Please turn to 1 Corinthians 3. We are reading from verse 9 through verse 17.
For we are God’s fellow-workers: ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building.
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder 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.
If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.
Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.
When Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian believers, he told them that they were God’s husbandry, God’s building. In other words, we who are the Lord’s are God’s husbandry—God’s field—and we are God’s building.
When you think of a field, naturally the emphasis is upon life. In the field you find seed being sown, and the seed dies, multiplies, and finally brings forth a harvest.
We are God’s field. We are seed—not just one seed. It is true that in the beginning there was only one. “Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone.” That speaks of our Lord Jesus.
But that grain of wheat has died and has borne much fruit. So today it is no longer merely one grain of wheat being sown into the field. It is many. We who are the Lord’s are God’s seed being sown into the field.
We die together. We multiply together, until God will have a harvest for Himself. So, as God’s husbandry, the emphasis is upon life.
Then we find that we are God’s building. We are not only God’s field, but also God’s building. The field is for the building, and the building comes out of the field. Why? Because there can be no building if there is no life.
God can never build anything if it is not life. There must be life first. There must be the increase of life. Then God is able to do the work of building.
Now, this building is not just a work of any kind. A building work is a work according to plan and according to purpose. It is an organic work. It is the putting together of things organically, that there may be a building. And God is doing that work.
But again, we have to see that, for God to do the work of building, there must first be life. I think this is a very important principle that we must understand.
Our God is building His building. God cannot build with anything except life. So you have life, the increase of His own life, and that is the basis of the building work of God.
We are God’s husbandry, God’s field, God’s building. The field belongs to God. The building belongs to God. He is the farmer. He is the Builder.
He is the One who sows the seed, and only He can receive the harvest because it belongs to Him. He is the One who builds the building. God is the Builder.
The Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is God. It is God who sows, who builds, and who will not build in anything that is not of life.
He will make no mistake in putting the materials together. He cannot fail. He will get His building, a habitation of God in the Spirit. There is no question about it.
But here is a problem. Even though God is the Builder, yet He builds with us. We are not only His materials for the building, but we are also fellow workers with Him and under Him.
Because of this, you find the other side: the side of our responsibility.
Before Paul goes into this matter of God’s building, he first mentions the foundation. He says that he is like a wise master builder: he lays the foundation. And there is no other foundation but Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the foundation. You cannot build upon any other foundation.
When the Lord said, “I will build My church upon this rock,” of course, this rock is not Peter. This rock is the revelation of the Father concerning His Son, and Peter’s confession as one who had received such a revelation.
In other words, the rock is Christ Himself—Christ revealed and confessed. That is the foundation, and there can be no other foundation.
It is true that in Ephesians 2 we are told that the apostles and prophets are the foundation. That does not mean that they themselves are the foundation. It simply means that the Christ whom they have reported to us is the foundation.
The foundation of the building of God is not a creed. It is not a teaching. It can never be a man, however worthy that man may be, however great that man may be.
There is only one foundation: the Lord Jesus Himself. It is not a teaching about the Lord Jesus. It is not a saying about the Lord Jesus. It is the living Lord Himself. He is the foundation, and we are building upon that foundation.
The building which is built upon that foundation is none other than the extension of the foundation. Therefore, it has to be all of the same kind, of the same quality.
Now, in the Scriptures, sometimes we are told that we are built upon the foundation. Sometimes we are told that we grow up into the Head. When you think of life, we are growing up into the Head. When you think of building, we are built upon the foundation.
These are one and the same thing because it is life; it is organic building. But the truth is that whatever is built upon that foundation must be of the same kind as the foundation, because it is an extension of the foundation.
Paul said, “I have laid the foundation, but another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon.” Here is our responsibility.
God is building His building. The foundation is already laid: it is Christ Jesus. And we are fellow workers. We are all working upon that foundation, building upon that foundation. But how? How do we build upon it?
As you read this passage, you will find that it is rather strange, because the “how” is not so much how you do it. The “how” is actually what you put into it. That is the “how.”
In other words, our whole life is a building process. How do we live before God? How do we live with one another? Our very life is a building process.
Because of that, we are building all the time. Whether you are doing anything or doing nothing, you are building upon the foundation. Your diligence is as much building as your idleness.
Your activity is as much building as when you are inactive. It never ceases; it goes on all the time—whether you are at home, whether you are in the office, or whether you are in the church meeting with your brothers and sisters.
Your whole life, after you have received the Lord Jesus, after you have believed in the Lord Jesus, is a continuous, unceasing building upon the foundation.
But what do you build into it? You can build upon the foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones; or you can build upon that foundation with wood, hay, and stubble.
Remember, we are building ourselves into it. What is of ourselves? Is it our natural self, or is it Christ in us? That is the question.
We can build upon that foundation with gold. And we know that gold always speaks of God—of the nature of God and of the glory of God.
Gold is the most precious metal, the most enduring. It represents God, His nature, and His glory.
We remember that in the temple, the whole house was overlaid with gold. Not only were the walls overlaid with gold; even the floor was overlaid with gold. The whole house was overlaid with gold.
We remember how the ark was overlaid with gold, both inside and outside. It was made of acacia wood, and yet it was overlaid not only outside with gold, but inside with gold too.
We remember the mercy seat upon the ark. It was solid gold and nothing else. All these speak of the nature and glory of God.
When you come to the last chapters of the Bible, you find the holy city, New Jerusalem. It is built of pure gold, transparent as glass, and the street is of pure gold, transparent as glass.
Why? Because everything speaks of God—His life, His nature, and His glory.
In 1 Peter 1, we are told that faith, being tested, is more precious than gold. In 2 Timothy 2, we are told that in a great house there are vessels of gold and silver, and vessels of wood and earth.
If we purify ourselves from these—that is, from the wooden and earthen vessels—then we will be vessels of gold and silver, fit for the Master’s use.
In other words, there must be a transformation in our lives, a metamorphosis. We have to be changed from dust to gold. We have to shed off, as it were, that which is of ourselves and put on that which is God, that which is Christ.
It is only through that transforming work in our lives that we build on the foundation with gold.
Silver in the Scriptures always speaks of the redemption of our Lord. You remember in Numbers 3, we are told that the tribe of Levi substituted for all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
After they had counted the number of the Levites and the number of the firstborn among the children of Israel, you find that the firstborn exceeded the number of the Levites. Those who exceeded that number had to be redeemed, each with five shekels of silver.
Then, in Exodus, we are told that all the children of Israel who were numbered above twenty years of age had to give half a shekel to the sanctuary, as a recognition that they were redeemed by the Lord.
Silver speaks of the redemption of our Lord. In 1 Peter 1, we are told that we are redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, but with precious blood, even the blood of the Lamb without spot and without blemish—the blood of our Lord Jesus.
We are redeemed by the Lord. Tell me, what does silver represent? Do we build on that foundation with silver? That is, do we build according to the redemption of our Lord Jesus?
You know, in the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the bases of the tabernacle were made of silver—a talent of silver for a base. Why? Because the redemption of our Lord Jesus is the basis of everything.
When we are building upon that foundation, do we build on the basis of the redemption of our Lord Jesus? Or do we build on something that has not been redeemed—in other words, that which is natural, that which is of the flesh?
Is it on the basis of the finished work of Christ that we are quickened with Christ, raised up together with Christ, and seated at the right hand of the Father together with Christ? That is based on the finished work of Christ.
Or are we building on something that is not based on the finished work of Christ—our own natural strength, our good ideas, our own experience, our ability?
What do we build upon that foundation? Precious stones.
It is true that we are as living stones, being built up together. Precious stones always speak of the patient work of the Holy Spirit—how the Holy Spirit works patiently in our lives through every kind of circumstance, trial, organization, and incorporation.
The Holy Spirit works Christ into us, that we may be conformed to His image. This is the most patient work of the Holy Spirit.
Is it the result of the work of the Holy Spirit? Do we allow the Holy Spirit to work so in our lives that Christ may really be wrought into us, so that it is no longer we, but Christ? Or is it still our own flesh?
How do we work upon that foundation? How do we live our daily life? How do we live together as God’s people? This is building. We are putting ourselves into it.
Now, what do we put in? Gold, silver, precious stones—or something else?
Now, wood in the Scriptures always speaks of that which is of man. You remember, after the Lord created the first man, He put man before the tree of life and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In the ninth chapter of the Book of Judges, Jotham gave a parable to the inhabitants of Shechem. In that parable, he used all kinds of trees.
He said there was a meeting among the trees. They wanted to choose a king among themselves. They turned to the olive tree and said, “Reign thou over us.” They turned to the fig tree. They turned to the vine.
But none of them wanted to be king. They would rather do what the Lord had appointed them to do: to give glory to God and pleasure to men, and to fulfill their purpose.
So they turned to the bramble, and the bramble said, “Come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”
Of course, in using the parable, Jotham was speaking of men. Whether you would like him to be your king or somebody else to be your king, that is the parable. But you find that Scripture uses wood, trees, to represent man.
In Matthew 7, the Lord said that a good tree produces good fruit, and a corrupt tree produces evil fruit. By the fruit you can know the tree. Of course, our Lord Jesus was speaking about men.
Once, you remember, the Lord healed a blind person. The first time He put His hands upon the blind man, He asked him, “What do you see?” He said, “I see men; for I behold them as trees, walking.”
So wood in the Scriptures represents man. Maybe the noblest of men is like the cedar of Lebanon, and the meanest of men is like the thorn bush, thorn and bramble. But nevertheless, it is wood. It is of man.
Now, are we building with that which is of man—ourselves? You remember Paul said to the Corinthians, “The way you are doing is according to men.” What men are doing, you are doing the same thing. There is no difference. It is wood that you are putting into the building.
Hay is the glory of man. In 1 Peter 1, we are told that all flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth; but the word of the Lord abideth for ever.
Hay speaks of all the glory of man. It is here today, but it is gone tomorrow. It is passing. It never lasts.
In comparison with the redemption of our Lord Jesus, the redemption of our Lord Jesus is permanent and perfect. Once and for all, it is finished. You do not need to add anything to it, and you cannot take anything away from it. It is forever.
But look at man and the glory of man. How it flees away so quickly. So let no flesh glory; let no man glory in the flesh. There is nothing to boast of, because just at the time you are boasting, it is gone.
And then, stubble. Of course, we know what stubble is. Stubble represents the work of man.
Pharaoh ordered the children of Israel to make bricks, and the way to make bricks is to mix straw with mud. That is the work of man.
God does not build a brick house, a mud house, or a grass house. Of course, people do that. You have wooden buildings everywhere. You have mud houses with straw over them. You have great houses, but God builds only with gold, silver, and precious stones—and nothing else.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, here is the house. The foundation is here: our Lord Jesus. And we all are engaged in the building, knowingly or unknowingly.
It goes on unceasingly, working or not working, passive or active. You are indeed building upon that foundation. Now, what do you put into it?
You are putting yourself into it, that is true. But what of yourself? Is it the gold of God, the silver of Christ’s redemption, and the precious stones of the Holy Spirit? Or is it wood, as man; hay, as the glory of man; or stubble, as the work of man?
Another thing we need to realize is that we are engaged in building God’s house ourselves.
Sometimes we think, yes, we are all engaged in building, but you are building your house and I am building my house. Everyone is building his own house.
Some people think that in John 14 the Lord says, “Let not your heart be troubled: in My Father’s house are many mansions”—many buildings.
We think that the Lord is helping us to build our own mansions, our own buildings, for eternity. Everyone has a dwelling, and you are building yours and I am building mine.
Not so. The Bible says, “Ye are God’s building,” singular. We are all engaged in building one building.
It is not that you are building your house and I am building my house. We are all building one building. It is not that if you build with gold, silver, and precious stones, you will have your own gold-and-precious-stone dwelling, while if I build with wood, hay, and stubble, I will have a wood-and-stubble dwelling. Not so, not so.
I am afraid that our concept is so individualistic. We think we are all doing our own work. What has it to do with others? But upon that one foundation, we are building one house.
Can you imagine that this house is all built with gold, silver, and precious stones, and suddenly you find that another part is wood, hay, and stubble? What a corruption that would be.
Corruption means to corrupt it—to fail to fulfill the meaning and purpose of the building. That is corruption. And if it is corruption, it has to be put down; it has to be destroyed.
You know, the words corrupt and destroy in the Greek are the same word. If we corrupt the house, God will destroy us. Why? Because ye are the temple of God, and the temple of God is holy. It is for God to dwell in the Spirit.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, if we see this, we will see how serious this is. It is not just a matter of building your own house.
You may be willing to live in a mud house, brick house, or wooden house, but that is not the point. You are not just building your own house. You are building the house of God.
It is true that in the house of God there is a place for you. In John 14, “In My Father’s house are many mansions.” The word in the Greek original is, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places.”
It is one big building with many dwelling places. We are all staying together. We are building that one house of God.
There is a responsibility not only toward the Lord, to see that what we put in is compatible with the foundation, which is Christ; there is also a responsibility toward one another. We are responsible for one another.
Suppose we are all workmen building a building. Suppose we are very diligent and build according to the plan. Suddenly, we discover that the one building beside us is doing something else.
He is not working according to the pattern, and he is putting in material that is not specified by the architect. He is trying to substitute it. He is trying to alter and change it.
Now, suppose this happens. Do you just let him continue on? You have a responsibility. Why? Because you know that if he does it, when the architect comes to inspect, the whole thing will be torn down.
The whole building will be delayed. It has to be done all over again. How responsible we are for one another.
That is the reason why we are told that we need to exhort one another. That is the reason why we ought to restore one another.
If any brother or sister sins, then he that is spiritual shall restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering himself lest he also be tempted. That is why, if your brother sins against you, you cannot just stand by and say, “Now he has sinned; it is up to him.”
No, you have a responsibility to restore your brother or your sister in love. Why? Because we are engaged in building the house of God.
What a tremendous responsibility.
Sometimes we are all alone. We may think, “Whether I do something or do not do something, I am the only one who will be affected.” But when you think that your brothers and sisters will be affected too, you are not alone.
Whatever you do or do not do will affect your brothers and sisters. Sometimes, when you realize that, oh, how it stirs you up. You cannot just drift. You have to press on, because you are not alone.
Of course, we have to think of the Lord Jesus. He is building the house. He is building with us. What a responsibility we have. Trust the Lord.
Today is the time of building. As long as we live, we will not cease building until either we go to sleep, waiting for the awakening at the return of the Lord, or until the Lord returns while we are present. We are building today.
Today is the day of building, and yet today it is very difficult to distinguish that which is gold, silver, and precious stones from that which is wood, hay, and stubble.
So far as men are concerned, if you build with gold, silver, and precious stones, or if you build with wood, hay, and stubble, man cannot distinguish. Men do not know.
Not only that: men will misunderstand completely in this matter of building. If you build with gold, silver, and precious stones, men will say, “What are you doing? I do not see anything.”
Why is it so expensive? Why pay so much and accomplish so little—almost invisible? But if you build with wood, hay, and stubble, oh, it is so quick. It is so cheap. You can do a lot. You can show a lot.
People will see how successful you are, how good your work is. Dear brothers and sisters, that is the temptation today.
How we are tempted to seek great, quick success at little cost. The world will say, “That is the way.” Oh, how the world misjudges the things of God. The natural mind does not know the things of God.
Today it will not be seen. If you build with wood, hay, and stubble, you can deceive yourself, you can deceive your brothers and sisters, and you can deceive the whole world.
If you build with gold, silver, and precious stones, maybe nobody will see it. Nobody will notice. You will receive no praise. Probably you will be blamed, because there is not much to be seen.
We live in a day of temptation. But there will come one day. The Scripture says, “One day.”
Our work will be tested by fire, and the fire will reveal what it is.
Of course, we know that day is the day of the coming of the Lord. When the Lord returns and we are all gathered together with Him in the air, there will be the judgment seat of Christ.
Now, on the one hand, it is true that we who believe in the Lord Jesus, judgment has passed over us. Why? Because our Lord Jesus was judged for us.
The judgment of the great white throne—the judgment of eternal life and eternal death, the judicial judgment that will come upon the whole earth—has passed over us.
One day the heaven and earth will disappear, and all who have died will rise up. Everyone will stand before the great white throne, and they will be judged according to the books. Every man has a record.
It is a judgment of eternal life or eternal death. Thank God, in John 5, we are told that we who believe in the Lord Jesus have passed out of death into life, and out of judgment. We shall not come into judgment.
But that does not mean that, as believers, we shall not be judged at all. It is true that we will not be judged at the great white throne. Why? Because Christ was judged for us. The judgment has passed over us.
But as God’s people, as the house of God, judgment must begin with the house of God. One day, Paul said, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Now, it is not the throne; it is the judgment seat. When it is a throne, it speaks of judicial judgment concerning eternal life and death. But when it is a bema, a judgment seat, it is a family judgment.
You know, in the Orient, because they have that clan system, you usually have the head of the family, and you have many people in the family. From time to time there will be a family meeting where all the members of the family are gathered into a big hall.
In that hall, on one side, there is a raised floor which is called the bema. The head of the family sits on that bema, and all the family members stand in the hall.
Why? Because from time to time, family affairs have to be examined. If there is any member of the family who has brought disgrace to the name of the family, he needs to be reprimanded and sometimes even disciplined.
Or, if anyone has brought glory and honor to the family, then he is to be honored and rewarded. None but the family members can attend such a meeting. This is the judgment seat of Christ.
When we shall all be gathered together with Him, there will be the judgment seat of Christ. He will judge every one of His family members according to how he lives, how he responds to God’s grace, and what he has done with what has been given to him.
A fire shall appear. Of course, the fire is not a natural fire, because here is a metaphor. Gold, silver, and precious stones speak of that which is of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit wrought through our lives. Wood, hay, and stubble speak of that which is of man, of ourselves, and of our own works.
Therefore, the fire is not a literal fire. The fire speaks of God as a consuming fire. We remember Hebrews 12, where we are told, “For our God is a consuming fire.”
In Revelation 1, we are told that the eyes of the risen Lord are like a flame of fire. In other words, the Lord will look upon us, and He will reveal everything in us that is either suitable to Him or unsuitable to Him.
In other words, Christ will be the measure. God will measure every one of us by the measure of Christ. Do we measure up to Christ?
If it is Christ, it is acceptable to Him. If it is not Christ, if it is less than Christ, it is rejected.
There is nothing that is not of God, that is not of Christ, that is not of the Holy Spirit, which can meet that fire.
No matter how zealous, how enthusiastic, how fervent, how devoted, how diligent, how clever, or how much natural energy and strength you put into it, the fire is Christ. He will measure every one of us—our life, our work, our everything.
What is none of Him will burn up. It is not fit to be upon that foundation because it is not suitable. It is of a different kind, of a different nature. God cannot live in it. It cannot continue into eternity. It will be burned. It will be burned.
But thank God, even though that which is wood, hay, and stubble will all be burned—that is to say, the life is wasted, the grace of God is wasted in your life, your time on earth is wasted, everything is wasted—yet you yourself shall be saved, but so as through fire.
Why? Because the foundation cannot be burned. What you build upon the foundation may be burned, even though it is not Christ; but the foundation is Christ. Therefore, even though everything may be burned, you are still saved because you have the foundation, which is Christ.
But what a loss: all the days given to you, all the things you have done, whether good or bad, every work that you have done as unto God—all vanity, lost forever. What a loss, even though you are saved as through fire.
But if your building can stand the fire, what will happen? The fire will only add glory to it.
Oh, your precious stones, entering the fire, will have more glory and luster. You will be rewarded. You will be rewarded to be that habitation of God.
You remember when the temple was finished, and everything was according to God, then the glory of the Lord filled the temple. God took possession of the house. God dwelt among His people.
Brothers and sisters, this is the greatest reward. Even though we are told in the Scriptures—and that is very true—that some will be rewarded with five cities, some with ten cities, that there will be the crown of life, the crown of righteousness, and the throne, the greatest reward is that God will come in and say, “I will dwell. I will rest in what you have put in.”
That will be the greatest reward.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this morning this is just my burden. Thank God, the foundation is laid: Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thank God, He has gathered us together to build one house—the temple of God, the house of God. That is what the church is.
How do we build? How do we build? Again, I would say, it is not so much the “how”; it is more the “what.” But what is the “how” based upon? How do we put ourselves here?
We are all putting ourselves in somehow. Do we put in ourselves of the flesh, or the best of our natural strength? Or do we put in only that which is of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit?
It is very serious. And what a day it will be. What a revelation it will be. Many will be surprised, I think.
Because of this, how we need daily to walk and live before God under the light of the judgment seat.
If we judge ourselves today—that is to say, if we are willing to put ourselves under the light of the judgment seat of Christ today, and let Him examine us, willing to have everything burned that needs to be burned—then only that which is of God may remain in us, however small it may be.
If we today walk in the light of the judgment seat of Christ, then on that day we will have no fear.
I always remember what George Whitefield said: “I live for eternity. I do not live for today. I live for eternity.”
How many of us are living for eternity? The people in the world live for today. If they can get what they want today—quick, easy, successful—they will go for it, because they have no future.
But we who are the Lord’s, let us remember one thing: we live for eternity. We live for that New Jerusalem, the bride. We live for that mutual dwelling of God and man.
Because of this, how careful we must be before the Lord.
Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast laid the foundation, Jesus Christ our Lord.
And Thou hast called us to build upon it. We do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us to build Thy house.
We ask Thee that we may daily live under Thy light, that we may not put in ourselves that which is of the natural, of the flesh.
Lord, we ask that whatever we put in may be of Thee, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.
We do desire to see that whatever cannot meet Thy eyes may be revealed and burned today, not tomorrow.
Oh, we do desire that everything may be real and permanent. Lord, we do not seek for greatness, for goodness, or for success in the eyes of man.
But we only desire to meet Thy eyes, to gain Thy approval and Thy satisfaction.
Oh, make it so, O Lord. Father, we ask in Thy precious name. Amen.