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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 3
18 June 2006
Take Heed How We Build
(Message
delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the Calvary Pandan Sunday Worship
Service, 10.30 am, June 6, 04)
Text:
1 Cor 3:9-15
Introduction
Good
morning to all of you in the
Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I truly give thanks to the
Lord for this honour and
privilege to share with you
God’s Word this morning.
If we
already had our good foundation, what materials would we use to build
upon it? The Bible says in 2 Chronicles chapter 3 that Solomon began to
build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem (v1) then in v6, he garnished
the house with precious stones, and in v7, he overlaid also the house,
the beams, the posts, and the walls thereof, and the doors thereof, with
gold. When we build our house, if we can afford, most of us want to
choose the best materials, the materials that can last long. How about
our spiritual building? Are you and I willing to choose the best
materials like gold, silver, precious stones to build? Sometimes, we
ignore this truth and we do not know that we are using wood, hay, or
stubble to build our spiritual house.
The title of the sermon this
morning is a commandment, “Take Heed How We Build.” There are two main
points we are going to focus on: One is our foundation, and the other is
to take heed how we build.
Our Foundation
First, let
us have a look at this passage. Verse 9 is a connection verse of the
ideas the apostle Paul writes in verses 4-8 and then 10-15. The term
“We” here refers to Paul and Apollos, the full-time ministers and
workers. It is a great privilege to be called labourers together with
God. I do pray that some brethren here who have a heart’s desire to
serve the Lord full- time may see this great privilege and will enter
the Far Eastern Bible College for a good and sound training to equip
yourselves to serve the Lord in the future. “Ye” or “you” here refers to
believers. Believers are God’s husbandry, or farming land or field. In
verse 10, by God’s grace, the apostle Paul is a wise master-builder, who
does the work of an architect and constructor. Everyone is to take heed,
carefully consider, pay attention to how he builds. Verse 11 tells about
the foundation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12 tells about the
materials to build on this foundation. Verse 13 warns us that there will
be a day all our labour and work will be revealed by fire. This is not
the Day of Judgment for unbelievers at the great white throne (Rev 20),
but it is the day when the Lord Jesus comes
again and we all shall be at the judgment seat of Christ to receive the
reward or the rebuke for what we have done (2 Cor 5:10). “Fire” refers
to the searching and judgment of the Lord for reward. Verse 14 is the
reward for everyone whose work remains after the fire. And finally verse
15 is the loss of the reward for everyone whose work is burned away. He
does not lose his salvation because he is still building on the right
foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ, but he loses his reward.
First of all, you and I must
agree that before we build a house, we should make sure that we have a
firm foundation. How about our foundation? The Lord Jesus Himself is our
foundation (v 11) “For other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid, which is Jesus Christ”. No man can lay other foundation, and the
foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The verb is in present
tense, denoting an eternal truth. In the past, in the present and in the
future, for ever and ever, there is only one foundation that God has
accepted, ordained and given unto us. That is His only begotten Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Next, our foundation is not a thing, but a Person, a
living Person, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Bible says, “And this
is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is
in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath
not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:11-12). My dear friends,
God does not give us eternal life as a thing or as a separate gift from
His Son, but a living Person, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, is our
eternal life. The verb is also in present tense. It means at this moment
if you and I have the Lord Jesus Christ and have a living fellowship
with Him, we have eternal life. Likewise, at the moment, if you and I
truly rely on our Lord Jesus Christ for whatever we do, we have a living
and firm foundation. Thank God and praise the Lord.
Then, our
foundation is not
a thing, but living Person, a
perfect human and divine Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our faith, our
salvation, our labour, our worship, our ministry, and so forth are to be
built on this living foundation: the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. Jesus is the human name and Christ is the
divine name. Jesus means Saviour. His incarnation, His virgin birth, His
death for our sins, and His resurrection for our justification secure
our salvation for ever. Christ means the Anointed One. There are three
anointed offices: the priestly, the kingly and the prophetic. When we
say that Jesus Christ is our Anointed One, we must mean that He is our
Saviour as High Priest, King of kings, and Divine Prophet.
My dear friends, I am sure that
Jesus is your Saviour and my Saviour, but how about Christ. Is He our
High Priest? Is He our only Representative before God? Thank God so much
Jesus is our High Priest, who has sympathy with our infirmities and
through His intercession and His blood we can have fellowship with the
Holy God. Next, is the Lord Jesus our King, the King of our hearts, our
minds, and our lives? Does He have full authority and full control over
our lives? If we decide to do anything regardless of His approval, He is
not truly our King. If we say what we like, do what we like, hear or
listen to what we like, watch what we like or go where we like
regardless of His guidance, He is not our King. The Lord Jesus says,
“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them,
bring them hither, and slay them before me” (Luke 19:27). Finally, Is
Jesus our divine Prophet and the divine Spokesman from God? If Jesus is
our divine Prophet, we are to be submissive to the authority of His
Words completely. Do we receive and obey all His words seriously,
faithfully and reverently? The Bible says, “every soul who will not hear
(obey) that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people” (Acts
3:23). May God help us to hear His voice only and follow Him only, our
good Shepherd. Thank God and praise the Lord that today we still have
God’s Word perfectly preserved for us to read, study, and observe.
My dear
friends, there is no other foundation except the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself and His Word. He is our Saviour, our High Priest, our King and
our Prophet. If some of us here who have not received the Lord
Jesus as your personal Saviour, High Priest, King and
Prophet, please make sure that you do it today, or else your spiritual
life will collapse without a firm foundation.
Take Heed How We Build
We have learned that we have no other foundation than
the Lord Jesus and His Word. Then the next step is how to build on this
foundation wisely? If we trust in the Lord Jesus and His Word as our
foundation of life, we all are saved. The question now is how we build
and get the reward from the Lord when He comes. Let us turn our Bible to
1 Corinthians 3 again,
Take Heed
In
verse 10, “But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon”. The
term “take heed” means “pay close attention to, carefully notice,
consider something carefully to do accordingly and properly.” This verb
is a commandment in present tense, exactly the same as the verse in 1
Cor 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he
fall.” With the firm foundation, we cannot just anyhow build the house,
but we are to be careful and consider how we build and what materials we
choose to build. We must be careful because some day when the Lord Jesus
comes back, we are to give account of what we have done whether we
believe or not, and what we have built will be tried or tested in fire.
My dear friends, may God help us to be careful in all activities of our
life, be careful in what we say, what we see, what we hear, what we
read, what we do, what we believe and practise as well as be careful in
our service or ministry to the Lord.
Be wise in choosing the materials
The
materials listed here are gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and
stubble. Of course, none of us want to build our house with materials
easily burned away like wood, hay and stubble. What materials do you
want to build your house? Do you like gold or silver or precious stones?
Then what does it mean to build our house with gold, silver and precious
stones? We see that these materials can stand the fire and remains after
the fire. Let us search the Bible to see what
we should do that may remains forever and get reward from the Lord.
Doing God’s Will Faithfully
1 John 2:17 tells
us, “And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he who does
the will of God abides for ever.” Jesus also says, “Not every one who
says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21). The Lord
Jesus set a good example for us to follow because His life and ministry
did obey His Father’s Will even unto death. My dear friends, may the
Lord help us to be careful in seeking God’s will and following God’s
will so that in the end, what we have done will not be burned away. We
can know God’s will through the Bible, through the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If we are
careful, we are to ask the Holy Spirit to control us and guide us in
what we say, what we do, what we read, what we listen, or where we go
according God’s will. God’s will is always perfect, good, holy, true,
and righteous. We should remember that doing God’s will is like gold,
silver, and precious stones, but doing our will or what we like will be
burned away like wood, hay and stubble.
Doing Everything for the Lord and His Glory
How about the
motive behind our deeds, our service and our ministry? Do we seek God’s
glory or our own glory? The Pharisees in the Bible like to do everything
for their own glory with the purpose that other people may see them,
praise them and honour them, and Jesus rebukes them as hypocrites. My
dear friends, what we do with the motive of glorifying God will be
accepted by the Lord. The apostle Paul reminds us that whether we eat or
drink, or whatsoever we do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31).
“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men”
(Col 3:23). Doing all things for God and for God’s glory will remain
like gold, silver, and precious stones. Are you and I living for the
Lord and His glory?
Doing Everything in Love for God and Men
The Bible tells
us that love or charity never fails (1 Cor 13:8). All the
spiritual gifts like tongues, knowledge, prophecies have passed away,
but love remains forever as God is love and He remains forever. This is
divine love not human love as we think. The ecumenical movement promotes
love to unite all together no matter what you believe or practise. But
this is not divine love. Divine love cannot be separated from divine
truth as God is love and God is truth. The love that does not rejoice in
iniquity but rejoices in truth (1Cor 13:6). It is good for us to be
constrained by God’s love in everything we do like the apostle Paul, who
says, for the love of Christ constrains us, or compels us, or prompts us
(2 Cor 5:14). Then what we say, do, teach, or preach or what we do to
God and to others, if it is constrained by God’s love, will be like
gold, silver, and precious stones. The Bible says, Let all your things
be done with love or charity (1Cor 16:14).
My dear
friends, it is better for us to keep quiet and pray if we cannot say a
word because we love God and the one we are
talking to. But if we are constrained by Christ’s love in whatever we
do, how wonderful it is!
Conclusion
My dear friends, with our firm and solid foundation,
which is the Lord Jesus and His Word, what should we do now for our
spiritual building? First, our lives, our faith, our salvation, our
service and ministry must be based on this firm foundation, the Lord
Jesus Christ and God’s Word the Bible. The more we know the Lord and His
Word, the more we stand firm. The more we depend on and submit ourselves
to the Lord Jesus and God’s Word, the more we stand firm. Then, in order
to get the reward from the Lord when He comes, let us be careful and
wise in choosing good materials to build our spiritual building. Gold,
silver, and precious stones can stand the fire, likewise, let us do
everything according to God’s will faithfully, all is for God and His
glory, and all is constrained by His love. May the Lord work in our
hearts and help us to stand firm and build our lives wisely.
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