1 Corinthians 3:1-17

Well, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This is where every day you and I get together. We have a little coffee. We get in the Lord's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it all the way from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon. I only have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word. Ooh, that's hot this morning.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. And we thank you for this blessing of being able to be in your word, to learn from you, to walk in your ways. God, we pray that you would bless us this morning. We pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us. We pray, Lord. that you would continue the good work you have started in us. In Jesus's name. Amen. All right. Here we go. We're at First Corinthians, Chapter three. First Corinthians, Chapter three, and we'll read the first 17 verses.
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to carnal people or sorry, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but as to carnal as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it. And even now you are still not able for you are still carnal.
For where there are divisions, for where there are envy, strife and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos?
But ministers through whom you believed, and the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one. And each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it.
But let each one take heed how he builds on it, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God? and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Well, what a wonderful passage we have for us, two different sections. We need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this, right? So A, what is this about? Well, let's go ahead and look at the first couple of verses here. So the first couple of verses, verses one through four. He's talking about divisions and carnality. This idea that, actually the subtitle on New King James here is pretty good, it's sectarianism is carnal.
It's of the flesh, it's of the world. It's not the wisdom of God. It's not according to Christ, but it's what sinful people do. It's what the world does, it's not what the Lord wants. And so he says, I can't even talk to you like mature men because you're acting like babes. I can't treat you with the maturity that you should be treated.
Because you're still dealing with the carnal things of this world the factions and the divisions that come with saying I'm of Paul and I'm of Apollos that type of of junk and so these divisions Show that they're behaving like mere men, but they weren't called to behave like mere men They were called to behave like sons of the Living God Men and women of the word people filled with God's Spirit And so he continues on in verses 5 through 17, and he talks in a couple of different examples, illustrations, ideas.
The first is the idea of a field. Paul was the one who went and he first brought the gospel to Corinth. He was the first evangelist, the first pastor, the first one to bring the good news there. And so it's like a field. He's the one who went and he planted that seed of faith. He's the one who sowed the seed.
And then later on, Apollos went and he watered it. And then later on, somebody's going to come and they're going to reap it. But who's that one who's going to reap it? But it's God who gives the increase. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
Right. Paul says, look, I'm I'm friends with Paulus. We're both in Christ. We're one. But you know who brings the increase? You know who's actually going to make you be rooted in Christ, built up in Christ, and bear much good fruit? It's God! God's going to receive the glory.
It's not about Paul. It's not about Apollos. It's about God. It's about His glory. And then he switches the imagery. A little bit, right? He calls them, for we are God's fellow workers. He's speaking here about Apollos and the other people who are ministering there. Oh, pardon me. And he says, you are God's field. And he switches the metaphor here in verse nine. He says, you are God's building. And he talks about, he's the one who came and he laid the foundation. and there was only one foundation to be laid, Jesus Christ.
And so when Paul had to leave Corinth, other ministers would come and they would build on the house, some with stone, some with gold, some with silver, others with hay, others with bricks. And what he's saying is, at the last great day, how the ministers ministered, and how we have used our lives and built our lives, it's gonna be found out. Now, this is a teaching time, so I'm just gonna say, there are people who will go to this and they'll find things like purgatory, it's not there, that's not what this is talking about. This is saying that on that last great day, All the sinful things, all the carnal things, all the things done half-heartedly or not done according to the Spirit are gonna be burned away. It's gonna be like, we're gonna be like a refined, being in a refining fire. And all that's gonna be left is what's good and pure and perfect and true. The costly stones. So he says, that's what's going to endure. That's what's going to remain. It's gonna be to God's glory. So be careful how you're building on this house.
And that's where he says in verse 16, do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you? Now, we might take this and make it individualized. but it's in the plural. If you ever get a chance, find online, I'm sure you can Google it, the y'all version. Every time where it's a second person plural, y'all, or if that was a Pittsburgh translation, it said yins. Do yins guys not know that you are the spirit of the holy God? Do y'all not know that you are the temple of the living God and the spirit of God dwells in you? Why do you have these factions that are carnal? You got one spirit and that spirit lives in your midst.
This is what Jesus promised in Matthew chapter 18 in the midst of confronting one another. You know, if your brother sins, go and confront him. If he doesn't repent, go and take two or three more witnesses. And if he still doesn't, bring it to the church. And then what does he say after that? For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
The Spirit of Christ is in the midst of his church. hasn't left us alone so he says in verse 17 if anyone defiles the temple of God God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy which temple y'all are don't mess around don't mess around with the church don't mess around with the temple of God don't mess around where the Holy Spirit lives go go remember what we had read about Ananias and Sapphira when they sinned against the Holy Spirit God doesn't play around with games with this. This is one one real reason why there's pastors and priests and stuff who have done wicked and horrible things and they should be called out for it and they should pay just penalty for it. And here it's saying God doesn't play games with his church. He loves his church. His church is holy. He set his people apart. We are a living temple. So don't treat it as common. Don't treat it as carnal. But build with costly stones, with gold, with silver. Or take your holiness seriously. So what's the best verse to summarize this? Hmm.
Well, I really like, I don't know how to underline just one or two verses. There's only a few times I don't have underlines in my Bible, but this is one of the sections I don't know how to underline to get at the agrarian theme and get at the building theme.
Let me know what would you underline. I think if you really had to press me on it, I'd probably underline verse 11 and 12. But then it gets into 13. Let me know, help me out down in the comments. What would you underline for that first portion as the best part? The second part, I'd probably underline verse four. So lastly, seek calling. What are we called to do in response to these words, right? How does this apply to our lives? Are we given over to factions? Are we given over to the carnal things of this world?
Are we given over to just being lazy about the way in which we're thinking about the church? Maybe some of you, maybe you're elders, maybe you're a pastor. Are you building with costly stones, gold and silver and precious stones? Or have we been building God's house with straw? That when persecution comes and when the last day arrives, it's just going to be burned down. How do you think about the church? Do you just follow your favorite preachers? Are you always looking to the foundation, Jesus Christ, and do you desire to hear the apostles and the prophets and to see the house built up, to see the field ready for harvest?
Let's pray. Father, we pray that we would be those who would love you That we would walk in the Spirit and not by sight. Lord, we pray that you would care for us this morning. Lord, please build your church. We pray for the end of the factions and the divisions. We pray that people would take seriously your indwelling Holy Spirit. and that Father, you might continue to build your church. In Jesus' name, Amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you rest in Jesus Christ. May you grow in your love for Him. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.