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To Test You
By John O. Reid
June 8, 2003
Tape 616C
A simple definition of the word prototype is: an original on which subsequent forms are to be based; a standard to which others must conform. The synonyms for that word are: ideal, perfect, model, idyllic, supreme, superlative, ultimate, and the best. Jesus Christ is the prototype, the ultimate, the very best, and is the model that we are to be fashioned after.
Years ago, when we kept the Feast in Tucson, Arizona, we went to the air museum on one of our free afternoons. I normally only considered the planes that I knew—the P51, the P47, the P49, the P38; the old airplanes that I understood of the military and civilian aircraft.
But when I got there I saw that there were a wide variety of types that had been built and then rejected. I was amazed at all there were. To be sure, there were a few of the old work horse planes there from past eras that were outdated, but most were models that never made it.
I started to think about the huge amount of money that had been spent in the development cost only to have them refused and placed in a sort of museum side-show. Whatever the standards that were set for this particular type of aircraft—whether fighter, bomber, transport—these planes did not meet those requirements and they were rejected.
Our proto-type, Jesus Christ, and God the Father knew that they had to develop exact duplicates of the true proto-type—that the plan of God might be fulfilled. Originally, physical Israel was called to just this. It was God's nation. It was to be an example to the world truth—their obedience to God's laws. But it failed. Thus Jesus Christ gave His life as a sacrifice for Israel and the world. God's Holy Spirit was given (as this day pictures) to those the Father personally called for a very special job.
I can recall when we were first called into the church. The majority of our thought was on going to go to a place of safety. We were filled with that—filled with the future that God had in store for us. We would be a member of the God family and we would work to help in the world tomorrow.
Every month, we could not wait for The Plain Truth to come! We could not miss a Herbert W. Armstrong broadcast! We did not ever miss a Bible study. Even if we were sick we would go to a Bible study, just to be there! Sabbath services were always a delight and the 'place to be'!
It was our whole life! It was exciting! It was what we thought about. Not the company. Not business. It was the church, the World Tomorrow, and the Kingdom of God!
But over the years, with the letting down of the church and with many splits, we were all, to one degree or another, weary. We let down in the vision we used to have and perhaps we have let down even in the excitement that we used to have for this calling that we have been given.
One commentator made the comment: we who are called and who are the elect should now see things against the background of eternity. We should have our vision far away from this world. We should not be myopic. We should have our eyesight on the future that God has called us to.
Indeed we should lift our sights again to realize the purpose of our calling. This is what I want to go through today. This is what I would like to help us to see this afternoon.
The replica of God (the replica God is developing) must have: love; compassion; a heart to be obedient in overcoming; courage; understanding; the ability to forgive and forget; empathy; kindness; firmness in righteousness; faithfulness in keeping our Father's law; a positive attitude in the experiencing of struggles, frustrations, and difficulties in living the human life—while trying to take on the nature of the proto-type.
To what end or purpose was this duplicate developed? Why are we here? Why were you born? It is for the same purpose as the proto-type—to assist in the saving of those who have not yet been invited to become like the proto-type.
On this day it is good to consider not just that we have God's Holy Spirit—that wonderful gift that God gave us; that reveals His knowledge to us; guides us, shapes us, and moves us; that teaches us the truth that the world cannot understand—it is more than that. Not that we are just a member of God's church or that Jesus Christ will soon return and bring a wonderful new world, but to consider that we have been called to fulfill the purpose of helping those left in this tired, weary world who, having lived under Satan's rule their whole life, now face the mind-altering transition of having to embrace a whole new way of life—living under the rule of their Savior.
I think most of us in this time consider our own well-being and our being saved. We think of the peace the world tomorrow pictures. We use that as a backdrop against the trials, the suffering, and the difficulties we have now. I know I picture a mountain cabin with a lake out in front?pine trees?warm sun beating down?birds tweeting?moonlit nights?the stars in the heavens?gentle rain?the peace and the quiet?
As idyllic as my dream may sound (or as idyllic as your dream may sound) this is not what we have been called to. In our limited physical thinking these things may sound wonderful and fulfilling to us, but this is not what God has in store for us. What He has in store for us is far greater than anything we could remotely come up with. I am going to try and cover part of that today.
Most of us, prior to being called, have been raised with the thought that we are going to die and go to heaven. Just as the song said, we are going to roll around heaven all day! No one seems to know exactly what we do in heaven. Some people think we sit for a thousand years and look at Jesus Christ. Some think that we sit on a cloud and play a harp. Now harps are very difficult to play. I do not think I would want to do that. Today, in the modern world, we have jokes: when we get to heaven, we will play the perfect golf game, the perfect tennis game. It will be a time of good times in ease and luxury.
You see, brethren, the world that we live in has no concept of who God is or what His plan for mankind is. But we know. We know that the wonderful world that is coming up is going to be here soon. But prior to that, there will be horrific events that will lead up to the World Tomorrow.
What will befall Israel? What will their condition be when we have to work with them? What will we be faced with?
We know from Matthew 24:21 that it will be the greatest tribulation to ever hit the earth. We know from Genesis 6:5 that at the end time every intent of man's thought will be only evil—continually; thus the correction will come. I Thessalonians 5:2-3: we know that the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night and it will come at a time when peace is being touted. That will be followed by total, absolute destruction.
John read earlier today in Matthew 24:36-42 that it will be as in the days of Noah—people are being married, giving in marriage, going on with their life, not even being aware of what is on the horizon. And as I said earlier, it will come suddenly. I would like to have you turn over to Ezekiel 5 to get picture of just what is going to come. It is very graphic and it paints a picture.
Ezekiel 5:1-13 "And you, son of man, take you a sharp knife, take you a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon your head and upon your beard: then take you balances to weigh, and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and you shall take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part you shall scatter to the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall take a few in number, and bind them in your skirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of nations and countries that are round about her. She has changed [she has rebelled] My judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and My statutes more than the countries that are round about her: they have refused My judgments and My statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus says the Lord God; Because you multiplied [disobedience] more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in My statutes, neither have you kept My judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you; Therefore says the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against you, I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. And I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgment on you, and the whole remnant of you I will scatter unto all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord God; Surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also punish you; neither shall My eye spare, neither will I have pity. A third part of you shall die with pestilence and with famine and shall be consumed in the midst of you: a third part shall fall by the sword round about; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after you. Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken in My zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them."
Difficult times are coming; very difficult times. These will be the most horrible of times for God's people—Israel and Judah. The scope of what will take place will not be seen coming. The remnant, probably most of the young people because they are stronger, will be taken into captivity.
We understand that the scores that died in death camps in World War II were probably better off than what will take place here. The other evening I was watching something on one of the death camps. A man who had lived through it said he had gotten a cold and could not work; he was quite sick. They went to kill him (the Germans did) so he went under the floor of the camp where all the excrement was and they would not come after him.
That night he came out and went to sleep on the left hand side of a pile of bodies that were dead (they could not burn them fast enough). He knew that they burned from the right side. He slept there until he got well enough to go back to work. And he survived it.
What is coming, brethren, is going to be horrible. God's people are going to be going through it. God will not forget his people though, in spite of all of this. God will correct, but God is love and He will not forget.
Isaiah 49:8-16 "Thus says the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard you and in a day of salvation have I helped you: I will preserve you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all the high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall heat or sun smite them: for He that has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water and guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come forth: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord has comforted His people, and He will have mercy on His afflicted. [So here we see that God is going to bring His people back] But Zion said, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. But can a woman forget her suckling child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, but I will not forget. Behold, I have graven you upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."
God loves His people and He will not forget them!
Jeremiah 31:7-9 "For thus says the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish you, praise you, and say, O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. [He said] Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return thither."
What will our attitude, brethren, be? What will it be? Will it be humbled at this time? You bet.
Jeremiah 50:4-6 "In those days, in that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from the mountains to the hills, they have forgotten their inheritance."
Israel and Judah have been spiritually humbled. Totally humbled. All pride will have disappeared. All hope will have faded. Anguish over lost loved ones will have drained all the optimism. Living conditions will have sapped all self-esteem and confidence; sapped the ability to even think of being able to stay alive. They will probably give up thoughts of survival. And God's people will have been brought to the very edge—the depths of despair.
Brethren, it is somewhere in these events or these scriptures that we will start to deal with God's people and this transition they must make. Initially food, shelter, healing, and comfort must be the order of the day. But as they begin to feel secure and safe, as they begin to understand, that major happiness begins to occur, you will be here to help. You will be here to serve.
Zechariah 12:9-14 "It shall come to pass in that day, I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they will look upon Me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him, [at last they will start to see God and there will be mourning] as one mourns for his only son, and shall be grieving for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, the wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, their wives apart?"
They will all be mourning.
Ezekiel 20:41-44 "And I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I will bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein I have scattered you; and I will be sanctified and set apart in you before the heathen [before the nations]. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein you have been defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, not according to your wickedness, or according to your corrupt actions, O you house of Israel, says the Lord God."
Israel will see the corruption of government, the stealing, the pornography—all of these things that they have done in this generation prior. This generation, as they come out of captivity, will see what they have done and they will regret. They will see it clearly. But again, as time goes on and things become more secure and relaxed, human nature will again come to the front and we will have to deal with it.
Now brethren, in essence what will our job be? It will be to judge differences; in some cases to condemn. It will be to teach, to encourage, to lift up, and to give hope to the people who come through the tribulation. I would like to have you turn over to I Corinthians 6, please, because it says something rather remarkable—they are talking about going to court and things like that, but the other thing that it says to us is that we are going to judge the world.
I Corinthians 6:1-2 "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?"
The word "judge" here by Strong's means: to separate, to distinguish, to discriminate between good and evil, to select, to choose out the good. It means to judge or to form or to give an opinion after separating and considering the particulars in the case.
It could also mean to judge as in a judicial sense (to pass judgment) as it does in these verses. Paul is saying that to take a brother or sister to court, even though the same decision may be arrived at, is wrong. He said that you are in the church; you should be learning these things. You should be able to come to a proper conclusion of a situation like this without having to go to court.
The case could be brought before qualified people that would make a judgment that is satisfactory. And in that judgment, as judgment is practiced and learned, it would change our minds to learn to do justice, to make judgments.
Paul then reminds them that they will be determining far greater matters than these that will arise and that they will be qualified for that; if they should be qualified to judge the world, they should be easily qualified to judge the differences in the church. It should not be that hard.
He tells them that they are going to judge the world. This is a concept perhaps we do not always realize. We have a tremendous job in front of us.
Psalms 149:4-9 "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people: He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; [God's Word] To execute vengeance upon the nations and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all His saints. Praise you the Lord."
God is going to put you to work; put me to work; put us all to work. And we are going to learn from it and prosper from it. Jude 14-15 tells us that the Lord comes with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon all. And to convict all that are ungodly among them; and all the ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and all of their harsh speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. We are going to be judging people that have spoken against God.
Revelation 20:4 tells us that we are going to live and reign with Christ a thousand years and we will judge the world. We will sit and judge religious situations in our offices as kings and priests. We will judge all matters concerning life.
In I Corinthians 6, Paul goes on to say: considering your future responsibilities, are you unable to render proper judgment in these small matters? Each of us should be able to come to the right conclusions in small matters that we face. In verse 3, Paul goes on to say something even more remarkable.
I Corinthians 6:3 "Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?"
Consider your future! You are going to be judging angels!
What angels? In II Peter 2:4, Paul states that God did not spare the angels that sinned but delivered them unto change to be preserved to judgments. Jude 6 states a similar thing—that those angels that left their first estate He reserved for the judgment of that great day. Brethren we are going to appear; we are going to be judging the most powerful of angels who have sinned against God. We certainly do not feel capable of that now!
Does that mean that we should run around judging each other; passing judgment upon our fellow members of the church? Of course not. We should learn to judge. We can set the pattern of thinking that will help us to judge so that when we are given this job we could have a head start in doing so.
Where did the apostle Paul get this knowledge from? He got it from Jesus Christ Himself.
Matthew 19:27-29 "[the apostles who were with Him asked Him, we have given up everything?] Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and we followed you; what shall we have thereof? [What good is this going to do us?] And Jesus said unto them, Truly I say unto you, That you which have followed me, and in the regeneration in which the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you shall also sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that has forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life."
Luke 22:28-30 "You which have continued with me in my trials." [Brethren we continue in God's trial as well. He is referring to the apostles.] And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father has appointed unto Me; That you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
Christ brings out that the twelve who suffered with Him—who were tried and proved faithful, worked with Him in their calling—will have a kingdom appointed to them and they will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, just as He said. They will share in judgment (the judgment of Israel) with Jesus Christ.
In Luke 19 we are told that we will inherit cities—two cities, five cities. We are told that we will rule over cities; that we too will share in that judgment under them (or in whatever positions we qualify for).
Now what will be the basis for this judgment? Will we be prejudiced? Show favoritism? Be a respecter of persons or situations? Of course, the answer is no.
John 5:30 "[Jesus Christ is speaking. He said:] I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of My Father which hath sent Me."
It should be noted here that Jesus does nothing without a concurrence of the authority of God. He does nothing independent of the will of God.
In John 8:26, He states, "?I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him." And in John 8:28, "?I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things."
Jesus Christ Himself was commissioned, taught, and said by God to help His people. The same will be said of us also. We will speak the same things that God speaks.
As Jesus hears, He judges, and He seeks not His own but His Father's will. That is exactly what we are going to do. He does not do it because He wants to be puffed up. He does it not to be important, but to deal correctly with whatever situation is presented to Him.
God is love and every thought, action, and judgment comes from that solid foundation of love—even correction. Brethren, every judgment we will make will come from that same foundation. But there is more to our future than judgment.
What will our overall job description be? I would like to have you to turn over to Acts 26:16 if you would but I will give you a little story before that. The apostle Paul is standing before Agrippa and he is giving an account of what took place with his calling. It relates how he heard a voice from heaven and he said, "Who is it?" The voice said, "Paul you kick against the goats." Then Jesus tells Paul that it is He that Paul persecutes—"you are persecuting Me."
Then Paul received something that applies to every one of us at church—to all those who speak, the sermonette or sermon. The outline of what God wants from his people; from his teachers (from his teachers in the kingdom of God):
Acts 26:16-18 "But rise up, and stand upon your feet: for I have appeared unto you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which you have seen, and of those things in the which that I will appear to you; [that I will tell you] Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send you, [saying I will protect you, I will keep you. Considering the hardships that Paul went through, he had some pretty rough times, but God saved him out of it all...
Now here it comes. This is what our job description will be, our Specific Purpose Statement. This is what every Spokesman Club person, what every sermonette and sermon giver should have in the back of their mind when he speaks...
...To open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light?
That is one of the prime things that Paul had to do. The phrase "to open their eyes" means to enlightenment or to instruction because closed eyes indicate ignorance or a lack of understanding. So we are to open their eyes. That is the first thing.
Ephesians 1:15-19 "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, [and for the opportunity given to us as partakers of the inheritance of the saints and the like]"
He really wants something from us here. This sounds similar, but there is more to it.
Philippians 1:9-11 "And I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; [in judgment—learning how to govern your life] That you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere without offense until the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
This is what John was mentioning earlier. Paul does not say to pray for the worldly things, but for the things that are important to God—for love of God; love toward one another (exceedingly important); the knowledge of the love and affection (not blind affection); and for the power of discernment that we might be able to size up situations, conditions with knowledge and understanding as it pertains to God's Word. To know what is of true value.
Paul wanted them to be able to discern with wisdom what was right and what was wrong. As Albert Barnes said, it was sort of interesting, he said: It is remarkable here how anxious the apostle Paul was not only that they should be Christians, but that they should be intelligent Christians and should understand the real worth and value of objects and situations as compared to God's law. This then brethren, is the education and training that God wants us to have in our preparation for the positions that He is going to give us.
We have got to see the horizon, the future that we have been given. We have been to Hebrews quite a bit today, but I have to go back to Hebrews 5:6 (when you speak last, you get all your scriptures taken—it is terrible. Well, not all of them).
Hebrews 5:12 "For at a time when you ought to be teachers, you need to have one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; you have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that uses milk is unskillful? [when you are back to the basics, it is unskillful] ?for he is a babe. But the strong meat belongs to him [and here is the conditions] to them that are of mature age, even those who by the habit of practice their senses are trained [or exercised] to discern both good and evil."
Now Paul goes back to the picture of the arena where athletes trained for the sport they were in. He said we have to train for this as well. We have to use God's Word to exercise judgment; and we will train ourselves and we will grow as it says in verse 1 of chapter 6.
Hebrews 6:1 "?leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection?"
That phrase could be easily said, let us be carried forward to maturity. In other words, the more we deal with God's Word accurately, the more we will be carried forward to maturity.
Paul sees that repentance from dead works (and all these things) does not matter. It does matter, but those are the basics. He said I want you to go past that. He said to go on to perfection or Christian maturity and we must do this. We must go beyond the basics.
How? There is an interesting word in II Timothy 2—the word "study". It does mean, in fact, study. But there is so much packed into that word. This word "study" means: be diligent, be energetic, make haste, hurry, be zealous, eager. In short, make every effort to learn about God. All of this is the meaning of this one little word "study" here.
II Timothy 2:15 "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
He said, why? That you may seek God's approval; that you may be found side by side with Him, in thinking and in action.
And he said to be a worker. That means a worker too! A worker not to be put to shame—a worker who truly labors to understand; who has no cause for shame when his work is being inspected. And then he put a little comment here, he said that we may not blush upon our inspection. I hope I do not. I think of all the mistakes I have made and I will probably blush, but I certainly do not want to.
We are to rightly divide the Word of truth. And that simply means (they use a lot of analogies—cut straight and that type of thing) being able to teach the Word of truth. The sense is that a minister should go straight to the truth, not being side-tracked by this or by that or outside sources. He is to give God's Word correctly with the circumstances and needs of each person for their growth.
Brethren, each of us is building an individual portion. We are a part of the structure God is building, His holy temple. Certainly God is working with us in this, but we have a part. We are building something, or we are not building something, as the case may be.
There is only one foundation to build on and that is the standard Jesus Christ. How we build is extremely, extremely important to us. In this particular portion of I Corinthians 3 is often thought to apply just to ministers but, considering what Ephesians 4:11-12 says, you are going to be ministers too. You are going to be servants in the world tomorrow. So this applies to you too as well.
I Corinthians 3:9 "For we are laborers together with God: and you are God's husbandry, you are God's building. For according to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereon. For other foundation can no man lay 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 [or evident]: for the day shall declare it, [the day shall declare it when it is tried] it shall be revealed by fire [or testing]; and the fire shall test every man's work of what sort it is. [Nobody is going to get by without being tried. We have to face up to what we are and to what we have built] If any man's work abide which he has 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 by fire. [by test] Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you [the spirit that you have been given]?"
Brethren, it is extremely important how we build on the foundation we have been given to build upon. Paul tells us that the foundation is Jesus Christ. We are not to deviate from that—not with our own ideas, our own thoughts. The foundation IS how He lived, how He taught, His faithfulness to His Father, and all He stands for; His sacrifice and service to mankind in this world with love, patience, and service.
As encouragement, he tells us that if we are faithful, to define correctly how we are to build, and then do it! He lists the quality level of our building by the following symbols; gold being best, then silver, then precious stones or marble. Now these will survive the fire, but hay and stubble, things like that will not.
How do we build with gold and silver and precious stones? The only formula I can think of is by learning and doing. There is not any other way. By learning and doing. And to the degree that we build properly, it will set the right reward or we will build gold, silver, or stones.
But you see we have to do it. That means we have to study, put forth effort, do all these things. Brethren, it is important that we lift our sights and remember the service that we have been selected for. We have been given God's Holy Spirit for a purpose—that is to help all of mankind.
The apostle Paul, after giving instruction to the Thessalonians, begins his conclusion in I Thessalonians 5:23. His words apply to us today.
I Thessalonians 5:23-24 "[As a result of your doing what I ask] may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [And then he says] He who calls you is faithful and will do it."
Brethren, we have a wonderful future.
JOR//
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