each one be able to know that you are here and that you are near to us. We pray that you will speak to us by your Holy Spirit as we come to the Word, God. And grandfather, grace to us that we may then respond to that Word obeying the Lordship of Jesus in our lives. And this we pray in His name, amen. Well you have with you your copy of the Bible. I hope that you'll take it out right now and follow along with me as we read the text for this morning found in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
While you're doing that you can also pull out the outline on the yellow sheet from your bulletin so that you can use that as a way of tracking where we're going in the message. I'm going to begin reading with verse 5 in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. What after all is a polis? And what is Paul? Only servants. Only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord is assigned to each his task. I planted the seed and a polis, watered it, but God made it grow.
Neither is He, neither He who plants or He who waters is anything, but only God, only God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. But we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. For the grace of God given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it, but each one should be careful how he builds.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. With what he has built or survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss.
Yet he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. As Pastor Dave told you, a number of us have just returned from Israel. We have people all over the world in Venture Church. We have a team that has just returned from India.
We have a team that left on Friday to go to Germany to participate there in helping to renovate a ship for operation mobilization. Some of us have just returned from a discipleship journey to Israel, and some of us went on to Greece as well. It was an eventful trip. Let me tell you, it was exciting to be there and to see these places again. In Israel, we were standing one day on Megiddo, which is a tel, a mound on which several civilizations are built.
Megiddo is located, it's an ancient fortress that is located right on a valley. From the top of the tel, you look out on the valley of Jezreel, or the valley of Ezdralon, as some call it. It is there the Bible says in the final days, the battle of Armageddon will form up with the armies of the world. As we were thinking about those themes and the things that God has in store yet ahead, believe it or not, there was an earthquake at Megiddo.
Later we went on to Jerusalem, and in Jerusalem it snowed. It snowed in Jerusalem. It's not supposed to do that. For the second time this season, we were told it's a one in twenty year event, so we were there for history. We escaped the snow by going down to the Dead Sea, which is a very warm and arid area, being the lowest spot on the face of the earth. And it rained at the Dead Sea. Now not while we were there, but you could see it in the distance, you could see where the rain had fallen.
It was an eventful time, and then coming back, both groups experienced difficulty, not in Israel, not in Greece, in the good old USA, at JFK and Newark airports. And there were problems not only with the weather, no one can control the weather, but problems with the way the airlines were handling things. And you look at things and say, things just shouldn't be this way. I'm there. I don't think things should be that way with airlines. From a service ought to be focused on whom.
You would think so, right? You would think so. But we're rather idealistic people, aren't we? There's nothing wrong with being idealistic. Sometimes our idealism runs into the real world. And the real world is that there's fallen people in the world, and things don't always work the way they ought to, and things take more time than we think they should. We bring our idealism sometimes into the church as well.
And we think the church should never have any problems, that everybody in the church is always going to get along no matter what. We think there should be no divisions in the church, but that's not the real world. Last fall, 21 weeks ago, in fact, we merged two congregations. And some are surprised, disappointed maybe, that there's still some us and they going on. I know that surprises you, doesn't it? But there are others in the church who are still surprised that there's us and they going on.
Folks, we're early into this thing. We said it would take two years to do the merge, to get us comfortable in the merge. Sometimes we have telephone calls at the office and people say, well, who's preaching the service this weekend? And the implication is very strong, if it's not the preacher I want, I'm not going to come this week. Right? It's normal to have favorite preachers. It's normal to connect with one style or with a personality type more than another.
But let's face it, when those kinds of preferences determine whether we're going to participate in the life of the body of Christ, what we've effectively done is become Corinthians. We've become Corinthians because that's where the Corinthians were. The tendency to exalt human leaders over allegiance to the Son of God, to make human ministry leaders more important to our decisions than the Son of God, whose church it is, raises an important issue in the life of the church.
What is the right view of ministry leaders, pastors and other leaders in the church? That's what Paul is writing to the Corinthians about, and that's what we're going to look at this morning. Essentially what our text today is telling us is this, that ministry leaders are God's servants. God's servants, not ours, God's servants. Those who attend to the tasks that have been assigned to them by God. That's what ministry leaders are.
Of course, we immediately think of pastors, but I'm thinking beyond just pastors. I'm thinking of elders. I'm thinking of community life leaders, discipleship group leaders, leaders in other ministries of our church, Sunday school teachers, anyone who has leadership in ministry, and that's nearly everyone here in one realm or another. ministry leaders are at the bottom line God's servants.
Now Paul draws upon two metaphors for the church in this text, as you notice, and he uses these two metaphors to expand upon what he wants to say in order to put God's leaders in their place in our minds. The first metaphor is that of agriculture. He says, you are God's field. You are God's farm. The second metaphor is that of a building or comes out of construction. He says you are God's building. Later he says you are God's temple.
And so building his thoughts around those two metaphors, Paul has some things he wants to say to us. The first deals with principles. The principles that God wants us to consider. By the way, I wish I had chosen another word than consider because these are not just principles to think about. These are principles to put into practice in our lives. So let's look first at the principles that God wants us to put into practice in our lives.
He says to these Corinthians who are dividing themselves up over leaders like himself and Paulus. He says you are a field of God, a field. Now Corinth was a large bustling cosmopolitan city in Paul's day. It was a town that was five times the size of Athens, which today is much larger. In fact, we went to Corinth a few days ago and stood in the ruins of that city. In Paul's day, this city had a population of about 800,000 people. 800,000.
There had been a city on this site since prehistoric times. But about 200 years before Paul's day, the city was destroyed by a Roman proconsul because of some political issues. And then in 44 BC, about 100 years before Paul is writing, the city was rebuilt by Julius Caesar shortly before he was assassinated. And so in Paul's day, this city, though it was on an ancient site, was a young city.
It was a city that was vibrant with an economy that had access to two seaports that were only four miles away, a bustling, large cosmopolitan city with all the problems the cities have. But surrounding Corinth were large plains, vast fields that were filled with grain and with vineyards. Corinth was famous for the vineyards. It was famous for its grains and thus the seaports where it exported to the rest of the Roman Empire. In fact, today we have what we call currents. C-U-R-R-A-N-T-S.
Currants are small seedless raisins that you might enjoy eating. The very word current in the English language comes from the medieval times and it was a corruption of the word Corinth. So we're talking still today when we think about currents, it's talking about the export of grapes from the city of Corinth. And so when Paul says, you're a field, the people in this city would have understood that. And outside the city there were fields. They understood agriculture.
Many of them worked in the agriculture business. Paul says ministry leaders really are God's workers. That is, they're God's hired hands. He uses the term early on here of deacon. He says we are God's servants. He says we are God's deacons. Actually the word deacon means a table waiter, a table waiter. Now table waiters have but one purpose ideally and that is to wait upon their customers. We've all experienced less than the ideal and those get less than 18%.
But he says we're like table waiters and we like table waiters have but one concern and that is the concern of God. We're His servants. We're His hired hands. It's His field. You are His field. We're hired by God to look after His field. He says that ministry leaders fill a function and that function is to bring others to faith, to help others come to faith.
He says some plant in God's field, some do the irrigation of God's field but it's God who gives the increase and He says you came to faith as a result of our work. Ministry leaders function to help others come to faith and to mature and to grow in their faith. He says furthermore that ministry leaders wait on God for every increase, every increase. The process of nature is sometimes painfully slow. You can't control weather.
You can't control the elements of nature and so one who is working in a field has to wait upon God for the increase. The farmer does his part. He cannot be idle but on the other hand it is God who gives the increase. Ministry leaders are God's workers. Secondly he says ministry leaders are peers. Notice what he says in verse 7, neither he who plants or he who waters is anything. So what I'm saying here is that ministry leaders are peers. We're all co-equal, nothing.
We're nothing in comparison to God. We're of zero importance because it is God who gives the increase. The point is that no one person, no one leader is indispensable. God's work does not rest upon any one person. It rests upon God. In the church there are no VIPs. God alone is the one to be exalted. You understand the point here? They were exalting a Paulist and Paul and saying they're more important really than God to us because we follow them. Paul says that's absolutely wrong.
We're peers, whether it's a Paulist or myself, whether they water or plants, we're peers. We're all on the same level and the bottom level is where we are. Everything is about God, not ministry leaders. Thirdly he says that ministry leaders are a team. Verse 8, first part of the verse, the man who plants, the one who waters have one purpose. You see ministry leaders are a team because they function as a unit.
God viewed Paul and his successors as one squad to use an athletic metaphor or as one farm team to go back to agriculture who have a single goal and that single goal is to grow the church. Whatever you do, whatever role you have, your purpose is to grow the church. Each one of us fits into God's niche in this overall effort just as a quarterback and a receiver have a different role on a football team. But both are vital.
So whatever you do, whatever I do, whatever this person does, we fit into the niche that God has shaped us for. There are no big niches. There are no little niches. We are all a part of the team. Furthermore ministry leaders are each rewarded. Each rewarded. Verse 8, the last part. He says we all have one purpose and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
So we are a team when it comes to getting the work done, but when we are judged someday, we will be judged individually for how we have done. God has called us to be faithful as part of the team and we will be rewarded according to our faithful labor. Notice that we are paid back by God for the energy that we put out for our labor, not according to the results. Because who is responsible for the results? God is. You and I are not responsible for the results.
It's God's business that the judgment seat of Christ, we will each give a personal account to God and at that point, God will then reward to each one according to our labor here, how we have functioned for him in the niche that he has given us. We labor as ministry leaders, wherever God has placed us, we do our thing, but it's God who gets the increase. There are lots of philosophies of ministry these days regarding church growth.
You can go to seminar A and seminar B and they will both tell you how to grow the church and they're diametrically opposed to one another. I want to tell you when church growth is reduced to a methodology or to a kind of leader or a personality, when church growth is reduced to that, then it has missed the mark. Because it's not about us and it's not about philosophy and it's not about personality, it's about whom? It's about God and he is the one who brings the increase.
But we are God's field and we have functions in God's field. We are His laborers as His leaders. And it's important that we understand these principles, that we put them into practice as we find about how we should be placing ministry leaders in our lives. There are those who follow ministry leaders to such an extent that they become almost cultish.
I know pastors who get up and preach on Sunday and they are met at the door by people in the congregation who compare what they've said to some favorite television preacher or radio personality. And they say, well pastor, I know what you said, but doctor so and so says this about it. Now it's not wrong to listen to others. We all ought to enrich our lives by listening to a variety of teachers and leaders. But let's not divide ourselves up over ministry leaders.
Let's let our allegiance be alone to Jesus Christ. That's what Paul is so concerned about with the Corinthians. They were giving their allegiance to human leaders. They were dividing themselves up. Say, I'm going to go to church when this one preaches. I'm not going to church when that one preaches. Paul says, you Corinthians, he says, you are babes. You're carnal acting that way. He says ministry leaders are nothing. It's all about Jesus Christ. Focus on him.
That brings us to the second part of our text where Paul now changes his remarks from agriculture to construction. He says, you are God's building. He wants to talk to us about the project that God wants us to construct. You see, God is erecting a building, a temple really. It's the church. It's a project that's been under construction for 2000 years. And today, each local church, venture Christian church, is like a piece of this greater building that Jesus is building and putting together.
So let's think about the parts of the metaphor that Paul is drawing out for us here as he thinks about this project, this construction project that Jesus is about. He says, first of all, there are some builders in verse 10, the builders. He says, by the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder and someone else is building on it. Paul is the skillful architect, as the Greek word means here. It really means more than just the one who designs the building.
Paul is in thinking of himself so much as the designer. Jesus is the designer. But he's thinking of himself really as the contractor. The one who is laying the foundation. When Paul went to Corinth, he is the one who proclaimed the gospel in that city. He laid the foundation. And now he says, there are others who are building upon it. But Paul was one of them. They are building the superstructure that is upon the foundation that has been built.
You and I must never forget that the foundation of this church was laid years ago on the person of Jesus Christ. You and I are involved building upon a superstructure that others, rather a foundation that others have laid for us. In a sense, we stand upon their shoulders doing our part in this project. And the issue Paul says is how each one builds. Whether laying the foundation or building the superstructure, he says each one should be careful how he builds. In what manner he builds.
Really watch how you do your work. Now we'll come back to that in just a moment, as Paul does. In verse 11, Paul points out to us the foundation. The context here is the local church in Corinth, just as we have a local church. He says the foundation of our church is Christ Himself. God's wisdom revealed to us. He talked about this in chapter 2. He says Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. Not only by the way is he the foundation of the church.
He's the foundation of our lives individually. Other foundation can no one lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If you're building your life on another foundation than Jesus Christ, my friend, you are going to fail in the end. There is only one foundation that will take you through life and into heaven. That is the foundation of Christ. If you have not placed your faith upon Him and begun building your life upon Him, I urge you today to take that step.
It's critical that a foundation be laid properly. What Paul is talking about here is the right doctrine about Jesus Christ. The kind of preaching that leads people to a personal knowledge of Christ and understanding then of Christ's plan for their lives and how they fit in to what He is doing in the world. There are lots of different messages in the church these days. Some of them are rather insipid and weak messages. Others are sermonettes.
What Paul is saying here is that when you and I are teaching, whether it be in the context of a service like this or we're teaching a Sunday school class or we are doing a discipleship group, whenever we are proclaiming Christ, we are to do it with sound doctrine so that the foundation of our class, our group, our church is solid and laid well. As folks, if the foundation is not strong, the superstructure will collapse.
He talks now about the superstructure or the structure of the church in the next thought as he carries on this idea of the construction. He says that the structure really is you. He says you are God's building. Just down in verse 16 he says, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple? He says in verse 17, God's temple is sacred and you are that temple. Paul is laying a foundation for some things he's going to say later in the book.
But right now he wants us to understand that we are the building of God. What we're constructing and renovating down here, where we're going in a little while is an important place to us, but that's not God's building. God's holy place, God's temple is you and me when we are together. That's why we need to be together faithfully, not forsaking the assembling of God's people. Because as you and I gather together, we are the habitation of God himself.
Paul says as you're constructing the building, there are some materials that you need to consider. Look at verse 12. He says if anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, there are different kinds of materials that can be used. Which corresponds now to the how of verse 10. Be careful how you build. What Paul is thinking about is be careful about the methods you use. Be careful of the motives of your heart in putting together the church of Jesus.
Be sure that the methods that you're using are good methods. Be sure that the motives of your heart are pure motives so that as you build, you will be building as it were with gold and silver and costly stones or jewels. Beware he is saying of building out of cheap materials, using cheap methods, using the passing fads of our culture. So that you in essence are building out of what is wood, hay, or straw, thinking probably of straw being in bricks.
As we stood in Corinth a few days ago, we saw the ruins of what was once a majestic city. Some of the ruins that are still visible are the temple of Apollo. This temple to the pagan god Apollo was first constructed in 600 BC a long time ago. Parts of it are still standing because it was built out of materials that would withstand the test of time. But you know we didn't see a single house of the Corinthians left. After 2000 years and earthquakes and armies and so forth, all of that is gone.
The church of Jesus Christ needs to be built out of materials that will last the test of time and eternity. John MacArthur says, when a pastor preaches sound, solid doctrine, he is building constructively. When a teacher teaches the word consistently and fully, he is building with good materials. When a person with a gift of help spends himself serving others in the Lord's name, he is building with materials that will endure testing and bring great reward.
When a believer's life is holy, submissive, and worshipful, he is building a life built with precious materials. We are reminded here of the importance of the materials that we use in building our lives and the church of Jesus. The reason for that is because of the test. In verse 13 Paul says there is a test that is coming. What is this test? Well he says it is going to involve the revealing of the true nature of the work we have done.
He says that what we have built will be shown for what it is. It will be brought to light, he says, revealed with fire. There will test the quality. Paul is saying that what you and I do in this life matters because someday, he calls it THE day, that's the when, the day points to the future, the judgment seat of Christ. He says on that day the work that we have built into our lives and into our church will be exposed by Jesus.
I believe that in some fashion the work that we as believers and particularly as ministry leaders do in our church or churches where we lead will be exposed by Jesus. I don't know how that will happen, but how we have built in our time in this world will be shown. He says that there is going to be fire, that's the how of this test. Fire is always a symbol of God's judgment. In some way God is going to purify, He is going to consume the unworthy works of our lives, of our ministries.
And what is worthy will be left behind. You see in the end it doesn't make any difference how much people like me or you. It doesn't make any difference how much applause we get or don't get. It doesn't make any difference how many books I sell or how many CDs or tapes people pick up. Those things do not matter. It doesn't matter if we're on television or we're famous or not known.
What matters is how we've done our work where we've been assigned our construction responsibilities and how we have built. That's what matters. He tells us the results of this in verses 14 and 15. He says the work is going to either pass or fail. He says if what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. The work passing the test will get what? Reward. It will be a reward appropriate for the quality of the work he has done in his lifetime.
Not the size of it, not the reputation of it, but the quality of the work. He says the work failing the test will result in what? Suffering loss. What does that mean? Well you'll find lots of different answers out of the commentators. But most likely it means the forfeiture of honor and reward that might have been gained. The forfeiture of what might have been if the work fails the test. I don't know about you, but I want to do my work in such a way.
I want the how of it to be so carefully looked after that when I come to that day and I stand before Jesus Christ, there will be something left that's worthy that I can offer him. Would you say amen to that? Don't you feel the same way about it? I do not want to get to that day and be empty handed because what I've done in this world has not been worthy and it's been shoddy. It's been for selfish motives.
I've used methods that did not honor Christ and the result is it's all ashes at the judgment seat of Christ. There's a real warning that is given as we conclude this text. Paul says, don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple? God's spirit lives in you? He says if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. Now let that settle down in your thoughts for just a moment. It's very sobering.
He says anyone who spoils, who defiles, who ruins by his influence the church, God will give appropriate retribution to him. Literally, that's what he says. Now, is Paul thinking of false teachers who enter into the church and lead the church astray? Well, certainly they're going to be judged. But I think Paul is writing here to more than false teachers.
He's writing to all of us and he's warning us that as we go about our business in this world we need to be careful to build God's church, not spoil it in some way by our influence in it. Because when we do that, we bring ourselves under God's judgment. And so be careful what place you give to ministry leaders. What place ought we to give them? Well, let me just conclude by saying very quickly, number one, a place of respect.
In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul says respect those who are over you in the Lord, whether it be in your Sunday school class, your discipleship group, the churches, the whole whatever context where there is someone who is leading your group. God's word says we should give that person a place of respect. He doesn't say respect them if you like them. He doesn't say respect them if you agree with them. He says respect them because of the work that Christ has committed to them.
Now, that respect should not be meaning to exalt them. It doesn't mean to become their followers. It doesn't mean to put them on pedestals. It doesn't mean to treat them like royalty, but it means to respect them. And so I ask myself the question, do I respect those whom God has put into my life as a leader? That's an important question so that I can give leaders the right place in my life. Secondly, a leader deserves a place of prayer in my life.
Over and over, Paul says pray for us, pray for us. And anyone who is a godly leader will say the same thing, right? We want the prayers of those who follow us, those who are in our charge. And so I ask myself the question, do I pray for those that God has put in my life as a leader? Or do I spend more time complaining about them? Or more time praising them than I do praying for them? Finally, the right place of a leader is a place of balance in our lives.
Preparing leaders, testing another believer's spirituality by the teacher that he listens to, or by withdrawing into a clique or a faction that follows a single person to the exclusion of others. All of that has a destructive corrosive effect upon God's temple, and it's very dangerous. We need to keep leaders in balance. Not only in God for them, but keeping them in perspective and keeping our focus on Jesus alone. The reason for this is very practical and fundamental.
It is that human leaders, whoever they are, will fail us at some point because there are no perfect human leaders. And if we're watching people, we'll get disappointed, disillusioned, disheartened, and we'll give up. It is vital that you and I keep our focus on Jesus because He never fails. Do I keep Jesus? Jesus alone is the highest leader in my life. Every other leader, compared to Him, is nothing. He's everything. He's all I want. He's all I've ever needed. Lord, draw our hearts to You.
And away from human leaders. Lord, let us give human leaders the right place in our lives, Your place, but let us never replace You by human leaders, for You are the Lord of Your church. And Father, my prayer is that Jesus will build us, that Jesus will grow us, that You will bring the increase as we do our part for You in Your field and on Your construction project of the church. Amen.