’ll remember that we find Paul resuming the
discussion that he first introduced in chapter one, verse 10. The
division in which the Corinthian church were embroiled, it was
a dangerous and disappointing sight to this church planter.
Paul and Apollos, he tells them, were no more than God’s servants. But the Corinthian church in
their immaturity had elevated Paul and Apollos to the point
of a willingness to split over who to follow. And the spiritual
childishness of the Corinthian church had hindered their ability
to take in more mature instruction. Paul tells them that he found
it necessary to speak to them not as mature saints, but as
infants, even though they were infants in Christ. Their sinful
behavior had hampered their ability to learn. Verses one through
four. As we come into verse five through nine, Paul begins to
school this troubled church with instruction regarding the nature
of Christian ministry. This is where we were last Lord’s
Day. Oftentimes, there are faulty perspectives of Christ’s service,
even among those who serve him. They begin to imbibe false ideas
about who they are. And this point would not be complete
without a plea. An urgent appeal to faithfulness
in ministry. This is Paul’s focus in chapter
three, verses 10 through 15. If you would, I want to return
to that, and we’ll only read two, verse 15, this morning. Chapter one, chapter three, beginning
in verse one. And I, brethren, could not speak
to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants
in Christ. I give you milk to drink, not
solid food, for you are not able to receive it. Indeed, even now
you are not yet able, 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? For when one says,
I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere
men? What then is Apollos, and what
is Paul? Servants. Servants through whom
you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but
God was causing the growth. So then, neither the one who
plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who 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. 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. 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 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.” It would be tempting to reduce
this whole piece of instruction about Paul and Apollos to them
only, or Paul and Apollos merely. After all, he mentions Apollos
in contrast with himself a half a dozen times in this little
section and elsewhere only very seldomly. Paul has certainly
dealt with the foolishness of reducing the argument of which
person to follow, either Paul or Apollos or someone else. It’s not about that, as we saw
last week. But the fascinating thing about
this transition before us, look if you would at verse nine, from
verses five to nine, to verses 10, 15, there’s a transition,
and it’s one that Paul himself marks out. I mentioned this last week in
closing, the entire passage, verses five through nine, stands
under one metaphor, that of a field or a garden, remember? Paul was
planting seeds, Apollos was watering the seeds. Simple metaphor. And then right at the very end,
look at verse nine, right at the very end, Paul introduces
a new metaphor. We are God’s fellow workers,
you are God’s field, God’s building. That’s a completely different
illustration of the church. And that’s the illustration that
Paul will use here in chapter three, verses 10 through 15.
And it’s under this idea of a building that Paul will address not just
he and Apollos, but any and all who would participate in the
construction of this great edifice called the church. Every apostle,
every elder, every discipler, every evangelist, every prophet,
every Sunday school teacher, everyone who is pouring into
the the admonition and or the instruction by God’s word into
other believers lives. These are all in view in this
passage. And because everyone is participating
in this great building project, every person is called to greater
faithfulness in the execution of their particular duties. They
are to be done each one with excellence. They are to take
care that the quality of their special task is done as unto
the Lord, to God’s high standards. And therein we have a picture
of our motivation for ministry. Beginning in verse 10, Paul begins
to unfold to us a great motive for excellence in our service
to Christ. Why do we do what we do? Is it
just because our name is on the list? We’re the next ones to
teach or read? Or it’s my turn to preach? Why do we do what we do? Well, first of all, I want to
look at the builder’s trade. To use Paul’s analogy of a building,
let’s look at the builder’s trade. Look at verse 10. According to
the grace of God, which was given to me, like a wise master builder,
I laid a foundation. The main thought in this simple
sentence is that Paul himself accomplished something. I laid
a foundation. We’ll come back to that particular
idea in a moment, to the specifics of what Paul is suggesting by
that. But the very first thing that
Paul says about this building project is that he had been granted
divine enablement to do so. It was according to the grace
of God. Now, truly. The grace of God could be appended
to everything. that a Christian ever does. We
do what we do only because of the grace of God. Any good thing
done is only due to the marvelous, stupendous, plentiful grace of
God. Divine enablement. As believers,
We enjoy the riches of God’s grace and Paul would certainly
acknowledge that everything he is, his salvation, his giftedness,
his calling to serve, his opportunity, his wisdom, all of it came from
the gracious hand of God. The same is true and should be
true of all of us. We should all acknowledge this.
Could we not spend entire days thanking God just for the grace
of God in our salvation? But then beyond that, Paul is
speaking of something very particular here. It’s not just a general
acknowledgement for God’s magnanimous gift of grace, but it’s something
very specific, namely, His calling and gifting to service to God. And so he specially acknowledges
the grace of God, which was given to me. It was a special measure. It was a unique blessing on Paul
by God. And Paul speaks of this elsewhere
in almost all of his letters to the churches. To the Roman
Christians, chapter 1, he speaks of Jesus Christ, our Lord, through
whom we have received grace and apostleship. Here, near the end
of this very epistle, 1 Corinthians 15, he proclaimed that, by the
grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not
prove vain. But I labored more than all of
them, yet not I, but the grace of God in me.” To the Ephesian
church, chapter three, he declared that he was made a minister,
a servant, according to the gift of God’s grace. And finally,
to his first letter to young Timothy, telling of his own calling
to Christ’s service, that in spite of himself, he gave God
all the glory. Explaining that in him, the grace
of our Lord was more than abundant. For Paul, everything he was,
everything he accomplished was due to God’s grace. And so here he speaks of this
grace of God given in special measure for a special purpose
which could be summed up as pointing to Paul’s apostleship and all
that this entailed. Now, Paul has already acknowledged God’s abundant favor toward him,
both he and Apollos. Just glance back at verse five
of this chapter. In verse five, he says, what
then is Apollos? What is Paul’s servants? Through
whom you believed even as the Lord gave opportunity to each
one. He’s really just echoing here
in verse 10 what he said there. It was only God’s quite undeserved
favor, kindness, blessing, grace that enabled him to serve May
I pause? Can I get this mic down? It was only God’s undeserved
favor, his grace, that enabled him to serve his Savior in so
great a capacity, to plant churches even among the Gentiles across
the greater portion of Asia and Europe. It seems clear here that the
very reason Paul focuses our attention on the grace of God. Look at the passage, verse 10. The reason he focuses on the
grace of God, which was given to him, is to put into context
what he’s about to say. Because without this, his words
would come off to us as a boast. Look at the verse, verse 10.
Like a wise master builder. That sounds like a boast to our
ears. And if this were not Paul, if
this were not scripture, it almost sounds arrogant, right? To label
or identify yourself as wise? Pretty presumptuous if that’s
what Paul’s doing, but he’s not. We just reviewed Paul’s testimonies
of his calling to service. What he was what he was only
by the grace of God, but that grace of God fitted him for a
calling. And he likens that to a wise
master builder. I should tell you that the word
that he uses here translated as master builder is the Greek
word architecton. You heard it probably. It’s the
word from which we get our word architect. But the word as originally
used didn’t refer to one who sat down at a desk and meticulously
drew up plans for a building. But rather it was one who meticulously
attended to the actual construction of the building. Here in the
NAS and so many other translations, it’s translated a wise master
builder. That’s what Paul was like. One
who carefully scrutinizes every detail of a building project.
From the planning to the completion, wisdom is applied to ensure that
the building is in the end perfect, fitted for the master. And so
Paul is not just a handyman. He’s not a day laborer or even
just a carpenter. But he’s like a project manager.
He’s an excellent one at that. He was a wise and skillful servant
in his approach to this project. Well, in order to even begin
this project, one needs a foundation on which to build and no self-respecting
contractor would apply his own efforts to a faulty foundation. Jesus spoke, Matthew 7, in parable
form of two men, remember? One who built on the solid foundation
of a rock and another who foolishly built his house on the sand. It’s unimaginable that anyone
would build on the sand. Think of how foolish it would
be to erect a structure without a foundation. And so a wise master
builder, Paul laid a foundation. This is an echo of his role in
the previous metaphor of the field or the garden. Remember
there, all he was doing was planting seeds, planting seeds, but without
those planted seeds, there would be no plant. Paul’s whole point is that it
was God’s grace that had enabled him to serve in the capacity
of laying the foundation. What was this foundation? He’s
not pointing to all those initial believers in Corinth. They were, after all, foundational
members, no doubt. But not the foundation here about
which Paul speaks. Look ahead, if you would, at
verse 11, where Paul says, no man can lay a foundation other
than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He’s the foundation. By foundation, he indicates Jesus
Christ himself. He is the foundation of the church. Paul laid this foundation through
his preaching of the gospel. Faith alone, in Christ alone,
justification by faith. And then he says something that
we could almost be alarmed at. Here’s Paul, hard at work, is
a wise master builder. He’s only just laid the foundation
And he looks up and somebody else is building on it. Look
at verse 10. I laid a foundation and another is building on it.
It’s abrupt. It’s meant to be. Paul says here
very generally that another is building on the foundation that
he laid. And that sounds to our ears like
typical male competitiveness, doesn’t it? In years past, I
had occasion to work on some construction sites, job sites
where multiple contractors were all competing for the same space. Electrical contractors, plumbers,
drywall guys, and I’ll spare you the details. But these guys
don’t always get along so well. You know, sometimes it seems
like they don’t even like each other. Sometimes one contractor gets
in the way of another or heaven forbid messes up something that
another contractor is only just completed. And it’s a very tense
environment. This is not Paul’s intent here. There’s not the slightest hint
of disdain in Paul’s words. Paul knows well that he alone
cannot possibly build the church on his own. What pastor doesn’t
feel the same way? What pastor doesn’t need the
entire church, the proper working of each individual part? For
Paul, it’s not a matter of competition or a matter of concern or irritation
that others were engaged in a building project on the foundation that
he laid. For Paul, the construction project
is not a matter of competition or superiority. There are no
prima donnas on this job site. So to whom does Paul refer here?
When he exclaims that another is building on his foundation. The context shows that when Paul
says another, singular, is building on it, he’s referring at least
to Apollos, And that we know is true. When Paul left Corinth,
Apollos stepped in. Paul laid the foundation and
Apollos built upon that foundation. But it cannot be limited to Apollos. As the unfolding of the passage
will show, would you look at verse 11 just briefly? Paul says
that each man who builds on the foundation must be careful how
he does so. So Paul is acknowledging that
anyone, including Apollos, but likely more broadly to any who
would come long after him to be part of this building project,
there are many who were at the time already building and scores
of thousands down through the centuries that continue to do
so. Even down to our day, we too
are building on a foundation which God used Paul. to establish. 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 very purpose of the foundation
is to serve as the base of a building. It’s not just to be a bare cement
pad, a parking lot. Paul’s not contrary to others
building on the foundation that he laid. He’s not territorial. This is not his foundation. And
the others who build are those who are part of Christ’s church,
not just apostles or pastors, not just those with official
ministry titles, but the variously gifted saints to which God is
gifted and planted in the church for his service. It’s all of
us. So Paul is merely acknowledging
the work of others here in the great and perpetual building
of the church. We all have a place in a building
project. Once the foundation is laid,
framers will come to begin to produce a structure and others
will come to the job site as well to execute their skill. Plumbers, electricians and drywallers
and the like finished carpenters. And likewise, in the church,
there are many variously gifted people all working on the same
project, building on the same foundation, and the foundation
is Christ. But as we acknowledged earlier,
every apostle, every elder, every disciple, or every evangelist,
prophet, Sunday school teacher, anyone who is teaching or discipling
another in the word of God, these are all involved in the building
project. Well, that’s the builder’s trade,
but I suggested to you that there was more than just this singular
observation. As we look at the great motive
for excellence in our service to Christ, I want you to look
at the end of verse 10 as we bleed into verse 11. This gives
us the builder’s blueprint, the builder’s blueprint. where Paul says, 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, lest
you get sidetracked in your thinking, you begin to conclude that this
is then a passage exclusively about ministry professionals.
Pastors and the like. I want you to note a very fascinating
feature of this passage Already in verse 10 Paul has
acknowledged that another Will come and build on this project
and you might lock on and think that he’s only talking about
Apollos I just argued against that But watch what Paul begins
to do at the end of verse 10 and throughout really the remainder
of the passage. And I’m only going to read pairs
of words for the sake of time. At the end of verse 10, he refers
to each man. At the beginning of verse 11,
he says, no man. In verse 12, any man. Verse 13,
each man. Verse 14, any man’s. Verse 15,
any man’s. Like Paul couldn’t be speaking
any more broadly. Each man, any man, anyone who
has a gift and comes to serve in this great building project
called the church. There’s only one foundation,
the Lord Jesus Christ. There are manifold numbers of
gifts that God gives and uses and expects to be employed in
the building, the completion of this project. Each subcontractor is absolutely
responsible before God for the faithful exercise of his or her
own particular God-given skill. And this is Paul’s concern. How
with attention to detail, with the care in the use of one’s
gifts, in the cautious and appropriate use of his tools, in the care
and selection of his materials, all of it, Each man must be careful
how he builds on the foundation. In the end, think of it. Who
cares, really? Who cares how well the building
is framed if the plumber is a hack? Or if the electrician is negligent
and takes shortcuts? Or if the drywall guy is careless? Or the Finnish carpenter is sloppy
The bottom line is that each man must be careful how he builds. Breaking apart and making sense
of this metaphor is really easy here, isn’t it? If Paul laid
the foundation, and the foundation, as he says here, is Jesus Christ,
Paul is saying here that anyone who builds must be building in
concern, in concert with that foundation. It’s not just that these contractors
show up for work, punch the clock, each commencing to do his own
thing in his own way. They’ve got to follow the blueprint. And the blueprint is Jesus Christ.
And they’re all united in that purpose. And they must be careful
how they build. Not just that they build. And
Paul issues the reason why. The reason why they are to attend
to their skills and methods. The reason why they are to be
careful how they build. Look at verse 11. For no man
can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ. Did you hear that? The foundation
of the church is not only good, it’s perfect. Because it’s the
foundation of Jesus Christ. Such a perfect foundation cannot
be improved upon, and it certainly cannot be replaced. There cannot
be an alternate foundation, another building project. Paul’s work
is essentially completed. Not that he too can’t participate
in the ongoing building in the church, which he’s engaged in
here even in this letter, but his primary task of setting the
foundation is completed, and it’s perfect. Using yet another
metaphor, Peter speaks of that same truth, 1 Peter 2, verse
6. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice
stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him will
not be disappointed. Christ is the cornerstone. And
that, of course, is an illustration that Peter didn’t make up on
the fly. He took it from Isaiah 28, 16.
This is a long, eternal, long established testimony that Jesus
Christ should be the cornerstone, the sure foundation of the church. There is to be no other superstructure. There is to be no other building
project which believers are to participate. Therefore, no other
foundation. The church’s one foundation is
Jesus Christ, her Lord. There’s one church, there’s one
project, there’s one foundation. To do things our way, certainly to teach contrary to
the established foundation, contrary to scripture, is to begin to
create a competing structure. To establish an alternate job
site. To lay a different foundation
other than that which is laid. What a dangerous proposition.
To engage in such activity is to set oneself up, not in competition
with Paul, but to set oneself up in competition with Jesus
himself. And certainly such are all false,
even errant teachers who do not teach faith alone in Christ alone.
You begin to add works to it, that’s another gospel. That’s
another job site. Well, who holds these builders
accountable? God himself. We have not only
the builder’s trade, verse 10, the builder’s blueprint, 10B
and 11, we have the builder’s accountability in verse 12. Beginning in verse 12, look at
that passage. Now, if any man builds on the
foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, Before we even begin to consider
the particulars of all those elements, we need to remember
here that Paul is talking about a construction project. And here, not so much about the
differing nature of those elements, but the different result achieved. That’s what he’s pointing to.
And when he speaks of these proper materials, we might be tempted
to think of one gift being superior to others, say preaching. And
the suggestion that preaching is the most important gift, that’s
what the Corinthians were in the process of learning. Worse
yet, we might conclude that preaching efforts will inherently stand
up to the fire, but others will be burned up. say Sunday school
teaching or evangelism, not true. Not true at all. These various
elements, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, they
refer to the quality of the work produced, not the means by which
it’s generated. That end product, of course,
is affected by the carefulness and the excellence with which
the work is done as well as the attitude in which the service
is rendered, this phase of the building project is exceedingly
delicate, this building phase, and the efforts involved may
very easily do more harm than good. I’ve said this before,
but years ago when they remodeled the mall, We lost the super Bible
store. I actually saw it as a good thing.
Because with the exception of the Bibles that they sold, most
of the books there had the potential to do real spiritual damage.
And so I saw it as far better for somebody to find a really
good book, a really good expensive book, For which you have to pay
top dollar plus shipping. I see that as far better than
to walk into a local establishment full of pablum and end up with
something that second rate that promotes error. That’s what Paul’s
addressing here. Paul is not only alluding to
truth versus error here, but also wholehearted effort versus
halfhearted effort. He certainly is not saying that
some gifts in the church, teaching Sunday school, making food, serving
as a deacon, are lesser gifts. He’s not saying that at all.
I believe with all my heart that even the most basic gift, unseen
by almost everybody, if it’s exercised in faithfulness to
the Lord, It’s as great as the greatest
sermon ever preached. It’s not what the gift or skill
is. It’s how it’s exercised. And
he says here that in the end, this construction project is
to be tested. To be tested by fire. And so
what is produced falls into one of two categories, things that
will not burn and things that will burn. Paul presents two
lists here, gold, silver, precious stones, and the second wood hay
straw. They’re basically two kinds of
fruit produced by two different ministries. Either the everlasting
fruit produced by ministry that glorifies God and edifies believers,
or ministry that integrates worldly teaching and produces feeble
results. The gold, silver, precious stones,
Worthwhile, costly materials which refer to the permanent
and lasting fruit of truth. The second part, wood, hay, straw,
the perishing, flammable materials produced by errant, half-hearted
instruction. Instead of good and lasting,
eternal results, such effort produces character of fading
quality, things that are not going to last. They will not
endure. Preaching and ministry in general
that is more concerned with engaging and complying with worldly standards,
the culture, than those which align with Christ and scripture. The totality of the illustration
is this. The quality of the fruit produced
is dependent upon the quality of the ministry. so that sound
biblical doctrine faithfully taught and modeled is used by
God to shape and develop the character of the church. As one shepherd put it, the spiritual
life of the members of the flock in a certain measure is the teaching
itself received, assimilated, and realized in practice. Look, if you would, at verse
13. This is the exam. 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.
There will be a test. There will be an exam. There
will be an inspection of our work. There will be a time when
every person’s effort in this greatest of all building projects
will be tested and they will be seen in their true light. What exactly would be tested?
The fruit of our effort in other people’s lives. How effective
were we? How much were our teachings in
line with the foundation which was laid? Paul said it this way
to the Corinthians. In his second letter to them,
he didn’t need a letter of commendation. You are our letter, he says,
written in our hearts, known and read by all men. In this
life, people can labor and talk and put forth relative measures
of effort. And in this life, we cannot completely
be certain of the quality of these earthly efforts. But there’s
coming a day, there’s coming a time when they will be seen
in their true character. Believers will be seen for who
they are in Christ. produced by the teaching to which
they submitted themselves. Each man’s work will become evident. The quality of our efforts will
be exceedingly clear. Whatever your gift is, whatever
your effort is for Christ, the exam is coming. The time when
your work will be done When your work, which is done ostensibly
for Christ, shall be examined.” How do we know this? Because
Paul says that there’s coming a day, the day, as Paul says
it. And he simply refers to it here
as the day, but he’s talking about the day of judgment, the
day of the Lord. Look at verse 13, 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. Paul says that one
day God is going to test, assess, judge every man’s work. He’s going to test it with fire.
This word is often used in scripture not to examine or to disprove
or to fail someone or something. It was used to prove it as genuine. This is exactly how Peter uses
it in 1 Peter 1. In this, you greatly rejoice,
even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have
been distressed by various trials so that the proof there’s our
word, the proof of your faith being more precious than gold,
which is perishable. Maybe found to result in praise
and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ, every person’s
work will be tested. Tested with the flame of God
and whatever is worthless, wood, hay, stubble, half hearted, faithless,
selfishness. It will be utterly consumed by
fire. But thankfully, whatever is done to the glory of God,
whatever is done out of a heart of faithfulness, whatever is
done as unto Christ will remain. There’s a fourth. Observation here of this building
project, if we are building unto Christ. Not only the builder’s
trade and the builder’s blueprint, the builder’s accountability,
but finally, the builder’s recompense payday. Look at verse 14. If any man’s work which is built
on it remains, he will receive a reward. Keeping with his illustration,
Paul looks at the after effects of judgment. What remains? Fire
has come. It’s tested the entire structure.
It’s still standing. Much of it is perfectly intact.
And we want that so badly to be true of our work, don’t we?
We labor to that end. In this immediate instance, the
fire tests not our personal character as teachers, but the effect that our teaching
efforts have had in the lives of those that we’ve taught. We’ve
given our lives to this effort, haven’t we? In response to this
incredible gift of salvation and the fact that in addition
to the God given gift that God has granted to us to serve his
church. We want nothing more than to
be found faithful, don’t we? To honor Christ. And if we’ve carefully built
as God would have us upon the foundation of Jesus Christ in
our work, teaching and instruction, teaching and instructing, then
our work, which is made of gold, silver and precious stones, will
have withstood the intense heat of God’s judgment. And, you know, looking at it,
this passage mentions reward, but that it doesn’t even say
what that reward is. I can tell you what it isn’t.
It isn’t salvation. Not that we’re earning our salvation
down here, because even the man’s work that’s burned up is saved. It’s not salvation. That’s already
granted and secured by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
reward isn’t salvation. Rather, it’s the reward of faithfulness
that’s in view here. The servant is honored with a
reward for his faithfulness. This is very much the builder’s
payday, this is recompense, do him. This is what he’s earned. And you and I would say, wouldn’t
it be enough in that day just to see your work remaining? That’s
reward enough. Isn’t it true for you that even
to walk into a room? You’re heartened when somebody
says it’s great to see you. Won’t that be so much truer when
we see Christ? We long for accolades, the approval
of parents, friends, employers, bosses. We would almost work for free,
but for a simple word of appreciation for our work. Isn’t that true?
How much more if when we hear that kind word of affirmation
that comes from God himself. But the opposite is also true.
Look at verse 15. Unfaithful servants will also
receive their just recompense. They too have a payday. If they’ve
been unfaithful, if they have not built upon the foundation
of Christ, if they’ve taught in some errant fashion, sloppy,
and produce no more than wood, hay, and straw in people’s lives,
then fruit of their effort, not the people themselves, mind you,
but the fruit of their own effort in people’s lives will be utterly
destroyed. It will be as if it never existed.
And they will be paid accordingly. This is how one godly author
described it. The pastor, by his pathetic discourses,
his ingenious explanations, succeeds in attracting a great concourse
of hearers, in producing enthusiastic admiration and lively emotions,
but this all is, stirs only an external and superficial. With it, there is no real consecration
to the Savior, faith without energy, love without the spirit
of sacrifice, hope without joy, Christianity saturated with egoism
and vanity, such are wood, hay, and stubble. If the preaching or the teaching
of the discipleship, the instruction efforts have been weak and unproductive,
they will burn away. And he Who does it will lose
his reward. He won’t lose his salvation,
but he’ll lose his reward. I want you to pause and grasp
the significance of this passage. Here’s the scene. Some saint,
child of God, real Christian, has just spent his entire life
applying his particular gift, his skill in the building project. Yet when the building is tested,
his effort literally is consumed by fire, utterly destroyed. But the teacher, the disciple
himself, will be saved. He himself will be saved. Salvation
is not the reward, as I’ve already said. It couldn’t be clearer.
What a merciful God. What a merciful God that he still
grants salvation. You won’t lose your salvation
because of half-hearted effort or careless teaching, but you
will lose your reward. And your thoughts, your efforts
rather, will be for naught, like a man pulled out of a burning
house. You lose everything except your salvation. His work, his
lifelong effort, his application of his particular gift is burned
to ashes, nothing at all left to show. And to those to whom
that happens, in addition to the unimaginable grief of wasted
efforts, a wasted life, there’s loss, great loss. It means something.
You cannot possibly, if you’re a Christian, look at this and
come away saying, oh, well, I tried hard, I gave it my best. No,
you didn’t. That’s the whole point of the
passage. It was a half-hearted effort, at best, and the loss
is real loss. Whatever that refers to, even
if it’s just the smile of God at the end of your life, the
absence of that affirmation, well done, my good and faithful
servant. That would be a deafening and
heartbreaking silence, wouldn’t it? Would you humble yourself
before him? Our merciful God, we might have
thought that we were coming to hear about Paul and Apollos and
sit on the sidelines. We came to hear about ourselves
and this passage obliged by teaching not about Paul and Apollos’ efforts,
but about our own and how we go about prosecuting our own
ministries. Father, we pray that you would
seize hold of our hearts, that you would grant us the grace
to be faithful Not just to be found faithful, but to be faithful
so as to be assessed as faithful. Grant us the grace to be careful,
to teach what the Bible teaches, to build on the foundation of
Christ. Father, if there are any in our
midst who do not know our Lord Jesus Christ, would you draw
them to repentance? Grant them repentance from sin
and faith in Jesus Christ, the only hope for salvation. For those of us who are believers,
grant us the grace to assess our efforts, whatever our calling
is, whatever our measure of ministry, grant us the grace to rightly
assess our efforts. And Lord, if they are feeble,
and poor and shoddy. God grant us the grace. Grant us the grace to turn and
repent and get back to building as unto Christ. It’s in Jesus
name that we pray. Amen.