Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 25, 2022 | 1 Corinthians - Building a Lasting Life

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September 25, 2022 | 1 Corinthians - Building a Lasting Life · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Morning, everybody.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I have a good friend who got me this hat.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: It says, Only God can judge me.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And he got me that hat because I made fun of it a number of months ago.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: People who wear hats like this is a fashion statement.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think they're ironic, right?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because for a couple of reasons.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: One is because the guy who wore a hat like this that I went to high school with is now serving five to ten years.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so apparently a jury of his peers could judge him, right?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be one reason.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: But the other one is just that I find it so ironic that somebody would um kind of trivialize the aspect of God's judgment and make it into a fashion statement, you know, that they feel so bold about talking about God's judgment that they would wear it around so that everybody could be, you know, also made aware.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't think they're doing it for the purpose of evangelism.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's probably another purpose behind it, but nevertheless, I just always have felt that that was kind of a funny thing to do.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um this morning we're gonna be talking actually a little bit about God's judgment and what it means to view it with a sense of, I'm gonna call a healthy anticipation.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be our goal this morning, is that we use Paul's text in 1 Corinthians to look forward to the judgment of God and some particulars about it in a way that can help us live our lives in a fashion that is glorifying to our Lord.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So when we talk about 1 Corinthians, right, if you've been with us, I'm gonna kind of skip some of the things we've talked about, but just briefly, right, we're in 1 Corinthians 3, and Paul has been up to this point, he has sort of been admonishing the church because they have been doing the exact thing that they should not be doing, right?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: They are supposed to be seen as unifying under the gospel so that they can stand against the culture that surrounds them.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And instead, they have sort of begun to divide amongst themselves.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't been showing unity to the world around them, they have been sowing division because, and primarily, they've been lifting up human leaders, um, people that they are valuing because of, we find out, human wisdom, or things that they shouldn't be valuing them for, and idolizing them for, excuse me.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And they're doing this, and it's drawing the church apart, it's creating these factions within the house churches.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul, a couple of different times, has given arguments for why they should not be doing that.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Last week, it was because they have the Holy Spirit within them, not a spirit of the world, and so they should be able to evaluate things from God's perspective instead of man's perspective.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this morning we see that he is continuing his argument against why they should not be lifting up these human leaders.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: But now we see that there's another argument that he's bringing to the fold.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And even though the sort of the aim is to is to the church at Corinth and the way that they're living, it also affects us very sincerely here this morning.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So as we get into the text here, we begin in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5, and we see that Paul is talking to them and using some language that we're familiar with already.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Who is Apollos?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or what then is Apollos and what is Paul, right?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Paul is up, he's talking about himself and Apollos.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: These were two of the individuals that they had lifted up and were sort of fan clubbing about, right?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: They had their scarves and their big foam hands, and they're like Paul and Apollos, and so he's saying, What then is Apollos and what is Paul?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: These people you've lifted up.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I planted, Paul says, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: For we are God's co-workers, you are God's field, God's building.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Paul brings up really two main arguments here, right?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: He says, in the first hand, there in verse six, he is explaining his role as compared to Apollos' role, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's role, he planted, he founded the church, and Apollos came on later and he built up the church.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: The way that Paul is using it in this illustration of a field is that they had different roles, but notice that they are both laboring in the same field.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Each one of them has a different role, right?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we see is that Paul says, look, I had a job to do.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Both of those jobs are equal.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things that would have caused division is, well, Paul planted the church, but then Apollos came in, I mean, he really grew the church.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying, we are both laborers in the field, both of us are servants.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: The low view that he holds of himself, right?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I we need to be able to hold that view also, right?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: That we don't view ourselves as low because God views us as lowly, but rather when we compare ourselves to the majesty and the excellence and the holiness of God, there's a pretty wide gulf there.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's a big difference between us and the Lord.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so by viewing how high He is, we establish our position.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: We establish the position of Paul.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I am a servant in the field of God's purpose.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: So the two things that Paul is drawing out here is on the first hand, right, that he and Apollos, that they should not be valued and lifted up because they are simply servants.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: The other is that their role, though different, one is not superior to the other.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: That both of them are sort of playing out the job that God had for them to do.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: The primary application here, and in a second this is going to go to everybody, I guess in a way this does, but the primary application here, honestly, has to do with like me and Jim before me.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: In the sense that there is no reason that you all should look at me or Jim before me, and you should lift us up to a position that is higher than you ought.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And for some of you, it's really easy to do.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know personally, and so it's easy to not do that.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: But for some of you, you have lifted me up onto a pedestal that I should not be on.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: You have idolized me because I teach.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: You have thought something special about me because of the role that I play.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And what I want you to hear from 1 Corinthians 3 is you shouldn't be doing that.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I have a role to play, but I am also a laborer in God's field along with you.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And though our roles might look different, I have a particularly visible role, it doesn't mean my role is more important than the role that you're playing.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: It is necessary to the function of the church that the word is preached, but also it is necessary that there are many other roles.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want you to hear that.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is why, about a year ago, when Jim and I transitioned, this was the text that we preached.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: We said, both of us, that we wanted to keep the main thing the main thing, and that it didn't matter if it was Jim preaching the gospel or me preaching the gospel, but we both had the same goal, which is that we were laboring in God's field.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is why we picked that text.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it wasn't about us.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: But now you can also see, though, that this begins to extend to you, right?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says that every person has a role, and God gave them this role.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: But that they will also receive a reward according to their own labor.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's a servant.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody has a role given to them by God, and everybody will be evaluated by that role when Jesus comes.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is sort of the unifying aspect of all of this.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is that at the end of all things, when Jesus returns, and we're gonna talk about this in a second, I will be evaluated because of my role.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: I will be evaluated for how well I have done this.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I will have to give an account to God for how well I have done this.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that bears weight upon me because I have things that I need to do.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: I have things that I need to tell you, I have methods and means that I need to explain to you because I will have to give an account for how I did that.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: But you also will have to give an account for your role, that God has given to you individually.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we see here in verse 8, he says that we will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: That there's a significance tied to this judgment, that the role that we're given by God is one that has rewards or loss attached to it.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get to that later on this morning.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: But the last thing I want you to see here before we move on is most of all, who gets the credit.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Which is that no matter how successful we are, no matter the growth that happens, it should not be attributed to any one person, but rather it should be attributed to God by his grace through the Holy Spirit.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is the one that deserves all the growth.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you can just get a picture in your mind of what Paul is doing, he's like, You are giving me praise, I deflect it and direct it to God.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is what should be happening.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, then he is explaining how we should be viewing our role within this field.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're not competing, we're not lifting ourselves up, we're all working in the field together, and each one of us has a role to play.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But then Paul wants to switch illustrations here.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: At the very end of this passage, he says, You are God's field, right, that Paul was working in.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then he says that they are a building.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: How are they a building?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: According to God's grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: But each one is to be careful how he builds on it, for no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: The foundation is Jesus Christ.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So now, instead of a laborer in a field, Paul's the guy with the blueprints, right?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: God has placed him.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a title for basically, you know, the head of a construction project.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, I've laid a foundation, and that foundation, right, this is analogous to planting, but he has laid a foundation, and that foundation is Christ.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: We know from earlier, and like we've talked about this the last few weeks, specifically, it's Jesus Christ crucified.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: So Jesus Christ crucified is the foundation that Paul has laid for the whole church, and he says, My role, furthermore, instead of just being a servant, if we need another illustration, my role is kind of the guy with the blueprints and directing you and what to do.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: I laid a foundation, and then he says, this is also where he brings in Apollos, though not by name, others have come in and have built the church.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Others have come in.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't the one who was responsible for building up the entire church.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Paul moves from city to city planting.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: But Apollos came in and he built the church.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul says, but each one has to be careful how they're building upon it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because there can be a temptation, as the church in Corinth was experiencing, to not build upon the foundation of Christ, but to build upon the foundation of other things.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Things we have talked about but are worthy repeating, right?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Things about power and prestige and money and success and comfort and prosperity, these are all things that can be sort of switched out.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: You get a bait and switch in the church where somebody says, Yeah, we talk about Jesus, we promote Jesus, we live Jesus, but then you get in and everything is about how you can live a better life, how everything can be improved, how you can overcome every single trouble if you use God as this magic genie.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you have come from churches like that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I used to work at a church like that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I quit working at a church like that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: The pastor was doing some shady things with money, and he started telling me about them.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so I said, I'm not gonna work here anymore.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's a foundation that needs to be placed upon the gospel.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if any other foundation is presented, we have to be so careful because it's ultimately gonna crumble.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: It can't be something that lasts.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Once another theme that we're going to pick up on here is something that lasts.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So Paul, right, is presenting this idea.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: We must build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: We must be careful how we build, right?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is a message to the teachers as well as it is to the individuals, that they must be cautious and careful how they build.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Each one is to be careful, as he says, how he builds on it, for no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Corinthians, be careful.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: You are trying to change the foundation of the church, and it's not going to be good.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: We can summarize Paul's idea here by looking at the field and the building and what it means, right?
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Paul is the planter and the one who laid the foundation.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Apollos is the one who watered, and I put an asterisk next to construction because I think Paul is referencing Apollos here in the passage where he's saying that others build upon the foundation of Christ.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think he ref uh refrains from naming Apollos, though, because there's an indication or there's an assumption, rather, that there's a way to build upon the foundation of Christ that isn't good.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And throughout 1 Corinthians, he applauds Apollos for his ministry.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So he didn't want to associate maybe that Apollos wasn't building well upon the foundation.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless, it's easy to see his role there.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: The lesson of the field is that Paul and Apollos, they have equal labor, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: They both have roles that they are carrying out in God's kingdom.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: They will be judged for those roles.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: They aren't superior to the roles of others, but they should be seen as co-laborers.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's equal labor, and that God will bring a reward based upon how well they have carried out their role, their God-defined role.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: The other one, when it comes to the building, though, as we're going to see in a moment, is that everyone should be careful how they are building upon this foundation, because that foundation is going to undergo a stress test.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: That foundation is going to experience a judgment, and as it is an illustration for the Christian life and also for the church, that will experience judgment as well.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: But as we also turn to the individual, here's where I want you to see.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Paul isn't just talking about he and Apollos.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: What Paul is saying is that there is something in this for everybody.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Each will receive.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: But each one has to be careful.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: As you read through this text, you can see Paul's addressing, right, the church and how they're looking at these leaders.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: But every step along the way, he's like, but also you.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: But also you.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: You have to consider how each one lays a brick upon the foundation of Christ.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: But each one must consider how they are laboring in the field because God will give a reward or loss based upon these things.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So as we move into the next passage, which is the most dramatic, we have to understand right where we're at.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: That each one of us has a role to play here.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: None of us is more important than the other, but everybody has a part to play.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like if you've ever, you know, moved and you had to, if you were moving like a couch or something really huge, and you had multiple people pick up the couch, right?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: It takes like all six or eight people to move the couch.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if one person just goes, like, oh, I'm gonna check my phone here, you know, and leaves the couch, like puts a lot more weight on everybody else there.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Or you could be actually when we moved into our house, remember Zach Parrington picked up our washer single-handedly and carried it down the stairs.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a good illustration of the church, but it is a great illustration of his strength.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: So normally multiple people have to carry washers downstairs.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in that, you can picture how we all have a role to play in the church.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, as we go into verse 12 here through 15, we see that uh Paul is now answering the question: okay, what does it look like?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be judged.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: What does it look like to anticipate that judgment in a healthy way?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: The fire will test the quality of each one's work.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's work is burned up, he will experience loss.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: But he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Leave it to Paul to make sure that we understand the gravity of a situation here, right?
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can imagine being the church in Corinth and you're listening to this letter being read out loud, and you're like, okay, field, field, got it, got it, building, got it, got it.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, fire, yes.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's a level of intensity that comes with this passage, right?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, first thing, let's talk about the materials.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: He says at the beginning, if anyone builds on the foundation, we've still got our building illustration, if anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, uh you can picture a couple things here, right?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And commentators sort of disagree on where this these six items come in, because we know that, like, for instance, the temple was built with gold and silver and costly stones, and but also fine wood, um, the cedars from Lebanon and things like that, and Solomon's temple.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's a very clear division here in these litten, this list of items between things that are flammable and things that are inflammable, right?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Things that can catch on fire and things that don't.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so that wouldn't necessarily fit that we're trying to build a temple here, because then you would bring in wood or something like that.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I think really how we can look at this is just simply that Paul is giving sort of a list of basically high-quality building materials, right?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: With gold being the finest, and then we go all the way down to straw.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And especially if we bring in this idea of fire, we can see that Paul is saying that there are going to be some things that withstand the fire, and there are gonna be some things that burn up in the fire.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this image of fire, it's not one that is unfamiliar to us when we discuss God's judgment.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, when we go to 2 Peter, we see that it says, But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: On this day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because of that day, this day of judgment, the heavens will be dissolved with fire, and the elements will melt with heat.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: So Peter here, right, brings in if we were ever thought that the passage in 1 Corinthians 3 only referred to the teachers in the church, of which it does, their role will be judged by fire also.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: But Peter here is showing us that really this is something that applies to every single person.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to make sure that that rests with us.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's a primary application, but really the general rule follows for all.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: That there is going to be this time that comes when Jesus returns that will bring with it a refining fire.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: Fire has a lot of different uses in the Bible, right?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Fire means a lot of different things, but in this case, it's really talking about this purifying, refining aspect of it.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: It can also be destructive and other uses, but in this one, when Jesus returns, it is going to, as Peter says here, disclose all things.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: As Paul says in chapter 3, verse 13, it will make all things obvious.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: So this fire is going to come on.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And because it makes all things obvious, because this fire is going to go through all things, because it is going to reveal all things, even the things that are in darkness, because of that, Peter sort of just skips the reasoning argument and he's just like, it's obvious, right?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's obvious.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: He says, since all these things are be to be dissolved, it's clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like the simple fact that judgment is coming, to Peter goes almost without explanation that it should change the way that we live our lives.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now, some of you might have come from a background where the judgment of God was used sort of as a cudgel and making you change the way that you lived.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to try and disabuse us of that notion too, because that's not the purpose here.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: The purpose is not that you should be scared and terrified of when Jesus returns, and therefore you should change the way you live.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: But there is sort of a healthy anticipation of understanding what's coming in the future so that you can make the right decision.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you were somebody who plays a musical instrument, you would want to know that the recital was coming up in a certain amount of time so that you could prepare and you didn't show up not having read the sheep music at all.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a sense where we want to understand these things and a weight that comes with it.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when this fire comes, and as it reveals all things, there's also, as we reflect back on 1 Corinthians 3, something to do about the quality of what was done.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've got enough props here to be carrot top, right?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: So she paints beautiful pieces of China.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this has kind of got this gilded edge here, and she's been doing it for decades.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now everybody in the family has a piece of her china.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh she I was talking with her this week, and she describes, she says, admittedly, it's a very time-consuming hobby.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: You take the piece of china, which is bot blank, and then you apply paint and pigment to it, and then you fire it in this kiln that can get up to 1500 degrees.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are really uh wanting to make the finest piece of painted china, you put on a little bit of paint or pigment, and then you fire it, and then you repeat that process a number of times so that you can get these really, really deep colors that you can't get if you just fire it once.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: But there are other things that you can do there, and there's some stuff that you guys can't even see really.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: There are these really faint roses and beautiful details that she's attached here.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: But some there are a lot of other things, though, that you can do to mess up a piece of china.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can buy inferior paints, you can put too much oil when you mix them, you can um place the the amount of paint as too heavy of a layer, you can put it in the kiln wrongly.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a there's a lot of different things that you can do.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: But when you put it in a kiln and you've done everything right, out comes this beautiful piece of china that we'll be able to pass down for generations.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, in fact, in fact, this is kind of funny.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: We have a couple pieces of china in our home, and I had picked out one that I was gonna bring this morning, and I saw this morning that Hannah had switched it out, and she she gave me this one, and I was like, Yeah, you know, it's fine.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: And she's like, Well, the other one is the one that we got for our wedding.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so, not that this one is less important, but apparently there was a chance that I could drop it, and so we wanted to make sure that we had the one that was okay.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I I think that that is um a really great image, though, of what it means is that when she when Roberta puts the sort of painted, weird-looking piece of pottery into the kiln, before it comes out beautifully, there is a process that happens, a chemical process there, but that everything that she did and all the care that she took, it was revealed by the end product.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some people that wouldn't be able to handle the time-consuming labor of making China.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: What I want you to grasp here is that there is both a corporate, meaning not in a business sense, but like bodily sense, a wide-ranging sense, that we have to understand our role and our function within God's church, and there is an individual component as well.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: So broadly, corporately, right, we have to understand that we are all lifting this weight, this beautiful weight of the Great Commission, that we all have a role to play, I have a role to play, you have a role to play, and that we will be judged based upon how we have lived out that role, how we have contributed to God's kingdom.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: But we also have to understand, right, that amidst that corporate function is the individual, which is that every single one of you will stand before God one day and give an account for the things that you've done.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I'm really I'm not saying that in a sense of trying to bring terror, but rather that it probably does provoke some kind of reaction within you, the thought that you're going to stand before God someday.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, within our context, in 1 Corinthians, there's a different kind of judgment, too.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody on that lives and is breathing in the world right now, and everybody who has died is going to stand before God one day.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: Those who have trusted in Christ, right, they are the ones who move on to the judgment that we're talking about right now.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Those who haven't trusted in Christ, who have rejected him as their savior, who said they don't need him, right, that maybe they can get there by another God, or that they're righteous enough to live on their own, they don't experience the judgment that we're talking about.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is specifically for believers.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: This is for those who have said, By the blood of Christ I've been saved, and yet, which some of us might not even be aware, there is then a further judgment.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: We see that judgment, like I said, at the end of here, 1 Corinthians 3, verse 14, because we see there's two outcomes.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's work that he has built survives, they will receive a reward.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: But if anyone's work is burned up, they will experience loss.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Notice, though, that he himself will be saved.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we know the context, right?
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're not talking about a judgment that results in a loss of salvation, right?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody here believes in Christ.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: No matter the life that you have lived, if you trust in Jesus as your Savior, you will be forgiven of your sins.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: You are forgiven of your sins.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: There's kind of a present and future context there, but yeah, you're good to go.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, like I've been saying, we're all going to get there.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: So what does it mean to experience reward and experience loss?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, we see Paul gives us an idea of this when he speaks of his own labor and other contexts.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: In Philippians 2, verse 16, he's speaking to them.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: He's saying, if you hold firm to the word of life, then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn't run or labor for nothing.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: 1 Thessalonians 3 5.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, Paul's talking here again, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter, Satan, had tempted you, and that our labor might be for nothing.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Paul there is talking about his own labor in the day of Christ, the work that he will be judged for.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: First Corinthians 15, now he is advising our church that we're talking about on how their labor might last.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: My dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: How can we tie all these things together?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: What does reward mean?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: What does loss mean?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, reward doesn't mean that we just got some lottery ticket or a raffle prize.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's been a view of rewards in heaven that looks sort of like we just get, you know, whatever the divine version of a Maserati is once we pass on and go into the next, or sorry, that didn't uh like a Ford F-250, King Ranch, whatever.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um but the better way to look at this and the more biblically accurate way to view it is that we receive a reward, which is the assurance and confirmation and blessing of knowing that our chief goal, our chief aim, right, was that it lasted.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: That the things that we had done in this world, that the things that we had done for God's kingdom, the things that had eternal value, that they made it.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: That Paul, that I mean, as he is now with God in his presence, was able to see that the churches that he planted, the letters that he wrote that I'm talking about right now, the things that he did for God's kingdom, that they had eternal value.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: There is no great, we're gonna talk more in the podcast about the what rewards encompass, but for our purpose this morning, what I want you to see is that the reward itself is that it lasted.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: That the things that we spent our time on, that they mattered, that the stuff that we did had not only salvific value and bringing other people to Christ, but that it passed through the fire of God's judgment, and he said it was worthy to stand.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: That in and of itself, for those who know Jesus and love Jesus, is the best reward possible.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: To hear well done, good and faithful servant, what you have done has lasted.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: But in that context, what does loss mean?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: We know it's not salvation, so within that space, what does it mean to get to heaven, to experience this judgment, and to also then experience loss?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of an odd concept for those who are going to be with Jesus.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: But it means that we get there and we see that the things that we spent our time on that they didn't matter.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: That instead of well done, good and faithful servant, it's why did you spend your time on those things?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: They had no eternal value.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: They weren't worth anything.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: That is loss.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: To know that we had breath in our lungs and the power of the Spirit in our bodies, and yet we did not use it for God's kingdom.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: That we were given a roll to labor in the field and we went off and had a water break for 80 years.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: That is loss.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a heavy loss, even for those who are experiencing the glory of Jesus Christ.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: So where does that leave us?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: Build a lasting life by spending time on things that matter most to God's kingdom and will stand for eternity.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Those two things are not different.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Building your life on things that matter are also the things that will stand for eternity.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, to be really specific here, what do I think we need to do?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I again I want you to hold this with a healthy anticipation.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to just sort of brush off the notion that with Jesus comes a refining fire that will judge the works of those who have loved him.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I also want you to understand with that, right, the beauty of what we have been called to do, the wonder of being able to pass through that fire and say, by God's grace, I did that, and to see that it will last, and also to understand why that is so much better than the temporal things, the things that won't last, the wood, hay, and straw that we seem to value so much in our world right now.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like there are things that you're doing that don't matter, and they don't matter for God's kingdom, and they don't matter for eternity.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't mean that 24-7 you just sit in a church pew, you know, but it does mean that you are viewing things from God's perspective.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: We almost go back to last week where we say that there's a different way, right, for human wisdom and for godly wisdom, that the world views things a certain way and God views things a certain way, that we're viewing things from God's perspective, those are the things you should spend your time on.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that you should devote your life to.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I can also assume that hearing the idea of a refining fire brings about a certain emotion within you.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: For some of you, as Paul says, as Peter says, the fact that things will be revealed and all things will be made obvious is uncomfortable.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some of you that can have almost the mind of Paul in Philippians when he says, hey, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: God's judgment is the great equalizer amongst all people.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to live a life that matters.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you, as so many of you are, to also look forward to the joy that will come when you see that the things that you wearied for, that nobody gave you credit for, that God was watching.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that those things, as he says to the Corinthians, so that you would know that your labor is not in vain, I want you to know that.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that your labor is not in vain for God's kingdom for these eternal things, and that you will receive a reward for that, most of all knowing that it lasted.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: But for those of you who have struggled to accept that, for those of you who have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, but yet are living a life that has nothing to do with him, I just want to encourage you that while you still have breath in your lungs by God's grace, you have time to change that.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you have time to begin laboring in his field and carrying out the role that you have been given by God.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your role might look different than other people, but it doesn't mean it's any less.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: So with those things, I hope, I know that's not the most like lovey-dovey ending, but it is the truthful one.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the one that I think helps us to have the best understanding of what the fire will be like when Jesus returns.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: Joys for some, loss for others.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to have joy.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for today.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you are good.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: You are so good.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for your word here through Paul and 1 Corinthians, that we're able to better understand what your kingdom looks like.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, how you view your kingdom.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that we would be people, first of all, who have trusted in Christ as our Savior.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: God, that we, when that time comes, whenever it is, Lord, that you're going to return, and only you know, God, that we would be able to rejoice, because as it says, righteousness is on the other side.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: Peace is on the other side.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: A place where there's no more crying and no more tears is on the other side.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, it also means in order to get rid of all of the muck and the mire, you've had to burn some things away.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Father, as you by fire judge our lives, Lord, might we be people who stand through that fire because we have built a life that lasts.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: We have put our time and our efforts into kingdom things.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: And God, we have valued your church and your great commission above other things.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Father, most of all, I pray that as every single one of us has failed to live out that calling fully, that by the power of your Spirit, Lord, you would give us both grace and comfort as well as a divine sense of encouragement.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: As God, you have given us everything that we need to be able to carry out your will to the best of our abilities.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: Father, we love you.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: Most of all, we thank you for Jesus Christ on the cross, on the cross that has given us the opportunity to do all these things and to be with you forever in heaven.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's in his name we pray.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everybody.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.