Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 199 True Wisdom - Part 9 (a series in 1 Corinthians chapters 1-4) BUILDING ON THE FOUNDATION 1 Corinthians 3:12-23 MKJV (12) And if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, (13) each one's work shall be revealed. For the Day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try each one's work as to what kind it is. (14) If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire. (16) Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (17) If anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. (18) Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool so that he may be wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, "He takes the wise in their own craftiness." (20) And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (21) Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours, (22) whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, (23) and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. In the last bible study we saw that the foundation is Christ, and that we as co-workers with God build on that foundation. But how we build is critical. Our house does not just have to stand up - it needs to be fire-proof! The judgment of our ministry seems to happen at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ "For the Day shall declare it " The judgment is a judgment of fire, and fire is intolerant of inferior workmanship such as "wood, hay or stubble". It is the quality of the workmanship and the nature of how one builds that matters - not the size of the building! It is possible to build an immense haystack in a week and some fast growing, large ministries are just that - haystacks that will burn up on the Last Day! On the other hand it can take months to make a fine piece of jewelry and it may be just a few inches across. But that will last through the fire! Quality matters more in eternity than quantity! We will be rewarded according to the high and holy quality of our work for God. We need to be precise jewelers, tabernacle builders, and careful ministers of grace. But lest we get too afraid, poor workmanship will not send us to Hell. "If anyone's work which he built remains, he shall receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work shall be burned up, he shall suffer loss. But he shall be saved, yet so as by fire. " The sloppy minister of Christ will still make it but with nothing to show for it but his or her own soul. There will be no works to bring them glory, nothing they can point to with pride as the result of their ministry. Look to history as a rough guide. What music do we still play 100 years later? High quality music! Its not the longest symphonies, or the one's with the biggest orchestras, or the ones with the most prestigious audiences, that have lasted - but simply those that ring with fine quality. Quality lasts the judgment of men - how much more the judgment of God. Look at the "tech boom and bust" when many upstart firms zoomed into prominence then crashed. But some survived - well-built quality lasts. Most para-church ministries arrive and disappear very quickly but some have lasted hundreds of years - OMF, CMS, Scripture Union - and these are high quality ministries. Quality that lasts is the true hallmark of success. We need to do quality work because we are working with holy things. We are working with the Word of God, and the Name of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit and the souls of men and women, and the destiny of nations and people groups and the glory of the Church. Sloppiness, casualness and slackness with holy things is the lot of the "unprofitable servant". And we don't want to be found unprofitable. Rather we should be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 LITV (1) Let a man think of us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (2) Moreover, it is sought among stewards that one be found faithful. But there is an even greater danger than casualness - destructiveness. Some Christian workers and not just lazy or careless or sloppy - they are actually divisive and destructive. They face a terrible fate! The Church, for all her imperfections is the temple of God, and is holy, and if we defile it with our squabbles and carnality and fleshly ministry then God shall destroy us. . (16) Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (17) If anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. But how or why would we destroy the Church? By running after our own "wisdom" in the form of fashions, notions, personality cliques and doctrines and then forming sects and factions, which tear each other part and thus rend the body of Christ into fragments. That is why Paul says (18) Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool so that he may be wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, "He takes the wise in their own craftiness." (20) And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." It is when we are most sure of our own "wisdom" or our guru's wisdom that we are liable to attack others and destroy the body of Christ. That is why the idealistic believers are often also the most divisive because they put their ideal, before the spiritual health of the Church - and they are often tenaciously committed to their ideals as well! We do not need to "belong" to this or that faction. In fact all things belong to us. And we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. ." (21) Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours, (22) whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, (23) and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. This is a difficult passage. Obviously this is not a re-working of property law. I cannot go and claim my neighbors Mercedes on the basis that the Bible says "all things are yours"! Let me put it this way I can say "Leon Morris is mine, and John Stott is mine and Derek Prince is mine and C.Peter Wagner is mine, and John Bunyan is mine and Luther is mine and Wesley too!" because I can draw on ALL their contributions and read all their books. I do not just have to "follow" one bible teacher. They are all "mine" to use for my edification. In fact I can learn from the entire world - even the entire Universe is mine to observe, enjoy, rejoice in and learn from. Why join a faction, why limit myself to just one teacher - why fight over whether X or Y is the greatest when the whole world and all the apostles in it are there to build me up? I don't have to argue over whether Luther or Wesley is the greatest - instead I can learn from both of them! This is the easy to understand meaning of "whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, " - but there is obviously a much deeper meaning that involves our future glory and inheritance in Christ. The entire present creation will belong to God's people who will belong to Christ who belongs to God. The world will belong to the saints and the future world will belong to them also! Now this belief in the world belonging to the saints had resulted in what some commentators call "an over-realized eschatology" which simply means that the Corinthians were trying to get benefits meant for after the Second Coming, here and now in the present life and had drifted into a kind of prosperity gospel which is outline din the next chapter: 1 Corinthians 4:8-9 MKJV (8) Already you are full! Already you are rich! You have reigned as kings without us! And oh that indeed you did reign, that we also might reign with you. (9) For I think that God has set forth us last, the apostles, as it were appointed to death; for we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men. Paul is saying, with great sarcasm and effect, that yes all things are yours - but you have to wait! To think that you are "already rich" in the material sense because of the work of Christ is to misunderstand things - look I am an apostle, a man of miracles and great faith and yet I am last of all, a human spectacle not a prosperous businessman! Paul's great faith did not result in great material prosperity here and now. What it did result in was an enormous reward being stored up for him in heaven that he will enjoy for all eternity. When 'all things are yours" comes true at Christ's return - then Paul will be covered in glory! To sum up: Faithful servants of God who do high quality work are greatly rewarded, careless servants of God who do inferior work receive nothing but are still saved, and destructive, divisive persons and false teachers and those who damage the Church are destroyed by God. How we treat God's Church has a lot to do with how God treats us. The Church is holy and eventually will rule all creation and she herself is ruled by Christ. Church work is thus eternal work. We do not need to follow this or that person because we can learn from all of them. We are not to follow men, and create factions, but are rather to follow Christ in all Christian unity. Blessings, John Edmiston Were you blessed by Eternity Daily Bible Study? 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