00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
All right, a long reading, but it is what we have this evening, Genesis chapter 41. This is getting up into the story of Joseph and Pharaoh when Pharaoh has his dreams and Joseph becomes the interpreter. So Genesis 41, it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed. Behold, he stood by the river. Behold, there came up out of the river seven well-favored kine and fat-fleshed, and they fed in a meadow. Behold, seven other kine, or cattle, came up after them out of the river, ill-favored and lean-fleshed, and stood by the others upon the brink of the river. And the ill-favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well-favored and fat ones, so Pharaoh awoke. And he slept and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good. And behold, seven thin ears, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. It came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof. And Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and he put me inward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the chief baker. And we dreamed a dream, and one night, I and he, we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream did he interpret. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was, me he restored unto mine office, and him, the other dreamer, he hanged. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, and changed his raiment, his clothing, and came in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it. I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it. And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me, but it is in God, who shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river, and behold, there came up out of the river seven kind, fat-fleshed and well-favored, And they fed in a meadow. Behold, seven other kind came up after them poor and very ill-favored and lean flesh, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness. And the lean and the ill-favored kind did eat up the first seven fat kind. And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them. But they were still ill-favored as at the beginning. So I awoke, and I saw in my dream again, and behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good. And behold, seven ears withered thin and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them. And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told this unto the magicians, but there was none that could declare it to me. And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, the dream of Pharaoh is won. God hath showed Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good kind are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The dream is one. And the seven thin and ill-favored kind that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh. What God is about to do, he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years a great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, and there shall arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and famine shall consume the land, and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following, for it shall be very grievous. And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. It is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years, and let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land perish not through the famine. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? Pharaoh said unto Joseph, For as much as God hath showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art. Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled. Only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried before him, Bow the knee, He made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paneah, and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years, the earth brought forth by handfuls. He gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. The food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much until he left numbering, for it was without number. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath, the daughter of Potipharah, priest of On, bear unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh. For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim. For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said. And the dearth was in all lands. But in all the land of Egypt, there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph, what he saith to you, do. And the famine was over all the face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians. And the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in all lands. Amen. 1 Corinthians 3. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. or ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered. but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know ye not then that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. Amen. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Paul very often speaks with great confidence in his own labors, a great certainty. He calls himself here in 1 Corinthians 3, starting at verse 10. It says, according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder. Paul calls himself a wise and master builder. Imagine having that kind of certainty in your craft and whatever the Lord has given you to do, imagine calling yourself a wise and master builder. It's not human arrogance that Paul is exhibiting, but it is a spiritual certainty. And we could call it a spiritual certainty for he grounds it in the grace of God. It is the outworking of this grace that God has given him. He says, according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. It removes all boasting. We all ought to have and live with this certainty in our labors that are for the Lord and based on his equipping us in our lives. Paul speaks first here of the sense in which all ministers labor. The immediate context, which you can see, is based upon those who water and those who sow this seed, or those who plant. He's speaking of those who plant and those who water. And then when he gets into the judgment, which we'll get into in just a moment, he's speaking very narrowly, very specifically about ministers, those who labor in the ministry. One builds upon another, he says. And in light of that, because there is a building one upon another, you should take heed how you labor, that the one pastor should be aware that he's not going to be the pastor of that congregation forever. He may pastor them for his whole life. but there will, unless the Lord comes again, be another pastor to follow him. You should, or ministers should, take heed how they labor because of this, among many other reasons, because there was someone before them, and there will indeed be someone after them. But there is another sense that Paul speaks of this foundation, in the sense in which there is only one foundation, and that foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not that these ministers are laying another foundation, that they're teaching a new thing, kind of like what we're dealing with in Colossians in adult Sunday school. There is no foundation, there is nothing greater than Jesus Christ, or either building upon him and filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. or you're doing the greater works that Christ spoke of in the gospel, or you're doing something else. You can and are to build on that foundation, both as ministers and as Christians. But you never move beyond this basic principle. For Paul says, Jesus Christ is the whole foundation, and there is no other. That foundation which is Christ serves in the text as something of a refining fire. Maybe you notice this in the text where he speaks upon a man building upon this foundation and he builds upon it either gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. And there's a fire that comes later on and raises itself, as it were, around those things to reveal what they were. Christ himself functions as this fire. When we think of the book of Hebrews, it speaks about God being an all-consuming fire. These kinds of images should come to our mind. And it's specifically applied, I think, to the Lord Jesus in this text. Christ himself functions both as the foundation and the judgment seat upon which all labors of ministers and all labors of Christians shall be judged. And notice where he bases the point in history when this will occur. It will be the day that this happens. This is not something that happens in its fullness when we die and enter into the intermediate state, but it will happen at the last day at the resurrection when all will in some sense be able to see. Paul teaches that If ministers and Christians alike have built on the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, other precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, they will be revealed and exposed for better or for worse. And I keep saying that this applies to ministers narrowly and all Christians broadly for a specific reason. This does apply to those who are serving in the ministry, but what this teaches is nothing other than a specific application of a general truth. What is that general truth? That there is a judgment of works that even Christians will face. There's a judgment of works that even Christians will face. And there are many facets to that. But the one aspect here is how that judgment of works will reveal what our works really were. whether they were good or bad, whether they were gold or stubble or anywhere in between. It will plainly reveal how faithful a servant we were. It will reveal how we did. Paul makes this clear in verse 13. He says, every man's work, again, speaking very specifically about ministers, shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it. The nature of this judgment is revelation. It is exposure. It's purification for the purpose of manifestation. He says the fire, which is Christ, shall try, test, reveal, expose every man's work of what sort it is. Our confession teaches this actually as well in chapter 33, paragraph 1, but I'm just gonna read it to you. It says, God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father, in which day not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have ever lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. This is one place 1 Corinthians 3 teaches it, Romans 2 teaches it as well. And this is not a judgment that is meant to strike unnecessary fear in the heart of the Christian. For we don't fear facing this judgment in Christ. But what Paul is doing is encouraging us to do our works in such a way that we will be Rewarded. This is what he gets to. Whatever is revealed of a minister's life or a Christian's life in general, he says, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon. So he's not just talking about if any man is in Christ standing on the foundation. But if any man has built on that foundation, whether it be anywhere from gold all the way to stubble and anywhere in between, he shall receive a reward. But what if it's all burned up? What if it's all burned up? What happens? This minister or Christian in general, maybe you think he'd be cast into hell, right? That's not what he says. He says that he will be saved. So it teaches us that there are types of Christians. who will enter into heaven and not receive any of these above and beyond rewards. This proves, again, that we're talking about not just a judgment for ministers, but a judgment for Christians in general. And this ought to move us to a greater care in our works in all avenues of life. Because of the weakness of the flesh and because of the way that we've been trained to think about The gospel sometimes in an imbalanced sense, we shy away from these things and we think that Christians are only judged based on the works of Christ. We are judged based on that and that's our reception into heaven, that's our security. But Paul is speaking here of rewards beyond that, that those who work well building upon Christ are indeed promised. Imagine being offered a gift from God for good work and choosing not pursuing that good work because for some reason you think it's prideful to do so. In that case, you're more humble and more godly than God himself. He's using this to encourage you to do your works well. 1 Peter 5, verse 4, is a place where this is mentioned, I think. It uses some different language to talk about it, but Peter is addressing the elders in the church that he's writing to there, and he says in 1 Peter 5, 4, you elders, that he's talking to, shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. And what's that based upon? If you go back up and look in the passage, it's based upon feeding the flock, taking oversight, not by constraint, but willingly, et cetera, et cetera, being examples to the flock that there is this crown or this reward that is promised to those who serve the Lord well. And it's not just for ministers or elders, it's for all Christians. We don't have tremendous details about all of that, but we believe. and rightly so that our rewards promise for all if they do their works well. But the picture of this one who goes to heaven with no rewards is something like has been described in the past as a limping Christian. A limping Christian. They were in the Lord's providence, not willing to utilize their gifts, or they were tremendously lacking in gifts from the start, again, in the Lord's providence and His wisdom, they will still be received by Christ, but somehow in the mysterious working of God, their rewards will be lacking. In this book that I grabbed off my shelf, it's called Concerning the True Care of Souls. It's by Martin Bootser, who was a reformer, a friend of Calvin. He speaks about these weak sheep, and I think it's I mean, it's very straightforward and quite blunt, but when you read it, you know these kinds of people. You know that you've probably had seasons like this in your own life. And he says this, the identity of the weak sheep, those whose all their works are consumed because they weren't performed in the right way, as it were. He says, the weak and feeble sheep are those who Although they remain in the church, and do not fall into any of the grosser vices, and do not commit any notorious sin, are weak in faith and love and all the strengths of the Christian life. This includes those who are faint-hearted in the face of bodily attacks, those who are slow and lethargic when it comes to helping their neighbors, those who are careless of discipline, those who err in right understanding. It also includes those who are afflicted by fevers, i.e., the disorderly stirrings of evil desires and lusts. their temperature ranging erratically between hot and cold due to anger, envy, jealousy, and addiction to fleshly lusts, with the result that they become diseased and weak in their Christian lives. He says the sleek and the strong sheep, this is his language, make of it what you will, are the real Christians who are growing well and are stable in the Christian life. Again, it's very harsh and direct language, but I think we could all attest to either being in a season like that in our own lives or knowing people like that. They're weak sheep. They draw away from trials and they don't persevere in the way that they should. But in Christ's wisdom and judgment, we leave this mystery to him, they will be received nonetheless. You see this principle as well in passages like the parable of the talents. or the parable in Luke 19, verses 11 to 27, which is similar to that. But the truth that Paul bases this all upon is the fact that Christ is the only foundation. If you're standing on that foundation, you are secure. But there is an additional judgment of works that will reveal how we have built upon him. And he desires us to do so. Again, he writes this to encourage this Corinthian congregation and the Holy Spirit preserved it for us to be encouraged as well, that if any man's work abides which he has built upon Christ, he shall receive a reward. And these types of works, you know, these are the kind of things that probably no people see but God. I love the story of Spurgeon speaking of this woman who told her that she knew she had become a Christian because she started to also sweep under the rug. Nobody sees that, but her and God. And there probably was a reward laid up in heaven for that woman performing that service that only God could see. But these are the kind of things that the common Christian can do and will certainly be rewarded for and that ministers are promised a reward as well. God desires us to pursue these things and he gives us tremendous incentive for doing so. Amen. Let's pray.
Evening Sermon - I Corinthians 3:10-15
Series Epiphany 2024
Sermon ID | 12324182062851 |
Duration | 26:40 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - PM |
Bible Text | 1 Corinthians 3; Genesis 41 |
Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2025 SermonAudio.