Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Corinthians 3:10-13

"According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; each man`s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man`s work of what sort it is." — 1 Corinthians 3:10-13 (ASV)

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

Very easy to build up a church quickly. Very easy to create great excitement in religion and become very famous as a soul-winner. Very easy. But time tries everything. If there were no other fire than the mere fire of time, it would suffice to test a man's work.

And when a church crumbles away almost as soon as it is gathered, when a church declines from the doctrines it professed to hold, when the teaching of the eminent teacher is proven, after all, to have been fallacious and erroneous in practical results, then what he has built comes to nothing!

Oh, dear friends, what little we do, we ought to aspire to do for eternity.

If you are to lay the brush to the canvas only once, make an indelible stroke with it. If only one such work is to come from the sculptor's workshop, let it be something that will endure through the ages.

But we are in such a great hurry; we make many ephemeral things—results that die with us. We are not careful enough about what we build with.

May God grant that this truth may sink into our minds.

Let us remember that if it is hard building with gold and silver, and harder still building with precious stones, yet what is built will stand the fire. It is easy building with wood, and easier still with hay and stubble, but then there will be only a handful of ashes left of a whole lifework if we build with these.