1 Cor. 3, 4-13.
For if one says, I am Pauline; and another, I am Apollonian; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul? who is Apollo? Servants they are, by whom ye believed; and the same as the Lord hath given to every one. I have planted, Apollo has watered; but God has given the flourishing. So then neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God who gives the flourishing. But he who plants and he who desires are one and the same. But each will receive his reward according to his work. For we are God's co-workers; you are God's field and God's building. I, by the grace of God, who am given to me, laid the foundation as a wise master builder; another builds upon it. But let every man see how he builds upon it. No one can lay another foundation except the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest; the day shall make it plain. For it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will prove what every man's work is.
These words of Paul are highly necessary for us to know; they serve to distinguish the doctrine. Paul was tempted and driven to write this, because in Paul's time, as now, there were sects. He wanted to be Paulinus, this Cephae, the third Apollo. This Apollo was a man of high understanding, the epistle Hebraeorum (to the Hebrews) is certainly his. Peter was also an excellent preacher of Christ. Thus, one has always held the other in higher esteem. Because Paul and Apollo have not been with Christ, they have esteemed Peter higher than they. Therefore it is a mistake to look at the person. One should pay attention to the ban, which doctrine they put on it. It is no more than this single structure and foundation: Christ is the eternal Son of God, our Savior etc. Because this foundation is laid, one is more than another; they are all no more than servants of Christ and his cultivators.
God, when he wants to make the world godly, chooses people, to whom he puts his command in their mouths, which they are to do. In addition to this preaching ministry, God is present and, through the oral word, is stirring up this world today.
Heart, tomorrow the heart. All preachers are no more, because the hand that leads the way. It does no more, it stands still, and lets follow or not follow the right way, So all preachers are no more, because the word drives them. Now when God wants to move, he does it with the word. They are not the people who are supposed to make someone godly; God alone does that. The person is to be put out of sight, but not the teaching. Therefore he calls them "carnal," that they distinguish the preachers by the person, and not by the structure; there one should be careful. So Paul says: He has laid the foundation among the Gentiles; only what each one builds on it is seen. This is what we see before our eyes: if anyone wants to build well, he must first lay a good foundation. One must have builders who do the work well. So God does, provides workers for this building.
3 Peter 1. ep. 2, 5. spirituales lapides (living stones), until they grow to a proper age, Eph. 4, 13. One first lays a foundation stone, which grasps two corners of the wall; then one builds on it. But there one often finds naughty, pointed, hunchbacked stones; then one must cut off its top until it becomes sound. When the construction has been completed from the foundation, a cornerstone is placed on the two walls so that the trucks can
must bounce back. This cornerstone is Christ. There the workers and builders are unequal, because of the craft. It is the same here in the spiritual building: one part builds gold, silver, precious stone; this decorates the building, much more than hay and stubble. One leads Jesus more purely than the other. One should pay attention to such teaching. When fire comes, gold remains; hay burns. The doctrine should be tested to see if it can stand the sting and the blow. I think we would think more highly of Paul than of Peter for preaching Christ. Therefore, let every man see how he builds upon it, and he shall receive his reward from God. He will build gold and remain before the fire. So you alone shall see how he leads the teaching who preaches, whether he stirs my conscience or not. Soon I will feel whether such teaching remains in the challenge. If it is gold and right, then the conscience remains stiff on the teaching. If the sermon is nothing but stubble, it burns in the temptation.
(4) Therefore let every man build himself upon the foundation, Jesus, if this cutting off of the humps (for in it is mortification) is painful to thee, do as the stone when it is beaten, either so it sounds. So you also cry out to God, saying, "Oh, I am sorry for the knocking; but let your will be done: help me not to be deterred by sin and death. These are chariots, and they cry at the bottom: but this is the consolation, that the corner stone is not only at the bottom, but is also a corner stone without, and keep the chariots from falling back. So this is the one comfort of those who are built on the foundation.
(5) But if a man will build an addition, not by Christ, but by works, there is nothing but stubble, which the fire devoureth. Take our people: the gospel is preached, Christ, fundamentum is laid; there are many people fetched up and built upon the foundation, and leaving all works and trust of the saints, rely upon the cornerstone, Christ. But Satan is subjected to build stubble on it. The sacrament violators what build
them? What helps the conscience that the long builds from the presence of the body etc.? Is it not enough that God, our Christ, says: Hoc est corpus meum (this is my body)? That would be gold. But in the fire of God's judgment they will fall. This is what will happen to the pope and to all the foundations that, besides the foundation, continue to build something with confidence in their own works. The fire will consume you, you have left the foundation: beware and take care that you remain on the foundation. We can do no more than the word; when that is done, our work is well done.
The day will make it clear etc.
Deus est ignis consumens. (God is a consuming fire.) The fire burns and hurts. This Domini est adventus Domini in bono et malo. (The day of the Lord is the future of the Lord in good and evil.) When it attacks us, it throws us into a fright of conscience and death. Now when this day comes, the doctrine will see whether this doctrine was gold or stubble.
When one sees how God wants to punish sin, this teaching consumes man so strongly that he can do nothing but despair. If he wants to wriggle out of it by going to Rome, by confessing to the priest, by fasting, by penance, his conscience is still not satisfied. Yes, the fire, God's judgment consumes all such human works. But he who longs for this cornerstone, calls upon it in the distress of this day, when Christ reveals his sin to him, he will remain, for he has gold in his heart. Let every man look to himself how he has grasped the doctrine. If he cannot bear witness to the teaching, how it strengthens him or not, only God can help him. But where someone feels the teaching in his heart, he prefers this taste to imperialism. This will not be found anywhere except in the day of the Lord, who will distinguish how each one is built. God protect us from such a wavering that we say: We do not know who preaches rightly or not. Whoever is not satisfied that Christ has confirmed his word with his blood and with the Father's voice, let him pass his adventure.