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There was a tendency on the part of the Corinthians to exalt their favourite teachers and leaders. Such exaltation could not but be at the expense of the Lord Jesus himself. In dissuasion from such a course of Church thought and practice, the inspired Apostle Paul puts in a just and clear light the relative positions of the teachers, the taught, and the great theme of all Christian instruction. He makes use of a familiar figure of speech, based upon the common craft of masonry. Christ is the Foundation; the people of Christ are the stones of the structure reared thereon; and the apostles and other teachers are builders of the spiritual edifice. It is of the Foundation that the text especially treats.

I. JESUS CHRIST IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE SPIRITUAL TEMPLE.

1. The temple is composed of human souls, fashioned into a Divine unity and endowed with a Divine life.

2. The temple is inhabited and inspired by the Holy Ghost consecrating and honouring it.

3. This temple has actually and historically been called into existence by the ministry and mediation of Jesus Christ, who has thus constituted himself its Foundation. As Son of God and Son of man, as the accepted Mediator, as the authoritative Teacher and rightful Lord, he is the Author and the Basis of the true Church.

II. THE PERFECT SUFFICIENCY OF THIS FOUNDATION.

1. Christ is a Foundation deep and strong enough to support the fabric reared upon him. No fear need be entertained as to the permanence of Christ's Church. It may be assailed by the storms of persecution, it may be threatened by the decaying force of time; but "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." It rests on Christ, and the Foundation standeth sure.

2. Christ is a Foundation broad and comprehensive enough to underlie the widest, stateliest structure. None who is conversant with the character, the designs, the promises of Jesus Christ, can question this. In our day, all systems that are narrow are doomed to contempt and destruction. This fate Christianity need not fear; it has only to be true to the Divine Head and Lord, and nought can overturn it or even injure it.

III. THE EXCLUSIVENESS OF THIS FOUNDATION. Upon this the text lays an especial stress.

1. No other is permitted by God. It would be dishonouring to the Father to suppose that his Son can be replaced or supplemented by any other; the sufficiency of the Divine provision does not admit of question.

2. No other is needed by man.

3. No other is possible. Any other than the Divine Foundation must be of man's appointment, must be indeed merely human. The apostle teaches that he and Apollos were only builders upon the Foundation, and could not therefore be the Foundation itself.

IV. THE RELATIONS MEN SUSTAIN TO THIS FOUNDATION.

1. All Christians are represented as living stones built upon Christ. Each has his own place and his own use; but all are alike in this fact - they support themselves upon the strong foundation laid in Jesus.

2. All Christian pastors and teachers are building upon Christ. The question for them to ask is this: Are we building into the walls of the temple such material as will endure the test of trial and the test of time? - T.

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KJV: For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

WEB: For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.