THE TEMPLE

1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 17


In the old bedtime story of the “Three Little Pigs”, the pigs each built a house. One was made of straw, another made of sticks, but the last pig built his of brick. The Big Bad Wolf came along, trying to eat himself some pork, and huffed, puffed, and blew the houses down. The only house to evade destruction, and thereby denying the wolf his lunch, was the house made of brick, a house built solidly, with a good foundation.
The temple in Jerusalem was said to be quite impressive. It was huge, covered in white marble, and was the center of the Jewish faith. When the Big Bad Wolf, AKA the Roman empire, destroyed the temple around AD 70, the people were devastated.
Why?
There are several schools of thought as to why the temple was destroyed. Obviously it was an act of the Roman's. But, there is also the theory that it was not only a physical destruction, but also a spiritual destruction of the temple because the Jews did not have a solid foundation in their faith.

12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
16 ¶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Weird isn't it, that Paul made reference to our bodies to the temple of God?
How about the slight reference to the Little Pigs? (all right, maybe the pigs were a reference to the temple as it was destroyed a few centuries before the story was written)
what I'm trying to get across here is that without a firm foundation in the faith on which we can build the house of our beliefs, we are going to be subject to premature destruction.
At first the Corinthians got this a little wrong.

3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

Unfortunately, we can begin to place those who brought us to Christ on a pedestal thinking them wiser and more educated in the faith, therefore almost becoming Idols to us as we follow their teaching and none other.
This also results in a weak foundation and a weak temple or faith.

9 For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

And there's the answer to all our questions, problems, and foundations.





1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 17


In the old bedtime story of the “Three Little Pigs”, the pigs each built a house. One was made of straw, another made of sticks, but the last pig built his of brick. The Big Bad Wolf came along, trying to eat himself some pork, and huffed, puffed, and blew the houses down. The only house to evade destruction, and thereby denying the wolf his lunch, was the house made of brick, a house built solidly, with a good foundation.
The temple in Jerusalem was said to be quite impressive. It was huge, covered in white marble, and was the center of the Jewish faith. When the Big Bad Wolf, AKA the Roman empire, destroyed the temple around AD 70, the people were devastated.
Why?
There are several schools of thought as to why the temple was destroyed. Obviously it was an act of the Roman's. But, there is also the theory that it was not only a physical destruction, but also a spiritual destruction of the temple because the Jews did not have a solid foundation in their faith.

12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
16 ¶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Weird isn't it, that Paul made reference to our bodies to the temple of God?
How about the slight reference to the Little Pigs? (all right, maybe the pigs were a reference to the temple as it was destroyed a few centuries before the story was written)
what I'm trying to get across here is that without a firm foundation in the faith on which we can build the house of our beliefs, we are going to be subject to premature destruction.
At first the Corinthians got this a little wrong.

3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

Unfortunately, we can begin to place those who brought us to Christ on a pedestal thinking them wiser and more educated in the faith, therefore almost becoming Idols to us as we follow their teaching and none other.
This also results in a weak foundation and a weak temple or faith.

9 For we are God’s fellow-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

And there's the answer to all our questions, problems, and foundations.