1 corinthians 3:10-15

Guy Kassongo

Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The main subject of the sermon is what it means to spiritually build with eternally valuable works.

Only What is Done for Christ Will Last

Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians Chapter 3. We will be looking again morning, again, at verses 10-15. Now, two summers ago, I had the opportunity in my service as a Trustee to the International Mission Board to be in London and I was meeting with some missionaries there, and I find myself during that time, walking through Trafalgar Square in London. And there was a huge crowd gathered. There's a lot of things going on in Trafalgar Square all the time, but these individuals are gathered around an artist who is using chalk to draw a picture on the sidewalk.

And I couldn't really get close enough to see what he was drawing. So I went up the steps of the National Gallery right there, near where he was drawing and then I could gain some perspective. And as I looked down, I almost caught my breath. I couldn't believe how amazing this sidewalk chalk drawing was of St. Paul's Cathedral and it was just architecturally correct. It would seem to be three-dimensional, seem to almost be alive. Like you could kind of dive right in, which would have been a bad idea because it's still a sidewalk but it was just amazing the skill that this artist had and people were putting money in his bucket. So it seemed that this is something that he did regularly.

Now a year later, this past summer, I had the chance to be in London again and walked through and in that exact area where that incredible drawing of St. Paul's Cathedral had been, there was a group of jugglers. And there was not a trace under their feet of that magnificent drawing. Now, I don't want you to think I was shocked by that. I knew very well we were talking about sidewalk chalk. My guess is that feet walked across it later that evening, or when the dew settled, it had already started to smear and certainly by the next time there was any kind of downpour, which is a regular thing in London, it was gone entirely. The Bible reveals that that's what it will be like for everything that we build with our hands on Earth. All of the glory, the physical glory of the world, all of the kingdoms and splendor of this world will one day be blown away like chaff on a threshing floor, in the summer.

That's the image in Daniel Chapter 2. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and a statue, head of gold, and chest and arms of silver, and belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron and feet partly iron and partly clay, and the stone was cut out but not by human hands struck this statue which represented the sequence of empires, one after the other, and the whole thing became a pile of shrapnel, of shards, that then a wind came and blew away without leaving a trace. But the rock that was cut out, but not by human hands, grew and became a huge mountain that filled the whole earth. And then this incredible dream, that's really just a picture of all of human history, which will someday be swept away like chaff on a threshing floor, in the summer. Represents the temporary nature of all the kingdoms of the world in their splendor. As one poet put it a number of years ago, "The lesson is clear, only one life 'till soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last."

There is a building being built. There is a structure rising, but you can't see it with your eyes, it's a spiritual structure. And we've spoken of it many times. It is the church of Jesus Christ. It's not the building in which the church, local church is assembled to meet. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about a spiritual temple rising, being built with living stones that are quarried out of Satan's dark kingdom day after day after day, by evangelism and missions. And that structure will last for all eternity. And this text that we're studying here, calls on us to be active in building it. And it's amazing, the grace of God, that He's given us to not just wash away all of our sins in the blood of Christ that we would someday stand before His judgment throne blameless, and unafraid, cleansed of all of our sins by the grace of God, through faith in Christ, not by works, but by His work by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, that we would stand blameless and unafraid.

But not only that, that we actually have the privilege of not wasting our lives on things that will be like sidewalk chalk, washed away without leaving a trace. And that's incredible grace that we have been forgiven of our sins, and reconciled to God, by faith in Christ, not by works as Ephesians 2:8-9. So clearly says, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." But then the next verse says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God ordained or prepared in advance that we should walk in them."

The Ministry of the Apostle Paul

So this is the very life that the Apostle Paul was living, after God called him out of serving Satan and serving darkness and sin, though he's a very morally upright and righteous and energetic zealous religion, religionist in the spirit that he understood in Judaism, advancing in Judaism, beyond any of the other Jews of his day, still serving Satan and attacking the Church of Christ that God called him out of darkness into light on the road to Damascus, famous, the most famous conversion story in the history of the church and set him working. "Get up and go into the city," Christ told him, "and you will be told what you must do."

And what he must do is build the church of Jesus Christ and so in 1 Corinthians 2, he talks about how he did that in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, "When I came to you brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power." And so in that way, Paul says he laid a foundation, he laid a foundation for that local church, but then in time after he had done some discipleship and leadership training and development and setting that local church up, God called on him to continue his overall ministry of being a trail blazing frontier missionary, apostle to the Gentiles, to go to another place and leave the work at Corinth in the hands of others.

In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, it's his call to those that he had entrusted the work to be faithful and to be careful how they build. Now, he had already said in the earlier part of the chapter, we are "only servants. What is Paul? What is Apollos? We're just servants. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants and he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow." He uses that agriculture analogy and then he shifts, "You are God's field, God's building," so he goes over then to an architectural image, but he says, "Look, we are servants, we are nothing. God is everything, God's work is everything, but still, you human servants need to be careful how you work." It actually matters how you live, it matters how you do the work.

And so he says in verse 10 and following, "By the grace that God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder. And now someone else is building on it, but each one should be careful how he builds, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be a revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward, if it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames."

Now, last time that we looked at this a couple of weeks ago, I focused more negatively on the warning of wood, hay, and straw, urging you negatively don't waste your life. Don't just do sidewalk chalk art, that gets swept away and there's nothing left, and so, wood, hay and straw is anything that would be burned up on Judgment Day, is of no value at all, clearly sins. But even those things that really are fine morally, but they're just a waste of time in the end that we indulged in too much. And Paul says that when Christ tests all of our life's work, some of it's proven to be wood, hay, and straw, it's going to burn up.

The Reality: Every Christian Must Give an Account

Now this is what I believe: every true Christian that stands before Christ gives an account for everything done in the body, whether good or bad. Many Christians don't know this. They think that we get to skip Judgment Day evaluation of our lives because there's no condemnation for those are in Christ Jesus. It is not true, you will give an account to Christ for everything done in the body, whether good or bad.

And there will be good and bad. And you know that this is true, there will be gold, silver, costly stones and there will be wood, hay, and straw. If there is nothing of value to your life, you're not born again. If there is nothing that survives, you're not alive. If you are a branch in Christ to some degree, and you bear zero fruit, you're cut off and those branches are collected, and burned in the fire, John 15. But the question is proportions. How much of your life will survive the Judgment Day testing? That's what's in front of us here. And so my task is to minimize your loss and maximize your return on investment. I feel like a financial advisor, spiritual financial... I want you to minimize your loss. Want you to maximize your retirement portfolio, for your eternal retirement.

And so I'm going to be advocating some blue chip stock this morning that I think you ought to invest in that will survive and give you a very good return on investment. Enough of that, I'm way out of my depth in this, alright? If I keep talking like this, I'm going to make some mistakes. Paul wants us to be aware of the possibility of wood, hay, and straw, loss. What are you investing your time, your energy, your money in? Do they have eternal value? If they don't, they will burn. And you need to know that now so you stop, like the saying "Don't throw good money after bad." You can't do anything about the waste of last year or 10 years ago, but you can learn the lessons and say, I'm not going to keep doing that, I don't want to throw good money after bad. Let's shift it. I don't want to throw a good time after lost time, good energy after lost energy, good money after lost money. I want to invest my resources and things that matter for all eternity.

I. Why Should We Desire Rewards?

So what I want to do now is talk about the gold and silver and costly stones. I want to give you a theology of rewards. So that you'll understand what is going to survive the fire. Now, in order to do a theology of rewards, first of all, I have to just make a case for it at all, period. Christians seem squeamish about this. "Oh, you know, I don't need anything, I don't want anything, I just want to serve Christ." I understand that, that's a good attitude, but you should not despise rewards. You should not think it's a bad thing to want rewards. I'm actually urging you to be rich in good works, to be rich in things that Christ will reward and not be squeamish about it at all.

Rewards Clearly Taught In Scripture

Our passage clearly teaches it, look at verse 14, "If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward." It's right there in the text, in verse 14. It's earlier in the same chapter, in verse 8, 1 Corinthians 3:8, "The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his labor." So twice in the same chapter, we have the promise of rewards for faithful service. This is all over the new testament. I could multiply scriptures on this. I don't think we realize how many verses there are on this topic. Ephesians 6:8, "The Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." Ephesians 6:8. Colossians 3:23-24, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for people, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward, it is the Lord Christ you are serving." And the implication is, and it is the Lord Christ, who will reward you.

Jesus taught more clearly about rewards than anyone, and I would commend Matthew 6, as the most in-depth treatise on how to protect your rewards so that you will not lose them. Jesus said in Matthew 6, "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

He's very clear about this. And then after all that he sums it all up. I think you need to see it in context. People often, too often, just go over to the financial side or the materialism side. But in Matthew 6:19-21, He says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal, for where your treasure is there, your heart will be also." In context. He's talking about rewards. Very clearly, store up heavenly rewards. Have as many heavenly rewards as you possibly can. Be rich in heavenly rewards, so there should be no squeamishness about rewards here at all. Jesus openly teaches this in the Sermon on the Mount. So this is what the goal, the silver and the costly stones are, that we're storing up by our faithful service to Christ.

Now, we need to be clear, I have to be so clear about this. This storing up has nothing to do with your sins at all. You can't store up righteousness in order to pay for your sins. That is the essence of legalism. That's the essence of justification by works, that is something we absolutely deny. You can never use your good works to pay for your sins. That is something you are not storing up in treasure in Heaven. That's not happening. We maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law, Romans 3:28. It's very clear, we're justified by faith in Christ, not by works, or Titus 3:5 say, "He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy." Now rewards come therefore after justification by faith. Every human being on earth is storing up something. Before you are converted, you are storing up wrath for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

All of that wrath that you've stored up by your sins, the moment you come to Christ, the moment you're born again, in God's mind gets poured on Jesus, at the cross, and He died under the wrath of God for our sins, and at that moment you begin storing up treasure. Storing up treasure in Heaven. And so that's what we're talking about here. But that is... Do you not see it? By grace, it's lavish grace that you even get to do this. God didn't have to include us, He did not have to entrust the ministry of reconciliation to sinners like you and me. It's incredibly inefficient. It really is. We are inefficient evangelists and inefficient missionaries and inefficient laborers. We don't do a great job. Angels, awesome. They get sent, they work, they get it done.

All by the Grace of God

But He's entrusted to us over 20 centuries, the ministry of reconciliation and God, by His grace, has called us. Look at verse 10, Paul says, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder." I am doing this work, by the grace of God. He says later in the same book, 1 Corinthians 15, he says, "I am the least of the apostles, and I don't even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace, to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet, not I, but the grace of God that was working in me." So all of this rewards it's all by grace.

We don't deserve any of it, as servants Luke 17:7-10, says, when we're working in the field working hard when we come in. He doesn't say, "You sit down and I'm going to feed you." No, he says, "You get yourself ready, and you cook for me, and you give me my meal. After that, you may eat." So also, Jesus said, "When you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty.'" So that's a good attitude to have but yet, for all of that, He has promised to reward you. So do you not see how much grace that is? Lavish grace that we get to do this? Furthermore, our works are imperfect.

Anyone of you ever want to say? "Yeah, but that one afternoon that was a perfect afternoon that was a perfect work when I did that." It could have been evangelism giving to the poor, needy. Maybe you serve some people. That was a perfect work. Do you really want to say that? The gold, the silver, the costly stones have to be passed through fire to make it into Heaven. And so the fire doesn't just burn up the wood, hay, and straw. It purifies the gold. And it purifies the silver, it even purifies the diamonds. Because we don't do anything pure. And so it says in Malachi 3:3, that Christ will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He'll purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.

So our best works need to be purified, and so they will by grace. So we should desire rewards because Jesus commanded us effectively to store up treasure and to want rewards. Paul is telling us, that we'll be rewarded, we should want to have a life rich in good works and be rich and heavenly treasure. And we should build on the foundation that we inherited from previous generations of Christians. We should build on it in our generation and be faithful to do it, until we die, and hand it off to the next generation. This is our time to build on this foundation that we inherited.

II. What Is the Reward?

Okay, so that's the theology generally, what is the reward, what are we talking about here? Well, in the very next chapter, if you look over in 1 Corinthians 4, I think verse 5 makes it very plain. What I think is the simplest answer to that question, what is the reward? And in 1 Corinthians 4-5 says, Wait 'til the Lord comes to evaluate my ministry. "Wait until the Lord comes, He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time, each will receive his praise from God." So those three words in English, that's the essence of reward. Praise from God, not praise for God, or praise of God that's something we will do in Heaven forever and I'm looking forward to that. Just Worshipping Christ, but this is something that's turned around where the throne... The one seated on the throne God, praises us and commends us, that's the essence of the reward praise from God.

The more famous passage is Matthew 25, 21 and also 23 which are identical. In the parable of the five talents and the two talents and the one talent. The one with the five talents, goes out, works with it, gains five more his master says, "Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master." So I take that whole thing as the essence of reward, commendation from the Lord well done. And then enter into the joy of your Master. Now, that could be just the general joy that God has in being God and He's a very joyful God. He enjoys being God, He's a God of pleasure and delight. And in His presence, is fullness of joy. So it could be just that general pleasure of being near Him, and that's fine.

But I think in context, it might be... I want to let you know how much joy I had in your five talents that you gained. I want to talk about each of the five talents you gained and how much joy it brought me. So it's a shared relational experience over your good works. I want you to know the delight I had in you, my child. When you went into your room and closed the door and prayed to your father, is unseen. Or when you gave to the poor and needy and nobody knew what you did or when you shared the Gospel. I want to share my pleasure with you over that good work.

More Than a One-Time "Well Done"

Now, when I first heard the statement, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And then I realized, people know that and they talk about it a lot. I always kind of pictured it and then when I heard people talk about it, it was almost like something said just at the beginning, and that's it, kind of like it's written over the entry to Heaven. "Well done, good and faithful servant." And then you go and then you spend the rest of the time bowing down before the throne praising God, and that's fine. But then it kind of struck me that it's deeper and richer and fuller than that and more eternal. It's not like the husband who says, "You know, the day I married you, I told you, I love you if anything changes, I'll let you know." "I was pleased with your good work. If anything changes, I let you know, enjoy Heaven." No, I want you to know forever how much I delight in your good works and not only that, I want you to know how much I delight in his good works, and her good works and whatever, and you'll delight in them, too, so we end up delighting in everyone's good works. Because when one part of the body is honored, the whole body is honored with it. And so we will delight in each other's good works, as much as Him. That's why it's much to my benefit that you all ratchet it up and have as many good works as you possibly can. Because I want to have as much heavenly joy in you and with you as we possibly can. I am totally off my outline here, so let me find out where I am.

Crowns of Honor

Alright, another is the symbol and we hear much about this, crowns. This is related very much to rewards. The idea of crowns that created beings wear in Heaven. I'm not speaking of the crowns that Jesus wears as it says in Revelation 19, on his head are many crowns. But the crown symbolize honor and glory and authority. And it is spoken of in many places that servants of Christ get crowns for example, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, Paul says, to the Thessalonian church that he planted. "What is our hope, our joy or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes. Is it not you? Indeed you are a glory and joy." We have glory in the fact that you are Christians, and we planted that church. You are my crown. Paul said that to the Thessalonians.

He speaks in 1 Corinthians 9, about runners that are training for a race, and they get it... They do it to get a crown that will not last like a wreath, you can imagine of olive branches or something like that, that they wore, but it would fade and wither. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever. So Paul says, "Therefore, I don't run like a man running aimlessly. I don't fight like someone beating the air, but I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I won't be disqualified for the prize." Philippians 4:1, "Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, this is how you should stand firm in the Lord dear friends," and many other verses.

Of course the most famous of this is in Revelation 4:4, where it says, "Surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones and seated on them 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads," and they would continually cast them down the casting crowns." But it seems, also, there was a rhythm to that, where they would take them back up and put them back on, and then in pulses and rhythms, they would cast them again. And by the casting of the crown, they were saying to Christ, "Every glory, and honor, I have in my life is due to you. All of my good works, You work them in me. I don't deserve a crown but I have one." And it represents a life of faithful service to you, but to God be the glory, all of my honor goes to You. But they're our crowns to cast and we get to cast them whenever we want in Heaven.

So these crowns represent honor that come to us. But also, heavenly authority, there are different positions of authority in Heaven. There are. So we will actually have works, we'll have authority in heaven. Different ones. And so, the 24 elders with their crowns on thrones represent individuals created beings that have positions of authority in heaven. As a matter fact, James and John were very well aware of this at least at some level, because they finagle their mother. You remember this, to go to Jesus and say, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other your left in your kingdom." Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you're asking." Amen, hallelujah. You don't have any idea what kind of glory and thrones and crowns we're even talking about. You don't understand what you're asking. "James and John, "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink." "We can." they said. I believe they had no idea what that cup was. They were just so fixed on the glory of the crown... Of the throne. Jesus said, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit in my right or left is not for me to grant. Those places belong to those four whom they are prepared by My Father."

III. What Will Christ Reward?

So he doesn't deny that there are thrones and crowns in heaven. He doesn't criticize James and John for seeking it. He didn't say such places don't exist. What he says is, I want you to know the rules by which those places are given. First of all they're given by predestination and the ordination of my Heavenly Father. But beyond that, He'd already asked them one question, and then He teaches them another lesson. The first question He asked is, "Can you drink my cup?" And what is that cup? It is the cup of suffering for the purpose of God, for the glory of God. We will not drink Christ's cup itself, that's a cup of God draft what he drank down to the dregs for our salvation, but there is suffering that spills out from Christ's cup that they will drink and He said, "You will drink from my cup." Well, you remember what happened? The 10 disciples when they heard about this were indignant with the two disciples James and John and were pretty upset. Why? Because they wish they thought of it themselves.

And now they've been maneuvered and angled out of position in the coming kingdom and they're frustrated about that. Jesus said, "You're thinking about this whole thing wrong." "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercised authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." So there it is, those are the rules. Cup and service, put it together. Suffering servanthood for others to the glory of God, those are the rules. The more you suffer, and the more you serve, the greater your reward will be.

Are there any other criteria? Yes, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." So what that means is, little things and big things whatever it is, eating and drinking is a little thing, big things, do it all for the glory of God. What does that mean? Put God on display as a great glorious God by everything you say and do, and He'll reward you. Or Romans 14:23, "Anything that does not come from faith is sin." Turn it around, anything that does come from faith, He will reward. And that involves obedience, obey His commands. "If you love me, you'll obey my commands." So by faith, obeying his command, if you obey any command by faith, He will reward you. And then finally, 1 Corinthians 13:3-5, Paul says, "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing." In other words, I won't get rewarded for that.

That's incredible. Here's an individual who gave everything he owned to the poor, and he laid down his life as a martyr, and he gets no reward for it. Why? Because he didn't have love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It doesn't envy it doesn't boast, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, it's not self-seeking." That's a demeanor, it's attitude of love. Did the people you gave all your money to feel loved by you? Did they sense that you did it in love? Heart of love. Is there a tenderness and a humility and a love in your service? So putting it all together, when Christ test our works and there's gold and silver and costly stones, that's what we're talking about here. Anything done for the glory of God, done by faith in the word of God in obedience to His commands, large or small. Anything done meeting those criteria with a loving demeanor, for God loves a cheerful giver, not a grumpy giver. That's going to survive Judgment Day.

Now you're saying to me that is a high standard. Yeah, but you can meet it by the power of the Holy Spirit. We're not going to be empty-handed, we're going to have gifts. So yes, our gifts will need to be purified, but you can do it.

IV. How Are Gold, Silver, and Costly Stones Different from Each Other?

So, now final question, how are gold, silver, and costly stones different from each other? Are they all the same thing? No, they're not. Gold is more precious than silver. In Solomon's day, the silver's like stones on the street, they didn't even look at it, there was so much of it. So, gold is more precious than silver, and costly stones like you can imagine diamonds more precious than gold. So it's just a hierarchy of value. So, as I said, it's the level of sacrifice and suffering.

Can you drink the cup I'm going to drink? And are you a servant or slave of all? Now, the cup of suffering is not given equally to all and sacrifice is not equal for all. Think of the widow who put in her two copper coins and she put in, Jesus said, more than everyone else because she put in everything she had to live on. Her level of sacrifice is something Christ alone can measure. He knows what it cost her to do that, and she's going to get rewarded more than anyone else who gave that day, because there's a level of sacrifice. Now for us, we are never going to measure up to the level of some of our brothers and sisters in suffering for Jesus. Well, let's start with the Apostle Paul. We can't carry his shoes. Five times he was beaten with a 40 lashes minus one. Three times beaten with rods, that's eight severe beatings for Jesus. I've not had one and don't expect ever to have one. Once he was stoned and left for dead. Shipwrecked twice, started at least three riots in which everyone there would like to have killed him. In prisoned more times than we even can count. The Holy Spirit warned him in every city, prison and hardships were facing him.

Do you not sense that he should have a greater reward than you or me? I feel like it would be unjust for him not to and there's not just him, but there are brothers and sisters for 20 centuries as the church advanced who laid down their lives, whose blood was shed for the spread of the gospel it's going on right now in other parts of the world. There are pastors in China right now, some of them we even read about this week who are incarcerated for their faith, who are taken away from their families, they're taken away from their ministries, threatened with physical further bodily harm. We don't know if they'll be tortured or killed but they might be, you don't know. Then there are Christians in the Horn of Africa and other places where radical Islamic fundamentalism mobilizes people to hunt down Christians and kill them. Such as in Somalia, or in Sudan, or other places. So not everybody's going to get equally rewarded.

For over a year, I read of Adoniram and Nancy Judson who laid down their lives for the gospel. They weren't murdered, but Judson buried two wives who died of tropical fever, and two children, which they would not have faced if they stayed in Massachusetts, and had a country parsonage there. And he was arrested during the war with England, just cause he was a Westerner, it wasn't direct religious persecution, but because he was white, because he was a Westerner, they arrested him and shackled him and hung him upside down by his feet and he was bitten mercilessly by mosquitoes. In some ways, his wife suffered more because she continually every day made intercession for him to the authorities to let him go, and she was starving to death. So I just have a feeling, I just feel like I would like it to be that Adoniram and Nancy Judson get a higher reward than me, I don't know what the rest of my life holds, maybe a comparable suffering, maybe no. But when you talk about gold, and silver, and costly stones, there's different levels of lives.

For all of that however, even a cup of cold water given to one of the Lord servants, you'll never lose your reward. So, that's silver. So I have lots of silver. You can say pastor, "I'm just an average Christian. I'm just living here in America. What should I do?" And I understand that and I wanna talk about that.

V. Applications

So by way of application, let me just begin by going back to the gospel. I want to appeal to all of you who came in here outside of Christ, who are not yet Christians. Like I said, you are storing something up but it's not rewards, it's not gold, and silver, and costly stones. Not at all. You're storing up wrath. But the good news of the gospel is Christ wants to take all of that wrath that you deserve for your sins on Himself, and He then wants to make you rich in heaven. As 2 Corinthians 8 says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich." That's really what Christmas is about.

And so, I'm begging you, while there's time repent of your sins, and find salvation through faith in Christ. He died on the cross for sinners like you and me, He was raised from the dead on the third day, He ascended to Heaven, and now sits at the right hand of God. He is the only Savior there is, trust in Him. And then once you do, all your sins are forgiven, you begin storing up treasure gold, and silver, and costly stones.

Alright, "So, Pastor, I'm already a Christian. I've been a Christian for a while. What do I do?" Well, I want to begin by just urging you to redeem the time, redeem the time. That's from Ephesians 5:16. Usually a translation these days don't stick with literalistic translation, only the KJV does, King James Version. "Redeeming the time because the days are evil." Usually they just say, making the most of every opportunity, but I like the idea of redeeming because it's the idea of buying a slave or a kidnapped victim out of danger by the payment of a price.

So what that means is time is kidnapped, time is in chains. You need to get up and seize the day, like they used to say, "Go rescue the day." Don't be a sluggard. Redeem the time because the days are evil. So what that means to me is that every day start straw. It just starts straw and just like that, weird tale, Rumpelstiltskin. I tell you the Grimm brothers were weird. Every one of their... How did we ever tell these stories to our children? They're weird. But you remember the story about the Miller boasting to the king of his daughter? "Oh, my daughter can spin straw into gold." Do you remember that story? And like the king is not going to test it out. "Great to hear, bring her in." So she gets locked up in the room. How she has to pay for her father's loose tongue… It's just so unfair. But there she is in a room, stone room, with a room full of hay, and a spinning wheel. Weeping her eyes out then suddenly some weird imp gnome shows up and he's willing to turn the straw into gold for her necklace.

Stop right there, weird. Dude, if you can do that to straw, you don't need a necklace. But anyway, not the question. Alright. Just, I'm not supposed to be deconstructing these Grimm fairy tales, but this is what happened, and he had the ability to spin straw into gold and then just kept going. I'm not going to tell you, because it's just so weird. I won't tell you what happens. But to some degree, we need to be... Don't quote me on this, but spiritual Rumpelstiltskins.

Alright? You need to take today's straw and spin it into gold. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, as for the Lord and for his glory, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do. So your everyday life, your secular job, your education in college. Whatever you do, your ordinary life, do it all for the glory of God. Be filled with the spirit, see the moment as a gift from God and enrich all of your normal everyday life actions for the glory of God. So start there, but that's not enough. Secondly, ask God how you can move into a higher investment bracket. Find some ministry that will cost you time, energy, money, and sacrifice and start doing that. It could be a whole new thing, it could be an entire life change. Some of our members of our church left us recently to go live in Morocco to start businesses there for the glory of God, and the spread of the Gospel in Morocco. You know, most of you who I'm talking about. You don't have to, however, be a missionary and go oversees. Very few are called to do that, but you can hold the ropes for missionaries by giving sacrificially, by staying in touch with them throughout the year, asking how you can pray for them, step up into a higher bracket.

Look at your life and change it. Whatever you can do to pour out service to God and sacrificial love to others, do it. It's going to be different for all of you. It might be mercy ministry, something here in Durham. It might be an evangelistic ministry, it might be a series of smaller good works. Use your spiritual gift, have a spiritual gift ministry, make that the center of your good works. It could be hospitality, it could be prayer. But whatever you're called on to do, do it with all your might, and you will store up treasure in Heaven. And some day, the Lord will reward you. Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank You for the time we've had to study. We thank You for the mercy that You've shown us in Christ. And Father, I just want to thank You for forgiving us our sins, we are such sinners, and it's revealed day after day. And we just want to thank You for the grace of the Gospel, the simple grace of forgiveness through faith in Christ. Lord, I also want to thank You for the grace of being able to store up gold and silver, and diamonds. And I pray that you would enable us to, with faith, be more courageous and more faith-filled and more... Have a greater heavenly perspective than we've ever had before. For Your glory and the building of your church worldwide, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Andy Davis preaches a verse by verse expository sermon on 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. The main subject of the sermon is how Christians must do works that will be eternally useful to God's glory.

The Two Great Dangers Facing Us

I like to ask you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. As I've studied the Scripture for many years, as I think about as a pastor, I think about the people that are entrusted in my care to shepherd and to pray for you and as I think about my own spiritual condition, I think about my own soul. I've come to the conclusion that there is a single greatest danger that faces every human being on the face of the earth. There is no danger like it, of infinite danger to all of us, and that is that we will lose our souls. It’s the danger that on Judgment Day, Christ would say to us, "Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." This is greatest danger that faces every human being. For Jesus said, "What would it profit someone, if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul?" The second greatest danger that faces every person (and this is for Christians to hear carefully), is that you will waste your lives on things that don't matter.

And the text we're looking at this morning, comes really in the flavor of a warning, although there's promise in it, promise of eternal rewards, but it's couched and set as a warning. And the idea here is that all of us who are Christians are building something. Really, every human being is building something, there is a life work. The question is; are we building well or poorly? Are we building wisely or foolishly? That's what's in front of us. And what's amazing is, if you're a Christian, God has guaranteed that to some degree, your life will not be wasted. There will be some good works flowing through you of eternal value, and you can rejoice in that. But I think we're all going to feel on Judgment Day there should have been more. I really believe that, I think we're all going to feel that, "Oh, if only there had been more." And it'll be the last moment of regret we will have, because the Lord Himself with His own hand will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there'll be no more mourning, there'll be no regrets in heaven, we will be deeply, richly satisfied with Christ's work and satisfied also with our own. We will not be lamenting missed opportunities in heaven. But I think we will lament them on Judgment Day.

Poor Construction Leads to Ruin and Death

And my job is to help minimize that for all of you. So it would be wise for you and for me to heed the warnings and the encouragements in this text, and to build wisely and well. So not, "How do I put it shoddy workmanship." A little while ago I was reading about an earthquake in Turkey in 1999, August 17, that hit a city in Turkey, and many of the buildings collapsed and killed people, there were 17,000 deaths in this earthquake, 45,000 injuries. And the overwhelming majority of the deaths were caused by the collapse of new apartment buildings that were poorly built. Shoddy workmanship resulted directly in the deaths of people. And so there were poor foundations, they were laid poorly, there was lack of structural integrity in the buildings, lack of reinforcing steel rods, rebar. And the walls just collapsed, the floors collapsed and people were killed. The buildings had not been properly inspected by governmental officials, construction companies paid bribes and cut corners and people died as a result. Similar tragedies have hit in other places as well, I think of an earthquake, similar earthquake in Port-au-Prince Haiti. Same thing, shoddy workmanship resulting in the deaths of many.

Now, we're surrounded by building projects all the time. When we go out of this building, to the left there's a high-rise skyscraper which I'm told is office building and condos. Don't you hope it's being built well? And there's a parking garage straight back there. I've been watching it rise. One of the buildings is prettier than the other, but the other is functional. And I'm hoping that the structural engineers have done their work well. And so, when the cars start going up those spiral ramps that they'll hold the weight. We've got the new public library over here which is growing before our very eyes. And there's all kinds of steel work and concrete work, aren't you hoping and praying that the work is being done well, quality work?

Well, as we turn to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, there is an architectural metaphor, Paul has been using an agricultural one, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it but God made it grow." But now he shifts over to an architectural metaphor: "You are God's field, God's building." So we're both, but now he's talking about structural integrity and building. And he's calling on the workers on the church of Jesus Christ to build well and wisely. The text makes it plain that shoddy workmanship in the construction of the church will be exposed, it will be made manifest, it will be revealed by the day, Judgment Day. Conversely, excellent workmanship will also be manifested, will be disclosed, it will be revealed on Judgment Day as well, everything will be laid bare.

Now, the picture in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 is more of a communal building project. It's a community building, we're all working on this thing. Jesus gives us a much more individualized picture at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. You remember after laying out those three incredible chapters of doctrine in which He's talking to his disciples about how to be a disciple of His in this world, He then gives the warning to all those who have heard his teachings, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rains came down and the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who builds his house on a sand and the rains came down and the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

It's always been amazing to me that the Sermon on the Mount ends with a great crash. And so that noise, if you can hear it by faith, is an individual person's life crashing down when severely tested. Now, these two images I think, should not be kept separate. It's not like there's two different building project. You got like the Amish barn raising going on, that the whole community works on, and then you've got your individual farm that you're building, and they're two just separate things. We know in the end they must be harmonized, they're the same thing, you as a Christian are building something with your life. And that is part of the building of the church of Jesus Christ, they are not separate but they are together. And so we need to look at both the idea of a collective building of the church well and wisely and also individually, the call to you to ask, "How are you building, what are you doing with your life?"

So there's a focus, first and foremost, I think, on those that are called into the ministry of the Word, like Paul and Apollos were, to do very skillful work in the Word and not shoddy workmanship, those that follow him, as the church in Corinth rises. But then it just becomes the language, it becomes universal, "if any man builds on this foundation…" So it's really speaking to all of us and that we're all involved in this building project.

Now this, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, is one of the most exciting, interesting, provocative paragraphs in 1 Corinthians. It stands as both a continual warning to us and a continual exhortation and encouragement to us. That we should, as those entrusted with the ministry of the Word, build well and wisely and be very careful. And that you as a church should not accept shoddy workmanship from the pulpit or from any teaching ministry of this church. If the Lord doesn't return in our lifetime, if this church continues to be a light shining in a dark place, I will be replaced someday. All of the elders will be replaced, it's up to the church to be certain, you choose craftsmen that will be rightly handling the Word of God, and not put up with shoddy workmanship in the teaching of the Word.

But then each of you has to look to yourself and say, "What am I building with my life? Is it going to last on Judgement Day? Is my work going to survive the testing that's coming on Judgment Day?" Both of those things are in play here.

I. Paul Laid the Foundation; Others Build Upon It

So let's start with Paul and a statement about himself. Paul said, "I laid a foundation,"  in verse 10. "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder." So Paul laid the foundation. And he makes it plain in verse 11, The only true foundation is Jesus Christ, "for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ." So he asserts that the foundation's already laid. The work is finished. In John 19, when Jesus breathes his last, He says, "It is finished." It's perfect, there's nothing that can be added to the finished work of Jesus Christ in atoning for sins. So he said, "I can't lay a foundation other than what Jesus already laid."

The author to Hebrews, in Hebrews 1:3 says concerning Jesus Christ, "After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." That's a finished work. Purification for sins has been perfectly provided by the blood of Jesus. He sat down, He's finished with His atoning work. There's nothing that Paul could do to add to that work or improve it. This is the sure immovable foundation of the church of Jesus Christ. And it will never move. However, when Christ suffered and died for His people, He did so outside the gates of Jerusalem, in Judea, a long way away from Corinth. And my guess is that the people in Corinth knew literally nothing about it when it happened. Life went on in the pagan Corinth way, just like every other day. They had heard nothing of Jesus. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on someone they've never believed in? And how can they believe in someone of whom they've never heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?

And so Paul sent out to bring the good news of the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world to Corinth. And so he laid a foundation in their minds and hearts by his clear, simple Spirit-anointed preaching of the Word of the Gospel. As he said in Chapter 2, he said, "When I came to you…I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." So that's how he laid the foundation. He didn't lay anything, but by proclaiming Christ crucified and resurrected, he established in their minds and hearts, the foundation for their souls and for the Corinthian church. That was the foundation that Paul laid. And he said no other foundation could be laid.

The Earthquake/Shaking is Coming

It's the only foundation that will survive the massive earthquake that's coming. And there is an earthquake coming. There is a shaking coming on all these structures. Jesus alluded to it, the rains came down, the streams rose, winds blew in beat against the house. There is a testing coming, there's a shaking coming of every structure, all of it. And no other foundation will survive the massive earthquake that's coming. Now, you may say, "Are you talking about literal earthquake? I've lived through an earthquake in Japan in 1995, January '95, I lived through an earthquake, some of the buildings in Kobe survived, some were destroyed.

And I've seen the buildings that were destroyed by that earthquake and some that survived. So are we talking about a literal shaking?" Yes, actually yes, there is a literal shaking of the earth that is coming. As the author to Hebrew says in Hebrews 12:26, "now he has promised, ' Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.'" He's going to shake everything. He's going to test everything. Or again, as we saw in the Book of Revelation, you remember in Revelation 6:12-17; "As Jesus opened the sixth seal, it says there was a great earthquake, and the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat's hair, and the whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to the earth as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. And the sky receded like a scroll rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place, and then, the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the generals and the rich and the mighty, and every slave, and every free man, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains, and they called to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath is coming, who shall be able to stand?"

So yeah, there's a shaking that's coming. But you could also say it's just a metaphor for the shaking of your life by Judgment Day, the testing of your life, the soundness of the foundation. And Paul says, "There's no other foundation that's going to survive the testing." No other gospel will survive it. Paul says in Galatians 1, "If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than what we preach to you, let him be eternally condemned." That false gospel, those other messages, those other religions will not survive the shaking that's coming. And all of the buildings that they are building on those faulty idolatrous, demonic foundations will crash to the ground, they'll lose it all. There is only one foundation that will still stand after the shaking that God is going to bring, and that is the foundation of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As Paul said, "By the grace that God gave me, I lay that foundation in your minds and hearts."

And what grace that was, that God gave to Paul? How did he get involved in that? He hated this Gospel, he hated the church, he was against it. But he says later in the same book of 1 Corinthians 59 and 10, he says, "I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am." "And so by the grace that God gave me, I have the privilege of laying the foundation O Corinthians in your hearts and minds."

And Paul has already established that he and Apollos were only servants. One planted the seed Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So they're nothing but only God who establishes growth. But they had a role, and it was through Paul and Apollos that they came to believe. And so there was a role that Paul played in laying this foundation. Through human agents, people come to believe or if they've already believed, they believe more and better and stronger, and so we have a work to do through faith in Christ. And it's interesting, Paul calls himself a wise master builder. So you're wondering about Paul, "Where now is your humility?" "I am a wise, I am an expert builder." Well, humility doesn't mean saying falsehood about yourself. Paul actually had through the grace of God, skill in knowing what went into a healthy local church. And so look at Verse 10, "According to the grace God of god given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation." The word "skilled," is wise. "With the wisdom that God gave me, I knew how to do this, I knew how to begin a church in Corinth." He was very wise, Paul was carrying on his ministry in a very wise or skillful way. He understands God's will, he understands what he's trying to do and he's doing it well.

And he calls himself a master builder. Literally, in architekton or a ruler builder, from which we get the word "architect". So it would be somebody in charge of the work, in charge of the work site. Maybe he even drew up the blueprints, he knows the whole plan. And you can imagine in our context, a subcontractor who's going to be bringing in other workers and evaluating them and choosing who's going to actually get to work on this project, but he's just in charge of the whole thing. So he is a wise master builder, and so he knew what went into a healthy local church, how to begin it, how to start the work, and then how to disciple and train leaders, how to teach them about the ordinances, water baptism, the Lord's Supper, church discipline, elders, deacons, discipleship patterns, all of these things, healthy marriage, parenting, all the things that goes into a healthy local church life. He says, "as a wise master builder, I've been doing that." But then when that work was done for Paul, it was time for him to leave. And so he left. He was called on to be a trailblazing, church planting apostle to the Gentiles, his time in Corinth had come to an end. And he left, and Apollos came and he implies others came too. And they're building. "Someone else is building on it" in verse 10. So he speaks a warning to everyone who comes after me in this work in Corinth, and then symbolically, all Christian work that follows that first generation.

II. Paul’s Warning: Be Careful How You Build

He gives a warning, and that includes all of us. Each one who follows me in this work better be careful how he build. See to it how you build. You better see it, literally in the Greek, look at how you're building, see it, be careful how you're building. It's a sober warning for all of us.

Now, 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about some that come masquerading as servants of righteousness, they are actually serving Satan. They are false apostles. Satan masquerades as an angel of light and they masquerade as servants of righteousness. He's talking there about false teachers who would come later. However, I don't think that's what he's addressing here. 1 Corinthians 3, he's talking about genuine Christians who are building on the true foundation. Because he mentions that they who do some shoddy workmanship are themselves saved, but only as those escaping through the flame. So we're talking about genuine Christians who come along and don't do good work on the foundation that He laid. So I winna give you four criteria for evaluating the work.

Four Criteria for Excellent Workmanship in the Church of Christ

There are four things I want you to look at in terms of following Paul in building the church of Jesus Christ.

1. The method you use
2. The materials you use
3. The manner in which you build
4. The motive in building.

These are going to be evaluated among other things, on Judgment Day.

1) The method you use

First, the method. Paul says, "Let each one be careful how he builds." What is your approach? Now, God ordained that the foundation would be laid through the simple, clear, preaching of the Gospel, but to build on that foundation it must be a careful handling of the Word of God. Careful handling of the Scripture. And so I think about 2 Timothy 2:15, which says, "Study to show yourselves approved unto God, workmen who do not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth." So, be certain that the craftsmen who come after have a method in the Word of God that's accurate and faithful. And I would advocate preaching and teaching systematically through the Word of God, not shrinking back from any difficult text.

I like to follow consecutive exposition, not every expository preacher does that, but expository teaching and preaching is the best. It's good skillful work. And by that I mean, you get out of the way of the text and just use the text as the message. And so, the point of the text becomes what we end up talking about. I don't come to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 thinking, "Oh, what do I talk about?" Or "Hey, I think I'll talk about architecture." The text talks about it, so you're just following the text. I advocate that. And it's not enough to just preach the Gospel, that's milk, that's the beginning.

Now, the Gospel is also meat, I understand that as it's applied to the life, but you need to move on from God-man-Christ-Response and move on from just preaching the simple Gospel week after week after week after week after week, at that same church. That is not going to build the church toward maturity. And so Paul says to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:27, "I have not shrunk back from preaching to you the whole counsel of God." The whole counsel of God. So some churches focus on personalities, they focus on entertainment, they have a certain style of public presentation that tickles the ears maybe or uses humor or uses just the big personality in front of the screen or something, others look to other techniques and methods and things like that.

We must trust the Word of God to build the church. That's the method by which a healthy church is going to be built.

2) The materials you use

And then it's not far from the materials, it's almost the same thing. The materials that Paul talks about here, gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay and straw, look at it in verse 12 and 13, "If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one's work." So this talks about actual building material, so its doctrines, its teachings that come from the Word of God. But also, spiritual leaders need to put their lives on display. There needs to be a role modeling. Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. So there has to be quality teaching and quality living, and that will build the church well. Now, since the work is going to be tested with fire, the image here is fire. We understand that gold and silver and precious stones survive fire. To some degree you could say they're either forged in fire or purified by fire, but wood, hay, and straw are consumed.

And so the image at the end here is if what you've built burns up, then that would mean that wood, hay, and straw, are bad in this setting. Although you could imagine fine workmanship in wood, and so it's not universally bad, but in this setting, wood, hay and straw represents bad building materials. You don't want to have used those on the church of Jesus Christ. So what we have to do is we have to make certain that the things that we're doing with our lives, what we are teaching, how we are living is of the highest quality that will survive the scrutiny, the manifestation, the disclosure, the testing, all those words are used here, it's really intensive here. This disclosure that will happen on the day, on Judgment Day. So what this says to me, if we go to the individual work that's going on this collective project, each one of you and I, all of us, need to make the most of our brief time on earth. We don't have long here. The days are precious, and it's all we ever have is today. You don't have yesterday, you don't have tomorrow, all you have is today and you're called on today, if today you hear His voice, don't harden your heart. So build with gold and silver and costly stones today, and that must mean obey His word. Do what He told you to do like a servant would. Make the most of your time.

3) The manner in which you build

Thirdly, manner. Paul will make it very clear later in this book, but I want to go ahead and reach for some of that and bring it back here. It matters how you do what you do. He's going to make it very clear in 1 Corinthians 8, in the section on meat sacrifice to idols. The knowledge, right doctrinal knowledge about idols and meat and all that isn't enough. You need love. So knowledge alone destroys actually, it pops up. It's like a bubble economy, you can imagine a bubble structure, it's going to pop, it's not going to survive Judgment Day, but love edifies or builds up. So there's that sense of structural strength in right doctrine plus right affections or love. Oh, he's going to make this very plain in chapter 13 as you well know. He goes on and on right in the middle of the section on spiritual gifts, including prophecy, and teaching, and speaking in tongues, and all of those things. Right in the middle of that he says basically, "Can I just stop and say something about the manner in which you use your spiritual gifts?"

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have not love, I am a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and I can fathom all mysteries, and if I have all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. And if I give all that I possess to the poor, and if I surrender my body to the flames but if I have not love I gain nothing." And then he describes what he means, love is patient, love is kind. While you're doing your spiritual gift ministry, are you a patient and kind person? Are you doing it in a patient and kind way, or are you easily angered? Are you arrogant, boastful, rude? Series of negatives that love is not. So the manner in which you use your spiritual gift ministry and in which you build matters a lot.

4. The motive in building.

And then finally, motive. We could say a lot about this, but it must be the glory of God. "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God," 1 Corinthians 10:31. So method, materials, manner and motive, all of these things will be tested on Judgment Day.

III. Judgment Day Testing: What Will Remain of Your Lifework?

And so what will remain of your life work? Look again at these words Verses 12-15, "If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light." It will be revealed. So shown, brought to light, revealed. "And the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward, if it is built up he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames." So, Paul is going to make this very plain at the beginning of the next chapter. We can't really evaluate another person's work until Judgment Day. There's a lot of things that are hidden, there's just some things we don't know. And so we think we know this pastor, this leader, this godly man, godly woman, but we really don't know them, all we can know is what our eyes show us, we don't really know. And so Paul actually says at beginning of Chapter 4, he says to judge nothing until the day. That day is going to bring to light the hidden secrets and the motives of men's hearts.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, George Whitefield wanted to put on his tomb, "Here lies George Whitefield, what kind of man he was, the day will reveal." That's all you need to put on my tomb. You don't know me, you won't know me, but Judgment Day you'll know me, you'll know who I really am. So it's going to be revealed in the text here, with fire, and fire is going to test the quality of each person's work. There is a warning here but also a promise. Our works all of them, everything we've done in the body, while in the body, whether good or bad, will be tested. 2 Corinthians 5 makes that very plain, whether good or bad, everything will be tested, evaluated. Here, the testing is with fire, and in this image, the gold, silver, costly stones, survive, and the wood, hay and straw gets burned up. So that is shoddy workmanship.

Teachers, preachers, who rely on gimmicks and not the faithful expounding of the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, will see their work was shoddy. And that goes back to 2 Timothy 2:15, listen again to those words, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman," who what? "Does not need to be ashamed." Well, when will that shame come, Judgment Day? Judgment Day. Hopefully, if it would have been then, sooner the better. Better be ashamed now and change, and start teaching and preaching accurately and faithfully the Word of God. So also for all of us, that we would not be ashamed on that day, let us be ashamed now.

Well, there's time to do something about it. All of us are going to have our works tested. So what kind of things are wood, hay, and straw? I've thought a lot about this, what's going to burn up? Well, certainly sins are going to burn up. All of our sins, things that we did that violated our conscience, that violated God's Word, it's going to burn up, it's worthless in terms of building the church. Sins of omission, sins of commission. But also I think just things that really were of no eternal consequence. God wants us to have common grace blessings, He wants us to enjoy this world, He wants us to be able to enjoy hobbies, pass times, entertainments, pleasures, He gives them to us in measure to enjoy, but we know that there's a possibility we can become addicted to those things.

Netflix, spectator sports, hobbies, shopping therapy. I don't know what all to say, it's not that the Internet itself evil, but it's just too much. And up to a certain point, it was a gift of God, but beyond it, it is just wood, hay and straw. All the time you're spending on, it's just going to burn up. And I think about our words, like our words, James talked about the tongue. Boy, do we say a lot of words? I say a lot of words. I pray, "O God protect my words while I preach." I feel like the Lord says, "Well, I would like to protect you all the time. It's not just when you're preaching, all of the words matter." Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, "I tell you the people have to give an account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken." Do you believe that some of your words will be gold or silver or costly stones, but some of your words will be wood or hay or straw, do you think so? Some things you say you wish you hadn't said. It's like, "Oh God, that I would not speak straw anymore." So we talked about arguments, complaining, conflicts, filthy language, off color jokes, all of these things that the Bible makes very clear are disgusting to God. That we would put a guard over our mouth and say nothing except what is helpful, for what? "Building others up according to their needs," Ephesians 4:29. So build with yours. Oh God, make gold come out of my mouth, may silver come out of my mouth, may diamonds come out of my mouth.

You want to know how to do that? Do a lot of this, talk about this a lot. You know what, Scripture this, Scripture that. Make it be said of you, "you're always talking Scripture." I remember one person they said about him, he was so saturated in the Bible that if you pricked him his blood was Biblin, just Bible came out all the time.  I would like to be like that. That's safe for me. Other than that, I'm thinking maybe the more I go on, the more it's going to be wood, hay or straw. And what does it say if what you have built is burned, what does the text say? Suffer loss. I have meditated it, looked at it in the Greek, yes, it's there, loss. And it's hard to see it go. It will be painful, therefore I just cannot get away from a painful Judgment Day for Christians.

He himself will be saved, but…

I know one of you will say to me. Romans 8:1, is the favorite one. "There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Friends I'm not talking about condemnation, I'm talking about evaluation. You will be evaluated, your works will be evaluated. There is a distinction in the text between the person and his or her works. The works can get burned up, the person can be saved, but only as one escaping through the flame. There is a distinction made. So our persons have been judged if we're Christians, at the cross. Condemnation poured down on Jesus in our behalf, He is our lightning rod by simple faith, not by works, all of our condemnation is gone, hallelujah. We will be saved. But what about the works? They're going to be tested, they're going to be evaluated. And if you see them burn up, it will hurt you. My job is to minimize your suffering and maximize your portfolio, your retirement portfolio. How's your retirement portfolio? I don't mean the one that you're gonna have for 11 years or 16 years, I mean the one you're going to have for eternity. My job as a pastor is make you eternally rich by teaching the Word. I can't make you anything, but to point to riches. And that's what he's calling on us, it says, in Verse 15, "If it is burned up, he himself will suffer loss. He will suffer loss, he himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames."

Now, if the individual has literally no works at all, no good works, I would say that they're not born again. They're not born again. This comes from many places in Scripture. But John 15 in particular, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit, apart from me, you can do nothing." It says, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so it will be even more fruitful." The branches that are cut off are collected and thrown in the fire and burned. So what does that mean? It means people, I think in that context, who hang around Christians, who go to church but they're not converted, they're not genuinely born again, there's no fruit, literally no fruit in their lives. They are not talked about in this text. Because the people here are saved, and if you are saved, there will be good works. Praise God, you'll have something to show for your life. But there is a sense of loss here in which you could have had more. So what does it mean that he himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames?

Well, I was reading some time ago about the Clipper Ship Era. And I was reading about one particular captain, and this is what they did, this is the fastest way to travel from San Francisco to New York back before the Transcontinental Railroad. And so he put all of his gold that he had gotten from the gold rush on a fast clipper ship, which he owned. And he was going down around the Straits of Magellan and going back up to New York to live a comfortable life. But at a certain place, a certain point, there was a severe storm right near the shore, the boat and everything he owned in that life went down but he made it to shore. Bereft of all of his worldly possessions but he himself survived. So that's a pretty striking image. This one is even more striking. To actually have to have a sense and experience of Christ's disappointment or displeasure with you over the wood, hay and straw of your life. We should feel that now, don't you think? It's good to feel it now when we can do something about it. I don't want to be that kind of person.

The promise of reward

Conversely, there's a promise here in Verse 14, "If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward." And so next time I preach on 1 Corinthians, I'm going to talk more about that. I'm going to talk more about rewards and how to store them up. So I'm going to be getting ready to enhance your retirement portfolio, but you do your own study and we'll come together on that text.

IV. Applications

Evaluate your life and your works

Let me do some application and then we'll be done. First, this text calls on you to evaluate your life and works. First and foremost, I just want to ask, are you in the faith at all? Are you a Christian? Are you born again? Do you know that your sins have been forgiven through faith in Christ? Remember I began the sermon saying, the greatest tragedy, the greatest danger that ever faces anyone is to lose their soul. The Gospel is simple, it's easy to understand the God who made the universe and everything in it, also crafted you in your mother's womb, desires to have a relationship with you.

He has given laws by which we are to live and all of us have broken them. We have broken the 10 Commandments, we have broken the two great commandments, we are law breakers, and we could not save ourselves, we are under the death penalty, we stood in danger of dying eternally in hell, and we couldn't save ourselves. So God sent a son Jesus into the world who lived a sinless life and died an atoning death in our place. He shed His blood for us. And He was raised from the dead on the third day and by faith in His name, repentance of sins and faith in His name, all our sins can be forgiven. So let me just ask, are you a Christian? Are you born again? Now is the time, today is a day of salvation, trust in Him.

Evaluate how you have been building your life

Secondly, if you are a Christian, same thing, evaluate your life. Evaluate what you're doing. How are you investing your life? How are you investing your time? What are you spending your time on? What are you spending your money on? What are you spending your strength on? Is it gold or silver or costly stones? Or is it wood, hay, or straw? And the image of gold, silver, costly stones, if you could rearrange silver, gold, costly stones, that's the ascending order of worth and value. So it's almost like good, better, best. I just want to invest my life on the best things that I can do. And that's a challenge, because the flesh fights that all the time. But evaluate, what are you spending your life on?

And if you want to have more gold, silver, costly stones, then I would urge you to saturate your mind and your heart, every day in the Word of God. Strengthen your faith. It will take the gauze, the hazy vision that Satan puts in our minds and you'll realize the significance of today. And then you'll say, "Secondly, God you have ordained some good works for me to walk in today. Help me walk in them, by the power of the Holy Spirit." And then look at your life big picture, what is the big project of your life for Christ? Do you have one, do you have a spiritual gift ministry? Do you have a calling in life? Everyone needs one. I'm in vocational ministry. Most of you won't be. But you should all have a definable spiritual gift ministry that you're doing a lot. Is that going on in your life? So close with me in prayer.

Father we thank you for the time we've had to look at this. I pray as we analyze it and think about it more next week, that you would help us to be as rich as possible in good works. Help us to be as rich as possible in things of eternal consequence. Help us to be strong in the spirit and make the most of every moment, to redeem the time because the days are evil, and Satan is working against, and our flesh is so weak. Help us O God be strong. Thank you for your grace, that first and foremost, you've delivered us from hell. And secondly, O Lord, you have delivered us from wasting our time, wasting our lives. So God give us grace to see the day properly and make the most of it in Jesus name, amen.