Pastor Tony Silveira's sermon on 1 Corinthians 3 addresses the immaturity of the church in Corinth, highlighting the need for spiritual growth beyond basic teachings. He emphasizes the importance of building on the foundation of Jesus Christ and warns that the quality of one's work for God will be tested by fire, determining future rewards. Silveira stresses that destroying the church is a serious offense, equating arrogance and divisiveness with spiritual failure, and calls for humility and a deep relationship with God.

1. Tested by Fire 1 Corinthians Chapter 3Pastor Tony Silveira

2. 1 CORINTHIANS 31 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

3. 1 CORINTHIANS 32 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,

4. 1 CORINTHIANS 33 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

5. 1 CORINTHIANS 34 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

6. 1 CORINTHIANS 35 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.

7. 1 CORINTHIANS 36 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

8. He tells the congregation that they are:People of the fleshInfants in ChristA. Spiritual people versus People of the flesh

9. Babies grow and replace milk by solid foodPaul is telling them that their growth stopped

10. Christian service is about partnership and not rivalry!CHURCH IS NOT A PLACE TO ATTEND BUT A PLACE TO SERVE

11. Without a good foundation buildings are at risk to collapse. The same is true about our Spiritual Life!B. The Apostle builds a foundation then others build upon it

12. 1 Corinthians 38 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

13. 1 Corinthians 310 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.

14. 1 Corinthians 311 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

15. The foundation which is Jesus Christ is established by Apostolic authority. The Church is then called to built upon it. This statement is not a doctrinal issue but a practical matter. There are plenty of situations in which a Church can have the wrong foundation.

16. BAD FOUNDATION

17. Churches with a fellowship foundation. Everything they do is centred in social events, dinners, tea parties, fellowship retreats, small group gatherings with the purpose of fellowship, etc.The Wrong Foundation

18. Churches with a "Bless me" foundation. All the activities are centred in receiving and getting. Receive the anointing, receive the gifts, receive prosperity, receive encouragement, receive deliverance. People are not encourage to give anything else than their money to support the ministry.The Wrong Foundation

19. Churches with a leadership foundation. Everything they do is centred in promoting the leaders The Wrong Foundation

20. Paul then warns that their work for the Lord will be put to the test.C. Tested by fire - God tests to approve and not to condemnVERSE 17

21. Genesis 22:1After Abraham had walked with God for over 50 years, he was tested to go to a higher level. "After these things, that God did test Abraham"

22. 1 Corinthians 312 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw

23. 1 Corinthians 313 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

24. 1 Corinthians 314 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

25. 1 Corinthians 315 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

26. What is the Test of Fire?Hebrews 12:29 "for our God is a consuming fire."

27. What is the Test of Fire?Deuteronomy 4: "For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

28. God is a consuming firethere are two different kinds of things that will be touched by the fire. Some things will be consumed and they disappear, a second group will resist the fire and will remain.

29. Only God can judge us righteously"How can you judge what you don't know? How can you evaluate what you don't understand?"

30. GOD WIL JUDGE USWill our work be judged as gold, silver and costly stones, or is it wood, hay or straw? God will judge our work one day and he will reward us according to the quality of what we do for him.

31. 1Corinthians 315 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.Our Salvation is not put in doubt but our reward is.

32. SALVATIONLike people running away from a burning house some Christians will not loose their salvation but God's reward will be completely lost when the test of fire is missed.

33. Matthew 6:4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

34. ENDURANCEWILL YOU PASS THE TEST?

37. 2 Timothy 4:7I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith

38. 2 Timothy 4:7I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith

39. Paul finishes this part of the letter to the Corinthians by giving them a very severe warning.D. God will destroy whoever destroys his ChurchVERSE 17

40. 1 Corinthians 316 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

41. 1 Corinthians 317 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

42. ESV Bible commentaryThe one who destroys God's temple (in this context, the church) is not part of God's people and so faces eternal destruction on the final day, just as God eventually destroyed the Babylonians who had destroyed Solomon's temple.

43. ARROGANCEis at the root of the divisiveness in Corinth

44. ESV Bible commentaryThe Corinthians need to learn that they ultimately belong to God, not to the leader who baptized them ( 1:13–17 ), who was himself only fulfilling God's purposes ( 3:7 , 11 ; 4:1 ). They should, therefore, boast only in God ( 1:29 , 31 ).

45. Webster’sDictionarydefines arrogance as an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions

46. Proverbs 10:17People who listen when they are corrected will live, but those who will not admit that they are wrong are in danger.

47. Let us submit, learn and pass the test.You and I need to ask ourselves- Is my relationship with God producing fruit?

48. 1 Corinthians 14:20Brothers and sisters, don't think like children. When it comes to evil, be like babies, but think like mature people.

49. ARROGANCEArrogance brings destruction and arrogant people will not pass the test of fire.