Reformation Sunday…October 25^th, 2026…1 Corinthians 3:11-23

¹¹ For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. ¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” ²¹ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come– all are yours. ²³ And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

It’s amazing what can go missing without even realizing it. Whether it is mega cities that have been hidden in the dense Amazon Rainforest like Machu Picchu, or something as simple as your wallet. How many times have you cleaned your house and found an old heirloom you completely forgot you had? One moment your keys are in your hand and the next moment your phone is missing. If something is not right there in front of us, or even a regular part of our routine, it easily slips from our mind.

When the blows of Luther’s hammer sounded upon the doors of the Wittenberg Church on October 31^st, 1517, he had no way of knowing that he was uncovering a mystery even greater than Machu Picchu; finding again a hidden gem more valuable than any heirloom. Over the next 29 years, not he alone, but the Word of God which was his confidence and conviction, would knock away the false doctrine that had overgrown and hidden the Gospel. The Reformation lay anew for us all the great cornerstone Jesus Christ. Like the Apostles, Evangelists, and church fathers before, Luther contended fiercely for the truth of the Gospel and would settle for nothing less.

We are children of the Reformation. Not because we follow Luther the man, but because we stand on the same foundation that he stood on. We, as Children of the Reformation Must Build the Church of the Reformation: 1. On Christ the foundation 2. With gold, silver, and precious stones 3. As a holy temple of God 4. For the glory of God who has made all things ours.

May the Holy Spirit bless our study of His Word this morning, Amen.

1. We Must Build on Christ the Foundation. ¹¹ For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Paul laid the foundation for the church in Corinth by preaching Jesus among them. God laid the foundation for His Church across the world by sending His Son into the world as our Redeemer. When Paul uses “foundation,” he is referring to the entire person, work, and doctrine of Christ. We confessed this foundation just moments ago in the Apostles Creed.

There is no other foundation to be laid. Whether a man goes to Corinth or to Germany or to the United States, he can do no other than preach Jesus Christ. To preach anything other than Christ is to build on no foundation at all, but on the shifting sands of foolishness. Such a church without Christ will crumble and fall! The one foundation that is promised to withstand to eternity is the one God has already laid for us. As Paul says in Ephesians 2:20, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”

Luther laid this one and only foundation of God in the work of the Reformation, just as Paul laid it in Corinth. Faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone according to the Scriptures alone.

Not that it was easy for Paul or Luther. Paul gave up his life for the sake of Christ, and Luther’s life was under constant threat. You might face threats, or accusations of narrowmindedness, or shame. But these are attacks from the world, threats from the gates of hell. If the might of Rome could not break the foundation Paul stood on, nor the Pope break the foundation Luther stood on, there is nothing that can break the foundation on which you now stand. For every Christian clings to this foundation as Luther confesses, “My conscience is captive to the word of God! To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I therefore cannot, and I will not recant! Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” As Children of the Reformation, we too must stand firm on the foundation that has been laid – the foundation which we lay today: Christ crucified for the sins of the whole world! God help us!

2. We must build with gold, silver, and precious stones. ¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

Though there is only one foundation, there are two kinds of material to build with on the one foundation. Gold, silver, and precious stones; or wood, hay, straw. The former refers to the true doctrines of the Word of God as discerned and taught by ministers of the Gospel and the confessing church. The latter are the opposite – all human ideas, wisdom and errors.

On the Last Day, Christ will judge each man’s work – meaning the material he used to build on the foundation will be put to the test. That which is found impure will be burnt in His judgment. That which is found to be pure will be rewarded with honor and glory. It is no secret which material we should use!

Many false teaching seems harmless enough –might even be more appealing to bring people in the door of the church. But consider this: Where does false doctrine come from? Is it ever satisfied to remain on Christ the foundation? No, but Satan’s goal is to lead you off the foundation and the moment that happens, salvation is lost entirely.

Thanks be to God who gave us the great Apostle and men like Luther who have laid out for us the pure teachings of Scripture so we know with what to build up God’s Church! May we as a people yearn only for this pure teaching of Christ the foundation, settling for no other because nothing less can build what we are:

3. A holy temple of God. ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Paul’s question expected the answer yes. The Corinthians should have already known they were the temple of God. But, by their actions, they showed their knowledge to be intellectual only and not spiritual. They bickered with each other over which preacher they belonged to. Peter, Paul, and Apollos were faithful preachers and had the same purpose: to build them up on the foundation of Christ. Their identity rested on the preacher and not that they are a spiritual temple.

In the same way today, do we often forget that we are the temple of God? Are you ready for a Visitor? If you knew your mother was coming to visit, would you let your house sit with cobwebs and dust? Of course not. You want it to be spotless.

God desires to dwell with us and make our heart His spiritual temple, but is it clean for Him? Why would we tolerate anything other than the pure teaching of the Word of God and expect God to make His home with us? God will not allow it. The punishment for defiling the temple in the OT was death because God cannot dwell in a defiled place. God will destroy the one who defiles His temple – he who replaces Christ, who makes us holy, with our own righteousness.

Remember the sternness with which Jesus cleansed the temple in our Gospel lesson earlier, saying with righteous anger that they had turned God’s house of prayer into a den of thieves. Much worse is the error that overthrows faith in the heart with self-righteousness, or plunging it again into sinful lusts and vanities.

God takes this seriously because His temple is holy, which temple you are. You are made pure, clean, and holy, a fit place for the indwelling of God. When our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ, ours is His holiness. Guard and treasure this gift from all error that seeks to harm it!

Luther’s enemies claimed that salvation through grace alone gave the people a free license to sin if they did not have to work for forgiveness. How wicked and destructive a teaching! The spirit of the Reformation, of the Christian faith, desires to purify our hearts and lives so that God will dwell with us because of God’s great, undeserving forgiveness for our sin! Because His love gives us the desire, in all that we do, to glorify God who has given us all things.

4.For the glory of God who has given us all things.

²¹ Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: ²² whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come– all are yours. ²³ And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Our glory does not belong to men as if by one preacher you were built into the temple of God. It is good to treasure faithful ministers of the Gospel – even as we treasure Luther and Melanchthon and all the faithful leaders of the Reformation for what God has given us through them. Our glorying is not in them as men, but as ministers of God, as instruments through which He has bestowed on us the riches of His grace. The glory belongs to the source and that source is Christ. Jesus has redeemed us, His Spirit has reborn us, and so with all that we are and have we are His.

It is a top-down effect. Because we are Christ’s, all things are ours to sanctify in the service of God. Whether it is the ministers who proclaim the Gospel faithfully, in life or death, or in whatever comes, it is the great plan of God to make all subservient to our highest and best interests as His children. This was very evident in the Reformation. Whether it was the invention of the printing press shortly before Luther was born allowing his teaching to reach the people and increase his support. Or, through the Ottoman Turks who invaded the Holy Roman Empire and distracted the Emperor so that he could not crush this little monk. Even today, we need not question what God can use for the benefit of His children. All things are ours. Only sin is not ours, it is removed by Christ, and things sinful, they are expunged by all who have the spirit of Christ.

By this we give glory to God. We stand on the one foundation of Christ crucified. Build on that foundation with the pure teachings of the Word of God; always remembering that you are God’s holy temple which Christ Jesus purchased with His own blood. Let us always thank God for preserving the pure Gospel of His grace through Luther and the Reformers! May the Lord keep His teaching pure among us, from now until eternity, Amen.