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. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, 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 by fire

Do you know that every individual Christian who is striving to enter the Kingdom of God is represented in the Scriptures as putting up a structure, a building, a faith structure, if you please, and that upon the kind of material we use in that building depends our future, whether for happiness, peace, contentment and reward; or sorrow, chagrin, disappointment and loss?

The Apostle first counsels us as to the proper foundation for our faith structure, stating that no man can lay a foundation that can bring us eternal life; because no man can give a ransom for his brother. No man can lay a foundation that can give a hope of future blessings. Therefore, "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ". (1 Cor.3.11). "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4.12). But now, since Jesus is the proper foundation for our building, upon what does the foundation rest; what was it laid upon? All foundations must rest upon an underlying basis of some kind, and we reply by quoting our Lord's own words. He said He came not to do his own will but He came to do the will of his Father in heaven. And his Father's will was his Law, which is as eternal as God himself; therefore Christ, the Foundation Stone, was laid upon the eternal principles of God himself.

The Apostle uses very powerful symbolism to represent the material we use in the construction of these buildings, namely, gold, silver, and precious stones. These symbolise those things in our faith that have the qualities of gold, silver and precious stones, qualities that are fireproof, qualities that fire will not burn; they are also rain and waterproof. Water is a symbol of Truth, and water will not melt them, cause them to decay or wash them away.

On the other hand, both fire and water will purify them and cause them to shine the more brightly, because they represent most beautiful truths. Gold represents Divine truths of the Kingdom; silver represents heavenly or spiritual truths of the Kingdom; precious stones represent the human or earthly phase of the Kingdom. On the other hand, Paul uses wood, hay and stubble to represent speculations, theories and opinions of men, which have qualities corresponding to the qualities of wood, hay and stubble. These are plentiful and cheap; they are neither fire nor storm-proof, but are subject to decay and destruction by both fire and storm. Therefore, the Apostle urges, "Take heed" what kind of material you are using in these faith structures, for we ourselves have to work with the kind of material we are using in our buildings.

It is our building in the sense that we individually are responsible for the material we use. God permits us to select the material, and He further permits us to supervise and arrange our entire faith structure.

Nothing is forced upon us by God. He does say, however, through his mouthpiece, the Apostle Paul, "Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."(1 Cor.3.10) But if we co-operate with Him, by using the materials He offers us and his advice in the selection of material, and labour together with him, then He is pleased to have us call it "God's Building," for by so doing it gives us and our building a distinction and a reputation for first-class building and workmanship. "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." (1 Cor.3.9). The kind of building we erect depends on the kind of material we use in the building, for no building is better than the material in the building. A building built of wood, thatched with straw, and covered with paint, may look fairly well, and its builder and occupant may for a while feel reasonably secure and contented. However, in the time of fire, rain or storm, the building will be almost certain to be damaged, if not altogether ruined or lost, with only the foundation remaining. Similarly, a faith structure made up of uncertain theories, opinions, guesses and speculations of men, may be put together quickly, cost but little, and when glossed over with oratory and fine speeches, may look reasonably well so far as outward appearance is concerned and its occupant may feel quite satisfied for a time.

But when the fiery experiences and the storms and floods of life come, the weakness and undesirability of such a structure will be clearly manifest, resulting in sore disappointment and loss.

God has the mine and the quarry (the Bible) and that contains all the materials for the best of buildings, the gold, silver and precious stones. God freely offers these materials to us for our building, if we will only spend our time and labour to dig them out of his mine and quarry. And for our helpfulness, God has provided the tools by giving us concordances, Bible dictionaries, histories, helps, teachers, for we could not have all these if God had not given them to us. And, still more, God has given us the blueprints in the "types and shadows" of his Law. He has laid before us the plans and the specifications, and urges us to build well; and he assures us that if we do so our structure will stand the test of the fire and the storm which will try every man's work. Upon the other hand, the cheaper and destructible materials will but feed the flames and result in utter disappointment and loss to its owner.

Now let us keep in mind that all who build their faith structure upon the proper foundation, Christ's great redemptive sacrifice, are Christians, regardless of whether or not they are wise or unwise in the selection of material for their faith structure. If part or all of our faith structure is composed of the wood, hay and stubble of men's theories and speculations, we may be called very unwise or foolish virgins. The Apostle's word further declares: "Every man's work shall be manifest: for the day shall declare it,...of what sort it is." (1 Cor.3.13) God has arranged for trying experiences, symbolised by a fire and a great storm, which will be permitted to test the life-work of every man in the church so that it is but a question of time until every vestige of the wood, hay and stubble—the opinions, theories and speculations of men—everything that is of man and not from God, shall be destroyed.

But why all the destruction? We answer: God is building a city called "The City of God," "The Holy City," "The New Jerusalem," and all these buildings we are erecting, with their inhabitants who have passed the test of the fire and the storm, shall become a part of that city, and that city will be the Divine government. A city of gold, with streets of pure gold, with pearly gates and precious stones in its foundation, and its inhabitants with garments wrought with pure gold; therefore that which is represented by the wood, hay and stubble, can have no place in that city. Then how will all these tests be applied?

Christ said, "I am the Light of the world": and light is the enemy of darkness. The coming of light dispels the darkness. Darkness of error, superstition and men's opinions is giving way to light and truth, and will so continue until the world is cleansed of all human philosophies and speculations. Paul further tells us that these unwise Christians, because of the poor material used, will in this time of fire, suffer loss. What will they lose? They will lose their buildings, their faith structures, their cherished opinions and conceptions, concerning the Lord and his Plan, upon which they may have spent many days of toil and labour to put together. All will be shown to be false, without a Scriptural basis. And all hopes and ambitions resting on those unsound teachings and principles must go down also. Yet so long as they continue to remain on the rock-foundation, CHRIST, and give evidence of sincerity in the same, we are assured that they will be saved, "yet so as by fire".

While it is true that the gold, silver and precious stones are scarce and difficult to obtain, they are of great value, because of their inherent qualities which endure the fire and the storm. Since these materials symbolise the Truth, we observe the significance of their scarcity, and the fact that they are difficult to obtain and the necessity of digging for them as for hidden treasures.

Those who build with the material symbolised by the gold, silver and precious stones are erecting a structure that will abide throughout all time; they are using indestructible material and proving themselves real overcomers of the world, the flesh and the adversary; for it is the Truth, and the spirit of the Truth, that enables the true Christian to stand firmly against all the enemies of God. It is the revelation of Divine Truth that supports faith in the hour of trial and when all earthly friends forsake us. Such overcomers "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth," and at last will be with him, as the Bride of the Lamb, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ their Lord.

There are some who build their hopes of acceptance with God, and of becoming heirs of the Kingdom, on the basis of their good works, or their wonderful works of service, and outward activity, to the neglect of the character within, which should be godlikeness. Such are surely building with poor material; their structure will not stand the final test which the Lord will apply. The good works, and the service in the ministry of the Word are all important enough, but Paul tells us that the Lord is pleased with all this only when it is the Love of God in our hearts which causes activity for him; saying "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." And further, the Apostle Peter tells us to add to our faith structure, Christian character such as Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness and Love; that, by so doing, we shall have granted unto us an abundant entrance into God's Kingdom. He says not a word about "service"; and emphasises the thought that Christian character is far more important and pleasing in God's sight than all the service we can render.

It is also interesting to observe the close connection between St.Paul's words on the subject of Christian work and the faith structure.

Jesus, also, in the closing verses of his Sermon on the Mount, said: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." (Matt.7.24-27). The lesson that Jesus intended to convey is that the truths He taught them were not merely to be heard, but to be put into practice in their everyday lives, if they would have the favour of God.

Our Lord warns us against the mere hearing of his words, and not obediently receiving them into our hearts, and not conforming our lives thereto, by making them a part of our faith-structure. Such, our Lord says, are building upon the sand; such are not acting in accordance with our Lord's instructions; such are unwise and certain to suffer loss in the time of storm. We are reminded, in this connection, that while God has committed to each one of his children the work of constructing a faith building and has lent his aid and providential care in the same, yet in another and much larger sense God is constructing a glorious edifice, the "Temple of God". The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, with its rough covering of badger skins, typified the Church in her humiliation while on this side of the veil, while the Temple, on the top of Mount Moriah, typified the Church in glory, and each individual child of God is referred to as a stone in preparation for that Temple. So, the Apostle says, that Christians, as living stones, are built up into him, a royal priesthood and a holy temple in the Lord. Following the various symbolisms of the Bible that refer to this matter, we find that this Temple, which God is erecting is, in other words, the Kingdom of God, the Divine Government, to whom will be committed the responsibility of the world's future sovereignty. Therefore, throughout the Gospel Age, God's Building, or Temple, has been in process of preparation, in the sense that the material, the stones, and so on, are being dug out of the quarry of this world, and are undergoing the hammering, shaping and polishing of God's disciplinary providences, so that each one may take on the proper shape, and thus fit in the place designed by the Great Architect of that holy Temple.

Surely we are near the time for the finishing of this great Building of God, his Holy Temple; surely we are close to the time when the last of the Temple stones are receiving their polishing and finishing touches, and soon the Temple will be raised in the First Resurrection. The world's great luminary, the Sun of Righteousness, "The Light of the World," is brightening the eastern horizon. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. May the light of God shine in and on increasingly until his Church, whose foundation is the "Rock of Ages," shall lift her head above the falling debris of earth's decaying systems and bid defiance to the storm which shall sweep the world of its vain schemes and traditions—its houses of sand, its castles of air: its wood, hay and stubble, the fabrications of man—until the Church, now in the wilderness, shall be the Church in glory.

How are we building? Are we building on the "Rock of Ages", by hearing and heeding our Lord's instructions; or, are we building on the shifting sands by hearing and not conforming our lives thereto? And with what are we building? Are we building with the gold, silver and precious stones; or are we building with the wood, hay and stubble of human speculation and sophistry (false argument)? Let us consider well the material with which we are erecting our faith-structure, our character building, today!

Reprinted Sept/ Oct '74