1Corinthians 3:10-23 REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE DOING An assembly of God's people who gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is looked at in these verses as a building. A temple is not just a dwelling place but a sanctified dwelling place. As a fruitful field, the value of the work of an assembly can be seen as the bountiful harvest of Christian character and service, and is brought in to bless the saints and bring glory to God. As a building, the local assembly is seen as a planned structure raised to provide a place of safety, security, fellowship, worship, and identification for the Lord's people in a given locality. This is not the building we meet in to conduct our meetings, but it is the building we are in. The assembly is not ours; it is God's. "Ye are God's husbandry (field), ye are God's building." So, where does God dwell in a public way with His people? Is it in the church of my choice? Is it where I feel comfortable? Is it the place they do things in a way that pleases me? We don't have to pass judgment on every gathering center in a community, nor should we. Some things we leave to God. But we can and should pass judgment on where I am and my responsibility to the assembly of which I am a part.
The first and most important part of a building is the foundation. When it comes to determining the quality of a building, it is only right to start at the foundation and work our way up when we are inspecting it. The foundation is what separates us from the ground (the world), and the foundation of a scripturally gathered assembly is the Lord Jesus Christ. In His life on earth people said of Him, "Never man spake like this Man." Others said, "We never saw it on this wise." His teaching, His life, His death, and His resurrection separated Him from the world. These same things are to separate a church from the world. The solid foundation of a church is our Lord Jesus Christ. A biblical assembly does not blend in with the world but has a clearly separate identity from the world. It is our responsibility to make sure the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ is in no way compromised. His deity, His humanity, His eternal Sonship, His perfection of character, His absolute holiness, the fact that He did not sin, knew no sin, and could not sin - all these and much more is the doctrine of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. A person teaching a proper understanding of the foundational doctrine of an assembly will show evidence in his teaching that he believes these things. A poem we occasionally quote in Gospel preaching fits here.
"What think ye of Christ?" is the test That tries both the state and the scheme You cannot be right in the rest Until you think rightly of Him.
On this solid foundation, the ongoing teaching of God's truth is built to establish the Lord's people and maintain a scriptural public testimony. The imagery here is not of believers being gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble. The saints of God are "living stones" whose life and character are built on Christ, the Chief Corner Stone. In the assembly at Corinth, there were skillful, gifted teachers who were teaching the wisdom of this world. It sounds very reasonable for us to join together with every other church in a community in the interests of "Christian unity." "Just think," they say, "What an impact we would have in the city if all of us who are Christians rallied together as one. Why could we change the city government, the educational system, and the laws? We would have controlling power."
Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and other faithful teachers had established the work in Corinth on truths that cannot be manufactured by men, and cannot be destroyed by men. Each of those materials was made by God Himself in His creative power and has stood the test of time. Gold, silver, and precious stones are not seen in large quantities and are hidden from the eyes of those who will not dig for a long time to find them. There is a descending order of value, it is true, but they all come from God and are each extremely valuable to men. The teachers at Corinth were passing on to the assembly things that were temporary, ordinary, cheap, easy to get in one's backyard, and could be manufactured into something that looked good but had no lasting value. Wood, hay, and stubble are all natural products that grow quickly and can die or be destroyed in a very short time. What we build into our own lives is what we pass on to others. Lightweight inferior teachers normally use worldly wisdom, a worldly approach, and worldly words to make what they teach interesting and more palatable to those who come to hear them. It is part of their method to make their message "seeker-friendly."
Everyone who teaches God's people needs to remember there is One Listener we cannot see. When we come into His presence at the Judgment Seat of Christ, the teaching we have given to those who belong to Him will be tested by the fire of the discernment of His holiness. The quality of teaching will be examined by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is absolutely holy, uncompromising in discernment, and absolute in His purity. Our Lord Jesus Christ expects our teaching to be like that because it represents Him. It is His building we are working on now. Those things that survive the testing of righteous judgment will be rewarded by Him who is more concerned with the quality of our teaching rather than the quantity. This view of the future challenges us now to be loyal to the Lord and faithful to His Word, no matter what others say and do, and no matter how many or how few we teach.
The dwelling of God, whether it be in heaven on His throne or on earth His footstool, in the dispensational Body of the Church, or the local body of believers in an assembly, it must be holy. This is "God's temple." We dare not demean it nor count it as our own place where we can do as we want. The controlling Person of God's temple is God Himself. When we are allowed to speak for God, we should never stoop to push or teach the wisdom of the world. The crafty ways and words of the world are of no value and are not worthy of our paying any attention to them. They are what they are - self-centered people trying to fit infinite truths into a slick, smooth capsulated form to make them palatable to the listeners. Man's wisdom leads to futile attempts to lower the dignity and glory of our Lord to the extremely limited capacity of men.
Any teaching that brings glory to God will be about God. The motive will be to glorify God. It will be a spiritual blessing to the people of God. The variety of teachers in a New Testament church is to bring blessing to everyone and to meet every need. Everything we need comes from God for working, for living - even for dying. God has provided for His people now, and for us in the future. We are Christ's. That is our responsibility. We are not our own. We are not of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. We have Christian liberty, it is true, but our freedom is in Christ, and our Lord, when He was here, "did always those things that pleased the Father."
"What should I speak? Where should I go to meet the needs that are here?" These are not uncommon words from the voice of a spiritual teacher in prayer Before his God and Father, he makes appeal in the name of the Lord And then trusting the Holy Spirit to guide him, he goes deeper into God's Word.
God alone knows the need of each one whether to comfort, encourage or exhort The only way a wise teacher knows is to remember, "Who hath believed our report?" It is not just the flip of a switch, or a personal pet subject of mine This is needed to pass on to the saints, so they needed understanding will find.
The Word of God has to speak to me first, and my own spirit with truth be filled Then from clay lips can be spoken words, so controversy then can be stilled. Natural wisdom of man is basically useless; it is the wisdom of God we need The first may at first seem to be sweet, God's wisdom changes each one who pays heed.
The foundation on which we are built is solid, there is no weakness that comes from it Concern is not where we are thinking, when teaching truth on the foundation does fit The precious things that come from God are not easily seen, but the results certainly are Impact from such teaching is effective, it is controlled by the Spirit's power.
Lightweight, frivolous teaching is seen, but the lasting value is not there Worldly wisdom sounds good at the moment, but of its dangers we aren't aware The value of some things won't be known until the day it is tested Then, revealed by the One who discerns, is the worth and result we desire.
I think I will be glad to see the smoke rising from the things of the flesh It may be a surprise to learn what was taught when the saints were blest With a view to the need of the hearers, I will bend my knees and study the Word From the Source of Living Water, there will flow truth to bless the people of God.
"Father, these morning times seem to be increasingly important. I pray that this is not just an exercise of intellectual interest but a true desire to think Thy thoughts, in Thy way, from Thy Word for Thy people. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."