back to index2015-06-07 Build Carefully
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This passage, we're jumping in right in the middle 00:00:39.420 |
three months there, but he established leaders 00:00:43.840 |
And Apostle Paul particularly loved this church, 00:00:47.000 |
entrusting it to other teachers, other qualified men, 00:00:52.640 |
But this church that he loved started to have division 00:01:02.560 |
if you're prideful, why would you lift up another man? 00:01:11.880 |
they've been saying, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Paul, 00:01:19.000 |
So this divided church, Apostle Paul is teaching them. 00:01:55.500 |
"I gave you milk to drink and not solid food, 00:02:03.640 |
"For since there is jealousy and strife among you, 00:02:36.840 |
"Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, 00:03:08.120 |
"According to the grace of God which was given to me, 00:03:11.860 |
"I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. 00:03:15.400 |
"But each man must be careful how he builds on it, 00:03:20.040 |
"other than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 00:03:40.200 |
"If any man's work which is built on it remains, 00:03:46.240 |
"he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, 00:03:53.540 |
Heavenly Father, as Apostle Paul is instructing the church, 00:04:05.300 |
God, truly as your children, help us to receive your word 00:04:11.700 |
God, help us to be focused, help us to be attentive. 00:04:19.900 |
Now, to introduce this passage a little bit more, 00:04:26.780 |
in First Corinthians in our Thursday Bible study, 00:04:28.860 |
and this is the next passage we've come across. 00:04:31.720 |
How many of you guys have been keeping an eye 00:04:40.740 |
looking at the real estate market, it's going nuts. 00:04:43.900 |
People are buying homes, prices are inflating like crazy, 00:04:52.240 |
but I actually had a real estate license when I was younger. 00:05:02.700 |
And there is this TV show that I watched a few episodes 00:05:25.220 |
And they'll put it down, and then what their plan is, 00:05:27.540 |
is we're gonna fix this thing, we're gonna flip it, 00:05:31.260 |
So it's pretty exciting because all of a sudden, 00:05:45.900 |
And it's pretty funny, so that's all entertaining. 00:05:48.480 |
And it's entertaining too because once they fix it up, 00:05:52.560 |
The buyers come in, they're like, wow, big kitchen. 00:05:59.080 |
But the other appeal of the TV show is because 00:06:05.640 |
The risk is, you buy a home and you're like, awesome. 00:06:10.840 |
They buy it and it's like, it's not permitted. 00:06:15.280 |
They'll buy a home and all of a sudden there's mold 00:06:23.360 |
They'll buy a home and anything can go wrong. 00:06:26.060 |
So they're sitting here like, oh my God, oh my God, 00:06:27.820 |
we just put down our life savings into this thing. 00:06:41.960 |
and the work that Apostle Paul and the teachers 00:06:44.720 |
at that time are doing is described by metaphorically 00:06:52.240 |
And the thing about it is I just wanna give you 00:06:54.080 |
the main point at the very beginning of the sermon. 00:06:56.880 |
It's essentially the building up of the church 00:06:59.640 |
and the construction of the church is a lot like 00:07:08.980 |
Sometimes it's like, wow, I can't believe we've come so far 00:07:15.200 |
But isn't it the truth that sometimes there are surprises? 00:07:17.880 |
Not only surprises but there's hidden mold, so to speak. 00:07:24.280 |
for a long time and now that they're trying to sell it, 00:07:30.360 |
but there's nothing really that comes out of it. 00:07:33.460 |
So in thinking about the building in this way, 00:07:43.360 |
In building up of the church, it must be done carefully. 00:07:47.260 |
In building up of the church, it must be done carefully. 00:08:06.200 |
Don't do the shoddy job that a lot of homes have 00:08:15.240 |
It's this thin little thing and it just covers it up. 00:08:22.340 |
But you know, there's another appeal to the TV show 00:08:26.760 |
and there's another point that Apostle Paul makes 00:08:28.520 |
was perhaps even more important, more crucial. 00:08:32.140 |
Which is, with all that risk, that's a scary thing. 00:08:35.340 |
You put down a couple hundred thousand dollars on a home 00:08:41.940 |
Well, see, the other appeal of the home is they make money. 00:08:48.760 |
So at the end of every episode, and it's kind of funny 00:08:51.460 |
because you'd imagine each episode looks exactly the same. 00:09:02.600 |
They have a dramatic chart and they try to make it 00:09:06.320 |
The guy's like, we put in 200 grand in this home. 00:09:10.640 |
We spent $50,000 renovating and $20,000 went into 00:09:30.280 |
For some of you guys, more than multiple year salary. 00:09:32.880 |
And then for you college students, like, dang, 00:09:41.080 |
It's like, they made a reward in that short amount of time 00:09:48.440 |
Apostle Paul, if you didn't catch it, but in this passage, 00:09:53.080 |
at the beginning of the sermon, is why take the risk? 00:10:12.480 |
Invest carefully because there is great reward. 00:10:22.160 |
Again, Apostle Paul masterfully is trying to give 00:10:24.880 |
a metaphor of the church, trying to prescribe to us 00:10:44.520 |
In verse 10, he says, according to the grace of God 00:10:48.080 |
which was given to me, like a wise master builder, 00:10:51.080 |
I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. 00:10:55.360 |
But each man must be careful how he must build on it. 00:10:59.440 |
As we pay attention to the beginning portion of that, 00:11:23.120 |
who is doing that, but ultimately he's going to be replaced 00:11:26.280 |
by individuals who will build on top of the foundation 00:11:32.560 |
Because if you think about that whole situation then, 00:11:36.040 |
he is not thinking of himself as the master architect 00:11:40.800 |
that has designed, executes, and fulfills the whole plan. 00:11:45.040 |
He sees himself as a part of God's bigger plan. 00:11:52.600 |
And if you notice what I read in the previous passage, 00:11:59.000 |
He viewed himself on equal plane with the other servants. 00:12:04.000 |
If you look at the other part, he says in verse five, 00:12:44.440 |
and saying he's our teacher, he is our leader. 00:12:47.480 |
Apostle Paul is like, what are you guys doing? 00:12:54.340 |
Who are we but instruments in the hands of the Lord? 00:13:04.880 |
to have a very humble perspective about himself. 00:13:19.400 |
the core of this entire project, it's not him. 00:13:25.360 |
In verse seven, this is one that has rebuked me, 00:13:29.240 |
sobered me up, and caused me to examine myself. 00:13:41.080 |
What is or what are these metaphors trying to emphasize? 00:13:46.080 |
What is the emphatic point of giving this illustration? 00:13:53.720 |
Stop this arrogant competing with each other. 00:13:57.560 |
Stop this divisiveness over who you're following, 00:14:15.980 |
that you must be careful how you build on it. 00:14:31.920 |
And there are a lot of people who sometimes think like that. 00:14:33.880 |
It's like, I'm nothing, I've got nothing to provide, 00:14:36.060 |
I've got nothing to offer, I've got nothing to contribute, 00:14:44.920 |
We are all one, but we have a task given by the master. 00:14:52.320 |
And so, in as much as I have a specific role, 00:15:01.040 |
I convert people, and I establish the church, 00:15:04.340 |
but he's moving on, he's laying the foundation, 00:15:08.760 |
and build on top of that, and he doesn't sit here 00:15:22.500 |
You must know your task, and you must execute 00:15:29.100 |
You know, I'm gonna be giving nonstop illustrations 00:15:32.300 |
of housing and stuff, so if that stuff bores you, 00:15:35.100 |
But do you know that in Southern California especially, 00:15:39.080 |
because you have to build things according to code. 00:15:42.840 |
There is earthquake code, there's code for everything. 00:15:46.040 |
You wanna remodel your kitchen to extend something, permit. 00:15:54.320 |
And if you don't, just like I mentioned before, 00:15:57.680 |
You either need to pay big bucks to get somebody in there 00:15:59.920 |
and permit that thing, or you just gotta tear it down. 00:16:04.940 |
It's actually really annoying for a lot of people, right? 00:16:07.760 |
But the fact of the matter is, you have to build carefully. 00:16:15.960 |
And so Apostle Paul gives this charge to the people. 00:16:21.120 |
Yes, he is charging the people who are teaching. 00:16:28.080 |
But the fact of the matter also is that charge 00:16:39.200 |
your contribution, the amount of energy, time, service, 00:16:51.580 |
In verse 11 he says, "For no man can lay a foundation 00:16:57.720 |
"other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 00:17:04.880 |
First and foremost, you are allowed to just lay 00:17:09.920 |
You are allowed to give the church a new vision, 00:17:32.480 |
You look at recent history, you look at long history. 00:17:35.440 |
The church has many times built itself around personalities 00:17:48.580 |
But the sad state of affairs is not only just personalities 00:17:52.200 |
and historical figures, but the church in its history 00:17:55.200 |
has built itself upon other shaky foundation. 00:18:11.600 |
there are churches that put up big old billboards. 00:18:13.800 |
And I find that kind of interesting in and of itself. 00:18:18.780 |
"Come check this out, where genuine people meet." 00:18:40.240 |
even that, although yes, it's true, you should be genuine, 00:18:48.400 |
to build themselves upon that kind of foundation. 00:19:01.680 |
and had a great talking about the same topic. 00:19:09.180 |
is the building of God, and it's supposed to be so strong 00:19:12.260 |
that not even the gates of hell will overcome it, right? 00:19:18.060 |
many churches have split, fallen, closed its doors. 00:19:22.500 |
Perhaps over time, their foundation was never on Christ. 00:19:28.580 |
Perhaps over time, they did not give attention 00:19:30.580 |
to build carefully on the foundations of Christ. 00:19:49.480 |
if a single person built themselves upon the foundation, 00:20:00.880 |
If a person comes to church because they think, 00:20:04.860 |
I came, found biblical teaching, and so good, I'm here. 00:20:09.820 |
If a person thinks, I just need to go to a church 00:20:12.820 |
I just need to go to a church where I can advance this, 00:20:15.700 |
and that, is that enough of a foundation to keep you here? 00:20:23.140 |
Paul says, be careful how you build, how you build. 00:20:32.040 |
let's take a look a little bit more into what he says. 00:20:45.540 |
And he says, now if any man builds on a foundation 00:20:48.440 |
with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, 00:20:59.380 |
He told us just a moment ago that the foundation 00:21:05.900 |
What is he talking about with this metaphorical talk 00:21:31.620 |
what is this general point by listing all this stuff? 00:21:50.460 |
glued together plywood and all that sawdust stuff, 00:21:58.220 |
Or you can actually build with strong, hard wood, right? 00:22:07.880 |
Now, there's a point I want to draw from that. 00:22:12.100 |
And for me, I just thought, wow, this is very sobering 00:22:16.020 |
and very different from how I normally think. 00:22:22.020 |
in the Christian faith, there are different degrees 00:22:24.740 |
of quality of work, and that you will be examined for it? 00:22:29.080 |
It's a weird thing to say, but as a pastor, I give sermons. 00:22:37.340 |
It would be strange if I gave you guys all, like, 00:22:40.300 |
sermon surveys and be like, did you like that one? 00:22:43.740 |
What did you like about it, and what did you not? 00:22:46.980 |
was I doing anything weird in my presentation 00:22:54.180 |
But imagine not just sermon giving, but for you guys, 00:22:59.180 |
your service at church, your attendance at church, 00:23:04.940 |
Do you realize that there is a concept here given 00:23:17.380 |
that in the Bible, there is a truth principle 00:23:21.540 |
that says once you are a believer, what you do matters 00:23:24.300 |
to such a degree, you are going to be examined for it. 00:23:27.700 |
How you participate, how you contribute to your local body 00:23:33.140 |
is going to vary in degree of excellence and quality, 00:23:36.180 |
and you are going to be held accountable for it. 00:23:45.400 |
But think about this, for those of you who are students, 00:23:48.340 |
you never take a class where there's absolutely 00:23:58.700 |
you better be sure you're going to be giving a report. 00:24:03.140 |
But for some odd reason, sometimes we just assume 00:24:08.380 |
in the Christian faith, there isn't that same level 00:24:11.580 |
But Apostle Paul is giving a realistic snapshot 00:24:16.520 |
of spiritual reality that yes, we are children of God 00:24:19.940 |
in his house, yes, we are also priests in his temple, 00:24:22.780 |
yes, we are also, though, instruments, workers 00:24:26.260 |
in his church, building up this building of God. 00:24:29.940 |
And the quality of work to which we are building 00:24:35.520 |
That is a teaching of Scripture, and it's sobering. 00:24:39.620 |
Has God not given us commands to evangelize the lost? 00:24:47.260 |
Has God not given us the command to serve the needy, 00:24:53.100 |
Hasn't he given us commands to examine every spirit? 00:24:56.180 |
I can go on in terms of the commandments he's given 00:25:06.360 |
that there's going to be an examination of that? 00:25:12.260 |
And so he says earlier, even earlier on in verse eight, 00:25:16.180 |
he says, "Now he who plants and he who waters is one." 00:25:23.480 |
We're all pursuing the same goal, the same result. 00:25:28.860 |
And we've been given, essentially, equal footing 00:25:33.700 |
But then look what he says, second half of verse eight, 00:25:44.260 |
Go to another passage, which is really important, 00:26:04.980 |
Okay, we're gonna go to 1 Corinthians chapter four. 00:26:22.780 |
He says, "I am conscious of nothing against myself, 00:26:32.920 |
"Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, 00:26:52.180 |
So he's gonna try his best so that his conscience 00:26:54.260 |
is not bothered, so that he himself is not sitting there 00:27:02.540 |
His conscience is clear, but even though his conscience 00:27:12.180 |
And please pay attention to the way I use those words, 00:27:15.460 |
Right now I'm using that in way of examination, 00:27:23.740 |
he says very clearly, "Each man's work will be evident, 00:27:28.640 |
"it's not going to be evident just because time passes. 00:27:48.820 |
It's not as though, here you are, just doing your thing. 00:28:00.180 |
and at the very end, when Jesus Christ comes, 00:28:07.700 |
There's going to be an active examination and testing 00:28:12.060 |
of the quality of your contribution to the church. 00:28:36.380 |
I'm gonna do a long, extended application here for you guys. 00:28:42.980 |
although Apostle Paul is talking about church planting, 00:29:10.060 |
you contribute to the building of the church. 00:29:21.780 |
I don't know what gold and what straw and what hay would be. 00:29:30.300 |
that God is going to examine everything about your deeds. 00:29:33.100 |
Let me read to you this passage one more time. 00:29:39.100 |
"and I give to each man according to his way, 00:29:45.340 |
Every aspect of your deed on earth is going to be examined. 00:29:58.780 |
if I feel confident about my speaking ability, 00:30:04.420 |
and I just don't even think about what you need, 00:30:06.180 |
I don't think, I don't care about how it comes off, 00:30:15.020 |
not just simply because my sermon was shoddy, 00:30:21.580 |
But you know, if you're a member of the church, 00:30:41.340 |
That contributes to the building up of the church. 00:30:43.700 |
It contributes because you're destroying the church. 00:31:00.420 |
So, my first point is, every single one of us, 00:31:02.580 |
no matter to what depth, to what task we're engaged, 00:31:07.020 |
you are all a part of building up the church. 00:31:11.580 |
this passage is teaching us that from the beginning, 00:31:14.540 |
the motivation, to the execution, to how you do it, 00:31:34.580 |
Are you doing it according to the way God desires? 00:31:50.140 |
There is something that's been said frequently 00:31:52.620 |
in recent times that has been bothering me a little bit. 00:32:02.940 |
nothing you can do can make God love you more, 00:32:07.860 |
and likewise, nothing you can do can make God love you less. 00:32:13.060 |
Nothing you can do will make God more pleased in you, 00:32:17.220 |
and nothing you can do can make him less pleased with you. 00:32:30.940 |
to save you and love you and pour out his grace to you. 00:32:37.420 |
'cause I'm thinking about it, and practically speaking, 00:32:39.460 |
for your life as a Christian, it's kind of useless. 00:32:42.060 |
Because it leads you to think that your actions 00:32:46.180 |
don't matter as it relates to your relationship with God. 00:33:03.840 |
if you've really received the grace of the Lord 00:33:07.480 |
Now, everything you do matters infinitely more. 00:33:14.080 |
Now, every action, every thought, every word, 00:33:23.440 |
Even careless words are held accountable for. 00:33:27.700 |
now that you have the spirit, it matters even that much more. 00:33:35.840 |
you are contributing to the life of the body. 00:33:38.300 |
You are building the building upon top of the foundation 00:33:45.860 |
Give careful attention to how you walk in here, 00:34:06.700 |
You know, there's another thing I wanna challenge us with. 00:34:11.320 |
By way of application of this whole challenge to take care, 00:34:30.020 |
Some people never wanna settle on their grades. 00:34:35.820 |
Some people never wanna settle on a, you know, 00:34:41.760 |
There are certain things where it's only appropriate 00:34:44.080 |
to a certain degree in which you should settle, okay? 00:34:47.520 |
Obviously, there are things which you never settle, 00:34:56.620 |
You know, I came into ministry with this huge intention 00:35:03.760 |
and I wanted to be gung-ho, and I really wanted to. 00:35:10.280 |
I was thinking, yeah, maybe I'll just go apply 00:35:17.320 |
And at the time, I just wasn't in a situation 00:35:22.680 |
But I just sat there thinking, like, wait a minute, 00:35:34.560 |
We might not, like, you know, full confidence be there, 00:35:37.680 |
but we're just, our trajectory and our goal is that. 00:35:46.180 |
teaching and applying appropriately, accurately, 00:35:53.120 |
what the vision statement of the church said. 00:35:55.280 |
So I just decided, I don't need to go to another church. 00:36:08.120 |
I say that because I started with great intentions, 00:36:11.120 |
but as you live your life, you guys all know, 00:36:13.200 |
you might start off at the beginning of the course, 00:36:29.920 |
where difficulty comes along, and here are the tests. 00:36:33.960 |
All of a sudden, you have a difficult member. 00:36:35.880 |
They're not committing to the membership covenant. 00:36:39.960 |
You can deal with it and deal with all the ramifications. 00:36:46.620 |
They can badmouth, all this stuff, or quick fix. 00:36:50.720 |
It's fine, just come on in, and then keep the numbers. 00:36:54.920 |
That's like having mold and just painting right over it. 00:37:05.040 |
and you don't wanna deal with the long process 00:37:08.840 |
of dealing with that, either because you're just lazy, 00:37:11.220 |
either because there's too much invested for yourself, 00:37:20.000 |
And I confess this, 'cause I see it sometimes. 00:37:26.280 |
for less than best, but it can't be done that way. 00:37:33.500 |
My wife and I, again, we like doing handiwork stuff. 00:37:38.500 |
The teachers and a bunch of people wanted to paint 00:37:42.600 |
Now, if you think about painting, it's an easy thing. 00:37:48.480 |
Doosh, like that's all you need to do, right? 00:37:51.080 |
But if you've ever looked into what it requires 00:37:54.000 |
to do a professional, legitimate job of painting, 00:38:01.200 |
You gotta make sure all the little holes are plugged. 00:38:03.000 |
So there's spackle, you have to sand that, too. 00:38:10.360 |
because you not only have to spackle the thing, 00:38:15.940 |
If there's any mold, you have to make sure it's whatever. 00:38:19.200 |
If there's already paint on the wall, it chips, 00:38:30.460 |
you just take the paint and just go up and down 00:38:37.360 |
Because you're gonna see streaks in your paint. 00:38:39.320 |
You're gonna have to make Vs that are moving laterally, 00:38:42.540 |
All this kind of stuff, if you're doing multiple coverages, 00:38:45.880 |
you know you actually have to do a light sand in between 00:38:49.960 |
But if you wanna do all that, and the reason why I gave this 00:38:55.720 |
She's very meticulous, so she researched all that, 00:38:59.240 |
And she had this all mapped out, typical guy mentality. 00:39:02.000 |
Just get it done, all you have to do is just, you know? 00:39:11.360 |
The tension is there to be okay with sub-par, 00:39:18.800 |
for what is absolutely spiritually best for the church. 00:39:30.480 |
how am I affecting the culture of our church? 00:39:36.040 |
or perhaps the impeding of the build up of our church? 00:39:39.520 |
How am I pushing for what is spiritually best? 00:39:46.800 |
that my decision to make this second importance, 00:39:50.160 |
or not as priority, how that is a spiritual decision 00:40:03.200 |
and it's built up carefully upon the foundation of Christ. 00:40:33.480 |
That kind of thinking is hard to do all the time, right? 00:40:39.720 |
Apostle Paul gives us the motivation in the next verses. 00:40:54.020 |
If any man's work which he has built on it remains, 00:40:58.800 |
If many man's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss. 00:41:01.820 |
But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 00:41:06.500 |
He essentially says that there is an incentive. 00:41:12.620 |
For your participation, contribution, and service 00:41:16.540 |
in building up the church, there is actually an incentive. 00:41:38.180 |
If I'm doing this because I think there's a kickback later, 00:41:42.480 |
Doesn't that make me literally, in a bad sense, 00:41:45.660 |
a tool, hired hand, in the negative sense of the word? 00:41:53.660 |
To me, it's just absolutely clear that the Bible teaches 00:41:55.940 |
we will receive a reward for what we do in this life. 00:41:59.300 |
If you go over to 2 Corinthians chapter five, 00:42:05.560 |
Apostle Paul, starting from, I'm gonna read from verse nine. 00:42:15.300 |
Okay, so 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse nine. 00:42:23.900 |
He says, "Therefore, we also have as our ambition, 00:42:27.860 |
"whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him." 00:42:31.440 |
Now, what he's saying is, I have this pure ambition. 00:42:38.220 |
He has a drive, he has a desire, he has a want in his heart. 00:42:45.140 |
Sometimes, for a lot of people, that's gonna sound strange. 00:42:47.260 |
It's like, whoa, I thought we couldn't do anything 00:43:06.880 |
the Lord is not the same way, always pleased with that. 00:43:10.180 |
So here he says, "I have this ambition to please the Lord." 00:43:15.820 |
It says, "For," and you could almost translate that, 00:43:19.500 |
"Because we must all appear before the judgment seat 00:43:22.800 |
"of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed 00:43:25.100 |
"for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, 00:43:47.980 |
like the craziest example, but it's essentially 00:44:18.220 |
I think because we were confused, I was confused. 00:44:30.100 |
"I'm doing this because I already received my reward." 00:44:32.880 |
Yes, that's true, too, but this is also biblical. 00:44:39.420 |
We have already received, we have yet to receive, 00:44:49.100 |
That all makes sense, because to tell you honestly, 00:44:56.460 |
than to seek the reward of your brothers and saints. 00:45:23.540 |
that is in the parameters of what is God-ordained. 00:45:30.460 |
it's not blanket statement wrong to seek a reward. 00:45:34.660 |
It's just, who are you seeking that reward from? 00:45:37.820 |
Apostle Paul says, "I seek the reward of my Savior." 00:45:47.460 |
Revelation chapter two is the end of the Bible. 00:45:56.420 |
you gotta be alert, you gotta make sure you're a pence, 00:46:03.040 |
But what's really interesting, that is in verse 12, 00:46:06.460 |
in verse 12 of the book of Revelations, he says this, 00:46:19.020 |
"to render to every man according to what he has done." 00:46:26.580 |
You guys, you know what the beautiful message 00:46:29.100 |
It's true, the wrath of God and the judgment of God 00:46:31.820 |
in its punitive sense is done, complete, finished, 00:47:26.960 |
"and build carefully the church of the Lord."