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has buil t on the foundation sur–
vives, he will
receive a reward"
(verses 12-14).
Christ Does the Works " in Us"
The FOUNDATrON did not come by
ouR woRKS! That was Goo's
doing. He GAVE
US
the FOUNDA–
TION to build upon. That founda–
tion is CHRIST-and it is "Christ IN
us" (11 Cor.
13:5;
Gal. 2:20;
4:19;
Eph. 3: 17; Col. 1:27),
by the Holy
Spirit!
God's Spirit-Christ IN
you-was GIVEN by GRACE, not
produced by your WORKS.
BUT
you must cont inue to BUILD upon
that "Foundation . " W e must
OVERCOME. We must GROW spiri–
tually
( n
Pet.
3: 18).
Now notice the MATERIALS men–
tioned in building the superst ruc–
ture of the building. The most valu–
able is mentioned first-GOLD.
Second in value and QUALITY of
building materials is mentioned
next, SILVE R. Next, precious
stones; next, wood-far less valu–
able. But now we come down to
CHEAPNESS and INFERIOR QUALI–
TY- HAY! Hay might be used in
covering a tropical-zone hut- but
it is very inferior building material.
Yet, a horse could eat it-it has
sorne
little value. But, lastly, we
come to straw or STUBBLE! You
couldn't even bu ild a hut with stub–
ble. A horse wouldn't eat it. Its
value is about NJL.
Must Build Character
In this scriptural passage, we are
primarily concerned with BUILDING
CHARACTER.
But now Paul speaks of TESTI NG
the quality of a man's building by
FIRE. Let's
understand
it! Cont in–
ue: " If any man's
work
is BURNED
UP,
he
will suffer loss, though
he
himself will be saved,
but only as
through fire" (verse
15).
WHAT is
that "fire"?
To understand this, we need to
turn to the thi rd chapter of Mala–
chi. 1t speaks of Christ as the Mes–
senger of the (new) covenant, sud–
denly coming to his temple. This,
like so many prophecies, is dual in
application.
It
refers only typically
to Christ's first coming-primarily
to his Second Coming!
" ... and the Lord, whom ye
seek, shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the
January
1983
covenant, ... But who may abide
the d ay of his coming? and who
shall stand wben he appeareth? for
he is like a refiner's FIRE, and like
fullers' soap: and he shall si t as a
refiner and purifier of
si/ver:
and
he shall purify the sons of Levi, and
purge
them as
gold
and
si/ver,
that
they may offer unto the Lord an
offering in RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Mal.
3: 1-3).
Plainly , this is s peaking of
Christ's Second Coming as KING
of kings , to set up WORLD GOV–
ERNMENT over ALL NATIONS. Then
we who have received God's
GRACE-i n whom is the Holy
Spirit, then made immortal- shall
stand before him for judgment as
to what reward, or position, we
have qualified for. Christ himself
is that refiner's FIRE, that will
burn up the dross. But the pure
gold, silver, or precious stones we
have BUILT on the foundation of
CHRIST will then be MANIFEST-it
will come through the test. But
the wood, hay and straw will be
burned up.
Again, of those who, BY GRACE,
do receive SALVATION, and are born
IMmortal into God's kingdom at
Christ's appearing, Christ says he
will bring them "th rough the PIRE,
and will refine them as silver is
refined, and will try them as gold is
tried: they shall call on my name,
and
1
will hear them:
1
will say,
It
is
MY PEOPLE: and they shall say, The
Lord is my God" (Zech.
13:9).
Now back to
1
Corinthians
3:13-
15.
lt
ought to be plain, now!
This is speaking of begotten
children of God, who h ave
received God's Holy Spirit- that
is, CHRIST
in
them, in Spirit-as
1
uto·pi·an
/
-pé-dn/
adj, often cap
1:
of,
relating to, or having the characteristics of a
utopia;
specif
:
having impossibly ideal
conditions esp. of social organization 2:
proposing or advocating impractically ideal
·
· ·
schemes
<-
idealists
>
: VISIONARY
•••ORISIT?
Man has dreamed of living in the model society-one
with lasting peace, with abundance and exciting
opportunities for all. But man 's governments, cultures
and social experiments have faited to produce this
utopian result. ts utopía impossibte? No! Such a society
is coming, but man is not going to bring it about-it's
going to be done
to
him! Our free booklet
What Do
You Mean ... Kingdom of God?
explains what this world will be like and
how it will come about. To request
your copy. use the card in this issue or
write to our office nearest you.
37