1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh. As to infants in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food or meat, for you were not able yet to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not able, for you are still carnal. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos. Are you not mere men? What then is Apollos, and what is Paul? Servants to whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who is causing the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident. For the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Father, we thank You for this Word. We thank You that You fill our hearts with Your truth. with Your wisdom. We thank You for the power that is in Your Word. And we ask, Lord, that You would empower Your Word to us this night. In Christ's name, Amen. Well, 1st Corinthians was a letter, we remember, written by the apostle Paul to an assembly of people to whom he had preached the gospel maybe five years earlier. who had responded in faith. Now these were believers. He treats them. He speaks to them as believers. He calls them brethren. But in the first chapter, verses 10 through 17, he had to admonish them against division in the new church. Now division is a plague on any church. And if they were Christians, they should have regarded themselves as followers of Jesus Christ, not as followers of Paul or Peter or of Apollos. Christ is not divided. And none of those men, Paul or Peter or Apollos, had died for them on the cross. Now beginning in verse 18 of chapter 1, Paul began this really rich discussion of the power of God in the gospel. What he called the Word of the Cross. And he contrasted the power of the Word of the Cross with the impotence of the wisdom of man. The wisdom of the fallen world. And Paul showed over these first two chapters that while natural man can accomplish great things in the natural world, he cannot, through human wisdom or human reason, come to the knowledge and understanding of divine truth. By human wisdom, he cannot obtain the knowledge of the only way of salvation from his sins and from eternal misery. All men, remember, are born in sin. I mean, this is the context of the entire Bible. All men are born in sin. The result of Adam's sin. In Adam, all sinned. And God had said to Adam, if you eat of this tree, you will surely die. And Adam ate of that tree, refusing to submit to God. And he died spiritually that day. And one day he would die physically. And so will all of us. To die spiritually is to be separated from God. And this is the state in which everyone comes into this world. Every man comes into the fallen world destined to die a bodily death and spiritually dead. We don't recognize it. We look at the cute baby and say, isn't that wonderful? But that baby is destined for death. The baby's under a death sentence. And that baby is born, comes into this world, separated from God, spiritually dead. And because of that, no man can understand by his human faculties divine truth. No man can be made spiritually alive apart from a sovereign work of God. That's what's so important that Paul has shown us here. And as a result of Adam's sin, and I looked at this and counted up seven things here that Paul has already kind of reminded us of. As a result of Adam's sin, the mind of every man, his thinking process is significantly damaged. And the natural man who's not been born of the Spirit is still under the dominion of sin. He's still under condemnation. His spirit is dead. He's in desperate need of a Savior and he doesn't know it. But by his own wisdom, intellect, and reason, he cannot arrive at divine saving truth. He's without the ability to receive and believe the gospel. Why? Because he doesn't have the organ that's necessary to receive this truth, a living spirit. He can't reach into the spiritual realm because his spirit is dead. And so, what did Paul say in the first couple of chapters? The gospel is foolishness to him. That's why people don't believe they can't understand it. It's foolishness to them. In order to know and hear and believe the gospel, a sinner's dead spirit has to be made alive. He has to be born again if he's to see the kingdom of God. Jesus also said this. But no man has the power in himself to make himself spiritually alive. So, when a man is born again, his spirit is made alive, he can know and hear and believe. the gospel, the things of the Spirit of God. The Word of the Cross is no longer foolishness to him. He's a new creature, and he's been equipped by God to see things rightly. So God uses, because of this Paul has shown us, what seems a foolish and weak thing. The good news of the atoning death of this man, Jesus of Nazareth, to save sinners. That's how He does it. First Jesus went to the cross and accomplished our redemption. And then God uses the truth of that to save people. This is what true wisdom is, Paul says. And it's not delivered in cleverness of speech, he says. No, it's the very truth. Christ died for your sins. That's the means of salvation. So in chapter 1, the last five verses, Paul showed us that the distinction between God's ways and the ways of the fallen world is illustrated by the kind of people he called. Remember this? God does not choose based on worldly greatness. He doesn't call the wisest, strongest, most talented, or most noble of the world. For the most part, he's chosen those who, from the viewpoint of the fallen world, are of nothing, are unworthy of any honor. He calls to himself those thought insignificant in the fallen world. He's chosen the foolish and weak things of the world, Paul says, to shame the wise of this world. Chapter 2, Paul turned to recall when he was first in Corinth, when he brought the gospel to the people in Corinth. And He said, I didn't come and bring it to you in some clever trappings. I didn't come with some cleverness of speech. I didn't have any great style. I just gave you the Word of God. The crucifixion of Christ and what it means. Made no attempt to captivate His hearers with oratory or eloquence or logic. And that being the case, and He wants us to understand this. that a response in faith by anyone is a demonstration of the power of God. It's not a demonstration of our own goodness, our own righteousness, our own brilliance. It's a demonstration of the power of the Spirit of God. Reason why the gospel is not held in high esteem in this world is because it's a mystery. It's a hidden wisdom. It's hidden. It's been hidden from the ages past. It's beyond the understanding of even the greatest human intellect. It was predestined by God, this whole thing. before the ages, planned in the mind of God before time began. And why? To our glory. To our coming into this blessed state in which we can see Christ as He is and will be made like Him for unbelievers. All of this remains hidden. 2.9 Paul reminds us that by our senses, eyes and ears, Or by our understanding, we cannot know of the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. And he referred back to an Old Testament passage. And then in verse 10, he lays it out for us. To us, God has revealed these things by His Spirit. By His Spirit. Verse 14, Paul clearly states why The man who's not been born again of the Spirit cannot understand and believe the gospel. The reason why the gospel, the great news of forgiveness and eternal life and glory is foolishness to him. Look at verse 14. A natural man does not accept, does not receive. Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually appraised." Now Paul is telling them these things because here they are having to receive this gift of the Spirit, having been made spiritually alive. And they are behaving as though they had not been born again. They're behaving as natural men who can't receive the Spirit of God. So Paul begins this next section here in chapter 3, recalling his experience and what he saw in them when he first came to them. And he begins with the word brethren. He's got some rebuking to do here. And so he softens that. And many preachers will do this. They'll get, you hear the word brethren, there's probably something coming very shortly that may be hard to listen to. Brethren softens this rebuke. But he has to make this rebuke. And he has to make it in love. The conduct of the Corinthians showed they had not progressed in the faith as they should have. They were still infants, babes in Christ. They were in Christ, but they hadn't grown. He says that in the first days of his mission, he couldn't speak to them as though they were mature Christians because they weren't yet mature Christians. Couldn't speak to them even as spiritual men in the early days. But in the very beginning, for anyone, spiritual maturity is not yet possible. It takes time to grow. And in the early days of their conversion, as with anyone, you don't immediately become a totally holy spiritual man the day you are born again. It could happen, and in some cases it may, but for the most part, there's a period of growth. And so when they were first converted, when they first believed, they were still worldly. And he uses the word fleshy there, without the second L. They were mere infants in Christ. Now that's not, again, that's not unexpected in new converts. Maturity comes from growth and development. It takes time. Beginners in the faith are rarely mature Christians. Now notice the way Paul says this in verse 1. I couldn't speak to you as spiritual men, but as to carnal men. Babes in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food or meat, for you were not yet able to receive it. The Corinthians, in other words, were beginners in those early days. And as such, they couldn't be treated as mature, spiritually-minded people, but as people still fleshy in their way of thinking and acting, just like the natural man. They weren't yet a spiritual man able to, as 2.15 tells us, to rightly judge all things. Doesn't come on day one very often. And Paul doesn't fault them for this. This early condition, we're all spiritual infants at first. So He didn't push them beyond their capacity, He says, when He was first there. He gave them basic teaching that was suited to their state. And all pastors, by the way, and preachers have to learn this, to do this. And it can be very difficult when you have a room that is filled with people at all different levels. And you've heard me say, we're all somewhere on a slightly different scale. Nobody is on the same identical step on their growth. But by now, he's saying, now this is five years later that he's writing this letter. There should have been more signs of growth. They should have progressed to meat, to solid food. Why hadn't they? Well, he says, you are still fleshly. You're still carnal. Christians must grow and mature both in their understanding of Christian doctrine and in the way that we relate to and live with one another. We should become more loving, more compassionate to one another as time goes on. And it's the latter that's Paul's focus here, his main focus here. It's both, but perhaps the primary motivation for this whole letter was that they had not grown in that respect of how they were treating one another as they should have. Even now you're not able, for you are still fleshly carnal. Now we've got a a language issue here that we're going to talk about. Because you see, in the King James, I think he uses carnal both times. In the New American Standard, he uses, you are of the flesh in the first verse. And he uses fleshly here in the third verse. There's a difference between the two. The first one, of the flesh, what he was talking about in the first verse, has to do with the state of the natural man. But if you are still fleshly, he's saying here, you're not the natural man anymore, but you are behaving like him. You're behaving like one who hasn't been born again. And why is that a problem? The problem is this. Their worldliness was a hindrance and it caused him to adjust the way he would preach to them. They weren't ready to receive. If they were going to be jealous and envious and quarreling with one another, he wasn't going to be able to move on to the deeper things of the Christian doctrine. They were altogether carnal, still, though they had been, in his estimation, born again. So He speaks to them as people who had been born again of the Spirit, but that had still far too much carnality in them. So that the flesh was prevailing over the Spirit and choked out the gospel. Now everybody can be subject to this. And everybody, as I said, when we're first converted by God, it takes time before our life changes. So Paul didn't believe they were ready to receive the deeper truths of God until they had grown out of their worldly ways. We don't think. We think our mind is here and the way we act is something else. And there's no connection. But there's a great connection between the two. And that's what he's showing us. If this is the way you're behaving, you're not ready to really grow. And the evidence of this worldliness in them was jealousy and strife among them. Since there's jealousy, envying, strife, divisions among you, are you not fleshly, carnal? Are you not walking as though you are mere men, natural men? Remember what Paul had said back in chapter 2, verse 14. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. He cannot understand them. These people had received the Spirit of God and yet were still living as though they were still the natural man. The natural man is of the flesh. He's fleshy. Can't help it. But to be fleshly, again, speaks of the born-again man who can help it but does not. He's still yielding to the flesh even though he knows better. These in Corinth were no longer of the flesh, but their conduct was fleshly. That of people who ought to obey the spiritual norm and yet chose to obey their flesh. And the evidence of this problem goes all the way back to what he was talking about in chapter 1 verse 10 through 17. For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? That was the evidence that they were carnal. These divisions. lead to jealousy. We're better than your group. Our teacher's better than your teacher. And jealousy leads to strife and to quarreling. Jealousy is that vice of the heart which loves to lower others and exalt ourself. Its natural product is quarreling, is strife. There will always be strife where there is jealousy. And in any congregation, Jealousy and strife are a mark of worldliness. Carnality infecting the congregation. A very serious matter. To be characterized by the flesh as the Corinthians were is the very opposite of what Christians should be. Look at Galatians for just a moment. Galatians 5, 19. I mean, here's the deeds of the flesh. And see if you see anything that jumps out at you that might describe the Corinthians. Galatians 5.19, the deeds of the flesh are evident. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery. These are unreborn people. Enmities. But now look. Strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions. These are deeds of the flesh. And Ephesians 2.3, he says to the Christians in Ephesus, among them We too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We were by nature, by nature, the natural man, children of wrath, even as the rest." Romans 8 is a very important chapter. And not just because of what's written in the last 10 to 12 verses. The entire chapter contains as much vital truth as probably any chapter in all of Scripture. But look at Romans 8, 5. Romans 8, 5. For those who are according to the flesh. Now this is the natural man. set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who are according to the Spirit, this is the regenerate man, the things of the Spirit. The mind set on the flesh, the natural man, is death. But the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. There's nothing more important than what you are. than whether you are still the natural man or are of the Spirit. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. It does not subject itself to the law of God. It's not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Paul can't be any clearer. The natural man not only cannot please God, he cannot understand and believe the gospel. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But look at this. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Some may see these as harsh words, Believers see these as saving words. And so in Romans 13, 14, Paul says, But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. However, that's exactly what the Corinthians did. They put on the Lord Jesus Christ and made provision for the flesh. The fact that there were these divisions, Think about this. Anytime, you know, you think about harmony in the body. The fact that there were these divisions proved that they were still fleshly. Living as though they were still carnal. Living as though they were still of the flesh. Living in the way of the natural man and not according to the Spirit. And they had been called by God out of the world. So having stated the facts, Paul then makes his point with an illustration. There'll actually be two illustrations here. Verse 5, What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. God gave the increase." Didn't they realize that Paul and Apollos were mere men? They were just servants of the one who had saved them all. They weren't the Savior. Servants, diakonoi. This is a word which originally referred to a table waiter. Came to refer to any form of lowly service. and eventually came to refer to deacons in the church. But each of these servants of God, both Apollos and Paul, did some part of the work of the ministry. But it was only by the power of God that any good result came. No preacher can make any result come. Only God can do that. All the effectiveness of the work is of God. God was causing the growth. God still is the one who causes growth. All the glory is to God. Churches become far too man-centered about these things. God is the one to whom all the glory should go. And notice though, how necessary the preaching of the Word is. And how vital the continuance of it. First, He lays the foundation here. He plants. But notice it has to continue. Another waters. This has gone on for 2,000 years. And you know what? God could do the entire work Himself. If he wanted to, if he had so chosen, he could have decreed and decided in eternity past that he would do the saving without the intervention of preachers, without the intervention of the gospel. But he chose to do it this way. In his wisdom and providence, he's chosen to use men. lowly men, fallen men whom he has renewed to life. He's chosen to use them in this work. Faith, Romans 10, 17, comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Corinthians were making more out of these men, though, than just servants of God. They were making them heads of various parties. And each party had gotten to where it was glorifying its figurehead. And that is always to the detriment of Christ and the gospel. Never elevate any preacher anywhere near Christ. Christ is the one who saved Christ's Word is what we preach. What we do here is explain, as best we possibly can, the meaning of the Word of God. But we trust the Spirit of Christ to impart its power and meaning to you. Don't set God's servants on pedestals, ever. The real work is done by God. And He will give the rewards He believes are due all people. Paul and Apollos were no more than instruments. And here they were, I am of Paul, I'm of Apollos. Paul was sickened by this. We're just instruments through whom he does his work. The attention of the Christian should have been fastened on Christ, who alone affects all spiritual blessing, and not on his instruments. And, you know, you could almost miss this. Notice the humility of Paul, who was called by Christ, to whom Christ had appeared at least six times, we see in the book of Acts and in Paul's epistles. He's the one who went and founded the congregation. He got it started. But he seeks no special honor for himself above Apollos, who came later, who had to be explained things of Christ by Aquila and Priscilla. No, they're one. And they're one in the work. To plant, to water, these belong together. No man is going to stand in a pulpit for more than a few years. And then someone else comes in. So the first man will build on the foundation of Christ. And then the next man must water and build on that. Always focused on Christ. What's accomplished by anyone or through the hands of anyone in the church, Paul says, is an undeserved gift from God. To Him be the glory. So look at verse 7. You've got to love the humility of Paul. It's stunning to me how some faiths that call themselves Christian just disregard Paul. As though his teaching and his ministry was somehow off to the side and not central to Christian doctrine. He says, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything. He's talking about himself. I am nothing but God who causes the growth. All the ministers of the gospel, all the faithful ministers of the gospel are united in one mission. And there's an interdependence between and among all ministers of the gospel. And the reward to each one will be based not on how successful it all looks, but on his faithfulness to Jesus Christ and to His Word. Because only the power of God can change a heart. Servant isn't going to be judged on results, but on his fidelity to what God has spoken. And here's what he says in verse 8 to that effect. He who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. And of course, the temptation is always to try and please men to give the appearance of greater results, greater effectiveness. But Paul says here, each will receive his own reward, not according to results, but according to his own labor. So he describes the work of those called to preach the gospel. All faithful preachers are engaged in the same work. And all who are faithful are seeking two things, the salvation of the lost and the glory of God. Now, of course, only God can determine what this reward will be. It's not for us to try and work out who is deserving of more, and we should never even think that way. Notice that the criterion here is not his success or how he compares with others, but his own labor. He's trying to get this into their heads. They're looking at these men and comparing them. Him, Apollos, Peter. His own wages here. His own reward makes it plain that there will be a difference. And the whole idea of a reward we see in Matthew chapter 19, verse 27. Here's Peter talking to our Lord on behalf of the group. He said to Jesus, We've left everything and followed You. What then will there be for us? And we looked at Peter this past Lord's Day. And we saw that he took some time to grow. What reward will there be for us? Jesus said, Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or farms for My namesake, will receive many times as much. You see? The rewards are not identical in eternity. And he will inherit, Christ says, eternal life. So here he's showing that this is the end that all ministers should have in view. Not to catch the applause of the multitude, but to please the Lord. And Paul says that's what he's done. This he does with a view of calling our attention to the judgment seat of God. We, he says, are God's fellow workers. One writer pointed out he never talks about God in terms of Him being a laborer. He speaks of God working. He never says God labors, which has really a little different connotation to it. Because laboring will make you tired. So the one writer says God works. He doesn't labor. He calls his ministers to do the work. To be fellow workers with God. He opens the door for that work. He may have another man come in and take over that work. Neither man has the power to save anyone. Only God can do that. You see who the real superintendent of this whole project of redemption is. It's not Paul. It's not Apollos. It's not me. It's not any of us. It's God. He's doing this. And He is calling people to whatever duty He deems is right to call them. God uses, though, the preaching of men. But if both Paul and Apollos preached the word of the cross faithfully, to credit Paul over Apollos or Apollos over Paul was the mark of an unspiritual man. Here's God's doing the work and you're saying, yeah, but it was Paul when he was here. That's when I really turned the corner. No, it was this guy's preaching. No, God was doing that work. But he demands faithful preaching from his ministers. Who are not called, by the way, to preach the gospel so as to gain an earthly reward or honor. Or to accumulate great earthly riches. called to preach the word of the cross and to trust in God to work in the hearts of sinners. Paul says, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. The foundation that Paul laid, he attributes not to his own labor, but look what he says, by the grace of God, I laid a foundation like a wise master builder. See, the church only exists because of the grace of God. Church exists because of God, not because of men. God uses the men. Foundation that's laid by one minister and which is built upon by the one who succeeds him must be Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He is central. Look at verses 10 and 11. But each man must be careful and must take heed how he builds on it. On this foundation. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So what exactly is being built here? It's the church of Jesus Christ. The body of Christ, as Paul sometimes calls it. It's a gathering of spiritual men. Men born again. It's a gathering of people of godly character. At least they're supposed to be. And what's the building material? The building material is sound doctrine. It's the Word of God. That's the building material. The wisdom of God. Not the wisdom of the fallen world. congregation is to be God's temple. You think He wants the wisdom of the world coming in here? The standards of the world coming in and helping to build His people? So, because the congregation is to be God's own temple and build on His Word, No man must mislead the people of God by false human wisdom. He's pulling it all together here, isn't He? He's talked about the divisions. He's talked about the wisdom of men, the wisdom of the world, and the wisdom of God, and the power of God. And now He draws the whole thing together. We can't bring that into His building, into His body. There's only one possible foundation. That foundation He had already laid in Corinth, namely Jesus Christ. And when we speak of Christ as the foundation, we're talking about His person, His eternal nature, His divinity, His supernatural incarnation, His sinless life, His atoning death, His bodily resurrection. His entire person and all His work are the foundation. And it lies fixed, it lies solid forever. That's what Matthew 7, 24 and following tells us. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. I suspect Paul found this phrase, a wise master builder, from this thought of our Lord here recorded in Matthew. Jesus says, "...and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house. And yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like what kind of man? A foolish man. who built his house on the sand. The rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. The foundation must be Christ. There's no Christianity without Christ. But that doesn't mean he's excluded from the rest of the building. No. Or from the rest of the building process. He still remains. the central focus and the central material of the building. The church is rightly built upon Christ when He alone is set before us for righteousness, for redemption, for sanctification, and for wisdom, and for life, and for glory. Everything is bound up in Jesus Christ. And for all mankind, your eternal destiny depends 100% on how you respond to Jesus Christ. And in the building of this building, if anything else is added for salvation, whether it's the wisdom of men is added in, how many are doing today? That's intolerant to not allow this sort of thing in the church. Or when some call themselves Christian but add works of men as necessary for salvation. When you do that, you drive Christ off of the foundation or at least move Him across to make room for these other things. And what happens is faulty stones are substituted in His place. He is the only source of salvation and eternal life. No works we can do can be added. That's false. and no wisdom of man can come in without contaminating the building. Because in Him alone we come to know the Father, and the Father is the source of every blessing. Now look, this is a real plague on the church today. This idea of all of these human ideas coming into the church. I happened across an article. One of the CNN commentators, a homosexual, Who said, no, people who think God doesn't approve of his lifestyle don't know God. Now think about the arrogance, the futility of that natural man who doesn't understand. Who cannot understand. Why? Because he is still of the flesh. No, we understand God. He's given us His Word. And it is unchangeable. But he wants to bring some recent ideas in. that what God says is an abomination is fine. God don't mind this. So what about building on this foundation now? Well, verses 12 through 15. If any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw... Now he's got two different groups here. Three items are of value, great value. Three are essentially worthless. If any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident, will be made manifest. When? Not now. For the day will show it. The day of Christ. The day will declare it. Because it is going to be revealed with fire. And fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. So the building on this foundation that the apostles laid. Christ being the chief cornerstone. This building will go on until the day Christ returns. That's what we're doing. We're building on this foundation. And our building material is what? It's the Word of God. It's the Word of God. Here's our building material. We don't add to it with either human wisdom or anything else. Gold, silver, and precious stones symbolize doctrine that's worthy of Christ. True fidelity to the Word of God. Wood and stubble and hay refer to doctrine that's not in accord with Scripture, with the foundation. It refers to doctrine, false doctrine, that's of human wisdom. Preached as though it had come from God. Like this man I just mentioned. Wood, hay, and stubble, or straw, are teachings and church practices that are devoid of God's wisdom and truth. He is our teacher. He saved us, He gave us His Spirit, He made us alive, and He's our teacher. The value of what each man has put into the building, the church of Christ, is not truly known to men in this life. But it will be made manifest, Paul says, on the day of judgment and glory. He says on the day. He's talking about the day of judgment and glory. And the criterion is fidelity to the Word of God. That's what we're going to be judged on. Not the apparent results seen on the earth. That is the wisdom of the world. There's 20,000 people in that church. They must be doing something right. Well, they're doing something to get people into the church. Might not be the gospel. Might be doing something right. Maybe not. Because no man can cause the growth of the church. He can only labor in it. Only God can cause the growth. And only God receives the glory. And the day is going to show the quality of each man's work, Paul says. It'll be shown. It'll be brought to light. Shown in its true character. Revealed for what it is. That's why any preacher with any sense comes into the pulpit with a good dose of fear. And the day comes, all the darkness is removed, truth is brought to light. Calvin says what's now buried in darkness must of necessity come to light. And what is now glorious in the eyes of man must face the judgment of God. He goes on, Paul's saying that the Lord's true servants cannot always be distinguished from the false. That in this age, virtues and vices are concealed by the darkness of night. But that darkness will end in God's time. And when it does, there's a test. The quality of each man's work will be tested in fire. A thing is tried or tested in fire to determine whether it's genuine. Now we've got six materials named here. Three are combustible. They burn up. And three are incombustible. Fire purifies. It doesn't burn up gold and silver and precious stones. It separates the dross from the precious metal and purifies it. But you get yourself some hay and some straw and some wood, it burns up. Burns up. It's consumed. And that represents the wisdom of the world. False teaching. So Paul says, if any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer a loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. What's he saying here? Well, if any man's work remains, he will receive a reward. What is it that remains forever? What remains forever is the Word of God and those who have taken that Word into their hearts and made it part of their being. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 7. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. And you know who loved this passage? It was Peter. 1 Peter 1.23, You've been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable. Seed, the Word of God, which lasts forever. That is through the living and enduring Word of God. And then he quotes from the passage in Isaiah that we just read. The Word of the Lord endures forever. And those who trust in it. The power of that Word has worked in men. Whether that's seen in this fallen world or not, reward is promised here to all those who are faithful in teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord. On the other hand, Paul says, those who seek to build upon Christ with wood, hay, and straw. And you know, we see so much of this in our day. People bringing unbiblical ideas to pulpits. bringing people not qualified by what Scripture teaches into pulpits. This wisdom of the world that comes in. Paul didn't understand the culture. Paul only wrote for that culture. God didn't understand how people would be as we evolved over the millennia. This stuff is in many, many buildings with crosses on them. And it's wood, and it's hay, and it's straw, and it's all going to be burned up. People are going to see their work, when it's the wisdom of men, burned up. All those considered here, though, whose work is burned up. The work's burned up, but they are among the saved. Why? Because they built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, even though they did so in error. The distinction that Paul's making here is very different from what we find almost anywhere else in Scripture. He's making a distinction here, not between the lost and the saved, but between those among the saved who've built well and those who have built poorly. Woodhay and Straw don't speak of doctrines that deny the foundation, faith in Christ. But they are human notions that are wrongly added to the gospel, which don't deny the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And so the builder who uses this wood and hay and straw, he will suffer the loss of any reward for his labor. Many proud builders who were acclaimed by men, Blensky says, and honored with great tributes, that their death will hang their heads when all their work is revealed to be nothing. The unwise builder himself shall be saved, because he stayed on the foundation. Despite his faulty teaching, he at least stayed on the foundation. Jesus Christ. And that, folks, is a manifestation of God's wonderful grace to allow a foolish builder to escape. He says, yet as through fire Yet as through fire indicates a narrow escape. It's like he's a man who the house is on fire. He flees from the burning building and all he saves is his life. It's amazing how much Paul can pack into just 15 verses. And he's done it again. What about for us? What's the application for us here? Well, his initial concern in this letter, remember, is the interrelationships of the people in the church in Corinth. That's what he's concerned about. Division, folks, again, is a deadly and destructive plague in any congregation, whatever the reason. And division is worldly. It's carnal. It's fleshly. And worldliness, fleshliness, carnality in any man will interfere with and disrupt anyone's ability to receive divine truth. You want to grow? You can't be living in a strife with people. Growth to maturity to the spiritual man. That's what Paul wanted to see in them. He wanted to see them grow. He loved them. He wanted to see them grow. And in this passage here, he admonished them to stop doing what they were doing. that was keeping them from becoming the people and the church that they'd been called to be. And you know what? That growth to maturity is what God wants to see in us. So we've got to set aside these things that hinder that growth. He wants us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Him. Lord, we thank You that You've given us Your Word. This is a Word that speaks to our hearts, Lord. We know we are imperfect men. We know that there is still carnality within each one of us. And Father, we ask that You will teach us by this Word we've looked into tonight. That we would turn from division. We would turn from any of those things that are carnal. That we would turn and seek to be the man whom You've called us to be.