Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20001029.htm

1 CORINTHIANS: MINISTERING TO BELIEVERS WITH DEEP PAGAN BACKGROUNDS
Part VI: Being Blessed In Church Relationships By Recalling The Bema Seat Of Christ
(1 Corinthians 3:10-15)
  1. Introduction
    1. An excellent preventative measure against being party to divisions in a local church over the issue personalities in church leaders is found in focusing on our final accountability to the Lord for our lives.
    2. This insight is provided in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 in its broader context of 1 Corinthians 1-4 as follows:
  2. Beling Blessed In Church Relationships By Recalling The Bema Seat Of Christ, 1 Cor. 3:10-15.
    1. The Corinthian believers in Paul's day were absorbed in the "personality cult" of human leaders, in their human abilities or teaching prowess, etc. which only fueled divisions in the body, 1 Corinthians 1:11-12.
    2. One way Paul handled this carnal preoccupation was to shift the focus to a divine warning: we believers will be held accountable at the "Bema" seat of Christ in heaven for what we do in churches NOW!
      1. Church leaders are to be careful as to how they minister in the local assembly, for they will give an account of this at the "Bema" seat of Christ after the Church is raptured, 1 Cor. 3:10, 13; 2 Cor. 5:10:
        1. 2 Cor. 5:10 speaks of this accounting as coming at Christ's bayma seat, UBS Grk. N.T., p. 630. This word pictures a platform used by a judge at athletic games, Pentecost, Things To Come, p. 220 (citing L. Sale-Harrison, Judgment Seat of Christ, p. 8 and Alfred Plummer, 2 Cor., p. 156).
        2. This judgment is not for judging the soul's destiny; rather, it refers to the accounting believers will give for their works where rewards or the loss of rewards are involved, 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:13-15.
      2. Paul then revealed the works God would not reward and the works He would reward at this event:
        1. The work Christ will reward in the local church is as follows: (a) Christ is the only correct foundation anyone ministering in the local church can lay, 1 Cor. 3:11. (b) Contextually, this involves getting people to look to Christ as opposed to relying on human leaders for their discipleship fulfillment, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; 3:4. (c) Thus, when men like Apollos nuture (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6b) believers after the foundation is laid in a local church, they must continue to direct their hearers to depend on the Lord and not themselves for spiritual fulfillment, 1 Corinthians 3:12a.
        2. The incorrect work Christ will not reward is described as well: (a) If a leader gets people to trust in himself or some other human other than Christ, he lays an incorrect foundation, 1 Cor. 3:11 implied. (b) When teachers nurture on top of the foundation, they must get people to follow Christ and not themselves or other humans for spiritual fulfillment, 1 Cor. 3:11 implied.
      3. The reason for practicing the correct work is that every ministry effort will be examined at Christ's "Bema" seat, and will respectively receive reward or a loss of it in accord with God's evaluation:
        1. Paul said every believer, leader or "layman", will be evaluated at this "Bema" seat, 1 Cor. 3:13a.
        2. This evaluation will proceed in the following order (1 Cor. 3:13b-15): (a) God will test each one's works in terms of His own perfect standard, 3:13b. (b) The test will be for the spiritual quality of each work (the Greek word describing the criteria of evaluation in v. 13b, hopoion, means "quality", UBS Grk. N.T., p. 584; Bib. Know. Com., N.T., p. 512). (c) In context, this means to the degree one depends upon God's power in obedience to God's leading to be used of God in getting people to find in Christ spiritual fulfillment will he receive reward for his efforts. (d) If our work passes God's test, we will receive reward; if not, we will lose our reward, but stay saved, 3:14-15.
Lesson: By recalling this "Bema" seat evaluation for our works, we are motivated to focus on Christ in ministry, whether we are in the pew or in oversight, and division over personality differences disappear!

Application: (1) As those who lead in any context in the local assembly [or in our family units, etc. by way of application], we must recall our heavenly, coming accountability for our efforts to uphold Christ in God's power and leading, not ourselves, so our subordinates will seek fulfillment only in Him. (2) As those who submit to overseers, our accountability for having looked to CHRIST and not human leaders as little "gods" will be evaluated by the Lord: hence, we must ourselves look only to the Lord, and make sure we are influencing others to do the same and not uphold human leaders as little "gods"! (3) In every believer's looking to the coming "Bema" judgment, we cease being divided over personalities!