These are the days of spiritual fire, the baptism of fire that burns out the chaff. If you will accept the fire, the Lord will give it to you and will work it in you perfectly. The first part of you to go through the fire should be your head, so that you cannot reason your way out of God’s dealings upon you. Often there seems to be no explanation for the roundabout ways that God has of putting you through the fire. He deals with you in unexpected ways. Just about the time you think you have it figured out, He moves in a different way. While you look for the fire to come one way, you find that it has come in another area altogether. You cannot reason it out; all you can say is that God’s way of dealing with your heart is very effective!
These days were prophesied in the parable recorded in Matthew 13. The Lord will gather the wheat into the barn, but the tares will be gathered into bundles and burned (verse 30). In these days, every false thing which appears to be true will be burned. The fires of judgment are one matter, but the fire that burns the chaff from the pure wheat is another. God grant that we open our hearts for the Lord to apply the fire to whatever chaff is there; for we want Him to deal with it thoroughly, and bring us into what He has for us.
In I Corinthians 3:1–15 Paul described the way in which the Lord is going to test everything that He brings forth in this day. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. Verse 1. Are there two different classes of people? Are there some who are spiritual and others who do not have a spirit, but are fleshly? No, that is not the answer. Man is a triune being—spirit, soul, and body. We read in Genesis 1:26 that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image.” It was in His likeness that He brought man forth. This does not mean that a man’s physical appearance is like God’s. This likeness refers to the total composition of a human being.
God is a triune God. The interrelationship and oneness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are so strong that we never say that God is three. God is one. The Lord our God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). He is one Spirit. Closely identified, related, and merged into that oneness are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Like God, man is a triune being. In his triune nature, man is not three separate, distinct entities, like three peas in a bottle. Even if you were to shake that bottle vigorously, those peas never would become one. Man is an interrelated being in which there is an overlapping of each phase—body, soul, and spirit.
What a person is in the physical phase of his being is directly related to his soul and his spirit. Also, what he is in spirit will reach through to his physical body and his emotions. If he is a soulish individual, his emotions govern his life and determine how much faith or how much of a walk with God he has in his spirit. They also determine his physical health and well-being. It is all interrelated. This is the reason that the enemy’s assault against your body becomes a spiritual testing as well.
The Spirit who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead is quickening the mortal body (Romans 8:11). Our physical senses are becoming alive to God. How can we say that the spirit, soul, and body are separate entities when we see the merging of these areas? The time will come when we will see with the natural eye what we discern in our spirits. What the Lord reveals to us in the spirit, we will react to in the soul and in the body. This is scriptural. Many times when the Lord revealed Himself to people, they fell before Him like dead men. It affected them physically as well as spiritually.
Paul explained that different people are of different natures. He referred to them as being either spiritual, carnal, or natural. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him…because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. I Corinthians 2:14–15. Paul explained that even though we are one being—spirit, soul, and body—one phase will predominate. Ideally, a person’s spirit, regenerated by God, should dominate his soul (emotions, decisions, and will) and his physical being.
People who live merely for the gratification of the flesh have put their spirits under the dominion of their flesh. Remember what Paul said about them: For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ…whose god is their appetite (literally, “belly”), and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. Philippians 3:18–19. He called them enemies of the cross of Christ because they were gluttons, living for lusts and physical needs. They called themselves believers; yet instead of denying the flesh, they gave way to it. There are many Christians today, too, who make their belly their god; they are living for sensual and physical gratification rather than for that which is spiritual. This means that their physical side predominates, and the soul and the spirit are suppressed.
Other people live primarily in the soulish realm. They do not really have a walk with God, but they live from one blessing to another. Blessings are felt largely on a soulish level, and when people experience a soulish uplift, they expect the blessing to last, but it usually does not. The soul is similar to the physical being in that respect. For example, eating something sweet gives one a lift physically, because it provides an artificial stimulus; but later there is a corresponding letdown. This can happen on the soulish plane too. It is possible to become excited and emotionally worked up, and then experience a corresponding letdown. Both the soul and the physical body can respond on a curve of ups and downs. The prophecy in Isaiah 40:4 tells us that the Lord came so that every mountain could be brought down and every valley be filled. He comes to lead people out of a life which is primarily physical or soulish (emotional) and into the place where their spirits walk on the highway of the Lord.
Paul told the Corinthians, in effect, “I wish I could relate to you on the plane of spirit. But I still have to talk to you as if I were talking to men of flesh.” What do you want to be? Do you want to be a person of spirit, of soul, or of flesh? A spiritual person is one whose walk with God is such that nothing in the soul or physical plane can disturb, depress, or discourage him. Have you reached that place?
Paul continued in I Corinthians 3:2–3: I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you (these are of the soulish level), are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? Aren’t you tired of walking like a human being? Don’t you want to walk like a son of God? There is no future in being a mere man, full of jealousy and strife, walking after the flesh. Since our spirits are born of God, we want to be spiritual.
For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Verses 4–7. The apostolic ministry has not succeeded until you accept all of the apostolic company. You can know exactly where you are on the scale if you prefer one ministry over another. If you come to church only when a certain foundational ministry is preaching, then you are thinking like a mere man. Sooner or later you will have to accept the fact that God is moving through a many-membered Body to minister to you. You need Apollos; you need Cephas; you need Paul. You need all of them. It would be foolish to believe in an apostolic ministry and then not avail yourself of every opportunity to receive the word he brings; but it would be equally foolish not to be open to the ministry the Lord is bringing forth through the other brothers.
You should pray for all the brethren. Never think that your love for God is so limited that you can only pray for one man. Love is not that way. Love can be expanded to pray for many. A pregnant woman, who already has a small child whom she loves very much, may wonder if she will have enough love for the new baby. The truth of the matter is that the human heart is capable of enlarging its capacity. A mother usually finds that she has enough love in her heart to love each new baby as much as she loves her other children. (In fact, she may love her last child so much that she does not have the strength to discipline him as she should.) A woman’s heart can expand with love for every child she has.
People can love many ministries and hold them up in prayer until they come forth. It is a misconception to think that you must focus on only one ministry in need, that you cannot pray for any others. Many sons are come to the birth, and Zion must be able to travail for each one of them (Isaiah 66:8). Besides, they will not come forth unless there is prayer for them. Pray for each one of the ministries. When you see them going through a difficult time, look carefully to see what the Lord is bringing forth, and travail for them; help them. Only through prayer will each come forth. It can be no other way. Never look upon a brother with despair or discouragement while the dealings of God are upon him. Have faith to believe for the perfect will of the Lord to come forth in him. Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? Who is any ministry in the house of the Lord? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
There are different types of ministries, each functioning in his own sphere. Those that plow deep, you may not like very well, for their ministry hurts; however, you do not mind it after the clods are broken up and the ground is harrowed. Afterward comes the planting ministry, which you like because it plants the good seed in your heart. There are also the fertilizing ministries, which are usually not the favorites. Even so, you must not show partiality to any ministry. Receive each one as the blessing of the Lord that is promoting the work He is doing in your heart.
I Corinthians 3:8–9a: Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow-workers. This is a good term—fellow-workers. I am glad God expressed it that way through Paul. It means that when I work, God is working. When I speak, God is speaking. When I lay my hands on someone, God is laying His hands on him too. We are fellow-workers with Him; and when we speak, God is speaking. When we believe, God is moving. This is a happy relationship.
Next, the illustration shifts from farming a field to constructing a building. Paul said, You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation (according to the plans), and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Verses 9b–11. In everything he does, the apostolic ministry lays a true foundation of Jesus Christ in the life of everyone to whom he ministers, until they believe in Christ, submit to Him, and have faith in Him.
Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. Verses 12–13. God inspects everything we build. If it is not constructed properly, it must be torn down and rebuilt. When He comes to inspect what we have been building, we tremble. He walks through churches to see if we are becoming living stones built by the Spirit to be a habitation of God (Ephesians 2:21–22). How does He inspect the work? He sets fire to the work to see if it can be burned. If it burns, He does not want it. Wood, hay, and stubble burn; but gold, silver, and precious stones do not.
Are you building for the present time or for eternity? Are you looking for something on the temporal scale? This is the essential test. Are you satisfied with a life that has some meaning, but no lasting worth? Gold, silver, and precious stones are the worthwhile pursuits—not wood, hay, and stubble.
If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. Verse 14. Let us put the fire to our lives; and after the fire has burned out everything that can be burned, we will see if any gold, silver, and precious stones remain. What are these works of gold, silver, and precious stones? Whatever is built on Jesus Christ; whatever we have not built to ourselves. We do not build, merely to be a success in the eyes of man; we build for the Kingdom. We seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, even though it may not be popular. Our objective is not merely to start churches; God is demanding churches that can stand through His fire. We do not hatch chickens for the hawks, nor do we bring forth churches to be taken over by Babylon. They must be built according to New Testament order. God is bringing forth that which pleases Him.
When you first start to walk with God, the Lord tests you to see if you are to be set into the Body of Christ or if you are a phony. He puts the fire to you to see if you will burn up. If you are still standing when it is over, you will be a good lively stone to be placed into the temple of the Lord (I Peter 2:5).
If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. Verse 15. This is very significant. There is a difference between having your spirit or your soul saved and having your life saved. A man may have his spirit and his soul saved; he may get into heaven by a narrow margin. But his life was burned up. All of his accomplishments were only wood, hay, and stubble. When the Lord puts the fire to them, he sees all the things consumed for which he has worked. Nothing stands for eternity. Nothing of any value or worth or meaning has come out of his life. God has burned it all up.
We do not want that. We want to be among those who rest from their labors, whose works do follow them (Revelation 14:13). Their labors, which were gold, silver, and precious stones, follow them. This is what we are working for. This is the reason our emphasis is not primarily upon eternity, but upon our present walk with God, upon our ministry and the purity of it, upon the preparation of our hearts to walk with God. This must be our constant emphasis.
Our lives are being saved. We are giving our lives for Him; we are losing our lives for His sake. “He who loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). We are not laboring for anything in the world—not for money, for position, or anything else. All we are working for is to please Him and to do His will. This is the gold, the silver, and the precious stones.
Part of the course of every believer’s life is God’s testing of everything that he is doing and producing. Many things can be salvaged. The Lord can take straw and make it into gold. He can take wood and make it into silver. He can turn the wood, hay, and stubble into the gold, silver, and precious stones. The minute you see that you are working for the wrong objective, lay it all at His feet and repent. He has a way of bringing it forth as pure gold. Do not be discouraged if you have been living for the wrong goal. Submit it to the Lord and see what He will salvage out of it. Heed this word. After your soul is saved and your spirit is born again, you also want your life to be saved because you have lived it for Him.