One Foundation

Introduction

First Corinthians, a third chapter will be our text this morning. We’ll be reading that in just a few minutes. We do have many who are visiting with us, some from right here in Orlando, others from across the country, and maybe even some from places outside of this country. I was glad to have you with us as we’ve come together to worship our God, to sing praises to his name, to remember, as we have this morning, the sacrifice that was made on our behalf. And to now dedicate ourselves to the word, to dedicate ourselves to living lives pleasing to him as he is instructed. And certainly we do so every first day of the week as we turn to his word to read there and to study and to see what it is that God has said.

First Corinthians, a third chapter, and I’m going to begin reading in verse 10, and I’m going to go through verse 17. According to the grace of God which was given to me, Paul says, like a master, or I’m sorry, like a wise master building, builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man builds on a foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident. But the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.

If any man’s work which he has built on it reward remains, he’ll receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so is through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If many if any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. The passage that we read this morning, whether about a building or about the temple, and in fact, I believe the passage has in mind this building of the temple, all is about building and foundations. If you don’t think foundations are important, then ask anyone that’s been looking for a house.

Ask them, would you like to have a house with a foundation like that? Where you can go and you can see, you know what, there’s large cracks in that foundation. And then they may even look along the walls and they might see, well, there’s cracks in the walls, and it’s because, well, the foundation isn’t good. It’s not solid. And since the foundation is cracked and sunken, well, then that’s put strain on the house. Now there’s cracks in the walls. Or maybe you might find a house that the earth kind of wasn’t settled all the way beneath it. And so the foundation dropped, and so did the rest of the house. And for those lucky of us owning property in Florida or looking for property in Florida, you may also think, well, there might even be a sinkhole underneath my house or beside my house.

And we understand that when we’re looking at a house, you’re living in a place, you want solid foundation. You want it rock solid, you don’t want it to change, you don’t want it to move, you want it to be steadfast. Well, spiritually speaking, the same is true. We’re looking at a foundation for spiritual matters. We want something that’s strong. We want something that’s going to hold firm, not change, that’s going to be there, something we can count on, something we can rely on. And as Paul said in this text, well, Jesus is our foundation. In fact, he says, no other foundation can be laid. We teach a foundations class here at Bumby. I’m teaching that this quarter with Brother John Wilman. And we call it a foundations class because we seek to build on basic principles.

Basic principles about who God is, about who Jesus is, and about what it means to be a Christian. We want to make sure we get the foundation right so we can build on that. In a like manner, this morning’s lesson is a very foundational lesson. It just happens to be about foundations. But the purpose of this morning’s lesson is if you are visiting with us, you may have been visiting with us even for some time, and you may wonder there’s some things that are different about this church. There’s some things that I don’t see in this church that I do see in other churches. And you may teach and preach things that I’ve not heard before. I want to try to give a simple explanation for why that is the case this morning.

1. Only One Foundation Can Be Laid

I want to base it on this passage here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. First of all, we want to focus on the fact that only one foundation can be laid. We’ll go back in our Bibles to the book of Acts. In Acts the 18th chapter. In Acts the 18th chapter, we read that on Paul’s second missionary journey, toward the end of that second missionary journey, he comes to the city of Corinth. Now we know from verse 11 that he’s going to be there for a year and six months. So he stays there for a period of 18 months. And there he is preaching and he is teaching, and as is the case in many places, he has some opposition from the Jews. But you read in verse 5 that after Silas and Timothy had came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

Here’s what Paul was preaching over and over again. Jesus of Nazareth, he is the Christ. And you skip down to verse 11, I’m sorry, verse 8, and you see that some began to believe that message and respond to that message. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized. Paul had been laying a foundation for them. A foundation of Jesus, a foundation of Jesus as the Christ. Well, a few years pass, and Paul begins to hear some troubles coming out of Corinth. But although he had laid a foundation, it seems that things were not well in the church at Corinth. He alludes to the fact that of his earlier preaching, often in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians.

In fact, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And you’ll know what he says about his preaching. I’m going to start in verse 22, right? So I’ll start in verse 21 of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. That since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God. God was well pleased with the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles, foolishness. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. You might skip on down to verses 30 and 31. By this doing, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us the wisdom of God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

So that just is written, let him who boast boast in the Lord. And he continues on in chapter 2 When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And so it’s little wonder that as Paul is tackling the issue here in 1 Corinthians about how there were some in the church who had divided among themselves. Some were saying I am of Paul, some were saying I am of Apollos. And Paul says, I wasn’t crucified for you. And in fact, the very message I proclaimed to you as I was in your presence for those 18 months was simply Jesus the Christ.

And Jesus crucified. When you go to the third chapter, Paul makes mention of how they were still acting fleshly. Well, of course, they’re men, they’re in the flesh, but he’s using that term fleshly as opposed to spiritually. You’re thinking like men do rather than thinking of child like children of God should. And a key example, a prime example of that is saying that some of you are saying you’re of Paul, some of you are saying you’re of Apollos. So he goes on to talk about how while Paul planted, Apollos watered. And yet neither Paul nor Apollos gave the increase. That only comes from God. And then his attention turned to that of you are not only God’s field, but you are God’s building. And so Paul says, according to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master building, I laid a foundation.

And another is building on it. Whether you want to talk about Apollos or Peter or any other teacher, they are simply laying on the foundation of which Paul established, that of Jesus the Christ and Jesus crucified. And so they are building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it, for no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. If we can get this in our minds, it helps us so much to understand other passages. That Paul’s mission and Paul’s work was to simply preach Jesus. And what that meant was that what Paul was doing is he’s not making it up as he goes. We think of passages like Matthew chapter 16 and verses 16 through 18, where of course Peter there gives the good confession when Jesus asks, Who do men say that I am?

And Peter is the one who replies, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And you remember what Jesus says to Peter, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, for man is not revealed to this to you, but God. And I say to you, your name is Peter, Petros, a stone. And upon this rock, Petra, foundation, you might say, even, upon this rock, I’ll build my church. Peter never took it upon himself to make up the law of the church. Peter went out preaching Christ in Christ crucified. We know from passages like Ephesians chapter 2 and in verse 20, when Paul speaks about how we are the temple of God and we’re laid on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

Paul is not saying there that the apostles and prophets had equal standing with Jesus on that foundation. Jesus is the cornerstone, and the apostles and prophets were simply giving the words of God. In the book of John, John 14, 26, John 15, 26, and John 16, 13. Just three occasions, you could probably find more, where Jesus promises to his apostles that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them, and the Holy Spirit was going to remind them of all the things that he had said, reveal the will of God to them, and guide them into all the truth. Paul never equated himself with Jesus. He didn’t say, I’m the foundation. Only Jesus can be the foundation. Only the words of Jesus, as spoken by Jesus, and yes, through his apostles, but they weren’t making those up on their set by themselves.

2. This Foundation Gives Hope

They were the words of God communicated through them. And let me tell you, we should be thankful, always thankful, that Jesus is in fact our foundation, and there’s no man. Because it is this foundation that gives hope. The prophet Isaiah spoke about this in Isaiah the 28th chapter and in verse 16. In Isaiah 28 and verse 16, in prophecy, the Lord said, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. The Lord said, I am going to be placing this foundation in Zion. This cornerstone. And if you will hold on to that, you’ll not be disturbed. Peter alludes to that in other passages in Acts the fourth chapter.

In Acts the fourth chapter in verses 11 and 12, as Peter and the apostles have been put on trial for their professing Christ. And Peter says, He that is Jesus is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. When we proclaim that Jesus is the foundation of us, of the church, even. Well, of course we must proclaim that. Because it’s only through him, in him crucified, that we have hope of salvation. And that if we will cling to him, yes, we can go even not being disturbed. As we’ve already read there in the first chapter in verses 30 and 31, that those of us who are now in Christ Jesus, we have become now the wisdom of God, or wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

3. Christ Adds to Our Lives Purpose and Meaning

So that justice is written, let him who boast boast in the Lord. That’s our only boasting. That Christ is our Savior. He is our foundation. He is the one whom we are built upon. And yes, and we’ll just quickly move through this point, that also adds to our lives purpose and meaning. Now we look at those pastors like Ephesians 5 and Ephesians 2 and verses 19 and 20, that now we are becoming that temple of God. We are being built on that foundation. But for what purpose?

4. The Foundation Is Supremacy and Authority

That God exists among men and his people. And God can be known to men because of his people. That can only happen when Christ is the chief cornerstone, when Christ is the foundation. And so we look at Christ being our foundation. He’s the one that gives us hope. He’s the one that gives us purpose and meaning in life. But we cannot move on if we do not also understand that this idea of Christ being the foundation is also one of supremacy. And yes, even that of authority. So I want you to take your Bible here in 1 Corinthians. I want you to notice a couple of things. We have already noticed back in the 18th chapter of Acts in verse 5, when Paul came to Corinth preaching.

While he says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I aim to know nothing among you except for Jesus and him crucified. We read in Acts chapter 18 and verse 5, he was proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ. That may make us recall back to Acts chapter 2 and in verse 36, where at the conclusion of his sermon on Pentecost, Peter proclaims to all the Jews who are in assembly, saying, He is now both Lord and Christ. Jesus, whom you crucified. That was the message that Paul was proclaiming. He is the one who died for us. He is the one who loves us, who gives us hope, who gives us assurance, who gives us purpose, but he’s also the Christ.

And I want you to know as you go through the book of 1 Corinthians, that is never far from Paul’s mind. It’s an interesting thing in the book of 1 Corinthians that Paul oftentimes makes reference to the fact that what he taught, he taught everywhere. He taught this in all the churches. Go to the fourth chapter. This is Paul kind of wrapping up his argument or his rebuttal or his rebuking of them for their divisive ways and for their propping themselves up on earthly wisdom and making for themselves teachers who maybe give them some earthly wisdom and not just the gospel. He says he’s going to send Timothy to them in verse 17. He says, Timothy is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

Do you notice a couple of things in that passage? Paul’s saying, My ways are the ways which are in Christ. He’s not referencing himself and saying that my revelation. He’s saying, no, these are the ways that are in Christ. And these are the ways that I teach, not in some churches, depending on their circumstances. I don’t preach something different in Greece that I would preach in Judea. I preach these things in every church because of the ways of Christ. In the seventh chapter in verse 17, a passage about marriage and some questions regarding marriage. And Paul making the point that because of the circumstances that were going on at that time, I am saying that you need to remain in the way and the calling in which you were called.

And he says in verse 17, only as a Lord is assigned to each one, as God has called each. In this manner, let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches. You go to the 14th chapter in verse 34, when Paul is talking about the silence of women in the churches, he says, not just in the Corinthian church, in the churches. In the 16th chapter, in verses 1 and 2, when he’s talking about the collection of the saints, he talks about as I directed the churches of Galatia. So I’m directing you.

I’m only proclaiming that which was given by Christ Himself. In the seventh chapter again, as he’s dealing with some marriage questions, he says in the 10th verse of chapter 7, To the married I give instructions. Not I, but the Lord. What are those instructions? That the wife should not leave her husband. But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And that the husband should not divorce his wife. You would go back and read Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 19, and other passages where our Lord spoke on these things, and you would say, You’re right. What Paul is saying, there’s exactly what the Lord had said here on the earth. But then you’ll note in verse 12, Paul says, To the rest I say, not the Lord.

Oh, okay. So we’ve got Paul kind of making new doctrine here. I want you to know what Paul says. That if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her, she must not send her away. What’s Paul done there? He’s taking a situation that our Lord never taught about. Our Lord never taught about on this earth about believers being married to unbelievers. You won’t find that in Matthew 5 or Matthew 19. He’s taking a situation that is a real case in Corinth, though, and he’s applying what Jesus already said to that same situation. He says, Yes, I say not the Lord, but you’ll note he’s saying exactly what Jesus has said back in Matthew 5.

Don’t divorce. Well, he says in Matthew 19, why God is joined together, let not man put asunder.

In the ninth chapter, in regards to Paul’s being supported, and how he had not taken support from the Corinthians, he says in verse 14, so also the Lord directed that those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. Paul did not base his argument based on simply what he thought or what he said. He said, No, this goes back to what the Lord says. In the 11th chapter in verse 1, after taking up this matter of not offending a weak brother, he says, Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. If I’m calling you to look on me and imitate this and to make this even a part of your doctrine, do so because I’m following after Christ. And again, in the 24th and 25th verses of the same chapter, as he is speaking of their misuse of the Lord’s table, he reminds them of what the Lord Himself said.

This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way he took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is a new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. What Paul is doing is as he is building on to that foundation. He’s making sure he’s being very careful to only build on to that foundation with the teachings of Jesus. The words of Jesus, either spoken directly by Jesus or by inspiration through the Holy Spirit.

5. It Matters How We Build on the Foundation

Going back in our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we look at that it matters how we build on the foundation. Back in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and in verses 12 and 13, Paul has this to say, and I’ll admit, it’s a it’s a challenging little passage. He says, if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident. For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. And he goes on to talk about that if a man’s work remains, then he will have his reward. If a man’s work does not remain, then he himself may be saved, but through fire, but his work perishes.

I say that’s a difficult passage because there are good brethren who don’t always see the interpretation of the passage the same. Sometimes we look at the idea of a building and we look at passages like Ephesians chapter 2, and we know, well, we are the materials of that building. We are being built into that temple. When Paul talks about the gold and the precious stones, I don’t think he’s talking about the people. I think he’s talking about the teachings because that fits in with what Paul has been talking about in 1 Corinthians. Paul has constantly been saying, I am delivering to you Christ and Christ crucified. And you’ll note what he said back in the second chapter. I didn’t come with superiority of speech or of wisdom.

In a Greek culture, Sophia, wisdom was to be cherished. And men would go around teaching in all these cities because they were wise men. They could prop themselves up as wise men and be supported by the cities and how eloquent they could be in their speech. Paul says, I didn’t come that way. I don’t think Paul was a bad speaker. I think he was probably a very good speaker. But he came with a simple message. I came preaching Christ. Now let me ask you. If I’m right, and really in this whole passage, this building is really about the temple of God. What kind of materials need to go in a temple of God? If Jesus is the foundation, what kind of materials do you want in that temple?

Do you want gold? Silver, precious stones. I would say you do. Would you build a temple out of wood, hay, and straw? I kind of doubt you would. No, a temple, you’re going to put gold, silver, precious stones. You’re going to put that which is matching with the foundation. Jesus is the foundation. What Paul is saying is, I’m giving you gold, silver, precious stones. You’re looking to all these other sources, all these other men who what they say sounds great. But it’s not the simple message from God. It’s hay and it’s straw and it’s wood. And it’s not going to last. And then there’s a third category, he even mentions in verses 16 and 17. Some teachings may not destroy the body. They may not be worth much, but they don’t destroy the body.

There are some things, though, that destroy the temple. Do you not know that you are a temple of God? The Spirit of God dwells in you. And if any man destroys a temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Such teachings would be those of what we read back in verse 4. When one says, I am a Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not being mere men? He says.

6. We Live by His Will

That we have assurance because He is our Savior. That we now have purpose in our lives because He has given us purpose. But we also live by His will because He is the foundation. He is the one now seated at the very right hand of God. And so if you were visiting with us and you have questions, I would answer all your questions on that basis. If you had a question of where was the piano? Or the other musical instruments, I would say to you that we love music. I love music. Most people I know here love music, and I hope you were impressed as we sang our hymns to God today, that we do enjoy musical praise to God. But I would also simply answer, we just don’t read of how the New Testament church was told to use those instruments.

We know from Ephesians 5 19 and Colossians 3 16 and a few other passages that yes, they sang their hymns to God. And so we are only wanting to go by the words of Jesus and his apostles. You might ask a question, I’ve only seen men stand up here today. Where were all the women? Do you guys hate women or something? No, absolutely not. In fact, the Bible puts a premium on women. The Bible says in Christ’s church, and now men and women are equal. We are equal heirs with God, but He’s also given us instruction. We don’t always have to understand even. But in pastors like 1 Corinthians 14, 34, the women are to be silent in the churches. And so as our practice, we’re only going by what we know Jesus and his apostles said.

Because that’s our foundation. You might have other questions about our worship today. You might wonder, is there not a place where we can come together and we can have enjoyment, a fellowship hall? And I would say to you, we enjoy fellowship. We enjoy getting together. We enjoy spending time to each other. We enjoy encouraging each other. But we just don’t read about the church being engaged in feeding and in playing games. Building facilities for that. We do do that. We have brethren all the time that are coming together to do those kinds of things. But the mission of the church is to be the pillar and the ground of the truth, 1 Timothy 3 and in verse 15. You may have questions about some of our doctrinal stances.

I very much appreciate Brother West’s prayer this morning about our needing to have love for all men and expressing that love for all men because that is the will of God for us, that we love everyone. It does not mean, though, that we can declare that all the behavior of all men is in keeping with the word of God. In 1 Corinthians 6 chapter, we know that there are some behaviors that are not pleasing to God. Do you not know that the unrighteous, verse 9, will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God, and such were some of you.

We love all men. We love the people in this room. And because of that love, we’ve also had to say, here are some things that are not pleasing to God. Repent. Turn away from those things. That’s our message. That’s our aim. If you have doctrinal questions, I would simply say, we’re simply trying to go back to the foundation, to the foundation of Christ and to teach and to preach what he has said. You may wonder, because I’m going to be extending an invitation here in just a moment. What would I say to you that you need to believe in Jesus as the Christ? But that you also need to repent of your sins and to be baptized to have those sins forgiven. If you’ve visited many other churches, you may not have heard a message like that.

Do we not believe what Paul said in Ephesians 2 and 8 and 9? That yes, we are saved by grace through faith, that is not of works. We certainly believe that. We know that to be true because that’s a part of the foundation. It’s a part of the words of Christ and of his apostles. But we also understand from the scriptures that a faith, a real faith in God, is a faith that follows Christ. A faith that submits our will to Christ’s will. As Brother Bob has said so many, many times, a faith that saves is a faith that obeys. Because that too is a part of the will of Christ. There’s a reason why Jesus says in Mark 16 and 16 that he who believes and is baptized will be saved.

Conclusion

And so, no, we do not preach and teach that baptism is an optional thing or an outward sign of inward grace because the Bible doesn’t teach that. We’re willing to be foundational in that. We want to preach and teach what Jesus said. And so we would even give that invitation to you. So much more could be said. I hope I’ve just put in your mind. That if you look around, you have questions. Let us answer those questions. Let us give you a reason. Let us show you from the will of Christ, from the will of his apostles, here’s the foundation for our faith. Here’s the foundation of our church. Here’s why we’re trying to do what we know Christ has said to do.

That Jesus is the Christ. And Jesus was crucified. Can we make that very real to you? Could we make your life be built on top of that? And we would preach to you that He came. The Son of Man, the Son of God came and lived on this earth as a man. And he gave his life for you, and he gave His life for me. He gave His life to give us hope so that we could trust in that stone, that precious stone that was lain in Zion, and we could go through life not being disturbed. He came, he did that, and now He sits at the right hand of God as Lord and Christ. So let us help lay a foundation of Christ in your life.

Would you believe in Jesus? If you would like to know more about Jesus, then ask any one of us. Let us teach you about Jesus, about what he’s done for us, and how we should respond to him today. And if you know about him and want to respond to his imitation, then repent of your sins. Come forward this morning, having true faith in him, professing that faith even before these witnesses, and being baptized so that your sins can be forgiven through the blood of Christ. Can we aid you in some way? Won’t you come as we stand and as we sing? Oh, the sentence of my restore.

Yes, one came down from heaven.