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November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
1 Corinthians (Lesson 13)
When Paul spoke of
using gold, silver, and precious stones,
as Christ’s servants and each
Believer (1 Corinthians 4:1, 6:19-29) builds on the one true Foundation, he was
recalling the costly and imperishable
building materials Solomon utilized in constructing the LORD God's holy sanctuary (1 Chronicles 22:14-16, 29:2).
I mentioned last
week that precious stones aren’t
jewels, but fine granite and marble. Paul
means to say mixing human wisdom with
the wisdom of God in the work of
building His church is like alternating layers of straw and fine marble in the building
process. Straw has its purposes; a “barn”
setting is one, but it is a perishable building
material and unfit for the Foundation which Paul had laid. I liken this to the wisdom of men, more than a few fleshly attractions, and secular hobbies
that have found their place in people’s lives, but have no place in the
building of God’s Church.
The fire itself will test the quality of each man’s (individual’s) work or workmanship. When Jesus Christ examines our workmanship at the Bema Seat Judgment, the
intentions and motives encouraging each activity will be made known to Him. If our efforts are the equivalent of wood, hay, and straw the fire will destroy them leaving nothing
behind.
(2 Corinthians 5:10;
Colossians 3:23)
I pray people will
sit-up and take notice of this Truth. For
many think they are serving God, when actually they are doing it in an unworthy
manner or with unworthy “materials.” As
a result, they will discover at the Bema Seat Judgment that they have, in
reality, done nothing for the
Lord. They will be saved, but they will suffer
loss; they will receive no crown to give to Jesus Christ for His glory as
in Revelation 4:10-11.
This week our
Apostle Paul “builds” on his analogy of God’s Church being likened to a
building. He moves from the grand
structure in general to a particular building which is not only splendid in its
appearance but “holy,” i.e. set apart, with this statement:
Do you not know that you are a temple of God…
********
Please
open your Bible at 1 Corinthians 3:16.
1 Corinthians 3
16: Do you not know
that you are a temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you? (Romans 8:9)
Do you not know – This phrase is the
equivalent of our, “You’re kidding me!”
It was also a common literary device back then to pose a rhetorical question. Paul uses this expression ten times in his
first letter to the Corinthians. He consistently
uses it before he begins to explain something that his listeners should already
know but “don’t.” His usage of it
here refers to something Paul has personally explained to these Corinthians
earlier (Acts 18). So what he is about
to say “again” ought to have been a matter of common knowledge, but here’s the thing, they had either forgotten the
subject matter or had rejected it outright.
Paul’s
question, “Do you not know that you are
a temple of God and that the
Spirit of God dwells in you” has
this logic behind it. The Corinthians imagined themselves to be
extremely “spiritual” and “wise” beyond their years, yet Paul had
to ask them this question, (I’m paraphrasing here), “Can it be that you who boast in spirituality and wisdom do not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?”
This
rhetorical question from Paul was a stinging rebuke to the Corinthian’s pride,
the proverbial “word- slap upside of the head,” if you will, to
get their attention. This truth lay at
the heart of his question: the
Corinthians had failed to recognize who they were in Christ Jesus. They should have known this elementary teaching, but they did
not.
In
verse 16 Paul isn’t talking about the individual Believer being a temple of God, instead he’s talking
about the local church in Corinth being God’s temple. I say this because
the context of Paul’s writings concerns the local church. Looking back, the previous verses we studied
concerned the Judgment Seat of Christ, a.k.a the Bema Seat (1 Corinthians
3:10-15). Paul explained how God holds each
Believer responsible for the quality of
their workmanship and the materials they use to build His church. Those who build on the true Foundation with imperishable materials will receive a
reward, but those who build carelessly with perishable
materials will suffer loss. Their work
will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The loss referred to here is not the loss of
their salvation for verse 3:15 promises that the person themselves will be saved, yet so as through the fire.
Not
only does the context support the view that Paul is speaking of the local church,
the grammar does as well. In the Greek
language the word you in verse 16 is
plural. In our English language the word
“you” is ambiguous; a person cannot always tell whether it’s singular or
plural. If you live in the southern
United States that ambiguity has been removed.
When they mean more than one person they say, “ya’ll.” If Paul were a southerner the verse would
read like this, “Do ya’ll not know that ya’ll are a temple (singular) of God
and the Spirit of God dwells in ya’ll?” Clearly,
this verse concerns the local church and not the individual Believer. Paul does speak of the individual Believer
being a temple of God at 1
Corinthians 6:19-20.
Paul
said the Corinthian church (your local church is included in this analogy) is a
temple of God. There are two primary words for temple in the Greek New Testament. The word that signifies the entire temple,
including the courtyard, which even the Gentiles could enter, was Hieron.
But the other Greek word, Naos (pronounced: nah-os’) as used in 3:16-17 denotes just the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies,
which could not be entered by Gentiles or sinful Israelites, or anyone else for
that matter. The only person permitted
to enter the Holy of Holies was the Jewish High Priest, and he only did this once
a year on the Day of Atonement.
What
makes the church a temple? The
Spirit of God dwells in you!
Likening this to the ancient Jewish Temple that contained the Holy of
Holies, where deity dwelt, when you become a Believer you also become the
sanctuary where God dwells.
Let’s
look at verse 17.
1 Corinthians 3
17: If any man (or woman) destroys (corrupts) the temple of God, God will destroy
him (or her), for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
One
of the things I learn from this verse right off the bat is - God values His
church. How much does He value it? Scripture gives us these words from Jesus to
guide our thinking on the subject: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew
16:18).
In
this passage Jesus refers to His impending death. Though He would be crucified and buried, He
would rise from the dead on the 3rd day and commence to build His
church. Jesus is emphasizing the fact
that the powers of death could not hold Him (Acts 2:24). Not only would the church be established, in
spite of Hades or hell, the church, a living organism, would thrive in spite of
the evil forces in the world.
The
church matters a great deal to God, so it matters to God how we care for His temple.
Paul’s statement in v17 is a genuine possibility, which is why he said
it. He understands people are busy destroying God’s temple in Corinth.
This
begs the question, “Who is destroying
the temple?” Paul doesn’t name anyone in particular, but
if we consider everything we’ve studied up until now I have no problem teaching
that the people he’s speaking of were Believers. Narrowing this down further, there’s no doubt
in my mind they were the “leaders” of the factions within the church. But then
you also have to include the church members who aligned themselves with these leaders. They accepted the hypocritical and worldly teachings of these men and were
promoting them, while casting aside the teachings of the Apostle Paul.
The
word destroy in the Greek language
is Phtheiro (pronounced: fthi’-ro) and has several uses in the
N.T. It can mean to spoil or corrupt morally
or physically. It can also mean to
destroy spiritually and eternally. The
immediate context determines its meaning.
Here it is referring to saved
but spiritually immature Believers who are causing a factious spirit to develop
in the church at Corinth, i.e. to lead
away a Christian church from that state of knowledge and holiness in
which it ought to abide.
What
does Paul mean by the words? God will destroy him (or her) - Paul’s saying the punishment fits
the crime. “Destroy My church and you will answer to Me!” It doesn’t mean that God is going to “wipe
out” a church that’s messing up. A church is merely a spiritual hospital for
sinners. There’s no evidence in
Scripture of a church being wiped off the map by God because of: adultery, back-biting, disunity, gossiping,
and immorality. Paul never uses this
word in reference to eradication, eternal punishment, or extermination. It does, however, refer to “judgment” upon
the individual Believer.
The
list below is meant to suggest some of the ways God punishes individuals who
choose to defile His church:
Excommunication: in the Old Testament, one of the penalties
for defiling God’s dwelling, whether that was the traveling Tabernacle or the
Jewish Temple, was separation from the nation (Numbers 19:20). We learn a couple things from this:
#1: When God speaks He expects His creation to
listen and obey.
#2: God takes the holiness of His dwelling
seriously. The Israelite who failed to
recognize this important Truth suffered the consequences of excommunication or
worse. If a Believer in the Church Age
fails to take God at His Word, considering the holiness of His dwelling, they
too will be “excluded” from the body of Believers: It is
actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a
kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s
wife. You have become arrogant and have
not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed
from you midst (1 Corinthians 5:1-5).
Sickness: In the Old Testament we have the account of
Uzziah, who gave in to pride after achieving various military successes and
then went right into the temple (Naos), the Holy of Holies, and was
punished by God with leprosy. In the New
Testament, the Corinthian Believers were guilty of abusing the Lord’s Supper in
various ways, so the Lord disciplined them with weakness, sickness, and
eventually death: For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a
number sleep (have died). (1
Corinthians 11:23-30)
Eternal Loss: There’s no O.T. application for this but from
1 Corinthians 3:15 we learn: If any man’s (or woman’s) work is burned up, he (or she) will suffer loss. We know the builder will not lose his or
her salvation, but they will lose reward.
Thus, in addition to physical ruin, sickness, and death, God’s
destruction may also include the complete obliteration of the Corinthian destroyer’s life work at the Judgment
Seat of Jesus Christ.
I
pray you can see this is serious business.
I saw a bumper sticker not too long ago that read, “If you value your life as much as I value this truck, DON’T TOUCH IT!” That comment mirrors God’s mindset in regard
to His church, “You harm My temple,
and you’ll have to deal with Me!”
It
would behoove every Believer in the Body of Christ to reconsider and to reflect
on why they are always sick or in
poor health. It just may be that the
consequences of their actions or inactions within God’s church have caught up
with them. One should never
underestimate the value God places on relationships
and I’m not just speaking of God’s temple;
I’m referring to the family unit as well because we’re dealing with the same
thing – God’s Church. Paul gives us the
reason why next.
For the temple of
God is holy, and that is what you are – just as the LORD
God indicated His presence in the Jewish Temple by filling it with the cloud of
His glory (1 Kings 8:10-11), in like manner He indwells His people today by
filling them with the Holy Spirit. True
Believers are not ordinary people. They
are loved before time began (Ephesians 1:4-5, 11). They are holy,
set apart to God in a special way and through a special relationship – through His
Son, Jesus Christ.
Let’s
move on to verses 18-21.
Paul
goes right to the logical answer to all this in verse 18. What does God’s expect from us since this is
the danger under which we all live?
1 Corinthians 3
18: Let no man (or woman) deceive himself (or
herself). If any man (or woman) among
you thinks that he (or she) is wise
in this age, he (or she) must
become foolish, so that he (or she) may become wise. (1 Cor 8:2)
Read
verse 18 carefully. It doesn’t say, “Let
no man deceive you…” It says, “Let no man (or woman) deceive himself (or
herself). Here’s the thing, we all think
we’re doing things for God, serving Him by serving others, when down deep,
hidden to everyone around us, there’s an ambition, a desire for recognition,
for fame, and for glory. Paul is saying,
“Stop kidding yourself because you’re not
fooling God.”
Consider these words from Jesus, when you’re performing acts of charity: “So when you give to
the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in
full. But when you give to the poor, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matthew 6:2-3)
If
you’re working so that others around you will notice you and your work then don’t
think for a moment that you will be rewarded twice. God knows your heart. If your service to
the Lord is not coming from that sense of dependence on the wisdom and the power of the Spirit of God, then in reality you’re serving yourself
and it will all come to nothing at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
If any man (or woman) among you thinks that he (or she) is wise in this age, - here
Paul is referring to the Corinthians who were an arrogant and conceited faction. They took great pride in their wisdom; a fact
that becomes increasing clear later on at 1 Corinthians 4:6-10. To stay this course, thinking and their
behaving as they were, they are proving themselves to be unwise in God’s
eyes.
Paul
calls upon these Corinthians to repent, “to fess up,” he (or she) must become foolish. Paul instructs them to forsake worldly wisdom and embrace foolishness. Jesus Christ used a similar argument at
Matthew 16:24-26: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and
take up his cross and follow Me. For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My
sake will find it. For what will it
profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his
soul?”
Paul
is not telling these Corinthians that every foolish person is wise. Neither is he calling upon them to forsake every
kind of wisdom just a certain kind of wisdom, i.e. the wisdom of this age. True wisdom is of God is the implication
here. The wisdom of the world will not make you wise in God’s
eyes. In other words, the wisdom Paul
speaks of is God’s wisdom in a mystery,
the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages. This knowledge
is found only in God’s Gospel and taught to Believers by the Spirit of God (1
Corinthians 2:12-13).
Let’s
go to verses 19-20.
1 Corinthians 3
19: For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness before God.
For it is written, “He is THE
ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”;
20: and again, “THE
LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”
Paul
quotes from two Old Testament passages to demonstrate that worldly wisdom is folly
and that God’s “folly” (in the eyes of the world) is true wisdom. The first quote (v19) is taken from the book
of Job (Job 5:13). These are the words
of Job’s friend Eliphaz. Paul has taken
a quote from a man who is later rebuked by the LORD God for being wrong (Job
42:7). But why did Paul choose this
passage from Job? Eliphaz, like his two
friends, wasn’t wrong in what they had said about God; he was wrong in “his thinking;”
in how he applied this truth to Job.
Eliphaz accused Job of being crafty,
explaining that Job’s sufferings were divine judgment as a result of
sin. This was hardly the case (Job 1:1,
8).
The
second quote (v20) comes from the book of Psalms (Psalm 94:11). It’s interesting that this passage actually
reads: The LORD knows the thoughts of man, That they are a mere breath. Paul changes this passage at two
points: he exchanged the word wise for the word man. In the context of the
Psalm, it’s clear that unbelieving man thinks himself wise, when in fact he is
really foolish (see verses 2, 4, and 8).
So, the thoughts of unsaved man are of one who thinks himself wise. The second variation occurs where Paul inserts
the word useless, where the Bible
translators use the expression mere breath. By this Paul means to say the thoughts of
arrogant (wise) men are futile, useless,
because they are temporary rather
than eternal. No matter how “deep” man’s
thoughts are they are restricted to this present evil age, while God’s thoughts
and plans are eternal.
Paul
has shown these Corinthians why pursing worldly
wisdom is foolish. It’s temporal. Man’s thought processes are useless so far as eternity is
concerned; they are also destructive.
They will not only lead us astray, they will “trip” us up, corrupting us. Forsaking worldly wisdom and
pursuing the wisdom of God, which
comes through His Word and the Spirit of God is the one path all Believers should
be on (Psalm 119:105)
(To
be continued)
[Published Weekly
on Friday]
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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