Robert Wurtz II
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—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. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands—lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure (Isaiah 33:10-17).
And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble (1Chron. 29:1-2).
I have taken the unusual step of quoting three passages of scripture within their context to demonstrate a vital truth frequently absent or disregarded in our present age. In our first passage, Paul is warning ministers at Corinth to take heed to how they build upon the foundation of the church. The “foundation” is a person (Jesus Christ), and it follows that the superstructure must also be persons (See R. Gromacki, Called to be Saints, P.47-49). Peter referred to the saints as “living stones” in the Temple (1 Pet. 2:4-5). Understand that the Church is the Temple in this present age.
Paul alerts ministers at Corinth to the quality of the persons who are making up the Temple (Church). It is a hard saying, but if the churches are built with nominal believers, the nominal are by analogy wood, stubble, and straw and can never be part of the true Church. Corinth struggled with carnality suggesting that some of the people were not regenerated. This could be why Paul is telling them, “Take heed how you build upon the foundation.” Nominal Christians are temporary and cannot withstand the fire when it is applied to them. This theme was taught by the Lord Jesus too in Matthew 7:25-27. Paul’s analogy hearkens back to David and Solomon and the first Temple in Jerusalem. Besides the gold and precious stones, David also provided the wood. Understand that even the highest quality wood is only temporary. The emphasis is on the gold, silver, and precious stones.
Transformed into Saints
The role of the minister is not to merely keep people coming to church, but to see them transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into saints. This was Paul’s commission (Acts 26) and he has passed it to us. He preached repentance until the Jews tried to kill him. This is because people oppose themselves and don’t want to turn to God (Se 2 Tim. 2:25). Some fear the penalty of sin so they will accept a free offer of salvation. They will do what they perceive to be the minimum requirement. But this has never been God’s goal–nor is there any example of this allowance found in the scriptures. Even the thief on the cross repented and called on the name of the Lord. The goal is to see men transformed into His image and He works hard to bring it to pass. In fact, the Holy Spirit through the prophet uses the illustration of the refiner’s fire in Jeremiah. They are all stubborn rebels, walking as slanderers. They are bronze and iron, They are all corrupters; The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; The smelter refines in vain, For the wicked are not drawn off. People will call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them (Jeremiah 6:28–30 NKJV).
Paul was concerned with permanence because God wants permanence. He laid the foundation of the Church, and others were going to build thereupon. Paul, an expert builder, was concerned that careless builders would come along with hay, stubble, and wood rather than gold, silver, and precious stones. Only God can transform water into wine, and only God can turn wood into Gold, or stubble into precious stones. In every case, a divine miracle is in order. We mustn’t settle for the Protestant idea that justification is all we need. Jesus said in John 3:3 that we must be born again. This is regeneration.
Every person comes to the Lord unfit for placement in the Church. The proper message of the Gospel, when believed and received, will transform a person into a new creature. When a person repents (in the John the Baptist sense of the word), believes and receives the Spirit (in the book of Acts sense), they are transformed into gold, silver, or precious stones. Each person is uniquely equipped to outfit the Temple (Church) permanently in the same sense that David and Solomon outfitted the physical Temple with precious things.
Tried by Fire
We have a common motif in scripture where chaff and thorns are burned up by the judgment of God. The writer to the Hebrews warns of people being as thorns burned up because they rejected the dealings of God (Heb. 6:7-8). Isaiah writes, Now I will arise,” says the LORD, “now I will lift myself up; now I will be exalted. You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble; your breath is a fire that will consume you. And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.” Clearly, these are not gold, silver, or precious stones.
Isaiah then asks a great question, “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” Certainly wood, hay, and stubble cannot. Isaiah then answers, “He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands — lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
Isaiah’s words contain potent truths. The reason why so many fail to experience the living waters, bread, and fire of God is that they do not live righteously and (or) they do not discipline their senses. Hebrews tells us that strong food (bread) is for those who have their senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14). Imagine a Christian life with no spiritual life, no fire, no understanding of the Scriptures. The troubling thing is that these behaviors are indicative of chaff and stubble—not gold and silver.
The Hindrance of Compromise
How can God send His Fire into a person’s life when they partake of evil things? This question is relevant to the sinner who was never saved and the believer who is living in compromise. It follows (logically) that God either has to refrain from sending His Fire or the person would be burned up. When God’s presence is near judgment is swift. This is why we must repent of such sins if we want personal revival. God cannot apply His Fire to the metaphorical wood, hay, and stubble (I speak by analogy) because an unbeliever cannot stand the Fire of God any more than stubble can withstand ordinary fire. This truth is a great reason to renounce and forsake all known sin and number ourselves among those who “walk righteously and speak uprightly, who despise the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands—lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil.”
In the end, God is going to apply fire to His Church and all that will remain are of gold, silver, or precious stones. For the minister, he will be saved so as by Fire, but his works will be burned up if he/she has failed to focus on permanence. What does it profit to add numbers of people to the roll who can’t dwell among the everlasting burnings? Can you imagine the grief of seeing your entire life’s work burnt up simply because you failed to give heed to Paul’s warning. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—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. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:12-15).
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