Reading: 1 Corinthians 3.
These
words are carefully chosen: the supreme importance of a
living and clear apprehension of Christ. If it were
necessary to show how supremely important that is, it
could be done very easily without going outside of this
first letter to the Corinthians; for undoubtedly all the
sad, the tragic, the terrible conditions with which the
apostle had to deal in the assembly at Corinth were due
to an inadequate apprehension of Christ. But there is
very much more than what we find in this letter to prove
this necessity, and it is upon perhaps one aspect of the
necessity that we shall dwell more particularly at this
time.
In the
third chapter there occur the familiar words about the
foundation and the building. The apostle says: “I
laid a foundation... 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.” (verses 10-13)
— “the fire shall prove each man’s work
of what sort it is.”
We
need to ask the question: What work is it that is
referred to there? To what does that relate, “each
man’s work”? I do not think the apostle is here
referring to Christian service. That is the common idea
about this passage, that it relates to the work which we
do for the Lord. Of course, that comes into the category
of things tried by the fire, and of things manifested in
that day. But I do not think that is the thing which the
apostle has in mind when he writes this. I believe he is
rather thinking of the substance of faith. We are
building a Christian life: we are building ourselves up
on Christ; we are constructing and constituting
Christianity in ourselves. We have been doing this for a
long time, and this superstructure of our Christian lives
is composed of the things which we believe, the things
which we accept, the things to which we give assent;
everything that we gather in to make up the Christian
life. We are Christians, and the make-up of ourselves as
Christians is going on, is increasing, and in that way we
are building. It is the substance of our faith that is in
question, using the word “faith” in its largest
sense.
The Nature of the Building
It is
at that point that the whole argument of the apostle has
its application, so far as this letter is concerned. Just
there in the make-up of the Christian life of every one
of us, that which constitutes the substance, the
material, the elements, the features, it is there that
the apostle is applying this great difference between
earthly and heavenly wisdom. These Greeks at Corinth,
because of their natural inclination and disposition to
reduce everything to a philosophy, had taken up
Christianity very largely in that way, regarding it as a
philosophy, and handling it as such: examining,
dissecting, appraising according to the standards of
worldly wisdom, philosophical thought, and
interpretation. So they looked at the preaching, the
teaching, from that standpoint, and in a mental way, an
intellectual way, took hold of Christian truth and made
it, with human, worldly-wise interpretation, the
substance of being Christians, the constituents of a
Christian life. They were building on the right
foundation. Christ was there as the foundation laid by
the apostle. But they were building upon that foundation,
a worldly interpretation of Christianity, a philosophical
structure in Christian doctrine, terminology,
phraseology, ideas, conceptions and it was becoming a
purely mental, intellectual, academic thing. That is what
they were building up. It had no living relationship to
their inward condition. It was purely external. The
result was that, while they had all that worldly
structure of Christianity, Christian thought, and
Christian ideas, and Christian doctrines, they were
behaving in the most shocking manner amongst themselves
and in holy things.
It was
at that the apostle launched this word: “...let each
man take heed how he buildeth thereon” (1 Cor.
3:10). In other words, that which is of supreme
importance is not Christian doctrine, mentally appraised
and apprehended, but a living and clear spiritual
apprehension of Christ. That is the work. What are you
building? Are you, through a living, clear, inward,
experimental relationship with the Lord Jesus, building a
structure which comes out of that inward spiritual
knowledge? Is it by that you are growing? Or are you
growing by things said and mentally judged, appraised,
dissected, accepted, assented to? What is the nature of
the building? The work in which we are engaged, to which
this phrase “each man’s work” applies, is
the building of Christ livingly into the very substance
of our being, into the very fabric of our lives. It is
not a question of getting to know a great deal about
Christianity. Let us note that. The heart of the whole
matter is the difference between the philosophy of
Christianity, of Christian doctrine and the spiritual
knowledge of Christ.
The Nature of the Trying Fire
Now we
come to a further point. “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” (1 Cor.
3:13). What is the fire? We have, as we see, the clause
“for the day shall declare it,” which no doubt
applies to the day of the Lord’s appearing, but I
think there is an application of the words “the fire
itself shall prove” in that day, which is specific,
which is along a certain line.
Passing
over to another part of the Scriptures, let us ask what
the nature of the devouring by the dragon is in
Revelation 12:4. There we see the great red dragon
standing waiting to devour the man-child the moment he is
born. What is the character of the devouring? How will
the dragon seek to devour? I do not think it would be an
adequate answer to say that this is a way of describing a
great persecution from without, a physical persecution of
the saints. That is not an adequate explanation; because
the Blood of the Lamb is not the ground upon which you
overcome physical persecution. You go through physical
persecution, you are not delivered out of it. You can
appeal to the Blood of the Lamb as much as you like in
the day of persecution from without, and the Blood of the
Lamb does not avail to release you from it. There is a
support through it. But here in this twelfth chapter of
Revelation the man-child is seen escaping the jaws of the
dragon, being delivered from him, and being caught up to
the throne. It is an absolute deliverance from the dragon
who stands waiting to devour. Now what is the nature of
the devourer? The nature of the devourer is explained by
the nature of the victory. “And they overcame him
because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word
of their testimony...” It may be outwardly they
suffer death, loving not their lives even unto death, but
there is something inward which means that, even while
they are delivered up unto death outwardly, they overcome
spiritually.
Here
is something in which these escape the dragon and are not
swallowed up by him; and that will tell you, if you think
for a moment, what the nature of the devourer is. It
seems to me that the devourer is related to the faith of
the overcomer. It is a matter of swallowing up their
faith. Faith in what? Faith in all that upon which they
stand for their eternal salvation. The accuser is there,
and if, with no more multiplication of words, we reduce
it to this, you will see what we mean. It is a question
precisely of an inward spiritual, living relationship to
Christ Himself. In that day, when the enemy moves in that
intensified form against an overcomer-company to swallow
that company up, there will be the most severe and
intense testing and trying out of an inward relationship
to the Lord.
It
will certainly come along one line, if not entirely along
the one line, namely, of being tempted to believe that
the whole foundation has given way. In other words, the
great effort of the adversary will be to bring to a place
where the hope of salvation is gone, where the saints
have had cut from under them their assurance in Christ.
The devouring will be in relation to their faith, the
awful blackness of being out of the pale and hope of
salvation. That is not mere hypothesis; that is an
actuality. There are many true children of God in that
affliction now, and the enemy is pressing that, and will
press that more and more toward the end. You and I,
beloved, by reason of being given certain conditions and
circumstances: physical, circumstantial, mental, will be
tested on that matter, tested right out as to what we
have been using to build with. What does your building
represent? Is it so much teaching, so much doctrine, so
much theory, so many meetings, so many prayers, so much
Bible reading, Bible study, so much activity in the
Lord’s work? Is that the structure? Supposing it all
goes, and you are no longer able to do anything: no
longer able to pray, no longer able to study the Word, no
longer able to go to the meetings, no longer able to work
for the Lord outwardly, what do you have left? Supposing
all that structure is all that you have, and your whole
Christian life is represented by that, and it all goes,
what do you have left? Do you have Christ inwardly? That
will be the test.
“Each
man’s work shall be made manifest... the fire shall
prove each man’s work of what sort it is.” (1
Cor. 3:13). The work is that which we are doing now in
the building up of our Christian lives. What are we
using? What are we working with? I believe that the only
thing which will satisfy the Lord is that we should be
able to stand with Him in any place, though it be in hell
itself. The Lord might test us by the fires in that way,
as to whether we are able to stand not merely when we are
in the good fellowship of Christian people, with all the
helps around us, with all advantages at our disposal
spiritually, but when we are alone, cut off, shut up, or
in some place where it is ninety-nine percent the devil
and hell.
What
is it that will make it possible for us to stand in such
an hour? Nothing but an inward, clear, living knowledge
of Christ Himself. Each man’s work shall be tried;
the fires shall make manifest of what sort it is. The
work relates to the building up of ourselves as
Christians. What is it that is represented by our
Christian lives? Is it the place in which we meet? Is it
the teaching we receive there? Is it anything like that?
You may be assured that that is going to be put in the
fire, and then the question will be how much of Christ
has through that become a living, inward reality, a part
of your very being, so that you do not say: I know of
certain teaching, and I belong to a certain fellowship!
but, I HAVE CHRIST! That is our work, and each
man’s work shall be tried.
The
enemy will stand ready to swallow up, and he will swallow
up all that he can. He cannot swallow up Christ. If
Christ is in us, in a closer relationship with us than
any human relationship, so that Christ has become a very
part of us, the enemy cannot devour that.
Only What is Christ Will Endure
The
foundation is Christ, and the structure must be Christ.
The foundation is not our decision, our beliefs, our
attainments spiritually; not our accuracy, not our works,
not the measure of our knowledge, not our spiritual
ability, not our measure of strength, not our mind or our
will, not our activities for the Lord, and not our
persistence. It is nothing of ourselves, it is Christ.
When you come to think about it, is not that just where
the enemy gains his advantage? So many of us have thought
that unless we can do certain things, or be of a certain
mind, we can have no assurance. The Lord would teach us
— and this is the lesson that my heart is bent upon
learning, and that I would urge upon you to make your
quest also — that the ground of assurance is not in
our having decided for Christ, nor that we persist in the
Christian life, nor that we feel strong, nor that we have
certain ability as Christians and are able to do this or
that. It is not the measure of our activity in the work
of the Lord, nor any one of these things which
constitutes our Christian life. These are simply the
outworkings. The thing which constitutes us is that
Christ is the foundation, and that we are inseparably
linked with Him by faith. Everything else can be
suspended as a secondary consideration until that is
settled. It is as though God, if we may put it this way
to try to simplify the truth, had given us His Son and
had said to us: In Him you have everything, and the first
thing is not what you are, what you can do, or anything
to do with you; it is what He is! If only in the face of
all you may see of a multitude of contradictions in your
own life in weaknesses, and imperfections, and lack of
attainment, you will persistently believe in Him as
having it in Himself to bring you through to the end, you
will go through in spite of all. We begin to take stock
of ourselves, measure ourselves up, and say: I am not
this, and I am not that, and I am not something else; or
else, I am this, and I am that, and all this goes against
me. Nothing of all this is to the point at all. The
totality of every divine requirement in us is in Christ.
The
very last stroke of our sanctification and glorification
is finished now in Christ, and by faith we have to
receive the end of our salvation. The only way in which
we are related to the matter at all is by faith. Of
course faith is always proved in obedience. Perhaps
someone will say: You are simply ignoring and ruling out
our responsibility entirely! We are doing nothing of the
kind. We are saying that our responsibility is faith, and
faith works out in obedience. But never let us think that
it is our faith or our obedience that saves us. It is
Christ who saves, Christ who is salvation, and there is
nothing more dynamic unto a life of consecration than
seeing what Christ is for us. The dynamic of consecration
is not in struggling to be something; it is in seeing
Him.
Perhaps
none of us have realized that the Holy Spirit never
co-operates with our struggling. The Holy Spirit never
comes along and assists in our endeavours to be good.
Have you not proved that? The Holy Spirit never comes
along and lends His aid to us to solve our problems
concerning ourselves while we dwell upon our own
problems. Have you not discovered that? Why not let that
be settled? The Holy Spirit stands back while we struggle
to solve our own spiritual problems. What is He waiting
for? He is waiting for us to apprehend Christ by faith,
and then He will come in and work on that ground. The
Holy Spirit works because of what Christ is, not for any
reason to be found within ourselves. Faith’s
apprehension of the perfection of Christ, in His Person
and work, provides the ground for the Holy Spirit to come
and make that good progressively in us. Stand apart from
the perfection of Christ, and you will make no progress.
Stand on the ground of the finality of Christ, and the
Holy Spirit begins His operations to make it good. There
is all the difference between seeing Christianity as a
system of life to which you have to conform: a standard
to which you have somehow or other to attain; an
objective Christianity presented in a systematic
doctrine, and seeing that Christ is that fully and
finally; and Christ livingly in you is the ground of your
conformity.
It is
not found in anything that can come from us. God chose
the foolish things. Why? To make the wisdom of God
everything. God chose the weak things. Why? To make His
power in Christ the only power of which such weak things
have any knowledge. God chose the base things. Why? In
order that that which is noble in Christ should be the
only honour of which they know, which they have. God
chose the things which are not. Why? In order that He
should be the only reality. God’s activities are not
directed toward making something of us, but God takes
account of the fact that no matter how much we struggle
and strive we never can be anything. He takes account of
the fact that there is a nothingness upon which He can
put His all. But you and I have to recognize that that is
the place of the Cross, if we have not come to it. It
opens up such tremendous possibilities when we see that
God does begin at zero, that everything of God is bound
up with the place where we see, as to ourselves, that we
are out of it. But how we are concerned with ourselves!
We must settle it that we in ourselves are of no account,
and that Christ is all.
The
order in this first letter to the Corinthians is,
firstly, Christ crucified, as over against the wisdom of
this world, the wisdom of men. The latter, to the Greeks,
represented everything that man cares about. I do not
know whether Paul would have written the same thing to
this Western world that he wrote to them. When he wrote
to the Hebrews he did not write about the wisdom of this
world, because other things were pre-eminent with them.
If he were writing to this Western world, I wonder if
perhaps he might speak more of financial acquisition, and
would say: Now, when I came to you, brethren, I came not
to talk about financial acquisition. I determined to know
nothing about financial acquisition amongst you! just as
he said to the Greeks at Corinth, And I, brethren, when I
came unto you... I determined not to know anything among
you about worldly wisdom, philosophy. That was the import
of his declaration. Whatever it may be, and in whatever
part of the world, the principle is that the fundamental
obstruction has to go and Christ crucified has to take
its place.
Related
to that, the next thing to be noted is the utter
nothingness of those who are in Christ. We are said to be
“in Christ” — “...of him are ye in
Christ...” (1 Cor. 1:30). Who is the
“ye?” The foolish, the weak, the ignoble, the
things which are not, the nothings, all those whom God
has chosen.
The
sum of the whole matter is the importance that is given
to life in the Spirit, or a spiritual state. Read again
the second and third chapters.
“Things
which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered
not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared
for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them
through the Spirit” (verses 9-10).
“For
who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the
spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of
God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.”
“The
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God,” and he that is spiritual, that is, who has
come into a spiritual state by renewal and the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit, comes into the realm of the knowledge
of Christ as God’s fullness, the things which God
hath laid up in Christ for them that love Him. A life in
the Spirit is what is signified, which means, firstly, a
spiritual state of government by the Holy Spirit. From
this in turn there results a condition in which the
Spirit is found revealing Christ and making Christ
everything. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord.”
If the
devourer is going to be cheated of his object, if you and
I are not going to come under that awful onslaught of the
prince of darkness to rob us of our assurance of
salvation, so that the time comes when we doubt whether
we are saved after all, doubt whether there is any
salvation for us, we must recognize that there is a place
in the innermost chamber of our being where we have to
know the Lord. Does it seem impossible to you that you
could ever reach a point where you doubt your salvation?
There are possibilities for every one of us along that
line which are fearful. You have only to have a nervous
breakdown and, as the entail of it, the devil strutting
in to becloud your mind and trade upon your melancholy,
to know the truth of this. You have only to be cut off
from all your activities, where you cannot pray any
longer for some reason or other, where you cannot do your
accustomed work in the Word of God, where the Christian
service which has been such a delight is taken away from
you, and you are shut up in a state of weakness,
aloneness, with loss of vitality, and depression to which
these minds and bodies of ours are prone, and then have
the devourer, encamping upon it all, and beginning to
say: God has left you, you have sinned against the Holy
Ghost! and to listen to that once, to find yourself
engulfed. We have to know the Lord in that innermost
chamber of our being, so that, be it mental and physical
breakdown, circumstances all against us, all these
things, there is that inward grip, that inward reality of
Christ which is adequate to stand up to this situation.
That is our need.
It
must not be ninety percent of externalities in the
Christian life, or seventy-five percent, or fifty
percent. These things are good: let us make the most of
them. But let us continually go to the Lord on our knees
and say: Lord, these meetings are good, and it is
gracious of You to give us these fellowships and helps:
but I must know You in my own heart, lest the day come
when the fellowship is blown upon and scattered to the
four winds and all these things are taken away, and I am
left stranded because my life has stood in the power of
outward activities and not in knowing the Lord. Plead
with the Lord about that. Have an understanding with the
Lord about that. Let us see to it that the building which
is going on where we are concerned is the building of
Christ Himself into the very fibre of our being. Then the
devourer will be eluded, the overcomer will be caught up
to the Throne, and the devourer will go away to the
wilderness to persecute the rest of the woman’s
seed. What kind of wilderness is this? It is the
wilderness in which some believers are found now. They
have lost the assurance of their salvation: and that is
an awful wilderness. God save us from that.