In yesterday’s passage Paul was
talking about how he and Apollos were co-workers on a single project: The
Corinthian church. Paul started it by preaching the Good News, leading people
to Christ, doing some basic discipling, and keeping up with their spiritual
well-being. Apparently Apollos had come behind him and helped the believers
grow in their faith, making sure they understood the basics of the faith,
possibly organizing them and helping them appoint leadership, etc. As Paul put it, “[He] planted
the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”
But now he shifts from farming
imagery to building construction. Although the immediate context deals with the
situation in Corinthians, I believe that this has applications which we need to
consider in our own lives. Here’s how I summarize what he’s teaching here:
·
From the moment you received Christ, you began
building.
Some people receive him as a child, while others wait until their later years.
As we’ll see in a moment, all believers go to the same Heaven, but the earlier
you believe in Christ, the better, since that’s more time you have to serve him
down here.
·
There’s only one foundation upon which you can build. Obviously there’s “no other name
under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
·
You
don’t choose which foundation you’re
going to build upon, but you do choose which materials you build
with. This is an extremely important distinction. You
choose whether you build with “gold, silver, costly stones,” or “wood, hay or
straw.” What do these different materials represent? Wood, hay and straw are
inexpensive and easy to get. Gold, silver, and precious stones are costly and
difficult to get. Living for Christ takes some effort. It takes some sacrifice.
It means
denying yourself daily and following Jesus.
·
One day, on the Day of Judgment, all of the structures
we’ve built will be tested by fire. What is this fire? Most likely it’s the
all-seeing eyes of the Lord Jesus. When the apostle John saw
the Lord in the 1st chapter of Revelation, the formerly meek-and-mild
Son of God had “eyes [which] were like blazing fire.” I think that one day these eyes will pass over
the works that I’ve supposedly done for him and in his name. If I’ve been only
pretending to sacrifice for him (like Ananias
and Sapphira), then he knows. If I’ve
made a show of worshipping and evangelizing and praying, then he knows.
·
You’ll be rewarded far beyond your wildest dreams
based on what survives the inspection.
Whatever
your sacrifices you’ve made for your King, you’ll one day look upon them and
say “It was all worth it.” If there are any regrets on this Day, it’ll be us saying
“I sure wish I'd given more back then!”
·
Again,
this is super-important: What’s at stake here is not anyone’s
salvation. The absolutely worst-case scenario for anyone at this Judgment is for them to spend 70-80
or more years (supposedly) serving their Lord—baptized as a young child, going to
church every Sunday, singing in the choir, giving to charity, etc.—and at the
end of it all, with one sweep of the Eyes, it’s all dust and ashes. “But yet [they]
will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” Yes, if
anyone has received Christ, they’ll get into Heaven. They just won’t enjoy it
as much as some others.
I
heard a youth pastor submit an illustration which I think explains this last
point really well. Imagine a 5-gallon pitcher vs. a 12-ounce pitcher (or if you’re
really into the metric system, imagine a milliliter cup vs. a 10 liter bottle).
You fill up both containers to the brim. Both are filled up to maximum, but one
only holds a little and the other holds a lot more.
You
see, we all go to the same Heaven, and we’ll all be filled to the brim with joy
and ecstasy. But the more faithful you are and the more you sacrifice for him
down here, the more you’ll enjoy it once you get “up there.”
And
of course the converse is true. The more I spend my time, energy, and other
finite resources in things that don’t have eternal significance, the more I’ll
regret it one day. And if I actually put a lot of energy into a “front” so that
I look good to others, that’s worse than useless. I’m just setting myself up
for a major “loss” when I meet my Savior face to face.
“Only
one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only
what’s done for Christ will last.”
--C.
T. Studd
Lord Jesus, this
is both exciting and sobering. Help me to live for you, to build with the stuff
that lasts, so that I can glorify you more and more and more. By your grace.
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