Latest / HBCWestminster / 5.28.23 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 Pastor Danny Gardner

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5.28.23 1 Corinthians 3:1-15 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  1 Corinthians 3, if you've got your Bibles open and would stand with me in honor of God's Word as I read, I'm going to read verses 1 to 15, 1 to 15, and then we'll pray and begin. The Word of God says, But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and even now you're not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, you are not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way.
• 0:32
  For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor, for we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
• 1:03
  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on a foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest. For the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
• 1:30
  If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. You pray with me. Great is your faithfulness, O God our Father. There is no shadow of turning with you. You never change, and your compassions never fail. You have always been the same, and a million years from now, you will still be who you are.
• 2:04
  In an ever-changing world, we take comfort knowing that your name endures and your mercy endures forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. The psalmist says in Psalm 115, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Allow me to ask, when did you realize that this universe is not actually about you?
• 2:38
  Did that reality ever come screaming home to you? When did you realize that you're maybe not the biggest fish in the pond? I asked my wife that question this week. Hallie, when did you realize that this universe is not actually about you? She replied immediately, oh, elementary tetherball.
• 2:54
  i was like tetherball she said yeah you know the post the napoleon dynamite thing you know you're out there with that ball hanging from the rope you're trying to spin it around or whatever against your friends she said yeah it was elementary school tetherball i walked out there there were a couple of girls my age elementary school i mean immediately came to her mind she said she walked out there two girls her age all playing she thought that she was awesome
• 3:16
  So she came in trying to school these girls on how to play tetherball. They were not interested. So she said, unless you do it my way, I'm leaving. And they said, okay. And so she left. And she said, I realized then I wasn't the most important person there. And maybe I'm not the tetherball queen. For my oldest son, it was his first day of college baseball. He'd been the tallest, fastest, strongest kid on his high school baseball team.
• 3:46
  When he found himself in that bigger pond, he called me. First day of practice, Dad, I'm used to playing against Steve Rogers, but our catcher is Captain America. Steve Rogers was the guy before the shot. You guys know what I'm talking about? For me, it was the first time I ever challenged my dad to a fight. That actually happened. You've got to understand, my dad was not physically imposing. He was an aerospace engineer. He had the physique to match.
• 4:17
  When I mustered all of my seventh grade strength and decided I'd had enough, I gave him a nudge and he nudged me back. And I realized very quickly that I was not the biggest dude in the room. When did you realize that you're not as big as you thought you were? When did it become true in your life that every time we complain and every time we...
• 4:46
  brag and every time we boast and every time we seek accolades or credit we are basically making a declaration of our own perceived importance i'm clearly more important than people realize that i am it was jay vernon mcgee who said this is god's universe and you may not like how he runs it but then again you don't have a universe we can approach our families and our schools and our careers and our churches and even our own lives as if they're about us
• 5:19
  When we approach the Word sometimes, we do so with ourselves in mind, asking, what will reading it do for me? What will I learn about myself? What's in it for me? I've even heard people say, Pastor Danny, I'm through with Bible reading. I just don't get anything out of it. I don't get anything out of it. They're going in looking for what they will get out of it. Many years ago, a young man in his 20s approached me asking me to disciple him. Pastor Danny, will you disciple me?
• 5:46
  He'd grown up in the church. He had attended Awana. He'd won all of those Awana awards. His parents were both believers. He had graduated from the local Christian high school. He asked to begin meeting with me, and my response kind of stumped him. He assumed that I would just immediately say yes, like it would be my very great joy to disciple him. But I didn't say yes. I instead just asked, why? Pastor Danny, will you meet with me? Why? He didn't have an answer for that.
• 6:15
  I think he'd heard in some sermon somewhere to ask an older guy to disciple him. And so he just went and did what the sermon said, and good for him for doing that. But knowing his upbringing, I asked him a simple question. I just said, have you read your Bible? He responded that he had read parts, but he hadn't read all of it. So I told him I would be willing to meet with him once he'd read the whole thing from beginning to end. I said, I'll give you six weeks to do it. Six weeks.
• 6:45
  I said, if you show up in my office on this time and date, having read the whole thing from beginning to end, I will agree to meet with you. And the weeks began to tick by. On that specified meeting day, he showed up in my office. Eyes bloodshot, hair disheveled. I asked if he'd been in a fight. He said, Pastor Danny, I procrastinated. I didn't do it all. And so I've spent the previous 40 consecutive hours reading it until I was finished and then came straight over here.
• 7:16
  I said, all right, let's go for a walk. I stood up. We walked around the block so he wouldn't fall asleep in my office. On that walk, I asked him, I said, you read your whole Bible from beginning to end? He said, yes. And I said, what is the Bible about? He said, Jesus. It's honestly, it's about Jesus. Timothy Keller, who recently went to be with the Lord just a week and a half ago, said the Bible's not about you. It's about him. We fill too much of our own vision.
• 7:51
  We are too large in our own universe. We may be inclined to think that we are more important to the Lord's kingdom than we actually are. Like if I don't show up, nothing will get done. That we're more vital than we are. Like we are the single point of failure in the Lord's kingdom. And whether it's playing baseball or playing tetherball, we all at some point realize that the universe is not about us, that our marriages actually aren't even entirely about us.
• 8:16
  Our homes don't revolve around us. Our time and energy are not our own. And although we know that truth to be self-evident, we know that it's actually true, at times we act as if it really is about us. And this was the problem at Corinth. This is what they struggled with. They forgot what their role was. They forgot what their teacher's, leader's, and pastor's role was. They forgot what the Lord Jesus' role was.
• 8:43
  The point of this morning's message is a simple one. It's a reminder that the kingdom is about the king. It's about the king. I had an interesting conversation this week from a man I used to work with at another church. We've been gone for nine years from that church. I was an associate pastor there. It was the church that I was born into, the church that I grew up in, the church that I eventually pastored. We've been gone for nine years.
• 9:10
  He said this. He said, you know, Pastor Dan, it was interesting. And he says, I don't mean this to discourage you in any way. But he said, we were having a conversation and your name came up in front of a group of people who attend the church. A whole bunch of these attendees, your name came up, Pastor Danny Garber. Nobody knew who you were. Nobody knew. And he said, I don't mean that to discourage you. He said, I suppose I'm just excited that the Lord has continued to grow this church.
• 9:37
  And I said, on the contrary, it's not discouraging at all. In fact, it's a great reminder. It's a testimony that it's not my church. It's God's church. I said, what a tragedy would it be if nine years later, everybody remembered my name, but they'd never heard the name of Jesus. Can you imagine? It's not about us. To God be the glory. Remember his name and not ours. As servants of the king.
• 10:05
  There are a couple of things that should be true of us according to 1 Corinthians 3. If you want to write them down, two words. We are equipment and we are expected. We are equipment and we are expected. And notice again in verse 1. It says, But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ, I fed you with milk, not solid food. You weren't ready for it, and even now you're not ready. You're still of the flesh.
• 10:34
  While there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? The apostle was forced to confront two major issues in the Corinthian church that have no place among the people of God. The first was immaturity. We are not called to remain babies. The church at Corinth, he describes as babies, childish. He calls them infants. And listen, there is nothing wrong with acting like an infant when you're an infant.
• 11:07
  Nobody gets mad at those babies in the nursery for crying. Babies cry. But it's a little bit startling when adults act like babies, isn't it? That's when you're like, wait a minute. You act like a baby. What's wrong with you? It's time to grow up. It's time to put on your big boy pants. Our family has always been very intentional about expecting our sons to act their age. We've always told them, we don't expect you to act older than your age.
• 11:38
  But we also don't expect that you will act younger than your age. Act your age. I've even developed stations that each would cross that corresponded with their age and to my expectations on them. When they were babies, I had no expectations on them, whatever. Cry, eat, sleep, don't contribute in any way around the house. When you turn two or three, our expectations on you are going to change.
• 12:06
  You're not babies anymore. In fact, we're not going to call you baby anymore. You're not a baby. You're a little boy. Little boys don't need us to tie their shoes for them. Little boys can carry their own dishes to the sink after dinner. When they turn six or seven, they become big boys. You're not a little boy anymore. Now you're a big boy. You can carry not only your own dishes, but other people's dishes as well. And you might even scrape them off once in a while. Big boys don't need to be told to eat their vegetables. Right? A seven-year-old? Listen.
• 12:37
  you've tried fighting this war before. How did that work out? At some point, they know by the time they're seven, I'm eating the green beans. It is happening. This is going down my gullet. This is going to happen. Or I'm going to sit here all night. And so they just say, well, yeah, you know what? I surrender. I will eat the green beans.
• 12:58
  And big boys don't need to sit in a car seat anymore and so on. When they turn 11, they become young men. And I take that responsibility seriously. In fact, I say, when you become young men, you are taking responsibility for your own soul. You don't need to be reminded to read your Bible anymore. You don't need to be reminded to take a shower. You're 11. You can smell yourself at this point. Go and take a shower. Wear clean clothes.
• 13:23
  When they turned 11, I took each of them out for a couple of days, explained to them what lay ahead for them as they mature. Your body is going to change. I told them they could ask me any question they wanted on the subject. You can imagine, as I gave very awkward biology lessons on how you will change and where babies come from and so on, the questions that my sons had of me. One of my sons simply asked, Dad, what if it doesn't work? I'm like, what do you mean, what if it doesn't work?
• 13:51
  What if I don't grow into a man? What if I just get stuck? What if I don't grow? My response was this. It will work. Your body will grow and mature. Everybody's body does. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you will automatically become a man. Because there are plenty of males who have man bodies who nevertheless act like little boys. Maturity is something different. You will become a man in your body.
• 14:23
  But that doesn't mean you become a man in your soul. Beloved friends, where would you say you're at on the Christian maturity spectrum? Are you still an infant, unable to do anything for yourself, unable to feed yourself, unable to clean up your own messes? Are you a toddler or a big boy or a young man, able to take responsibility not only for yourself, but now also for others? It's perfectly okay to act like a baby when you're a baby, but many of us have known the Lord for decades.
• 14:54
  Let us not be like these Christians in Corinth who were so infantile in their faiths that they could not even receive instruction. That's first, immaturity. But the second issue Paul was forced to confront was sectarianism or divisions within the body. The congregation forgot what their roles were in the kingdom. Notice verse 4. One says, I follow Paul. Another, I follow Apollos. And he just says, you're being human. What are you talking about? I thought you followed Jesus.
• 15:26
  right? He is the capstone. What are you talking about? You're following these other people. They were grabbing onto these pastors, onto these disciple makers, and God bless them. They were great pastors. He says they were grabbing onto these men and following men instead of Christ. He says in verse five, what then is Apollos? What is Paul? He was Paul. He's writing on behalf of himself. Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but what does it say? God gave the growth.
• 15:56
  So any credit for what's going on, God gets. It's not Paul and Apollos. What were they? They just threw the seed down. They watered it once in a while, but God gave the increase. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one. Each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. The story goes that...
• 16:26
  In a German city, it was possibly Berlin, in the 1930s, there was a prominent Jewish violinist who was scheduled to perform at the local concert hall. You can imagine 1930s Germany and the anti-Semitism and other things that were going on there as the Nazi party was rising to power. In anticipation of this Jewish violinist performance, a music critic for the city's Nazi-dominated newspaper reminded everyone that this violinist was not as deserving of his reputation as some had suggested.
• 16:55
  Give me a break, he says. He's not that good. He's quoted as saying when he finishes his performance, our applause will be less for his skill than for the Stradivarius instrument on which he plays. He says, we'll be applauding the violin, not the violinist. He says, it is the excellence of the violin will be cheering and not the man playing it. And so it was as the performance came to its end.
• 17:19
  The applause was thunderous, but everyone, including the violinist, knew how ambiguous its meaning had become. Are they applauding me, or are they applauding the violin? And so when the violinist walked over to a nearby chair, held up the violin, and then violently smashed the violin against the chair's back, holding up its splintered remains for all to see, the audience was aghast.
• 17:50
  Then he walked quietly to the edge of the stage, opened a case that no one had noticed, and took out the Stradivarius everyone thought until then he'd been playing. The encore he played for his undeserving audience would never be forgotten. The Christians at Corinth were guilty of applauding the violins instead of applauding the violinist. We can be guilty of applauding the violins.
• 18:18
  Rather than applauding the violinist who has been playing it all the time, the violins were getting the cheers and the violinist was being neglected. And if you're anything like me, the temptation is not to extol other violins, but rather to extol yourself. Look how great I am. I have a tendency to seek my own credit and to seek my own glory, to honor myself, to praise myself, to look down on others, even secretly. I think things I would never say.
• 18:47
  I have a tendency to be like that Pharisee in Christ's parable. Do you remember this? When it says two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The tax collector goes to the temple and just humiliated, won't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but just says, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. The Pharisee standing next to him, the literal Greek translation would be, prayed to himself about himself, pointing at this man and saying, Lord, thank you that I am not like this man.
• 19:17
  Look at how much better I am in every way. Friends, God is doing great and exciting things at our church. It's true. He's giving us the desire of our hearts to plant a church. You know, we've been praying to plant a church. Highland Baptist Church has been praying to plant a church longer than I've been alive. For 50-something years, they've been praying that we could have the opportunity to plant a church.
• 19:39
  that we are not just a growing body. We are seeking the growth and expansion of another body, and the temptation will be for us to think that we have somehow brought this growth about ourselves. It was because of our skill, our talents, our forethought, our careful planning, our administration. And listen, church, the Lord will use all of those things for his glory, but let us not forget to applaud the violinist and not the violins. Many of you know our dear sister who...
• 20:10
  is a member here pearl martinez almost everybody knows pearl what is pearl's favorite phrase praise the lord she says that every time you see her praise the lord if she shows up at 11 o'clock service she'll say praise the lord and that is indeed true oh there she is right there hi pearl you want to shout it out for us one time praise the lord we are equipment but notice second we are also expected and with this will be done we are expected to be involved in the kingdom's expansion look at verse 10.
• 20:41
  according to the grace of god given to me like a skilled master builder i laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it we'll come back to that then he says let each one if you guys like to underline or circle in your bible circle those two words each one let each one take care how he builds upon it each one is expected to build the christian faith is not meant to be a spectator sport you and i every single one of us have a role
• 21:10
  A role to play in the expansion of Christ's kingdom, in the building up of his body, his church. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And there will be a day when every single person stands before the Lord in judgment, and his or her works will be judged.
• 21:32
  What does God expect his people to do? He expects us to bear fruit. He expects us to provide a return on his investment. He expects us to be involved in good works. And you notice in verse 10, Paul calls himself a skilled master or a master builder. The word there is architect. Paul's role was architect. He was a specialist in laying foundations, going from city to city, even house to house, laying spiritual foundations, planting churches.
• 22:01
  Verse 11 talks about Christ's work. Verse 11, for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is already laid, which is who? Jesus Christ. He is the foundation that was being laid. There is no other foundation. We can try to build the church on something else. Listen, friends, it will not work.
• 22:20
  Jesus is the foundation of the church. He is the cornerstone. He is the capstone. It is his name that we proclaim. It is his gospel that we preach. It's his name that we sing about. It's not our own. He is the foundation. What is our role? We are fellow builders. Verse 12. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay straw, each one's work will become manifest.
• 22:47
  For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. This says that every single Christian is building something, but not every Christian is using the right building materials. Some are using costly materials like gold and silver and costly stones.
• 23:17
  materials which will last for eternity. Others are pouring themselves into things that won't matter, wood, hay, and straw. Some are building the Lord's kingdom. Some are building their own kingdom. And we must take inventory, and maybe at the end of every day, take an inventory. Did I accomplish anything today that will last for eternity? Or did I pour myself into things which will be burnt up on the day of judgment? Did I strengthen my own soul and the souls of others?
• 23:46
  If I'm honest, there are many days when I don't do anything that will matter for the kingdom. I get to the end of an entire day and the kingdom was not advanced. As Sammy Tippett has said this in his book, A Fire in Our Heart, he said, if I manage much for the king, I'm happy. And if I manage little for the king, I'm happy. And if I die on the battlefield for the king, I'm happy. I'm happy simply because I'm a servant of the king. It's not about us, beloved friends. It's not about what we will get out of it. That lawyer's question was a good one.
• 24:18
  What do you get out of it? Well, if it works, hopefully nothing. Nothing. It's about the praise of a good and glorious Father. We are merely violins in the hands of a master violinist, servants in the employ of a great king. And as servants, we must recognize that the king has expectations on us that must be fulfilled. This truth may be overwhelming were it not for Scripture's reminder that the spirit of this same king resides within us.
• 24:49
  empowering us to accomplish his will. Allow me to pray. Lord, not to us, not to us, but to your name be glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Lord, we ask that you establish the work of our hands, not so that our names will be remembered. What a glorious thing it would be if in nine years nobody remembered our names, but everybody had heard about you. Lord, that is our heart's desire. Expand your kingdom, build your church.
• 25:27
  here at Highland and around the world. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.