FOUNDATION

One does not need to be a builder to know the importance of building on a firm foundation. Even a child building sand castles on a beach knows that once the tide comes in and undermines the sand around his castle the whole edifice will come tumbling down. Our Lord Himself told the parable of the wise and foolish men who built on differing foundations. Only a house built on a rock will stand.

If this is true of our lives in general, it is true of the church itself. We can be sure of this, that in building His church God will ensure it is built on such a foundation that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. When it comes to the universal church, that world-wide, history-wide, assembly of true believers, God has built it on the very deity of His Son. The foundation for this church is not the confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, much less the rickety foundation of Peter himself. It is the very divine nature of the Son of God that no power of hell can withstand.

In the passage before us today, however, it is not the universal church of God that is in view but rather the local church. In this local assembly of believers, Paul may plant, Apollos may water, but it is God who gives the increase. And, when it comes to building the local assembly, there is only one true, sound foundation to lay, and that, again, is Christ Himself. Each local church must be built upon the message of ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’, not upon the good works of men, their traditions or their personalities. Having, then, laid such a firm foundation, each builder must build into that assembly things that are valuable, that will last the test of time and the fire of God’s assessment. Paul gives us here a ‘studied scale of descending value’. The gold, silver and precious stones remind us of what is precious and the wood, hay and stubble are materials which will so easily fail. Precious materials used in building up the assembly have to do with the wisdom of God and the more perishable items speak of the wisdom and philosophies of man. Only the judgement seat of Christ will reveal the true nature of our work. Let us nonetheless seek to be wise in what we do.