A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF 1 CORINTHIANS
SERMON # 7
“Building
A Life That Will Last”
1 Cor.3:9-15
There is a difference between salvation and
rewards. The Lord offers to the lost, salvation, according to Ephesians 2:8-10 completely
apart from works. You don’t deserve it and you can’t earn it. To the believer
the Lord promises rewards (1 Cor 2:9). The New Testament speaks in the passage we are
going to looking at tonight (1 Cor. 3:9-15) of the judgment at which the believers will be
examined in order to determine what those rewards will be. The term that the Lord uses to
describe these rewards is crowns, in fact the Bible describes five of these crowns and how
to earn them.
First, Make Sure You
Are Building on a Solid Foundation (vv. 9-11)
“For
we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. (10)
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.
(11) For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Paul portrays the church at Corinth as a
building. Paul stresses that they should strive for quality in every aspect of
constructing their spiritual lives. He begins in verse ten with laying the foundation,
through the actual construction and ending with final inspection.
Paul says that there
is no other foundation on which one can safely build their life other than that of “Jesus
Christ” (v. 11)
“Tourist stand in wondering
admiration before some of the great buildings of the ancient world that have endured more
than a thousand years without a crack or a seam. The Pantheon at Rome stands just as it
did well over two thousand years ago. That is the secret, this would be impossible had not
its foundation been right. The Rialto Bridge that spans the Grand Canal in Venice was
built in 1588. It has stood as it now stands for over four centuries, but the bridge rest
on twelve thousand piling driven deep into the soil. What is true of buildings is also
true of life. God cannot and will not build Christian virtues into your life or fill you
with the Holy Spirit for service, until the proper foundation of receiving Christ as your
personal Lord and Savior is made!”
Not Only Are We T Make Sure We Are Building
On A Solid Foundation but..,
Secondly, Make Sure You Use the Right Materials. (v. 12)
“Now if anyone builds on this
foundation with gold, silver, precious
stones, wood, hay, straw.”
Paul tells us that there are ways to build upon the foundation that are acceptable and
ways that are unacceptable. He lists six categories of materials we may use in building
our lives; wood, hay, stubble, gold, silver, precious stones. Wood, hay and stubble are
perishable; gold, silver, precious stones are permanent. We are to build our lives on
those things which are permanent, those things which will last, not those things which
will be destroyed when we stand before the Lord.
Not Only Are We
to Make Sure We Use the Right Materials but…
Third, Make Sure Your Life Is Ready For Inspection (vv.
13-15)
“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. (14) If
anyone’s work which he has built on it
endures, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone’s work is
burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
Before we discuss the
rewards we need to avoid some confusion by clarifying between two very important, yet very
different judgments.
First, there is the “Judgment Seat of Christ” (Bema Seat
Judgment) (1 Cor. 3:13). “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.” And
in 2 Cor. 5:10 we read, “For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad.” The
Bema was a “rewards platform” in sporting contests. Because of this meaning,
some claim the “bema” is only a place for rewards—not judgment.
“It is Christians only who
are in view here. All that we have hidden shall be revealed. The things we have done in
the body will come back to us, whether good or bad. Every pious thought, and every thought
of sin; every secret prayer, and every secret curse; every unknown deed of charity, and
every hidden deed of selfishness; we will see them all again, and though we have not
remembered them for years, and perhaps have forgotten them altogether, we shall have to
acknowledge that they are our own.”
[James Denney, 1856 - www.bible.org/illus./judgement
seat of Christ ]
Secondly, there is the
judgment referred to as the “White Throne
Judgment” (Rev 20:11-15). The White Throne judgment will take place a
thousand year after the Judgment Seat of Christ. The White Throne Judgment is for the
unsaved, living and dead, where they will hear “depart from me, I never knew
you.” It is the answer to everyone who has ever said, “I just
want my good works weighted against my bad works.” No one will ever enter
heaven that way! There will be no
saved people at the white Throne Judgment and no lost people present at the Judgment Seat
of Christ.
What are
the Crowns?
1. Incorruptible Crown (1 Cor. 9:25)
“And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now
they do it to obtain a perishable crown,
but we for an imperishable crown.”
This crown is earned
through self-control.
2. The Crown of Life (James 1:12)
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he
has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those
who love Him.”
This crown is earned by faithfulness to God
in times of testing.
3. The Crown of Righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8)
“Finally, there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on
that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
We win this crown of righteousness by right
living in light of his appearing. No other single truth as more potential to produce right
living. 1 John 3:3 says, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself,
just as He is pure.”
4. The Crown of Rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19-20). This
crown is earned by winning others to faith in the Lord and therefore is sometimes called
“the soul winner’s crown.”
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord
Jesus Christ at His coming? (20) For you are our glory and joy.”
5. The Crown of Glory. Sometimes called the pastor’s crown. (1 Peter 5:4)
“and when the Chief Shepherd
appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
What
Are We Going To Do With Our Crowns?
There is a clue in Rev 4:10-11, “The twenty-four elders
fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever,
and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: (11) “You
are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And
by Your will they exist and were created.”
This verse seems to
imply that we will cast our crowns before Jesus in worship. This leads to the thought that
there may be an even more solemn moment than just standing before the judgment seat of
Christ and not receiving a crown. That is the moment that pass before the throne of Jesus
and having nothing to cast at His feet in worship!
There was a young minister who sat by the
bed of a friend who was dying. As they talked of his going to be with the Lord, tears
filled the eyes of his dying friend. The young minister thought he was afraid to die and
attempted to speak encouraging words to him. But his friend replied, "I am not afraid
to die; I am ashamed to die." He went on to say that although Christ was his Savior,
he had lived for himself, and he now had to meet the Lord empty-handed. His life was
"wood, hay, and straw."
This may seem like a tragic situation, but
it’s not all that unusual. Sadly, there are many who are destined to meet their Lord
empty-handed. Perhaps they are described in 1 John 2:28, "And now, dear children,
continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at
his coming." There are some who will be ashamed to meet the Lord, because
of so little that they did for Him while they were here. They’ll be saved, but there
will be no reward.