- The end, chapter three. And as you make your way over there, I do wanna give you a bit of a background. This passage, we're jumping in right in the middle of a long argument. And the argument that Apostle Paul is making is to the church that's divided, okay?

Apostle Paul is not only making an argument, but he's making a heartfelt appeal. This is a church that he loves. This is a church that's dear to his heart. This is a church where he probably spent the most amount of time, probably close to about two years. As you know, Apostle Paul, through his missionary journeys, there are churches that he didn't even spend three months there, but he established leaders and he would entrust them into their hands.

And Apostle Paul particularly loved this church, entrusting it to other teachers, other qualified men, checking up on it, and so on and so forth. But this church that he loved started to have division when men in their arrogance and pride started to lift up other men. And you're thinking, why in the world, if you're prideful, why would you lift up another man?

Because sometimes if you lift up a leader and you say, I'm with that guy, you're sharing the man's glory. And so what's been happening is, they've been saying, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Paul, I'm of this person, I'm of that person, and becoming prideful. And in pride, there is always division.

So this divided church, Apostle Paul is teaching them. What is this pride, what is this arrogance, what is this division? And in teaching, he's been giving metaphors. So I'm gonna read to you a lengthy passage starting from chapter three, verse one, down to verse 15, where he gives metaphors to describe why they need to grow up and change their attitude of pride and division in the church.

It says here, "And I, brethren, "could not speak to you as spiritual men, "but as to men of flesh, "as to infants in Christ. "I gave you milk to drink and not solid food, "for you were not able to receive it. "Indeed, even now you're not able, "for you are still fleshly.

"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'm of Paul, "and another says, I'm of Apollos, "are you not mere men? "What then is Apollos, and what is Paul, "servants through whom you believed, "even as the Lord gave opportunity to each?

"I planted Apollos' water, "but God was causing the growth. "So then, neither the one who plants "nor the one who waters is anything, "but God who causes 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." So he's describing to them, this jealousy and strife among you, this is fleshly, this is not of Christ, you guys are like babies, right, grow up. And he gives the example of gardening to explain why they need to grow.

Now we come to our section that we're going to be studying today, verses 10 through 15. "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 that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

"Now, if any man build on a foundation "with gold, silver, precious stones, "wood, hay, or 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 is built on it remains, "he will receive a reward.

"If any man's work is burnt up, "he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, "yet so as through fire." Let's pray for the Lord's blessing. Heavenly Father, as Apostle Paul is instructing the church, I pray, Father Lord, that we as a church would have open ears to receive.

God, truly as your children, help us to receive your word with great anticipation and eagerness to apply into our lives. God, help us to be focused, help us to be attentive. More than anything, Lord, give us the conviction through the Spirit. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Now, to introduce this passage a little bit more, this is a passage that we've been studying in First Corinthians in our Thursday Bible study, and this is the next passage we've come across.

How many of you guys have been keeping an eye on the real estate market? It's crazy right now. If any of you guys are at all looking at the real estate market, it's going nuts. People are buying homes, prices are inflating like crazy, and all this kind of stuff.

Well, for me, I don't know if you guys knew, but I actually had a real estate license when I was younger. So I always kind of keep a tab on it 'cause I'm really interested. I also like home improvement and this whole do-it-yourself stuff. And there is this TV show that I watched a few episodes called Flip or Flop, okay?

So some of you guys have seen it. It's entertaining, it's super entertaining, but all the people are doing is, there's this couple, young couple, with a little baby daughter. They're real estate agents. But they go and buy these beat up homes, these distressed homes or homes that are now owned by the banks or whatever.

And they'll put it down, and then what their plan is, is we're gonna fix this thing, we're gonna flip it, and we're gonna make a profit. So it's pretty exciting because all of a sudden, they go in there and they're like, ooh, we're gonna put granite countertops. And it's pretty hilarious 'cause the wife, they're not even gonna live in there.

She's like, no, I want quartz. I want this kind of cabinet. She's like, no, we have to go big. And it's pretty funny, so that's all entertaining. And it's entertaining too because once they fix it up, it's that wow factor. The buyers come in, they're like, wow, big kitchen.

And people are into that stuff. But the other appeal of the TV show is because there's the risk, so here's the conflict. The risk is, you buy a home and you're like, awesome. This thing has so much square footage. They buy it and it's like, it's not permitted. You gotta break it down.

Like, what? They'll buy a home and all of a sudden there's mold and mold problems are crazy. They'll buy a home and basically the people have ripped out stuff like appliances. They'll buy a home and anything can go wrong. So they're sitting here like, oh my God, oh my God, we just put down our life savings into this thing.

What are we gonna do? Well, I give you that example because the passages that we read masterfully according to the scriptures, the church and the building up of the church and the work that Apostle Paul and the teachers at that time are doing is described by metaphorically a construction site, a building, right?

And the thing about it is I just wanna give you the main point at the very beginning of the sermon. It's essentially the building up of the church and the construction of the church is a lot like taking a risk on the home. Sometimes there's great potential. Sometimes there's exciting things.

Sometimes it's like, wow, I can't believe we've come so far and I can't believe it looks this way and there's amazement. But isn't it the truth that sometimes there are surprises? Not only surprises but there's hidden mold, so to speak. There are problems that's been unattended to for a long time and now that they're trying to sell it, it's like, oh my goodness.

Or you make great, great investments but there's nothing really that comes out of it. So in thinking about the building in this way, Apostle Paul gives a commandment. Apostle Paul gives an exhortation. And the exhortation is simple. In building up of the church, it must be done carefully. In building up of the church, it must be done carefully.

That's his point. He says, basically, do it right. Do it according to the way God wants. Do it with precision. Do it with accuracy. Make it last. Don't do the shoddy job that a lot of homes have where the inside structure is rotten. Where the roof is leaking but you just put a little asphalt shingle on there.

It's this thin little thing and it just covers it up. A little layer of paint. Just do it carefully. But you know, there's another appeal to the TV show and there's another point that Apostle Paul makes was perhaps even more important, more crucial. Which is, with all that risk, that's a scary thing.

You put down a couple hundred thousand dollars on a home and you could end up losing it. Why take the risk? Well, see, the other appeal of the home is they make money. There's payoff. There's reward. So at the end of every episode, and it's kind of funny because you'd imagine each episode looks exactly the same.

It's like, here's this junky house. Fix it up. Sell it. Wow. And then they do, dun dun dun dun dun. The figures, right? They have a dramatic chart and they try to make it as dramatic as possible. The guy's like, we put in 200 grand in this home. We spent $50,000 renovating and $20,000 went into closing costs.

And it's like, whoa, that's a lot of money. But in two months they made 100 grand 'cause they sold it over $500,000. And it's like, $100,000 in two months? And that's why people watch. It's like, that's crazy. That's more than my one year salary. For some of you guys, more than multiple year salary.

And then for you college students, like, dang, I don't even know what time it is. Like, I'm in that much debt, you know? (audience laughing) So that's the draw, right? It's like, they made a reward in that short amount of time because they took that kind of risk and made that kind of investment.

Apostle Paul, if you didn't catch it, but in this passage, my second point, which I'm gonna give you at the beginning of the sermon, is why take the risk? Why do that amount of work? Why invest yourself that much? It's because there is great reward. So Apostle Paul says, invest carefully because there is great reward.

Invest carefully because there is great reward. So that's the two part of the lesson today. Let's begin by looking at verse 10. By looking at verse 10. Again, Apostle Paul masterfully is trying to give a metaphor of the church, trying to prescribe to us the reality of the situation.

But remember, in the back of your mind, he is rebuking something very specific here. It's the arrogant thinking of man and it's the division that's caused by it. The arrogant thinking of man and the division that's caused by it. And so let's begin here. In verse 10, he says, 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 must build on it. As we pay attention to the beginning portion of that, we just realize Apostle Paul is giving a reality description of himself. He describes himself as an individual who has been graced by God to do a work. He describes himself as an individual who is laying a foundation to a structure, and he's describing himself as an individual who is doing that, but ultimately he's going to be replaced by individuals who will build on top of the foundation that he laid, okay?

Why am I describing that? Because if you think about that whole situation then, he is not thinking of himself as the master architect that has designed, executes, and fulfills the whole plan. He sees himself as a part of God's bigger plan. Then what is he then? He's a worker on the construction crew.

And if you notice what I read in the previous passage, that is exactly the way he viewed himself. He viewed himself on equal plane with the other servants. If you look at the other part, he says in verse five, what then is Apollos and what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed even as the Lord did what?

Gave them an opportunity. God hired us. We are just instruments. Instruments on the team. Is the one who's laying the foundation that much more important than the guy who's building the structure and the guy who's building the structure that much more important than the roofer and the roofer more important than the guy who's doing the electricals and the electricals more than the finishers?

He's saying we're just one. We're like all on the same plane. So going back to this idea, these men sitting here lifting up Apollos and saying he's our teacher, he is our leader. Apostle Paul is like, what are you guys doing? Who are we but servants? Who are we but hired men?

Who are we but instruments in the hands of the Lord? Stop it. Knock it off. But as he's saying that, we realize Apostle Paul is teaching us to have a very humble perspective about himself. He understands the success of the building. He understands the strength of the building. He understands that essentially, when it comes down to it, the core of this entire project, it's not him.

What does he say in verse seven? In verse seven, this is one that has rebuked me, sobered me up, and caused me to examine myself. So then, neither the one who plants or the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. We are nothing, God is everything.

What is or what are these metaphors trying to emphasize? What is the emphatic point of giving this illustration? We're just servants. God is all. Stop this arrogant competing with each other. Stop this divisiveness over who you're following, who you're identifying with. Stop that. We are humble servants. God is everything.

So that's his humble perspective. Now, in having this humble perspective, he gives this admonition, this charge, that you must be careful how you build on it. And so, if you think about it, on one sense, you could fall off the fence. We are nothing. And so, what we do isn't significant.

Who are we? And there are a lot of people who sometimes think like that. It's like, I'm nothing, I've got nothing to provide, I've got nothing to offer, I've got nothing to contribute, why even try, kind of mentality, right? Now, against that, Apostle Paul says, no. We are all one, but we have a task given by the master.

We have a task given by the savior. And so, in as much as I have a specific role, which Apostle Paul understands, I am a foundation-laying individual. I go on my missionary journey, I convert people, and I establish the church, but he's moving on, he's laying the foundation, and then he entrusts other men to come and build on top of that, and he doesn't sit here and be like, hey, that's my foundation.

Don't you build on that. No, he understands his role, right? But in so doing, he gives the admonition, you must build carefully. You must know your task, and you must execute in the way God desires. You know, I'm gonna be giving nonstop illustrations of housing and stuff, so if that stuff bores you, I'm sorry, okay?

But do you know that in Southern California especially, because you have to build things according to code. There is earthquake code, there's code for everything. You need permits. You wanna remodel your kitchen to extend something, permit. You wanna build an outdoor patio thing with a cover over it, permit.

And if you don't, just like I mentioned before, guess what happens? You either need to pay big bucks to get somebody in there and permit that thing, or you just gotta tear it down. You do. So it's pretty crazy. It's actually really annoying for a lot of people, right?

But the fact of the matter is, you have to build carefully. Because there's danger if you don't, and people are living in it. And so Apostle Paul gives this charge to the people. Yes, he is charging the people who are teaching. Yes, he is charging the people like himself that we must build carefully.

But the fact of the matter also is that charge is for the whole church. Whatever you're contributing to the church, you must do carefully, okay? No matter how, whether it's small or big, your contribution, the amount of energy, time, service, you do, whether it's large or small, it must be done carefully.

And so he describes it in the next verse. How so? Let's take a look at verse 11. In verse 11 he says, "For no man can lay a foundation "other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Well, there we have it. First and foremost, you are allowed to just lay whatever foundation you want.

You are allowed to give the church a new vision, a new mission statement, and say, "This is what we're gonna be all about." Okay? That's the point here. Not only that, more specifically, remember, if the problem is they are elevating men, you cannot build a church upon men. Sad state of affairs for the church.

You look at recent history, you look at long history. The church has many times built itself around personalities and the authority of men. What has come of that? History will teach you. That will crumble. It will crumble. But the sad state of affairs is not only just personalities and historical figures, but the church in its history has built itself upon other shaky foundation.

For example, just morality and ethics. Maybe just Christian ethics. A lot of times I'll be driving down and on my way to my house, or to where I'm living right now, there are churches that put up big old billboards. And I find that kind of interesting in and of itself.

But there was this one church that put up a big old building that says, "Come check this out, where genuine people meet." So what's the selling point of that church? In our church, we're all about being real. We're gonna be genuine. Which I'm like, good, we should be genuine.

We shouldn't be fake. But to say the attraction of our church is that we're practicing this kind of ethic, even that, although yes, it's true, you should be genuine, that is not a sure foundation. But you know, people have wanted so eagerly to build themselves upon that kind of foundation.

And again, we can go on. Churches have built itself on history, history and tradition, culture. But the fact of the matter is, and yesterday night we had dinner for six and had a great talking about the same topic. A church, as the Bible talks about it, is the building of God, and it's supposed to be so strong that not even the gates of hell will overcome it, right?

But if you look at history, many churches have split, fallen, closed its doors. What gives? Perhaps over time, their foundation was never on Christ. Perhaps over time, they did not give attention to build carefully on the foundations of Christ. Rather, all these peripherals, rather all these weak foundations of people, of celebrities, of movements, programs.

If the churches build on that, it will fall. Just like if an individual, if a single person built themselves upon the foundation, that's not Christ. They will never stay in the church. They will never stay in church. If a person comes to church because they think, I just need to go to a biblical church, I came, found biblical teaching, and so good, I'm here.

Is that enough? If a person thinks, I just need to go to a church where my family can grow, I just need to go to a church where I can advance this, and that, is that enough of a foundation to keep you here? Absolutely not, absolutely not. Paul says, be careful how you build, how you build.

Now, as we think about this, let's take a look a little bit more into what he says. In verse 12, he describes more about how carefully we should build. And he says, now if any man builds on a foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each man's work will become evident.

Okay, each man's work will become evident. He told us just a moment ago that the foundation just can't be any kind of foundation, but the foundation must be Christ. What is he talking about with this metaphorical talk of gold and silver and hay and straw? Well, before we ask, what is that, you know?

'Cause it's good for us to find out, how does that connect to our life? Like, what would be something that I do placed in the category of gold? What would be something that I do placed in the category of straw, right? But before we ask that, we just ask, what is this general point by listing all this stuff?

Well, the point is this. There are degrees of quality. If you're gonna be building a building, you can use weak material, or you can use strong material that'll last. You can build stuff with that, you know, glued together plywood and all that sawdust stuff, where you throw water on it, it's just like, (gurgles) and it just becomes a sponge.

Or you can actually build with strong, hard wood, right? Likewise, he's saying, when you build, there's different quality of work. Now, there's a point I want to draw from that. And for me, I just thought, wow, this is very sobering and very different from how I normally think. Does it make you feel weird if I say, in the Christian faith, there are different degrees of quality of work, and that you will be examined for it?

It's a weird thing to say, but as a pastor, I give sermons. It would be strange if I gave you guys all, like, sermon surveys and be like, did you like that one? (laughs) What did you like about it, and what did you not? And did you learn, did you, you know, was I doing anything weird in my presentation in terms of the pastor, did you understand?

That might actually be good, right? But imagine not just sermon giving, but for you guys, your service at church, your attendance at church, your participation. Do you realize that there is a concept here given in which there are different degrees by which you are building the church? And I'm now making the preliminary point that in the Bible, there is a truth principle that says once you are a believer, what you do matters to such a degree, you are going to be examined for it.

How you participate, how you contribute to your local body is going to vary in degree of excellence and quality, and you are going to be held accountable for it. Have you ever thought about that? It's a little weird and awkward, actually, to think about it in first cursory view.

But think about this, for those of you who are students, you never take a class where there's absolutely no exam and no assignments, and no grade. For those of you guys who are working, if you are responsible for a project, you better be sure you're going to be giving a report.

Are you not? But for some odd reason, sometimes we just assume in the Christian faith, there isn't that same level of accountability. But Apostle Paul is giving a realistic snapshot of spiritual reality that yes, we are children of God in his house, yes, we are also priests in his temple, yes, we are also, though, instruments, workers in his church, building up this building of God.

And the quality of work to which we are building is going to be examined. That is a teaching of Scripture, and it's sobering. It's really sobering. Has God not given us commands to evangelize the lost? Has God not given us commands to preach? Has God not given us the command to serve the needy, to meet the needs of the people around us?

Hasn't he given us commands to examine every spirit? I can go on in terms of the commandments he's given for us to keep within the church. Do you know, do you realize, that there's going to be an examination of that? And we're going to be held accountable. And so he says earlier, even earlier on in verse eight, he says, "Now he who plants and he who waters is one." We're all on the same team.

We're all pursuing Christ's master plan. We're all pursuing the same goal, the same result. So we're one, right? And we've been given, essentially, equal footing to work in this church. But then look what he says, second half of verse eight, "But each one will receive his own reward "according to his own labor." That is an interesting truth.

Go to another passage, which is really important, for us, and the passage is 2 Corinthians. Oh no, my page is getting mixed up. 2 Corinthians. Oh, sorry, sorry, 1 Corinthians. I'm sorry. Sorry, my page is getting a little mixed up. Okay, we're gonna go to 1 Corinthians chapter four.

Okay. 1 Corinthians chapter four. (pages flipping) And in 1 Corinthians chapter four, starting from verse four, he says this. He says, "I am conscious of nothing against myself, "yet I am not by this acquitted. "But the one who examines me is the Lord. "Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, "but wait until the Lord comes, "who will bring forth to light the things "hidden in the darkness, "and disclose the motives of men's hearts.

"And then each man's praise will come to him "from God." What does he say? He first essentially says, "I'm gonna be examined by the Lord himself." Right? So he's gonna try his best so that his conscience is not bothered, so that he himself is not sitting there like, "Oh, shoot, I know I slacked off.

"I know I didn't do this. "I know I didn't do that right. "And maybe I might get found out." His conscience is clear, but even though his conscience is clear, he says, "I'm not acquitted." Why? "'Cause God's still gonna judge me. "He's going to examine me." Right? And please pay attention to the way I use those words, judge and examine, okay?

Right now I'm using that in way of examination, in way of test. Going back to our text, in verse 13, he says very clearly, "Each man's work will be evident, "but the fact of the matter is, "it's not going to be evident just because time passes. "It's going to be tested." He says, "For the day will show it, "because it is to be revealed by fire.

"And the fire itself will test "the quality of each man's work." Is that not sobering to you guys? I hope it is. It's not as though, here you are, just doing your thing. Going to church, participating as you can, and then time will just go on, and time will just keep going on, and at the very end, when Jesus Christ comes, then there's gonna be judgment.

That's not the picture he's giving, right? There's going to be an active examination and testing of the quality of your contribution to the church. And I want you guys to think about that. Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 10, I'll reference this for you. It says, "I, the Lord, search the heart.

"I test the mind, even to give to each man "according to his ways, "according to the results of his deeds." Okay? According to the results of his deeds. So by way of application, I'm gonna do a long, extended application here for you guys. Number one, do you first realize that, although Apostle Paul is talking about church planting, teaching, laying the foundations, he is still talking to the whole church.

Why? Because he says, "Every man," that includes every one of you, "Every man is going to stand before Christ "to give an account of what he has done." Right? So first and foremost, do you understand that even if you're not on the pulpit, even if you're not an elder, even if you're not a deacon, you contribute to the building of the church.

Right? Now I'm asked an important question. What's gold? What's silver? What's straw? What's hay? I don't know, I can't, I don't know what gold and what straw and what hay would be. But Apostle Paul describes something, and the passage I read to you in Jeremiah describes you something, that God is going to examine everything about your deeds.

Let me read to you this passage one more time. "I, the Lord, search the heart, "I test the mind, "and I give to each man according to his way, "and according to the results of his deeds." What does that mean? Every aspect of your deed on earth is going to be examined.

So, some tangible things. For me as a pastor, if I, you know, if I don't really care about my sermon, if I feel confident about my speaking ability, so I slap together something, I don't ever pray about it, and I just don't even think about what you need, I don't think, I don't care about how it comes off, and I just put it together, as long as you come up to me and say, "Thank you for the sermon, Pastor." I'm like, "Cool." I'm going to be judged, not just simply because my sermon was shoddy, but my motivation, my preparation.

You see what I'm saying? But you know, if you're a member of the church, maybe you're not serving right now, but your commitment level to participate in the life of the church is shoddy. You're not preparing. You're not really thinking about the people. So, you stiff-arm people, you don't get engaged in the people, you don't engage in the Bible study, you don't engage in the sermons, you blow it off whenever something comes up.

Guess what? That contributes to the building up of the church. It contributes because you're destroying the church. You're creating an atmosphere, a context, essentially, functionally, the church is functioning by the same parameters and the degree of devotion you have. Do you see that? So, my first point is, every single one of us, no matter to what depth, to what task we're engaged, you are all a part of building up the church.

And the fact of the matter is, this passage is teaching us that from the beginning, the motivation, to the execution, to how you do it, it's all going to be examined. It's all going to be examined. So, Apostle Paul says, "Be careful." Be careful how you do it. Be careful how you build.

Give careful attention. Are you doing it according to the way God desires? Are you doing it according to the way God has planned for you in the scriptures? You know, I just want to, you know, for us to have an application that's transforming the way we think. There is something that's been said frequently in recent times that has been bothering me a little bit.

And it's grounded in the right thing, but I think executed poorly. Which is this phrase. Some people have said, nothing you can do can make God love you more, and likewise, nothing you can do can make God love you less. Right? Nothing you can do will make God more pleased in you, and nothing you can do can make him less pleased with you.

Positionally, it's true. In the gospel, that's true. There's literally nothing that you did that has effectuated something in God to save you and love you and pour out his grace to you. Right? Positionally, that's not true. But the reason why I say I'm bothered by it, 'cause I'm thinking about it, and practically speaking, for your life as a Christian, it's kind of useless.

Because it leads you to think that your actions don't matter as it relates to your relationship with God. This passage, is that what it teaches? Absolutely not. Let me make this case to you. If you are a genuine convert, you've been genuinely reconciled with God, and you are truly a child of the Lord, if you've really received the grace of the Lord in your life, guess what?

Now, everything you do matters infinitely more. Right? Now, every action, every thought, every word, all of a sudden, matters incredibly more. Isn't that what Christ said? Even careless words are held accountable for. And especially now that you're a believer, now that you have the spirit, it matters even that much more.

So practically speaking, again, for every single person in the church, you are contributing to the life of the body. You are building the building upon top of the foundation of the teaching of the apostles. Take care to which how you build. Give careful attention to how you walk in here, how you participate, how you engage with your brothers and sisters.

Take care to how you speak. Are you speaking as to the words of God? Take care to how you counsel. Take care of how you minister to people. Take care how you build this church, particularly here at Berean. You need to take care. You know, there's another thing I wanna challenge us with.

By way of application of this whole challenge to take care, there is a temptation for everybody, and I'll confess, for me too, to settle for what is less than best. Okay? There are appropriate things in life for which you should settle, okay? Some people never wanna settle on their grades.

Some people never wanna settle on the car that they dreamed of. Some people never wanna settle on a, you know, a lady friend. (laughs) There are certain things where it's only appropriate to a certain degree in which you should settle, okay? Obviously, there are things which you never settle, but there is always a temptation to settle.

There is. Even when you have great intentions. You know, I came into ministry with this huge intention to build up the church and preach the Bible, and I wanted to be gung-ho, and I really wanted to. So when I graduated seminary, you know, I was thinking, yeah, maybe I'll just go apply to different positions.

Maybe I'll take another pastoral position, and where some opportunities open, you know? And at the time, I just wasn't in a situation where I could be plugged into Berean. But I just sat there thinking, like, wait a minute, what do I wanna accomplish, okay? What do I wanna accomplish?

And I knew I wanted to accomplish exactly what our vision statement said. I wanna build up a church that honors God. We might not, like, you know, full confidence be there, but we're just, our trajectory and our goal is that. Honoring God first. I wanna devote myself to building a church that's gonna be centered on the word of God, teaching and applying appropriately, accurately, precisely what the Bible said, right?

I wanted to accomplish exactly what the vision statement of the church said. So I just decided, I don't need to go to another church. I'm just gonna work and serve here. So that's what I did. I got a job, and I just served, right? Now, I don't say that to say, like, ha ha, like, you know, I did a great job, you know, like that kind of thing.

I say that because I started with great intentions, but as you live your life, you guys all know, you might start off at the beginning of the course, like, I'm gonna study ahead. I'm not gonna slack, and I'm not gonna cram. Eighth week, it's like, oh my God! I gotta pull all-nighters.

There's always a temptation to either slack or settle for less than best, and it happens even in ministry, where difficulty comes along, and here are the tests. All of a sudden, you have a difficult member. They're not committing to the membership covenant. They're not committed to your vision. You can deal with it and deal with all the ramifications.

They can hate you. They can hate the church. They can leave. They can badmouth, all this stuff, or quick fix. It's okay, just be a member. It's fine, just come on in, and then keep the numbers. Everything looks fine. You know what that's like? That's like having mold and just painting right over it.

There's a temptation to do that, though. There is. Either because you're impatient, and you don't wanna deal with the long process of dealing with that, either because you're just lazy, either because there's too much invested for yourself, there's too much sacrifice to be made, it's too difficult, you just don't know how.

There's so many reasons to settle. And I confess this, 'cause I see it sometimes. I'm aware there is a temptation to settle for less than best, but it can't be done that way. It can't. I wanna give you an example. My wife and I, again, we like doing handiwork stuff.

The teachers and a bunch of people wanted to paint the elementary room over here. Now, if you think about painting, it's an easy thing. Here's a bucket of paint. Here's the wall. Doosh, like that's all you need to do, right? But if you've ever looked into what it requires to do a professional, legitimate job of painting, it's really, really difficult.

Here's a wall, right? You gotta make sure all the little holes are plugged. So there's spackle, you have to sand that, too. You gotta make sure if there's bad creases, you gotta make sure there's unevenness, you gotta sand that all out. So that could actually take a full day, because you not only have to spackle the thing, you have to let it dry, you have to sand it, you have to make sure it's clean.

You wipe it down. If there's any mold, you have to make sure it's whatever. Chipping paint, worst. If there's already paint on the wall, it chips, you're gone, right? Your work is in vain. So that's why you have to chip that all off, sand it down. Not only that, you know, if you're a noob, you just take the paint and just go up and down and up and down, you know?

Mr. Miyagi said up and down. That's not how you actually do it. Why? Because you're gonna see streaks in your paint. You're gonna have to make Vs that are moving laterally, okay? All this kind of stuff, if you're doing multiple coverages, you know you actually have to do a light sand in between so that it adheres properly.

But if you wanna do all that, and the reason why I gave this is 'cause my wife is very meticulous. She's looking at me right now, she's like, "What are you gonna say?" She's very meticulous, so she researched all that, you know? And she had this all mapped out, typical guy mentality.

Just get it done, all you have to do is just, you know? That temptation is there for the church. And that's a warning to us. The tension is there to be okay with sub-par, the temptation is there to skip steps, the temptation is there to not push for what is absolutely spiritually best for the church.

And that is a big danger. That is a big danger. I wanna challenge you guys, you know? Have you been carefully thinking about how am I affecting the culture of our church? How am I contributing to the building up, or perhaps the impeding of the build up of our church?

How am I pushing for what is spiritually best? Have you thought that way? That my decision to blow off church, that my decision to make this second importance, or not as priority, how that is a spiritual decision when you think about the spiritual reality that we are one building.

And that's what Apostle Paul is trying to convince the church. You're one building, you're God's building, and it's built up carefully upon the foundation of Christ. Let's take care to build this church, never settling for what's less than best, spiritually best for the body of Christ. That was point one.

That's a high calling, isn't it? That's a super high calling. To always be thinking, how can we intentionally think to advance? How can we do more? How can we do better? How can we honor Christ more? That kind of thinking is hard to do all the time, right? So how do you stay motivated?

How do you stay driven to do that? Apostle Paul gives us the motivation in the next verses. Let's take a look. Okay, going back to chapter three. It says here, Apostle Paul says, verse 14. I'm gonna read verse 14 and 15. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

If many man's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. He essentially says that there is an incentive. That's really interesting. For your participation, contribution, and service in building up the church, there is actually an incentive. There is a reward to be given, okay?

And it is promised. Does that strike you as something strange? Just as earlier, it struck me strange that we would be judged for our work, likewise, it struck me strange that we would be rewarded for our work. Why? Because, doesn't that mean I'm selfish? If I'm doing this because I think there's a kickback later, doesn't that just make me selfish?

Doesn't that make me literally, in a bad sense, a tool, hired hand, in the negative sense of the word? Hmm, we have to think through that. What does the Bible say? To me, it's just absolutely clear that the Bible teaches we will receive a reward for what we do in this life.

If you go over to 2 Corinthians chapter five, 2 Corinthians chapter five. (pages turning) Apostle Paul, starting from, I'm gonna read from verse nine. Okay. Okay, so 2 Corinthians chapter five, verse nine. These are some really important verses. He says, "Therefore, we also have as our ambition, "whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him." Now, what he's saying is, I have this pure ambition.

Ambition is just that, ambition. He has a drive, he has a desire, he has a want in his heart. And his want is, I'm gonna please God. Sometimes, for a lot of people, that's gonna sound strange. It's like, whoa, I thought we couldn't do anything to please God more.

I don't think that's well biblically termed. In our practical living, as a child of God, we can please the Lord. Just like we can also frustrate the Spirit. We can grieve the Spirit. When Christians start acting carnally, the Lord is not the same way, always pleased with that. So here he says, "I have this ambition to please the Lord." Now, check this next verse out.

It says, "For," and you could almost translate that, "Because." "Because we must all appear before the judgment seat "of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed "for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, "whether good or bad." He's talking about Christians. He's talking about meeting the Lord.

Is this the ultimate judgment, where you go to heaven and hell? No, it is not. This is what theologically we would call the Bema Seat of Christ. The Bema Seat of Christ, B-E-M-A, okay? Now, that term in itself is not necessarily like the craziest example, but it's essentially a platform for Christ to judge, not in the punitive way, with wrath, but judged in the testing and examining way to reward the Christian.

So, Apostle Paul says, "I have this desire "to seek the reward, and that is actually "my main motivation." Think about that for a second. Apostle Paul's motivation is the reward that is with Christ. Is that something that we've done? I think because we were confused, I was confused. I would feel selfish.

I would feel guilty of something wrong if I said, "I'm seeking a reward, "so that's why I do this," you know? Isn't it more godly to be like, "I'm doing this because I already received my reward." Yes, that's true, too, but this is also biblical. Does that make sense?

We function both. We have already received, we have yet to receive, and that all motivates me. Apostle Paul makes it very clear, though. He is seeking the reward of his Savior. That all makes sense, because to tell you honestly, it's something entirely different to seek the reward of your Savior, which is right, than to seek the reward of your brothers and saints.

To seek the reward of your master in heaven as opposed to your friends and your buddies, that's two different things. In one arena, it is completely appropriate. Not only appropriate, it's good. For a man to seek kickback reward, whatever benefit from a random woman, that's just creepy. If a man, a husband, receives the rewards, the benefits of his wife, that is in the parameters of what is God-ordained.

So the main question really is, it's not blanket statement wrong to seek a reward. It's just, who are you seeking that reward from? Apostle Paul says, "I seek the reward of my Savior." Go to Revelations chapter 22. It's a profound verse. Revelation chapter two is the end of the Bible.

It's the last chapter in the Bible. Jesus Christ is taught through this whole book of Revelations, you gotta be sober, you gotta be alert, you gotta make sure you're a pence, you gotta be ready, right? Ready for the coming of Christ. But what's really interesting, that is in verse 12, in verse 12 of the book of Revelations, he says this, "Behold, I am coming quickly." So you might think he's gonna say, "So you better shape up." But you know what he says?

He says, "And my reward is with me, "to render to every man according to what he has done." Christ is gonna come with rewards. And that is a center for the Christian. You guys, you know what the beautiful message of the cross is? It's true, the wrath of God and the judgment of God in its punitive sense is done, complete, finished, and there's nothing left for the Christian to receive in terms of wrath.

That's just amazing. You know what that means? We can only go up. Apostle Paul feels no sense of this danger of receiving the wrathful hand of God. No, what he anticipates now is the reward for his faithfulness. He wants to please his master. Think about that for a moment.

For the Christian, we're not sitting here looking for judgment, thinking, "Which way am I gonna go, heaven or hell?" We can only go up. Who can promise you something like that? Who can say that to you? Your boss is never gonna tell you, "Oh, you can only go up from here." No, you can get fired, all right?

Not your professor, not your boss, nobody in life can promise that but God. And so God says, "There is an incentive. "I have reward for you. "In your labor, seek this, "and build carefully the church of the Lord." So, in practical application, you do realize Apostle Paul, in this type of motivation, it all makes sense.

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