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Number 267.
OK, come today and ask for Thy help. As we open Thy word again. We pray Thy blessing on it and on each of us. I think at this time especially this.
A young boy, Daniel Coleman, I pray for him and for his family to join our party together as we get to welcome prayer to the.
Let's get my name for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.
The mind of the brethren, could we continue with the.
The the chapter three of First Corinthians maybe?
8.
00:05:04
The First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 3.
From verse 8.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one.
And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
For we are labourers together with God.
Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's building.
According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master Builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.
But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he has built, thereupon he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and ye are Christs, and Christ is God's.
The subject of reward is brought before us in this passage, and.
That's a very scriptural theme, although we know that reward is not a.
Motive for service. It is an incentive. It's an encouragement.
Perhaps it has more to do with our place in the coming millennial Kingdom.
But it certainly is taught in Scripture, and the apostle brings it before us here in our chapter.
They were fitting one against the other.
Occupied with certain individuals.
Umm, there was a competition among them, Uh.
But the apostle says this is not how things should be in the assembly. We are uh.
Laboring together, it should be in harmony for the, uh, increase of the body or edification.
Exhortation. Comfort.
We're not, uh, in competition one with the other in public ministry, which is perhaps more the theme of the chapter. Uh, but this is where the Corinthians were failing. Uh, and Paul brings before them this.
Individual responsibility then goes on to, uh, unfold the truth of the judgment seat of Christ when, uh, the ministry would be reviewed by the Lord. Perhaps it's more in connection with public ministry, but I think it has a broader application here that, uh, whatever the ministry is, it's going to be reviewed and rewarded if it's according to the Lord's mind and with his approval.
00:10:01
There are a couple.
Aspect of the, umm, reward, the time of reward and the connection with the judgment seat of Christ that Paul brings out in this passage and the one in chapter 4. And so this is, as you say, in connection with how we build our service for the Lord individually. And umm, we might work with one someone else. We might have a labor and labor in the assembly or in, uh, some aspect of our service labor together.
With, uh, another individual, but the Lord is able to sort it all out. And one might serve with a, a right motive. One might not serve with a good motive. And so in this connection, he's, umm, he's going to be able to divide things out just right and he will reward. And so in verse, umm, uh, thirteen, really it's umm, 131415. It's the individual and it's in connection with our service. But then in chapter 4.
He brings in the, umm, our motives and uh, that's why we're not to judge anything before the time. Uh, verse four, he says, I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified? But he that judgeth me as the Lord, therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, the thoughts and intents of the heart, and will make manifest the counsel of the hearts. And then shall every man have praise of God. So he's going to judge the emotives as well, not only the service, the acts of service.
How we did our work, whether it was obedience to the word of God or not, and the spirit in which our work was conducted. But the motive for that service. And then there's another one.
I think it's in Romans chapter 14.
And, umm.
Romans chapter 14 and verse 8.
Whether we live, we live unto the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lords. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might we he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why does thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou said it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue confess, shall confess to God.
So that every one of us shall give account of himself to God. And so this really is in the context of Romans chapter 14, our personal exercises and how I might take something up, how my own personal exercise in conducting work for the Lord. And the Lord will judge that too. And there will be a reward as well. And uh, if I was offensive in my conduct and offensive to my brother, or if I was offensive to the Lord.
And, umm.
How I did things in connection with my exercise. Perhaps I didn't go to him and seek an exercise to how I should conduct my my work. Well, that's going to be judged as well. So we have the judgment seat of Christ brought up in several different aspects and a wonderful brother to have the confidence to do something in affection for Christ, just a little something and to know in the coming day he's gonna sort it all out. Then shall every man have praise of God and we're so imperfect.
And we see so little of the whole picture, as it were. But the Lord is so gracious He wants to reward, and He delights to have our affections engaged in some desire to please Him.
You know, when it concerns the will of God.
It is our tendency to think of what, where, and when and be concerned about that. And we're afraid of making mistakes. And that's not always faith. Sometimes it's just born out of I want my life to be easy, so I want to make sure I make the right choice. Well, that's not really seeking God's will.
Regard to God's will, it's more important to ask this question, Why am I doing it?
How the why and the how?
That is what will determine whether it's God's will. The what, where, and when will take care of itself if you take care of the why and the how. What our brother just brought out is what is judged with the judgment. Seat of Christ is just precisely those two things.
Got the how and uh, versus UH-9, what did you mention there?
Verses 10 through 13 and then you have the Y there in the early verse of chapter 4.
00:15:13
Seven verse uh, eight Now he that planted the water is the one it had referred to the uh, earlier the hall had referred to the fact that he watered and upon his planting.
But in what respect do they want? I believe they were one in their objective. They wanted to honor and glorify the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in Neil's work. And so we have that oneness of call on the forest as they have that building in view. They wanted to see that the umm Saints 85 filled up. And so they had that common objective to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in that work that they did.
We have a a, a complementary picture, shall I say, in the, uh, end of Ephesians 2.
1St 19 Now the offer went out more strangers than foreigners, but fellow citizens of the sweeter banks of the household of God, and are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself.
Being the chief, call us down in whom the all the buildings let me find together grow it from holy temple in the Lord now.
Perhaps we don't see quite so much in North America where a lot of buildings are number frames, but you go to a country where they where it's a masonry or brick building, what do they do? They start with a corner and they build that corner, and that corner of the house is always a little bit ahead of the rest of the rest of the building.
The reason being, of course, if you get that corner square and vertical and then take all your measurements from that corner, then the building will be straight. So here we have the Lord Jesus Christ thought before us as the chief cornerstone.
The one whom we look to, the one whom we take all our measurements from, shall I say. And that's what the, uh, Apostle Paul and, uh, Apollo had together, uh, they both.
There were both of them immediately if there was the plant was planted but not watered. That was then that there wouldn't be that growth. And simply, of course, if there wasn't a plant ring, no matter how much you bought it when you scrub and the apostle recognizes that he needed that work of Apollo. It wasn't sufficient for him to work on his own. He needed that work of a Polish. But together they had the objective of glorifying the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says he that umm plant and he that wore it that one.
I'd just like to mention the fact of, uh, the rewards and I'd like to make my comments to the children and young people. We have a tendency that we get a reward for something that we've done and our emphasis and our thoughts is basically on the reward and not the exercise as much. I'll give you a little example when I was about 15 years old.
Uh, there was a reward system for memory work. It was a reward system for, uh, doing your extra homework and searching the scriptures. And we always waited for those points or those coupons that we could redeem for as a reward. And there was a time when you can hand these rewards in handy, these coupons and you could pick a prize. I remember I got a small axe that fit on my belt.
And that meant everything to me at 15 years old.
And I got a reward for what I did, my brethren, the biggest reward I should have had was what did I learn while I was reading and studying the scriptures in these verses that, uh, Acts is rusted, that Acts is lost. I don't have it anymore. But brethren and, and young people and children is the fact. Don't go after the physical reward of what you may get, whether it's an axe, whether it's a toy of some kind, because we're occupied with that.
But you know, our market, if I was occupied with what I was taken up in learning the scripture, memorizing the work and doing the homework, would that not have been a greater reward? Now my axe is gone. It's history. But that's the way we think. And, and This is why I want to point out to the children and young people is the fact, don't be occupied with the reward part. It's physical. It'll last only so long.
00:20:10
But if you take heat to what you've learned in memory work in Sunday school work is, that's a far greater reward.
It's worth noting that, uh, in that eighth verse, in fact, this is, umm.
Take what our brother has just spoken about that in the King James, every man.
Mr. Darby translated each and everyone. And so the sisters are on the hook too. And So what we have here is common question responsibility. As soon as somebody is, as soon as a person confesses the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, well, their sins building, uh, and so we have that common question responsibility here that each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
Umm.
I think it might be worth noticing that, uh, umm, this morning, umm.
Was mentioned and in Romans, the book of Romans, a letter of commendation for a sister Phoebe, who was guided, uh, Rome. And it's notable what the apostle says. And it's not the apostle, of course, it's the Holy Spirit.
I commend you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant or literally a deaconess of the Church which is in Centria. That you receive in the Lord has become its Saints, and that ye sister, in whatever business she has need of you.
Now that Mister Darby's got a note on that word assist that word assist did not just help her out should she be in dire straits. That word is to treat her like royalty. And so we find that the Holy Spirit put such a value on the work of that system in the Church of Centria that they that it gives her that such a commendation just treat the light royalties is is that that is that umm, I believe the umm the the.
The Palmer's note would express it.
His thought has been brought out that we all work in unity to attend the garden of God. And uh, so an example might be like in the Old Testament, all Israel rose up together as one man to do something, for example, on Judges 20.
Umm, they all work together.
I'd like to bring out another thought.
That is uh, when it says.
Umm, he that planted and he that waters are one.
It can, it might also enjoy the thought that it is Christ working in each one, Christ working in the one who plans, Christ working in the one, uh, who tends, who waters. So it can think of a father taking his child out to a piece of, uh, his property that he has turned over and, and he takes his little.
Five year old.
Child with them and shows them where to put the seeds and they put the seed in the water. It takes their little hand and covers it over with dirt and then it takes another child and it takes them out you know, perhaps every once in a while to water those seeds and then the crop comes and the father takes the child out there and says look at the the the plant that you planted and.
And then he gives a reward that the child can pick the fruits and he and he gives a reward to the children. You know, you could say, well, that five year old did that and that eight-year old, uh, watered and, but really it was the father that did it all. And I think illustration and the same regard. It's price that does it all. And he then gives us the credit for.
What he's done gives to every man, every man receives the only re reward according to his own labor. So we are laborers together with God. It says like, like that father takes his little child's hand and and does laughing and the watering where they're, they're laborers together with God. Uh, in that case, the illustration laborers together in, in that family.
00:25:14
Well, verse 10, the apostle reminds the Corinthians that the fundamental principles, the foundation of Christianity, and the heavenly aspects of Christianity were laid according to the truth that God had delivered to the apostle. And so he says this according to the grace of God, which is given unto me.
As a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another bill that they're on that let every man take heed how he buildeth their their pond for other foundation can no man lay that with that is laid which is Jesus Christ and so in connection with the person of the Lord Jesus and his work and the principles that Paul taught Paul's doctrine. Paul was the only one that taught Paul's doctrine in connection with the the coming of the Lord. He gives us that.
He gives us the fact that we're in Christ and umm, that we're accepted in the beloved, that we're all of our heavenly, uh, all of our blessings are in heavenly places in Christ. He goes over those aspects of things. He reveals the mystery in connection with Christ in the church. He laid the foundation and umm, now it's our responsibility as the foundation of the truth of God in connection with the church is laid to build in a right way.
You might say that, uh, the foundation being laid, we don't look for it to be laid a second time. Umm.
The apostles laid there. They were the uh.
He laid the foundation on the, of the apostles doctrine and fellowship, umm, and we are to build upon that, uh, those truths that have been revealed to us in the Apostles ministry, uh, and Christendom to a large extent this has been given up. Umm.
And they don't, uh, recognize Paul's doctrine and, uh, they have introduced demands, uh, organization and the whole clerical system, but umm, in minister, ministerial labor, uh, everything is going to be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ. And uh, motives will be rewarded, but every work, umm, will come under review.
Uh, is it, uh, according to the pattern that God has given to us? Is it, uh.
According to the Word of God, this is the touchstone, uh and uh.
Does it have the Lord's approval?
So God cannot reward what is not according to His Word. And I think that is important, although it comes out more, more particularly in the second epistle of Timothy. Still the we have 3 workmen, as has often been pointed out in this chapter. We have 3 workmen brought before us, the one that we're looking at here, who builds according to God's mind with material that speaks of Christ and for the edification of the Lord's people on the foundation that has been laid.
We don't have apostles and prophets anymore, but we do have their writings and their teachings in the epistles. And then we have the other workmen that, uh.
As a saved soul, he's a Workman, but his material is all burnt up. His work is a complete loss. He saved himself, but uh, his work was not according to, uh, the mind of God or the pattern that we have. And uh, so he has suffers loss. He doesn't get a reward for his work. Lot is an example of that. Then we have the third person here.
Uh, who defiles the temple of God? That is, he brings in damnable heresies or teachings, uh, evil, erroneous teachings about the person and work of Christ.
And he doesn't bring it into heathen dung, He brings it into the House of God, the House of God. That is the aspect in this chapter. And so this person is an unsaved soul himself. And he brings these evil teachings, verse 17, he defiles the temple of God. He brings it into the place of professed Christendom. And and many are defiled by it. He is lost himself and his work is lost.
00:30:25
That's verse 17. Uh, we are looked upon there as the temple of God, the House of God, uh, where behavior is important, where, uh, public witness is important. So it's the House of God aspect here and the work is going to be, uh, reviewed, umm, in that coming day.
You can see the three different types of workers, one in verse 14, one in verse 15, and then, as you say in verse 17, and they're identifying in verse 14, it says if a man's work abide, verse 15, if a man's work shall be burned, and verse 17, if a man defile the temple of God. And so you have in verse 14 a very good builder. And Paul himself was, umm, really a model of how we ought to build in the right way.
And then you have a poor builder because he uses some of his own wisdom and some of his own materials and, uh, has some of his own ideas and he thinks they're good, They're going to profit the people of God, but they don't. And so his works burned up. And then in verse 17, as you say, it's one that doesn't even have life, but I would like to just back up here to verse 12, he mentions these different materials and there's a purpose. God uses these symbols, uh, all throughout the Scriptures.
And umm, so it's under, it will understand what Paul's saying here in connection with the gold that speaks of divine righteousness, doesn't it? And so divine righteousness and the glory of God. And so we need to take umm, and build according to the glory and, uh, according to the divine righteousness of Christ. And then in umm, the silver we have redemption brought out. And so our teaching should be according to the truth of what is taught about redemption in the Scriptures.
And then it says precious stones. And so the precious stones speak of the glories of Christ. There are glories of the Lord. And uh, So what man seeks to introduce, Sully is some of the glory of Christ in some way. He, he takes, uh, and wants some glory for himself in the things of God. Then he speaks of wood and really what is merely, uh, human or of natural, the natural heart, natural energy. And then he speaks of hey and umm.
Perhaps that would speak of those things that are positively of the flash and the stubble really wickedness. And, uh, so there are other scriptures in the prophetic scriptures that speak of each one of these materials and give us what the, umm, teaching, the, uh, symbolic teaching is of them. The thing too, in connection with these materials, the, the gold, the silver and the precious stones are very precious, but it doesn't take very much gold and you have $1,000,000 of gold perhaps, or precious stones.
Not very showy.
But you could have $1,000,000 of wood or of hay, and stubble looks pretty big. You got a lot of hay, a lot of lot of stubble. It's really not worth anything and it burns real well. And so that's really the picture that he's given to us is to be careful in connection with our conduct in the assembly and our teaching and the assembly were in Christian circles what we believe as doctrine that is taken up in the right way in connection with the righteousness of God.
In connection with RE, with uh, redemption, and with the glories of Christ that we build according to the truth of what we know has been given to us in the epistles.
Yes, in that 12Th, uh, sorry, 10th verse we get I have laid the foundation foundation has been laid. What we see today, unfortunately is in in Christendom is the the great house and what it what has happened is men of, shall I say, designed and made their own extensions, haven't they?
Uh, but the South and the, so we find when we, uh, umm, come in contact with, sometimes with, umm, these, uh, that there's fundamental error as to the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
00:35:01
That here the apostle says, I have weighed, I have laid foundation, the foundation has been laid, the foundation, proof of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ has been laid. And, uh, so, uh, umm, there is that, uh, instruction here to, to uh, umm, take feed how we build their own because there's been so much, shall I say, shoddy work. And uh, uh, we see the result all around us in Crescent, don't we?
Says that the foundation which is Jesus Christ.
I read elsewhere that Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
The apostles and prophets are part of the foundation also and I think.
I'd like to suggest that I think I read it someplace that when it says when it speaks of Jesus Christ, it includes the body. He's the head.
His own or the body. This is the.
They say gathering principles.
Of God's people, the body of Christ, the unity of the body of Christ, or as it says in the first chapter.
In chapter one, verse 9.
The last half of that verse, the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
It says to what fellowship are you in? What's? Well, I'm in such and such a fellowship.
I think, uh, a good answer would be I'm in the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the unity of the body of Christ.
That which our early brethren taught us.
The brother mentioned about Paul's doctrine and I think, umm, that that's very helpful. Includes what you brought out and includes all the other truth too that was laid primarily to the, uh.
Umm, writings of the apostle Paul. So he was the one who laid the foundation in verse 10 and then that foundation is in Jesus Christ in verse 11. And so that is a test for everything, isn't it? Is Jesus Christ himself when we find in verse in chapter one and verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
And so these are some of those precious things that our brother was mentioning here. We have them all in Christ and everything, whatever it is that is to be built has to be tested.
According to the Word of God, in particular, how it affects the person and the work of Christ. And so Paul mentioned that specifically when he had been there among the Corinthians, he laid down those two things in particular.
That was the person in the work of Christ, and that's in chapter 2 and verse two, he said. I determined not to know anything among you.
Save Jesus Christ as his person and him crucified his work and so that there it was that foundation and yet it was being challenged and in part destroyed as you find when you go through this book and get to chapter 15 and other placement chapter 15. The whole question. The resurrection had come up and the apostle Paul has to take them right back and show them how that this question that they weren't even thinking about all this implications actually affected.
The person and the work of Christ. And so they were destroying the foundation.
And the question that he asked in in Chapter 14, I think is so important for us.
Because it takes us right back to the Word of God. This is the only way we know these things in First Corinthians 14.
And verse 36 he asked them, he says what?
Came the word of God out from you.
Or came it onto you only?
If we don't make up the Word of God, it wasn't coming from then. The apostle Paul had laid down that foundation. The Word of God had come to them, not from them. So verse 37, if any man think himself to be a prophet or spirit, so let him acknowledge it. The things which I write into you are the commandments of the Lord.
00:40:10
And so we need to take everything back and test it by that foundation. And that foundation we know is Christ, we're told plainly here, but it's given to us in detail in what is recorded here in the Word of God.
There is such a giving up of these fundamental, uh, truths and Christendom today, we need to be very careful.
As to the teaching that we listen to, uh second Timothy chapter uh three of the apostle is exhorting Timothy is giving him a mandate here, a pastoral official. Verse 14 Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. Timothy had been a very diligent student and he had learned Paul's doctrine thoroughly.
And the apostle commenced him for that.
Those things which thou hast learned, not only had he learned them doctrinally, he had also walked in them and has been assured of, that's the way we are assured of the truth that has been committed to us, that we walk in it, uh, knowing of whom thou has learned them. So just a word of caution here. There's a lot of young people among us here today. There's a lot of, uh, uh.
Teaching.
Outside there in the camp that is available to us on any subject that, uh, you can think of, but be careful what you listen to, whether it be, uh, through some, uh, medium or, uh, through, uh, a written, uh, form. We have to be careful what we listen to because there's a lot of error abroad, for instance, without going into this in any great detail.
Covenant theology, so-called Reformed theology, is widespread today in Christendom.
It is everywhere promulgated, but it's entirely contrary to Scripture. It brings the blessings of Israel into the church period. It denies the rapture and many other errors. And yet this is being swallowed in Christendom and and the teaching followed. This is it leaves the whole interpretation of Scripture in confusion.
Because they do not see.
The truth that God has two purposes in view, the blessing of an earthly people and the blessing of a heavenly people. Anyway, coming back to our chapter, our ministry will be reviewed. We are not the judges, but just a word there as to what we imbibe, what we are exposed to. We're going to be, we're going to be affected by the ministry under which we sit.
Or what we read, we're going to be affected by this, how important that we are. Return to the apostles doctrine and fellowship, not the apostles gift and power. We're not going to see a, uh, a restoration in the church today. We're not going back to Apostolic days. We're not even in a time of revival. We're in a day of great weakness. But we are told to hold fast that which thou hast when no man take thy crown.
Can't lose our salvation. We know that we can lose our reward. For the apostle here is bringing before us the importance of building.
According to God's mind, according to His Word, so that in that coming day we will be able to have the Lord's approval and commendation, which is more important than anything. Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
In 2nd Corinthians 5, where we have the judgment seat of Christ, different aspects have already been brought up in connection with the judgment. See this Christ. But there umm.
We are all going to, we all must, verse 10 appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the thing done in His body according to that He has done, whether it be good or bad.
00:45:07
There is plural things, individual things that we have done and not necessarily in connection with, uh, ministerial labor in, in the House of God.
But you'll notice the portion we're reading. It's not plural. It's labor and it's work. It's not labor and it's not works.
But it's the whole character of what has been done.
One might spend their life long laboring in the House of God and having introduced that which is not according to the truth of God.
Their entire labor is burned.
If any man's work abide, reward. If any man's work doesn't abide that test, he suffers loss. Yet he himself is saved, nothing else.
Nothing else.
It's quite a solemn picture.
That one whole life's work, as it were, could be condemned. I heard the brother speak and I can't remember who it was. Some years ago there was a new building constructed in Montreal and I believe it was a company plumbing company in Ottawa that got the contract for the plumbing portion. They were a good company and they did a very good quality job in plumbing that building.
And the inspector came in from Montreal and it all had to be torn out because it did not. It was not built according to the plumbing codes of the city Of Montreal. It was done according to the plumbing codes of the city of Ottawa. Those pipe fittings, nothing wrong with the joints, nothing wrong with, you might say, the labor in its detail, but it wasn't according to the code Of Montreal.
It all was torn out, had to be done. Of course, that company suffered a tremendous loss.
Because of it, and that's kind of the the aspect of the judgment seat of Christ, of the evaluation here. It's not so much the individual works. That's what we get in first Second Corinthians five. That is the labor.
The life's labor hasn't been according to the word of God.
Brother John Kemp referred to a verse, uh, I think it was this morning that uh, Mr. Darby called the definition of the assembly that is uh, that verse at the end of.
Ephesians one where it speaks the church, the body of Christ, and so much that our early brethren have a sense that the assembly was.
The body of Christ in a Gen. in a certain area that they hesitated to call themselves the assembly because they knew they were just a small representation of it. Uh, but there's another definition of the assembly that speaks as in first Timothy speaks of the church being the pillar and the ground or the state of the truth. And that relates a little bit to our passage that we have before us today.
A pillar that's something that's set up as a witness, like, uh, those pillars.
In front of the temple, I think they didn't hold up anything, just big pillars, but they're set up as a witness and.
Moses set up pillars when the law was given 12 pillars, a witness not holding up anything, just, uh, just pillars that, uh, stood there as a witness and.
Jacob set up a stone, the one he had used for a pillow, and he set it up for a pillar.
Poured oil on it, a witness to the fact that God was there. So the assembly is to be a witness, but it's also the stay of the truth. And that you can picture like a flagpole. It's up there as a witness. But sometimes you see a flagpole with wires strung out so that that hole will stay up vertical. And so the assembly is meant to be a stay of the truth. And so that's what we have here a little bit.
00:50:09
With all these things.
Uh, built on the gold, the silver, the precious stone, and those other things, the wood, the hay and the stubble. The assembly is meant to be a stay or something to hold up the truth. And somebody might.
Build something that wasn't a good stay a uh.
Something that would cause that flagpole to not hold sturdy, uh. But the assembly is to be not only the pillar.
And it says the ground, but I looked up that word and it really means to stay something that holds it up. And so I'm not only a witness, but.
A holding up of the truth.
I was thinking about what you're saying about that brother who, uh, this lifelong work.
It wasn't according to the mind of Lord and scriptures. And he suffered loss. Umm.
When we read about fire here, trying the work of what sort it is, it's, it's, uh, I would say it would be an example of Pershing of anything that had anything to do with the flesh that that is purged.
And, umm.
Another thing with the as Robert had mentioned that the wood, hay and stubble are the things that are done not, not according to the Lord's mind, not according to Scripture, uh, but the energy of the flesh, that those things are temporal and they're sub corruption as well.
I suppose it does. Suppose in our passage those who are not truly believers. Umm, who would bring these things into the House of God?
Remember that the House of God has a wide aspect here. It's uh.
I would think of similar to what we have in Second Timothy 2, where it is called a great house.
Composed of believers and unbelievers and umm, well, it's mentioned in our chapter that, uh, Spirit of God dwells in the House of God. The House of God is composed of every believer in the world today. It's not a local assembly, but the point is that.
Uh, in the House of God.
Our our work will be examined and it's possible to have a saved soul.
As in the, uh, the verse we have here in verse 14 and, uh, a lost life, you know, there's a verse in the Scriptures that is.
Repeated by the Lord 6 times. I'll just turn to one uh, instance in John chapter, Uh.
12.
There the uh, the Lord mentions verse uh.
24 He verily, verily, I say on cue, except the corn of wheat, fall into the ground and die. Well, that refers to the Lord Jesus himself. He would be alone for all eternity in the glory, if he had not gone into death for us. His desire was to have companions with Him in the glory. It abideth along. If it died, it bringeth forth much fruit. And then verse 25, he that loveth his life.
Shall lose it, and he that hate of his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Now coming back to our chapter, we have some examples of this in the Old Testament we've often been referred to the life of Lot. Here was a man who was a believer. We're going to meet Lot in the glory. Without doubt he was a righteous man who.
Whose soul was grieved every day by the lawless, the wickedness of the city of Sodom, a place that he should never have been in. We never find a restoration in the life of Lot. He just went from, uh, from bad to worse, you might say, until he became, uh, a judge there in the city of Sodom. And his whole work, his whole life was lost. There was no testimony in his family.
00:55:19
Yes, he had just escaped with the skin of his teeth, so to speak, and uh, there was nothing there that would abide in his life.
Umm, his horizon was this world, a present advantage and the, the wealth of this world and the position in this world and, uh, it was a lost life. Well, that's a warning for us. We'll meet lot in the glory, but, uh, his work will be burned up. We don't want to have, uh, an end like that in our lives. So it comes to the point, what am I living for down here?
Advancement of this world or we can lose our lives as the world would say down here serving the Lord, uh.
Sacrificing for him and his people and the Lord will.
I'll acknowledge that in that coming day it will be something that will abide the fire and be for His glory and be rewarded.
The pillar that's spoken of in First Timothy chapter 3 is at verse 16 is really as well could be, umm, perhaps translated monument. It's, uh, I shouldn't say translated, but I think of it as a monument. It's, uh, really, umm, a pillar that was stood up as a testimony or as a monument. And so here in the context of our chapter, the assembly is really a monument to the wisdom of God.
And it ought to be a monument in this world as to the holiness of God. And as God has desired that, uh, the order in his house would be such that it would reflect his own character. Why we have that this umm, umm, responsibility individually to make sure that we don't mar the consistency of the testimony that, uh, is the Lord would desire in the assembly. And not only in the assembly, but in Christianity as a whole as we've been speaking as the House of God.
But here there's individual responsibilities. So know ye not that ye are the temple of God, we're indwelled with the Spirit of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. So it's not only the assembly that ought to be holy, says be therefore also holy, even as I am holy. So we have individual responsibility as well.
MMM.
We get 3 categories of persons in there, don't we? We Verse 14 If any man's work abide that he had built her on, he should receive a reward. Well, of course that's umm would apply to a question who built uh, we're using uh, gold, silver and precious stones in the I have the the uh, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss while there.
That will be the situation if a question didn't build using the, umm, the right materials, uh, rather than use, rather than use, rather would, would, would I unstubble? But then we also get, if any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy. Now, this is not a question here of uncertainty as to salvation. I believe it really reflects back to the natural man that we had in the, uh, in verse 14 of the previous chapter, uh, an unsaved man, uh, attempting to build in the Church of God, which of course is what we see often see all around us. And uh, the apostle when he writes to the Corinthians, he does.
So if I had his comments somewhat in respect to this because because of the state in currency wasn't too sure they were all really umm, saved, uh, persons that were umm, associated with the assembly there. So that we have those three countries, shall I say, umm, the one who builds with precious stones, one who knows the Lord Jesus Christ, their savior, one whose work will be burned up, sad to say umm, though he himself is saved because.
01:00:05
Umm.
My sheep will hear my my sheep can never perish, the Lord says. And the third category, of course, refers to one who has never actually accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. And they will be umm him shall God destroy.
God in this passage is collective. It's not individual here. That comes out in the sixth chapter of our epistle, which we are familiar with. Uh, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. That is true. And uh, wherever we go, we're going to take the Holy Spirit with us. But in our chapter, it is the collective aspect. So here we have the House of God now having been, uh.
Having taken the form of a great house.
Which has vessels to dishonor in it and error and confusion. It has christened them really. And that's around us now. The Spirit of God not only dwells within the believer.
We know that truth from John's Gospel very clearly. We now have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, something never known in the Old Testament. But also the Spirit of God in the collective sense abides in the house. Because of all this error and confusion and declension, the Spirit of God has not left the house. He is still here working in the professed, uh, the professed uh.
House of God this, uh, this structure.
Uh, and uh, he is working there and uh, we are part of it. We cannot leave it. We cannot leave the House of God, but we are exhorted to separate from the error, from the evil in the house. The Spirit of God is still in the house. And so this, this person, this person here, he brings this evil doctrine, as mentioned, touching the person and work of Christ. We have it in the cults and sects around us, right into the House of God.
It doesn't bring it into heathendom, he brings it into the House of God.
This is what is so serious. And he defiles the House of God. And so we have, uh, we have these evil cults around us that are growing by leaps and bounds. And, uh, he defiles the House of God and he's going to be, his work will be destroyed, of course, and he will be himself. So I think it's important to see the collective aspect here. Umm, and then we have the individual aspect, uh, later on.
So the Spirit of God is still working in the House of God.
The gospel that will be preached tonight, the Spirit of God can take the message and use it. And we, uh, are in a, a land that is largely part of Christendom. I know there's a lot of, uh, other, uh, evil, uh, evil, umm, teachings coming in or religions coming in. But in large measure we are in baptized Christendom today, but we are called upon to separate from the evil.
From that which is contrary to the revealed mind and Word of God.
Brother John, is it limited to?
Doctor bringing in evil, excuse me, evil doctrine? Or is it not also, uh, cover bringing in practices that are contrary to the word of God as well, No doubt.
And usually those practices would be based on doctrine. So Lance practice flows from, from what he teaches. They all can go hand in hand. But if you bring in practices like earthly practices, as if, for instance, treating the assembly as if it's your business and bringing in worldly, uh, practices and things.
Umm does that fall under building with wood, hay and stubble? Or is or is that the same as destroying the House of God? Because there there is often uh, based on the expediency.
Things are brought in. They're really just worldly techniques and, uh, worldly practices. They may not seem evil, but uh, they displace the operation of the Holy Spirit.
Amongst the believers and uh believe that would also be destroying the House of God, would it?
01:05:06
But the next verse in verse 18 says that God is not deceived by any of this. Let no man deceive himself. So people deceive themselves into thinking that God's going to accept this. It's a great movement and so on. My brother John mentioned covenant theology, and it was the error that the early church fathers fell into umm, as as the Apostolic age began to fade. And so they fell into that. And even the Roman Catholic Church has taken up with the covenant theology.
But in the grace of God the truth has been recovered to us and umm in the early 1800s, and by grace, dispensational truth, and the accuracy of the teachings of Scripture in connection with the difference between Israel and the church, the heavenly calling of the church is being brought out. So God is not deceived by any of this. And so he says, let no man deceive himself.
So we're talking about the one in verse 17 as though he's not a Christian. And yet we're also talking about defiling the temple of God or the the House of God is. So it's bringing an evil doctrine. Umm, if I've understood it correctly, can a Christian bring in evil doctrine?
Yes, evil doctrine and evil practice.
So is your question that if it's a believer that does this, would he be destroyed?
Yeah, and I guess what does destroy me? I, I, when we're talking about it in the context of his life and his soul being destroyed, but just trying to understand it, read the end of verse 15. But he himself shall be saved yet. So as by fire. I may act like an unbeliever. I may act umm, in the things of God, just like an unbeliever. I may take up with a doctor and might be deceived by a doctrine of the unbelievers taken up with.
But if I'm real.
He shall be saved yet so as by fire. The work, the monument to his life that he's built in connection with whatever doctrine he held, might be burned up, but he'll be saved.
Isn't it wonderful in the things of God? The heart of the Lord Jesus is for his people. And umm, he is just looking for something that he can reward, something that he can show approval for. And so the apostle says, wherefore I labor that whether absent or present, I may be accepted of him. And so his desire was to labor in an acceptable way, and he desired that you and I, even a day that we live in, would do the same.
Temporal judgment in my soul.
It's taught in scripture. God teaches it in in, uh, First Corinthians Chapter 11.
And uh, and I'm, I don't, wouldn't say with certainty about Ananias and Sapphira, but I've always assumed they were real colleagues. But they brought something in and it was judged. They were judged. Now, that doesn't mean if they were saved, they didn't lose their souls, but.
There are, there may be times when God will judge individuals in the assembly in that way they may get sick, Paul said. Some of you got sick and some are sleeping.
Because of their attitudes, because of the way they were behaving in the House of God. So that that is a teaching in Scripture and that may be applied here.
I don't know.
Answer your question and the Alex I notice here, there's umm, uh, a note here, Mr. Darby says the word for destroy and corrupt is the same in Greek. The force of this as the terms is necessarily lost in the English. I don't know if that helps any.
Question is often asked with regard to these verses and I think it's it's important that we are clear as to what scripture says the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 5 verse 24, barely barely. I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me shall not come in to hath eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but it's passed out of death into life. That doesn't change. There's so many other verses like that. You have to believe it on the sun. That's life. That's now that's.
That's inviolate, but the Scripture also warns Second Timothy 219.
The Lord knoweth them better His, but let it be one that nameth the name of the Lord. Depart from iniquity. So the responsibility is always there. And if we're going to go on with evil, then there may well be a question as to the reality. Umm, But the fact of the matter is, if one has trusted in Christ, then the Lord has that power to keep. He never will let one of His own go. His sheep are in His hands, and He's got.
01:10:08
He knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation that tells us in Peter, but the wicked will be delivered to judgment. And so these things are always put in their proper order in the Word of God. And it's believers who do not need to fear that somehow because of a verse like this, we may enter into judgment because it's something that we did wrong in our life. But on the other hand, let us go on and please the Lord and fear Him.
Earlier, Tim, I think, uh, a little later in the epistle, Chapter 9 and verse 27 might bear that out. They were exalting gifts in Corinth. They were exalting public, uh, oration. And that's why I think the burden of this chapter largely is connected with that. And what is being taught and communicated to the Saints is primarily the, what's being thought of as labor in the house here, even though, as we said, we broadly apply it.
Chapter 9, verse 27. But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection by any means. When I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. The apostle allows that one might be.
One who's looked upon as a gifted orator among the Saints of God in the professing House of God, and yet be a castaway, and one who is there, who is corrupting. It's kind of a deliberate thing. It's not a stumbling, accidental thing so much he's corrupting.
It's deliberate and God will destroy him. God will corrupt him. We shall never perish who are saved. We're never going to perish as without a spoil or corrupt, we're never going to. But the one who deliberately defiles the temple of God, he is going to corrupt him, destroy you. It's a solemn warning.
That's why, as Tim said, we, we're not to fear, you know, it's just let the prophet speak two or three, let the others judge. We submit our teaching to the assembly and there's adjustment now.
So if we make a mistake or we teach something wrong, are we defiling the House of God? I don't think that's what this is speaking to. That's why we submit ourselves and to our brethren who love us and are going to correct us if need be or correct what we say. But that's what we do. So there's no thought here of being afraid as as as a brother.
Said of accidentally doing this. This is someone who's actually actively corrupting the House of God.
189 and 289 No condemnation, precious word. Consider it my soul. Thy sins were all on Jesus laves. His stripes have made the hope. Teach me, oh God, to fix my eyes on Christ the spotless Lamb. So shall I love thy precious will.
And glorify his name.
189.
So condemnation.
All the way, it's been my heart. Thank you for the love of the day.
All right.
Thank you.
Yeah.
01:15:23
OK.
To recommend ourselves.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for that finished and that holy work that thou hast accomplished upon the cross of Calvary. Blessed Savior, we thank thee for those 3 words. It is finished. And we thank you to our God for the words of thy well beloved Son that could say, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Well, we thank thee that that security is so.
Uh, real And that that work is so complete.
And we would desire each one of us not to add anything, not to take away anything from that, uh, truth that we have has been delivered to us in connection with the person and the work of our Savior. And so help us in these very last days before thou just come, blessed Savior, to, uh, search out these things for ourselves and to buy the truth for ourselves and to enjoy it in our own souls. And as our brother is exhorted us that no man take our crown.
Hold that fast that thou hast, that no man take thy crown. So we ask Thee for Thy blessing upon Thy word as we have had it before us, and just commend ourselves to Thee for Thy care and keeping the remainder of this evening in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.