If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
The only foundation laid for God's building is Jesus Christ, and every builder raises on it one of two kinds of work, enduring gold, silver and precious stones or perishable wood, hay and stubble that fire will consume. Every person's work will be made manifest and tried for its true quality in the day of judgment, when God examines actions and motives and reveals what will abide and what will burn. If a man's work abides the test he shall receive a glorious reward of eternal life, the imperishable crown, entrance into the joy of the Lord, and a home in glory with sins blotted out in the presence of God and the Lamb. Each receives according to his own faithful labor, differing in glory as star from star, and that reward includes souls won to truth who meet him in heaven with white robes and crowns to praise the Lamb forever. Work that abides is pure truth taught, Christlike character built day by day, and unselfish soul-saving service done in Christ through the Holy Spirit, while teaching of error, selfish worldly living, moral failure, and loveless divisive religion are rubbish to be burned, bringing loss of reward though the repentant builder himself may yet be saved as by fire.
Foundation, Materials, Testing
The only foundation laid for God's building is Jesus Christ, including His truth, His principles, His law, and the truth as it is in Christ. Each person individually is in co-partnership with God, working out his own salvation while God works in him to will and to do, and if the work built on that foundation abides the test a reward is received. The work built there represents character-building and teaching, in which every deed and word and influence must bear God's signature and be built from truth rather than false theories. God's workers build on this one foundation as laborers together with God, though all do not have the same work to do, and each receives a reward according to his own labor when his enduring work is proved. Applied to students tilling, ploughing, and harrowing land, this means putting all skill into preparing soil for seed, trees, and harvest for human need, and likewise laboring for souls whose hardened hearts must be broken up so the Word of God as gospel seed finds favorable soil and produces a harvest that rewards painstaking effort.
Building on that foundation is of two kinds: gold, silver, and precious stones that endure the testing, and wood, hay, and stubble that are worthless, perishable rubbish to be destroyed and consumed by fire. Abiding work is gold, silver, and precious stones built on God's foundation, even truth that can be substantiated from the Word of God syllable by syllable, with faith and truth and righteousness entertained in the heart. Hay, wood, and stubble are all rubbish and error, including manufactured tests, false claims of truth, heresies, sophistries, and vain and mistaken interpretations of Scripture that unsettle souls and sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844. If a man brings only worthless material he himself may be saved yet will have nothing to show for his life-work, merely saving his own soul, while if his work abides he shall receive a reward.
Every man's work will be made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire that proves of what sort it is. That day includes the last-day conflagration, the final inspection, the judgment, and the investigative judgment, when God places His estimate upon the work of each one and every man's work is seen just as it is. God keeps a ledger measuring every action and motive, examines every piece of work for quality rather than quantity, and alone discerns enduring from perishable work. The reward is according to the work done, given only when work built of gold, silver, and precious stones abides through that trial.
Paul wrote this to correct believers who were carnal and divided by envying, strife, and party claims of I am of Paul and I am of Apollos. They linked themselves to the man under whose labors they received light, refused harmony with brethren, withdrew from some for imagined reasons and bound up with others, and stood as independent atoms and in separate bundles for want of meekness and humility and wholehearted kindness. Such prejudice, envy, jealousy, and evil surmising that separate brethren separate from God and greatly hinder the manifestation of the Spirit of God, who will not be sent as Comforter and Strengthener until His people are all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. As babes in Christ fed with milk and not sanctified through the truth, instead of making straight paths for their feet lest the lame be turned out of the way, they made claimed conversion a stumbling block to sinners and needed reconversion and a better understanding of the spirit that should control action as believers in Christ Jesus. Faith and practice must therefore be energized by the Holy Spirit, with no ruling power compelling men to obey dictates of the finite mind, ceasing from man whose breath is in his nostrils and not turning minds to lean on human wisdom, which places a veil between God and man so that Him who is invisible is not seen.
Nature and Measure of Reward
The reward for work that abides is glorious and is given when faithful workers gather about the throne of God and of the Lamb. It means having put on immortality and seeing Him as He is, standing before the throne accepted in the Beloved with all sins blotted out and all transgressions borne away, able to look upon the undimmed glory of God. It belongs to those who have been partakers with Christ in His sufferings and workers together with Him in the plan of redemption. Its joy is sharing with Him in seeing souls saved in the kingdom of God to praise God through all eternity, for labor to enlighten people and bring about their salvation is lasting work that survives the testing fire. Labor to advance the cross that endures the final test brings standing accepted before God, sight of His glory after receiving immortality, and rejoicing with Him over people saved.
The reward is more than saving one's own soul; it is souls brought to God through the worker's service. Building with gold, silver, and precious stones from the Word of God produces work that stands the test of fire, while wood, hay, and stubble is worthless material that is destroyed and consumed, leaving the builder who brought only such material with nothing to show for his life-work though he himself may be saved. The redeemed gathered home stand before God's throne, cast their glittering crowns at the feet of the Redeemer, fill heaven with rich music, exclaim that the slain Lamb upon the throne is worthy, and thank those whose influence through Christ led them to accept truth of heavenly origin and come into right relation to God. Using example, means, influence, wisdom, and skill to bring others to Christ produces a harvest of souls and imperishable work, in contrast to building on worldly aims which is consumed when each person's work is tested, and humble efforts to bring people to Jesus bear fruit in souls saved and bring joy to those who served them. Faith, hope, and love produce enduring work that endures the fires of the last days and results in souls redeemed and standing before God's throne.
The reward is eternal life itself for faithfulness in spiritual work whose consequences extend into eternity, with work pictured as gold, silver, and precious stones enduring the consuming fire and shining brighter while unfaithful work is lost. It is the kingdom, the crown of life and imperishable crown pictured as white robes and jeweled crowns, entrance into the joy of the Lord with the welcome Well done, unbounded resources of heaven, and an immortal inheritance as heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. It is unsearchable riches and treasures in heaven beyond computation, the peace Christ gives, and a home in the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for His obedient children, making one ready to meet Him in peace. Building with enduring materials means letting all activity and zeal be sanctified and directed by the Word of God into proper channels of good works and bringing every capability and talent to Christ to be blessed and sanctified to His service instead of spending life seeking worldly gain, and for teachers it means working with wisdom from above and exemplifying Christ while subduing uncultivated manners and uncontrolled tempers to influence youth for eternal good, to stand with students around the great white throne with God's approval and the joys of the redeemed. Character building that abides means being changed to be like the Saviour by bringing the virtues of Christ's life into daily life, doing the work of Christ, constantly watching and praying, conquering day by day and going daily to Christ for help, while bringing hay, wood, and stubble will not stand the test of judgment and means loss of eternal life, even if a man gains the whole world.
Each person receives his own reward according to his own labor and faithfulness when work built on Jesus Christ, the only foundation, survives the testing fire and is made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire. All do not have the same work to do, but as laborers together with God building on the one foundation, if the gold, silver, precious stones built thereon abide the testing, the reward is according to the work done and its quality made clear. He that planteth and he that watereth are one, and yet distinct, for though ministers may differ with one emphasizing another phase of truth or presenting the Word in a different way, their object is to be the same as only ministers by whom belief comes while God gives the increase. Such difference in labor is not to be condemned, and envy and strife over Paul or Apollos, withdrawing from some and binding up with others, is carnality that separates brethren from God and hinders the Spirit, who will not be sent as Comforter until His people are of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. Abiding work means acting well one's part by throwing whole energy into the work and consecrating all powers to do God's will, securing one's own salvation through Christ and using God-given talents to give God's warning and invitation with living interest in souls for whom Christ shed His blood, and because it passes through ordeal by fire in the day of judgment and abides, the builder receives a reward in proportion to faithfulness in cooperating with God as a faithful steward.
Enduring Work Rewarded
Enduring work is faithfully teaching pure truth and building people into a firm structure that reaches hearts by divine power and will abide the fires of the last great day. Such teaching leads converts to holiness and peace, honors the builder in God's kingdom as a wise builder, and brings a reward when the work endures, while teaching without truth in its purity produces unholy converts and work that fails the test and suffers loss. Abiding work is gold, silver and precious stones built on God's foundation, namely truth that can be substantiated from the Word syllable by syllable, with faith, truth and righteousness in the heart, presenting the Word without manufactured tests, false claims, heresies, sophistries, and vain mistaken interpretations. It is pure doctrine held with humble steadfast faith, faithful teaching and character-building founded on God's truth, while false religion, selfishness, human philosophy and false theories are worthless wood, hay and stubble that lead astray, unsettle souls, sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844, and will be consumed by the fire of the last days in the judgment. A building that abides bears God's workmanship so He is not ashamed of it, but one who built rubbish and repents may himself be saved as by fire yet loses years of work and the souls led astray by pretentious example who may never repent, so all must take heed how they build for eternity.
Enduring work is character building on the Rock, for every person must erect his own character building upon Jesus Christ as the only foundation, not alone but in union with the divine Builder in faithful cooperation with Christ, taking careful heed to the material brought to the foundation stone. It requires the grace of Christ, full consecration of body, soul and spirit to Jesus, and transformation to His likeness instead of conformity to worldly principles, with each deed, word and influence bearing God's signature and built from truth rather than false theories. The building is the character each forms day by day with God-given intellectual and moral power, each being largely the architect of his own character with the structure daily approaching completion, founded upon the eternal rock and revealed in time just as it is. That work includes building character and faithfully training children, for what is done for God will be shown for what it is while worthless work is burned, and work that abides brings usefulness here and a higher life hereafter, so now is the time to cultivate God-given powers to form such an enduring character. The abiding material that receives a reward is thank offerings and praise offerings, kindly deeds and self-denying sacrifices brought to the foundation stone, which never perish but are more enduring and more valuable than the gold of Ophir, made possible because Christ is the only dependence and hope of salvation through a sacrifice so large and infinite it cannot be excelled.
Enduring work is unselfish soul-saving service in cooperation with God, done with the mind drawn away from self and centered upon Jesus, laboring as Christ did when in the world for the salvation of others in organized effort in every church, belonging to every soul without waiting to be forced into it. Mere profession of faith receives no reward and a life spent on self is wood, hay and stubble amounting to nothing, with the lifework lost for time and to God for eternity, while work that abides is fruit that remains as gold and silver that fire cannot consume. That valuable work is laboring to enlighten people, advance the cross, and bring about their salvation, using example, means, influence, wisdom and skill to bring others to Christ and producing a harvest of souls and imperishable work, whereas building on worldly aims is consumed when each person's work is tested. It is done by becoming God's helping hand and laborers together with Him in ministering to others in union with angels, teaching those in darkness the truths that enlightened believers, for which God strengthens mental faculties as He did Daniel's mind and gives apt words through the angel standing by. It requires enjoying the companionship of heavenly angels by faith without seeing their forms, praying for faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and seeking living power from above, and humble efforts to bring people to Jesus bear fruit in souls saved and bring joy to those who served them.
Enduring work uses God-given powers, means, influence, wisdom and skill for God, producing a harvest of souls and imperishable work that receives a rich reward, while building on worldly aims is wood, hay and stubble consumed at the test. Gold, silver and precious stones include using God-given wisdom and opportunities to serve Christ, speaking words that bless others, doing works of righteousness, and using influence, time and talents for good and for saving souls, such work lasting through eternity unlike selfish use and wasting time and habits that weaken the soul. Building with enduring materials means letting all activity and zeal be sanctified and directed by the Word into proper channels of good works, bringing every capability and talent to Christ to be blessed and sanctified to His service instead of spending life seeking worldly gain that never succeeds. Work that abides is using every dollar to save souls, to support missionaries, to buy reading matter for those in darkness and ignorance, to herald the truth given to the world, and to sow truth beside all waters in self-denial, self-sacrifice and entire consecration. Using the Lord's means for selfish pleasure and self-gratification, such as spending money for pictures of human faces instead of proclaiming the last warning message, embezzles His goods and brings wood, hay and stubble to the foundation that bears silent witness against the builder and will be consumed by the fires of the last day, and the work must be thorough and solid, done carefully rather than carelessly, so it will stand the test.
Enduring work is done only in Christ through grace and the Holy Spirit, calling for living, active, working faith that prays in the morning for the Holy Spirit, receives orders from above, and grows in grace and in knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Believers must build upon Jesus as the only foundation by looking to Him alone as pattern at every step rather than to faulty human beings whose judgments, examples, hearts and minds fail and are not imbued with His Spirit, moving firmly forward carefully and steadfastly. There are two kinds of building, with wood, hay and stubble that will be burned up and with precious enduring material like gold, silver and precious stones as durable as eternity that will abide the fires of the last day without loss and receive a reward. That enduring structure requires cooperation of human agency in individual action with the divine, with unseen influences guiding life's current, God honoring men by making them fellow workers with Himself so humanity touches humanity and the divine Worker lays hold upon infinity, with power working within subduing soul, body and spirit unto results lasting for time and eternity. Only character and work built under control of the Spirit will abide, for strong traits bear good fruit when governed by moral and religious principles looking beyond present transitory gratification to the future through right education, while considering self, indulging appetite and unrestraining evil brings wood, hay and stubble to the foundation, loses the battle, and lets even flashes of goodness pass like morning dew and not abide.
Perishable Work Consumed
Perishable building is teaching that lacks truth in its purity, including false theories, human philosophy, sophistries, vain and mistaken interpretations of Scripture, manufactured tests, false claims, heresies, fables, speculation about God's essence, false science, placing gems of truth in false settings to substantiate error, and presenting falsehood as truth to unsettle souls and sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844. Enduring work is truth substantiated syllable by syllable from the Word, with faith and righteousness in the heart, pure doctrine with humble steadfast faith, and faithful character-building that leads people aright, while false theories are wood, hay and stubble consumed in the day of trial and the fire of the last days in the judgment. A building that abides bears God's workmanship so He is not ashamed of it, estimated by the Bible standard as gold, silver and precious stones that cannot be consumed, whereas rubbish will be burned and bring no reward, though the repentant builder may himself be pardoned through great mercy and saved as by fire.
Perishable work is a life spent on self, amounting to nothing and lost for time and eternity, including selfish economy, withholding means from plans to broaden God's work, using powers for selfish worldly purposes and earthly gain instead of winning souls, leading a Christless life that leaves Christ out of counsels, heart, home and business while trusting one's own heart and judgment. It includes spending on needless ornaments, photographs and picture-idols, fine crochet and expensive display, pampering pets while the poor suffer, idle dreaming, folly that pulls others down, and robbing God by neglecting stewardship of physical and mental talents given to test worthiness for eternal riches. All such work of years is unfaithful building that will be consumed in the last great conflagration, leaving the lifework in ashes with eternal forfeiture of the reward faithful stewardship might have gained and loss of souls that might have been saved through neglect, while faithful unselfish service to save souls shines brighter amid the devouring elements.
Perishable material includes moral and spiritual failure built into character, such as impure licentious matter, rotten timbers clung to as precious, pride, self-esteem, love of supremacy, evil speaking, deception, unconverted labor mingled with self, unsanctified cleverness and ability, cheap wit and nonsense to amuse associates, false standards excusing wrongdoing, uncontrolled anger sowing unrighteousness in children, indulgence and neglect of children, yielding to temptation and strange paths, and obstructing salvation in the family by dishonest unchristlike living. Only work built upon character made Christian in every sense by sanctifying truth, with self-control, compassion, consideration, charity, patience and holy conversation, will abide the test of the Judgment when Christ gives every man according to deeds done in the body, while fun and frolic then appear as utter loss beside His self-denial, humiliation, shame and reproach to ransom souls from bondage. A worker must be converted and come to the high standard before doing acceptable work that stands, for works mixed with self are hay, wood and stubble kindled upon by last-day fires, and clinging to filthy garments leaves one unfit for the mansions above with loss of heaven and eternity of bliss.
Perishable building is willfully degrading soul and body and misapplying talents under the enemy's deception, perverting reason, intelligence, senses and every mental and physical power given for high holy purposes to minister to the carnal mind. This includes a continual round of excitement absorbing attention such as cricket and football matches and horse-racing, the liquor curse, tobacco, tea-drinking and drugs, placing destroying agencies on tables, any habit lessening healthful action of mind or body, and poisonous drugs that destroy God's building and temple, quenching divine attributes, selling reason for poison, and giving Satan control of reason, affections and conscience. Those who abuse physical, mental and moral powers all life till injured almost beyond recovery pile wood, hay and stubble that fire will consume, so if saved at all it is as by fire, and therefore the greatest labor is not to be spent on the most depraved outcast class while promising fields ripe for harvest who will stand for truth are left undone.
Perishable religious activity is loveless, divisive and unfaithful work, including gossip, accusations, evil reports, criticism, suspicion, faultfinding, talking of brethren's faults, sowing doubt, serving Baal rather than Jehovah, work without prayer and consecration, work without the Spirit under Satan's direction, mere profession and form of godliness without living experience, sentimental soaring religion, self-exhibition, false ideas counted as nothingness, and years of education apart from God's Word that eclipses faith, removes reverence for the Bible, and puts infidel books and unsound theories before students. Genuine Christian experience producing gold, silver and precious stones endures, learned by denying self, taking the cross, following Christ and sharing His humiliation and self-sacrifice in true sanctification and solid obedient character, while the world is not saved by beautiful songs but by such character-building. Unnecessary matters must be weeded from study and only studies of real value kept, centered on the Bible and salvation to lift the mind and leave cheap matters behind, for professing Christ without thoroughly Christlike influence is gathering hay, wood and stubble that will not abide.
Work that is burned brings loss of the lifework as valueless ashes and bankruptcy through unwise trading on the Lord's goods without increasing talents by right work, forfeiture of the reward faithful stewardship might have gained, and loss of souls that might have been saved and might have cast glittering crowns at the Redeemer's feet filling heaven with music in praise of the slain Lamb. The builder whose work perishes may himself be barely saved as by fire, like a brand from the burning or a man escaping a burning house with house and goods lost, having nothing to show for life-work but his own soul, and only through repentance, conversion, purification, being made white and tried, and clearing away rubbish to do thorough work. God keeps a ledger measuring every action and motive, calls for careful prayerful attention to assigned duty whether spiritual or ordinary, and desires not merely personal salvation but bringing others into right relation to God through influence in Christ.
The verse belongs to the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians to be read with prayer over lack of business ability, teaching that God does not call many wise after the flesh, mighty or noble, because those given to worldly pursuits and sharp business traits regard preaching of the cross as foolishness while to the saved it is God's power. God destroys the wisdom of the wise and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, choosing foolish, weak, base and despised things to confound the wise and bring to nought things that are, so no flesh glories in His presence, with Christ made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption so he that glories glories in the Lord.
Building Carefully Together
Each builder must take heed how he builds upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, erecting his own character building not by himself but in union with the divine Builder and in faithful cooperation with Christ, taking careful heed to the material brought to the foundation stone because only work that abides will receive a reward. Taking heed means choosing only solid timber and precious material, laying every character-stone without flaw to bear pressure and storm and tempest, wrought point by point and stroke upon stroke with separate yet dependent faculties, for one stone mislaid affects the whole building and every hour must place stones to endure the day of test and revelation when each person is seen just as he is. Abiding building is done as gold and silver and precious stones and not as hay, wood, or stubble, refusing defective timbers and defective characters not under the special control of the Spirit of God who work at cross purposes and create variance and dissension, refusing cheap material and worthless timbers and haphazard, careless, indifferent work, but fitting piece to piece perfectly exactly as in God's temple so that the work abides like God's temple and stands the great conflagration when every work is tried of what sort it is. Such work is done in cooperation with God after His order and bearing His mold and not man's, by the willing and obedient with an eye single to the glory of God, wrought in righteousness and as enduring as eternity, building up imperishable things for the last days that ripen for the future life under the yoke of Christ, including establishing and conducting a health institution whose very foundation must be laid solid, for God examines kind and material to see if it must be taken down and built over.
Abiding building is done as laborers together with God building on the one foundation Jesus Christ, where every man's work will be made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire, and if the gold, silver, precious stones he has built thereon abide that testing he shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. All do not have the same work, yet he that planteth and he that watereth are one while God gives the increase, and though one minister emphasizes another phase of truth or presents the Word in a different way their object is to be the same as ministers by whom belief comes, so such difference is not to be condemned and no minister needs to fear that his brethren do not regard him and his exposition as of consequence. Each worker's instrumentality must be proved in love and harmonious action that glorifies God, each strengthening the other and each taking diligent heed to his own course in presenting sanctifying truth to souls ready to die, making straight paths for feet lest the lame be turned out of the way, counseling and praying together and making no move independently or in opposition, esteeming others better than self, keeping personal individuality in manner and bearing while working together in perfect harmony and depending on Christ as the living head. No one is to stand as an independent atom or in a separate bundle around a human leader under whose labors he received light, or draw apart over misconceived opinions, or build in self-confidence after his own notions, plans and desires without reference to brethren, or be controlled by fallible people, for that lays a mass of suppositions that is only rubbish and will not abide, while envy and strife over Paul or Apollos is carnality and walking as men, and prejudice, envy, jealousy and evil surmising that separate brethren separate from God and hinder the Spirit, who will not be sent as Comforter and Strengthener until His people are all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. Building for God in this unity is to be done with heart, cheerfulness and willingness in a way that comfortably accommodates worshipers and does honor to God, as in dedicating a house of worship by those claiming to be Sabbathkeepers and Christians with experimental knowledge, with angels working alongside the workers.
Builders who brought rubbish can still be pardoned through God's great mercy if they repent from the heart, humble themselves before the Lord, return to Him, seek purification and make seeking the purification of His Spirit the first work, clear away hay, wood, and stubble, break Satan's yoke, take Christ's yoke, die to self, gain experimental religion, and do thorough work in being good and doing good. Many in every church have built wood, hay, and stubble upon the foundation in unfaithful, unrefined, unsanctified, impure life and work that must be purified, including exalting medical missionary work above the gospel ministry, making defective plans that weaken the warning of the last-day prophecies, and undermining confidence in the light given for the past half century, and such faulty building estimated by the Bible standard will be consumed by the purifying fires of the last day and bring no reward. Those who served unfaithfully but repent are forgiven and accepted, yet suffer loss of the lifework as valueless and loss of opportunities they failed to improve and loss of souls that might have been saved, and their defective works themselves are still burned up, bringing a great reformation where what is false is cleansed away so that what lasts can be built for the final reckoning.
God gives every person his own work to prove in love and harmonious action, to be free to seek His guidance and use gifts to win souls rather than be controlled by fallible people, and He tests whether it abides, stamps genuine work and counts sham as nothing, and requires thoroughness with no defective work, for the building is for time and for eternity. God alone judges every man's work and gives reward according as his work shall be, alone discerning between wood, hay, and stubble which are human devising and gold, silver, and precious stones which are the true doctrines of grace through Jesus Christ, and no man can estimate the influence of fellow workers or read the human heart, so none should stand aloof from brethren or measure self against others by human standards. Each must answer for himself and improve his own course rather than criticize others or find fault with another worker, focusing on making his own work lasting and using God-given ability to the utmost for the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, for thinking and speaking evil, carrying evil reports from church to church and conference to conference, watching and criticizing fellow workers, excusing failure to do appointed soul-saving work, hindering the gospel in the Southern field, and weakening churches, institutions, and conferences is building hay, wood, and stubble that will be consumed by the fires of the last day, hated by God, called to account, losing reward, and one day seen as wasted time, while the abiding work is the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages.
Faithful Application in Life
Ministers build work that lasts by doing deep, thorough plowing to secure the best harvest, bringing to the foundation only imperishable material so the work abides and receives a reward, since the kind of material decides the outcome and bringing perishable material will not abide but will be consumed in the testing. Teaching the truth makes a builder and the Word supplies the material that thoroughly furnishes for all good works, so failing to use that material means the labor is lost when burned, while building up a church of living characters requires undying love possessing soul and affections, seen and felt in countenance, words and actions to convict the unbelieving, with tireless persistency no obstacle overcomes and renewing power even at exhaustion, in humility under Christ's yoke, forgetting self and taking up God-given work with thankfulness. Building with lasting material means acting in harmony on the foundation of truth and principles, putting forth most earnest effort, holding the fort in Washington in the day of opportunity against Sunday legislation and petitions for religious instruction in public schools, and sending from Washington a decided influence for truth to arouse the people and magnify the Word in Washington, Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and other large Southern cities, with heavenly angels working with power through consecrated agencies. The reward is not settled by time spent sermonizing or by human audit but covers real gospel work lived and acted, such as carrying truth to new places, converting souls, establishing churches, building meetinghouses and schools, and preparing minds to understand truth as it is in Jesus, when workers take a retrospective view and every man's work stands at its true value with recognition for souls shown as fruit of labor. Lasting work exalts truth, strengthens faith and devotion, elevates the standard, advances God's work in harmony with brethren in the Spirit of Christ, and brings sheaves with rejoicing, while sowing doubt, shaking faith and bringing the standard down to a common level serves another master and will not abide through the fires of the last days and the test of judgment, so ministers must examine themselves, undergo thorough conversion, bring lasting qualities rather than childish traits into service, use words as talents for God's glory and others' good, and let Christlike character benefit the flock.
Teachers and students build enduring work on love to God and His law, and such work endures the test and brings reward while work like hay, wood and stubble is consumed. Work driven only by human strength and wisdom accomplishes little even at its best, whereas teaching shaped by wisdom from above and the Spirit from above exemplifies Christ's character, subdues uncultivated manners and uncontrolled tempers, and influences youth toward eternal good, with grave consequences for helping or hindering and an account to be answered for results when teachers meet students around the great white throne. That reward includes the souls of students, the approval of God, eternal life and the joys of the redeemed. Laying lasting gems on the foundation stone means speaking right words, doing right deeds, influencing others to appreciate good instruction, and being not only a hearer but a doer of the Word, so youth in school become a power for good by encouraging teachers, seconding every effort to help pupils, uplifting, refining and ennobling the mind by contemplating Jesus, and joining well-organized efforts to strengthen religious interests through grace as laborers together with God. Years spent getting an education apart from the Word builds with wood and stubble to be consumed in the last great conflagration, placing no value before God when it eclipses faith, removes reverence for the Bible, and puts books tainted with infidelity and unsound theories before students, so unnecessary matters must be weeded out and only studies of real value kept, centered on the Bible and the great themes of salvation to lift the mind higher, leave cheap matters behind, and secure the life that measures with the life of God. Thorough work in essentials such as language and spelling lays a sure foundation, while worthless teaching that weakens faith does not abide.
Parents build children's characters for God, and reward in heaven depends on work built on the foundation here, especially this work, which is tested and shown for what it is, with worthless work burned up and enduring work receiving reward. To build work that abides is to follow God's will and way, devote life to Christ's service, educate children aright by weeding out every unruly trait, bring truth into the inner sanctuary of the soul, and labor for children and church with long-suffering, kind charity and the meekness and gentleness of Christ, guarding lips against faultfinding and kindly instructing instead. Building with wood, hay and stubble is neglecting or indulging children for ease, letting them follow their own way, sowing unrighteousness by uncontrolled anger, and bringing defective parental and childhood characters into the church, while self-control, compassion, consideration, charity and patience are lasting materials in character building. Negligent parents do not stand on the same footing as faithful parents, for if they at last awaken they and their children may still be saved yet will not be regarded in the same light nor receive the same reward as those whose lives were devoted to Christ, since saints differ in glory as one star differs from another. Bringing God-given abilities into the home to reform, restore and establish order, discipline and sound principles, making a model home where truth leads to right actions and brings souls ready to perish into actual contact with truth as it is in Jesus to produce good works, is imperishable work that receives God's approval and causes rejoicing among angels.
Stewards build with means and business by using every dollar to save souls, for only work that abides through the fires of the last day receives eternal life, and gaining the whole world with perishable building means loss of the soul. Honest dealings including repaying debts build enduring character, while refusing to meet an obligation is represented by wood, hay and stubble. Work that is merely common, financially driven activity does not strengthen faith or enrich Christian experience and will not last, so abilities should be used in work suited to capacities and directed to advancing truth for a lasting harvest, and commercial plans that draw workers away from Christ-ordained presentation of truth, with worldly plans driven by financial gain, are piling perishable material on the foundation and may fail to accomplish the ordained work. Taking money sacredly dedicated and donated for one field such as the Southern field and using it to cancel institutional debts mingles God's work with man's inventions of wood, hay and stubble, robbing that field and bringing displeasure, so faithful trustworthy oversight must examine every business transaction that only abiding work is built. Binding influence with those at enmity with God is perishable building that makes a shameful record when every case is decided from the books, while the one whose work abides commits the soul's keeping to God with arm linked in Christ's arm, reposing in faith that He is faithful who promised, for it is life eternal to be true and loyal to Christ, and doing work that supports falsehood for money must be refused.
Readers, writers and publishers build with solid truth and practical godliness rather than cheap, superficial, fictitious matter, since lasting work endures the last-day test and receives reward while hay, wood and stubble are consumed by the final fire. Building lasting material means bringing close searching of Scripture, solid truth, living realities and practical truth into life, while laying perishable material means feeding the mind on the superficial and fictitious, falsehood and fiction, light reading, novels, romances, comic and coarse writing, worldly publications and improper literature that corrode thought, dwarf experience and unfit for clear-sighted service, living an unreal imaginary life. The mind becomes the same character as its food, so advancement or weakness of conception follows the food given to it through assimilation to the standard handled, and the only remedy is to become conversant with Scripture and never stop studying the Bible. Perishable matter must not be taken in hand to handle because it does not abide and lays up no heavenly treasure, while only earnest self-denying work to warn the perishing, bear truth's message and save souls ready to perish lays up treasure and receives reward. Teaching mixed with worthless material weakens truth's influence on young minds when it needs strengthening, and frivolous private words, foolish talking, jesting, joking and cheap remarks create careless disregard for order, show the heart holds no good treasure and turn minds from important subjects, whereas abiding work makes wise improvement of time by using the ability to learn and power to obey that cost a death, letting truth make wise unto salvation.
Believers must build for eternity now before Christ comes, with work done in family, church and business with an eye single to God's glory abiding through the last-day fires instead of being swept away, coming from abiding in Christ, manifesting His mind, working His works, loving Him deeply, caring for souls for whom He gave His life especially the motherless and fatherless in wise well-directed labor, with grace blooming in the heart, humility, self-denial, devotion and lifetime sanctification putting away selfishness, love of self, money and world that would erase Christ's likeness and bearing good fruit in personal religion. Only work done in cooperation with God after His order and bearing His mold abides as enduring as eternity, laid as gold, silver, precious stones in solid timber rather than hay, wood or stubble, standing the great conflagration when every work is tried, done by the willing and obedient in righteousness, refusing defective timbers and characters not under the Spirit's control who work at cross purposes and create variance and dissension, ripening for the future life under Christ's yoke, since God gives the privilege of being laborers together with Him and if one refuses another will be chosen. This applies to dedicating houses of worship that honor God and comfortably accommodate worshipers, with heart, cheerfulness and willingness and angels working alongside to signal divine presence, and to establishing and conducting health institutions whose very foundation must be laid solid, as well as to building up imperishable things for the last days. Many who think they are prepared for the coming are not, so with God's help to understand and personally apply this teaching at home, believers bear testimony in the Lord's name, separate from hindrances, know God's will and walk that pathway, become free and all light in the Lord, confess Christ and come from darkness into marvelous light, caring for the soul rather than wealth and vanity and helping neighbors find salvation while time remains.
Work that abides includes marital faithfulness, where one bound to his wife by God's law is as true as steel to marriage vows in thought, word and deed, rejecting impurity and dangerous sentimental affection so truth triumphs in life, leaving no misunderstanding about building truly upon the foundation to abide and receive reward.
The only foundation laid for God's building is Jesus Christ, and every builder raises on it one of two kinds of work, enduring gold, silver and precious stones or perishable wood, hay and stubble that fire will consume. Every person's work will be made manifest and tried for its true quality in the day of judgment, when God examines actions and motives and reveals what will abide and what will burn. If a man's work abides the test he shall receive a glorious reward of eternal life, the imperishable crown, entrance into the joy of the Lord, and a home in glory with sins blotted out in the presence of God and the Lamb. Each receives according to his own faithful labor, differing in glory as star from star, and that reward includes souls won to truth who meet him in heaven with white robes and crowns to praise the Lamb forever. Work that abides is pure truth taught, Christlike character built day by day, and unselfish soul-saving service done in Christ through the Holy Spirit, while teaching of error, selfish worldly living, moral failure, and loveless divisive religion are rubbish to be burned, bringing loss of reward though the repentant builder himself may yet be saved as by fire.
Foundation, Materials, Testing
The only foundation laid for God's building is Jesus Christ, including His truth, His principles, His law, and the truth as it is in Christ. Each person individually is in co-partnership with God, working out his own salvation while God works in him to will and to do, and if the work built on that foundation abides the test a reward is received. The work built there represents character-building and teaching, in which every deed and word and influence must bear God's signature and be built from truth rather than false theories. God's workers build on this one foundation as laborers together with God, though all do not have the same work to do, and each receives a reward according to his own labor when his enduring work is proved. Applied to students tilling, ploughing, and harrowing land, this means putting all skill into preparing soil for seed, trees, and harvest for human need, and likewise laboring for souls whose hardened hearts must be broken up so the Word of God as gospel seed finds favorable soil and produces a harvest that rewards painstaking effort.
Building on that foundation is of two kinds: gold, silver, and precious stones that endure the testing, and wood, hay, and stubble that are worthless, perishable rubbish to be destroyed and consumed by fire. Abiding work is gold, silver, and precious stones built on God's foundation, even truth that can be substantiated from the Word of God syllable by syllable, with faith and truth and righteousness entertained in the heart. Hay, wood, and stubble are all rubbish and error, including manufactured tests, false claims of truth, heresies, sophistries, and vain and mistaken interpretations of Scripture that unsettle souls and sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844. If a man brings only worthless material he himself may be saved yet will have nothing to show for his life-work, merely saving his own soul, while if his work abides he shall receive a reward.
Every man's work will be made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire that proves of what sort it is. That day includes the last-day conflagration, the final inspection, the judgment, and the investigative judgment, when God places His estimate upon the work of each one and every man's work is seen just as it is. God keeps a ledger measuring every action and motive, examines every piece of work for quality rather than quantity, and alone discerns enduring from perishable work. The reward is according to the work done, given only when work built of gold, silver, and precious stones abides through that trial.
Paul wrote this to correct believers who were carnal and divided by envying, strife, and party claims of I am of Paul and I am of Apollos. They linked themselves to the man under whose labors they received light, refused harmony with brethren, withdrew from some for imagined reasons and bound up with others, and stood as independent atoms and in separate bundles for want of meekness and humility and wholehearted kindness. Such prejudice, envy, jealousy, and evil surmising that separate brethren separate from God and greatly hinder the manifestation of the Spirit of God, who will not be sent as Comforter and Strengthener until His people are all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. As babes in Christ fed with milk and not sanctified through the truth, instead of making straight paths for their feet lest the lame be turned out of the way, they made claimed conversion a stumbling block to sinners and needed reconversion and a better understanding of the spirit that should control action as believers in Christ Jesus. Faith and practice must therefore be energized by the Holy Spirit, with no ruling power compelling men to obey dictates of the finite mind, ceasing from man whose breath is in his nostrils and not turning minds to lean on human wisdom, which places a veil between God and man so that Him who is invisible is not seen.
Nature and Measure of Reward
The reward for work that abides is glorious and is given when faithful workers gather about the throne of God and of the Lamb. It means having put on immortality and seeing Him as He is, standing before the throne accepted in the Beloved with all sins blotted out and all transgressions borne away, able to look upon the undimmed glory of God. It belongs to those who have been partakers with Christ in His sufferings and workers together with Him in the plan of redemption. Its joy is sharing with Him in seeing souls saved in the kingdom of God to praise God through all eternity, for labor to enlighten people and bring about their salvation is lasting work that survives the testing fire. Labor to advance the cross that endures the final test brings standing accepted before God, sight of His glory after receiving immortality, and rejoicing with Him over people saved.
The reward is more than saving one's own soul; it is souls brought to God through the worker's service. Building with gold, silver, and precious stones from the Word of God produces work that stands the test of fire, while wood, hay, and stubble is worthless material that is destroyed and consumed, leaving the builder who brought only such material with nothing to show for his life-work though he himself may be saved. The redeemed gathered home stand before God's throne, cast their glittering crowns at the feet of the Redeemer, fill heaven with rich music, exclaim that the slain Lamb upon the throne is worthy, and thank those whose influence through Christ led them to accept truth of heavenly origin and come into right relation to God. Using example, means, influence, wisdom, and skill to bring others to Christ produces a harvest of souls and imperishable work, in contrast to building on worldly aims which is consumed when each person's work is tested, and humble efforts to bring people to Jesus bear fruit in souls saved and bring joy to those who served them. Faith, hope, and love produce enduring work that endures the fires of the last days and results in souls redeemed and standing before God's throne.
The reward is eternal life itself for faithfulness in spiritual work whose consequences extend into eternity, with work pictured as gold, silver, and precious stones enduring the consuming fire and shining brighter while unfaithful work is lost. It is the kingdom, the crown of life and imperishable crown pictured as white robes and jeweled crowns, entrance into the joy of the Lord with the welcome Well done, unbounded resources of heaven, and an immortal inheritance as heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ. It is unsearchable riches and treasures in heaven beyond computation, the peace Christ gives, and a home in the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for His obedient children, making one ready to meet Him in peace. Building with enduring materials means letting all activity and zeal be sanctified and directed by the Word of God into proper channels of good works and bringing every capability and talent to Christ to be blessed and sanctified to His service instead of spending life seeking worldly gain, and for teachers it means working with wisdom from above and exemplifying Christ while subduing uncultivated manners and uncontrolled tempers to influence youth for eternal good, to stand with students around the great white throne with God's approval and the joys of the redeemed. Character building that abides means being changed to be like the Saviour by bringing the virtues of Christ's life into daily life, doing the work of Christ, constantly watching and praying, conquering day by day and going daily to Christ for help, while bringing hay, wood, and stubble will not stand the test of judgment and means loss of eternal life, even if a man gains the whole world.
Each person receives his own reward according to his own labor and faithfulness when work built on Jesus Christ, the only foundation, survives the testing fire and is made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire. All do not have the same work to do, but as laborers together with God building on the one foundation, if the gold, silver, precious stones built thereon abide the testing, the reward is according to the work done and its quality made clear. He that planteth and he that watereth are one, and yet distinct, for though ministers may differ with one emphasizing another phase of truth or presenting the Word in a different way, their object is to be the same as only ministers by whom belief comes while God gives the increase. Such difference in labor is not to be condemned, and envy and strife over Paul or Apollos, withdrawing from some and binding up with others, is carnality that separates brethren from God and hinders the Spirit, who will not be sent as Comforter until His people are of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. Abiding work means acting well one's part by throwing whole energy into the work and consecrating all powers to do God's will, securing one's own salvation through Christ and using God-given talents to give God's warning and invitation with living interest in souls for whom Christ shed His blood, and because it passes through ordeal by fire in the day of judgment and abides, the builder receives a reward in proportion to faithfulness in cooperating with God as a faithful steward.
Enduring Work Rewarded
Enduring work is faithfully teaching pure truth and building people into a firm structure that reaches hearts by divine power and will abide the fires of the last great day. Such teaching leads converts to holiness and peace, honors the builder in God's kingdom as a wise builder, and brings a reward when the work endures, while teaching without truth in its purity produces unholy converts and work that fails the test and suffers loss. Abiding work is gold, silver and precious stones built on God's foundation, namely truth that can be substantiated from the Word syllable by syllable, with faith, truth and righteousness in the heart, presenting the Word without manufactured tests, false claims, heresies, sophistries, and vain mistaken interpretations. It is pure doctrine held with humble steadfast faith, faithful teaching and character-building founded on God's truth, while false religion, selfishness, human philosophy and false theories are worthless wood, hay and stubble that lead astray, unsettle souls, sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844, and will be consumed by the fire of the last days in the judgment. A building that abides bears God's workmanship so He is not ashamed of it, but one who built rubbish and repents may himself be saved as by fire yet loses years of work and the souls led astray by pretentious example who may never repent, so all must take heed how they build for eternity.
Enduring work is character building on the Rock, for every person must erect his own character building upon Jesus Christ as the only foundation, not alone but in union with the divine Builder in faithful cooperation with Christ, taking careful heed to the material brought to the foundation stone. It requires the grace of Christ, full consecration of body, soul and spirit to Jesus, and transformation to His likeness instead of conformity to worldly principles, with each deed, word and influence bearing God's signature and built from truth rather than false theories. The building is the character each forms day by day with God-given intellectual and moral power, each being largely the architect of his own character with the structure daily approaching completion, founded upon the eternal rock and revealed in time just as it is. That work includes building character and faithfully training children, for what is done for God will be shown for what it is while worthless work is burned, and work that abides brings usefulness here and a higher life hereafter, so now is the time to cultivate God-given powers to form such an enduring character. The abiding material that receives a reward is thank offerings and praise offerings, kindly deeds and self-denying sacrifices brought to the foundation stone, which never perish but are more enduring and more valuable than the gold of Ophir, made possible because Christ is the only dependence and hope of salvation through a sacrifice so large and infinite it cannot be excelled.
Enduring work is unselfish soul-saving service in cooperation with God, done with the mind drawn away from self and centered upon Jesus, laboring as Christ did when in the world for the salvation of others in organized effort in every church, belonging to every soul without waiting to be forced into it. Mere profession of faith receives no reward and a life spent on self is wood, hay and stubble amounting to nothing, with the lifework lost for time and to God for eternity, while work that abides is fruit that remains as gold and silver that fire cannot consume. That valuable work is laboring to enlighten people, advance the cross, and bring about their salvation, using example, means, influence, wisdom and skill to bring others to Christ and producing a harvest of souls and imperishable work, whereas building on worldly aims is consumed when each person's work is tested. It is done by becoming God's helping hand and laborers together with Him in ministering to others in union with angels, teaching those in darkness the truths that enlightened believers, for which God strengthens mental faculties as He did Daniel's mind and gives apt words through the angel standing by. It requires enjoying the companionship of heavenly angels by faith without seeing their forms, praying for faith that works by love and purifies the soul, and seeking living power from above, and humble efforts to bring people to Jesus bear fruit in souls saved and bring joy to those who served them.
Enduring work uses God-given powers, means, influence, wisdom and skill for God, producing a harvest of souls and imperishable work that receives a rich reward, while building on worldly aims is wood, hay and stubble consumed at the test. Gold, silver and precious stones include using God-given wisdom and opportunities to serve Christ, speaking words that bless others, doing works of righteousness, and using influence, time and talents for good and for saving souls, such work lasting through eternity unlike selfish use and wasting time and habits that weaken the soul. Building with enduring materials means letting all activity and zeal be sanctified and directed by the Word into proper channels of good works, bringing every capability and talent to Christ to be blessed and sanctified to His service instead of spending life seeking worldly gain that never succeeds. Work that abides is using every dollar to save souls, to support missionaries, to buy reading matter for those in darkness and ignorance, to herald the truth given to the world, and to sow truth beside all waters in self-denial, self-sacrifice and entire consecration. Using the Lord's means for selfish pleasure and self-gratification, such as spending money for pictures of human faces instead of proclaiming the last warning message, embezzles His goods and brings wood, hay and stubble to the foundation that bears silent witness against the builder and will be consumed by the fires of the last day, and the work must be thorough and solid, done carefully rather than carelessly, so it will stand the test.
Enduring work is done only in Christ through grace and the Holy Spirit, calling for living, active, working faith that prays in the morning for the Holy Spirit, receives orders from above, and grows in grace and in knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Believers must build upon Jesus as the only foundation by looking to Him alone as pattern at every step rather than to faulty human beings whose judgments, examples, hearts and minds fail and are not imbued with His Spirit, moving firmly forward carefully and steadfastly. There are two kinds of building, with wood, hay and stubble that will be burned up and with precious enduring material like gold, silver and precious stones as durable as eternity that will abide the fires of the last day without loss and receive a reward. That enduring structure requires cooperation of human agency in individual action with the divine, with unseen influences guiding life's current, God honoring men by making them fellow workers with Himself so humanity touches humanity and the divine Worker lays hold upon infinity, with power working within subduing soul, body and spirit unto results lasting for time and eternity. Only character and work built under control of the Spirit will abide, for strong traits bear good fruit when governed by moral and religious principles looking beyond present transitory gratification to the future through right education, while considering self, indulging appetite and unrestraining evil brings wood, hay and stubble to the foundation, loses the battle, and lets even flashes of goodness pass like morning dew and not abide.
Perishable Work Consumed
Perishable building is teaching that lacks truth in its purity, including false theories, human philosophy, sophistries, vain and mistaken interpretations of Scripture, manufactured tests, false claims, heresies, fables, speculation about God's essence, false science, placing gems of truth in false settings to substantiate error, and presenting falsehood as truth to unsettle souls and sweep away the foundation laid in experience since 1844. Enduring work is truth substantiated syllable by syllable from the Word, with faith and righteousness in the heart, pure doctrine with humble steadfast faith, and faithful character-building that leads people aright, while false theories are wood, hay and stubble consumed in the day of trial and the fire of the last days in the judgment. A building that abides bears God's workmanship so He is not ashamed of it, estimated by the Bible standard as gold, silver and precious stones that cannot be consumed, whereas rubbish will be burned and bring no reward, though the repentant builder may himself be pardoned through great mercy and saved as by fire.
Perishable work is a life spent on self, amounting to nothing and lost for time and eternity, including selfish economy, withholding means from plans to broaden God's work, using powers for selfish worldly purposes and earthly gain instead of winning souls, leading a Christless life that leaves Christ out of counsels, heart, home and business while trusting one's own heart and judgment. It includes spending on needless ornaments, photographs and picture-idols, fine crochet and expensive display, pampering pets while the poor suffer, idle dreaming, folly that pulls others down, and robbing God by neglecting stewardship of physical and mental talents given to test worthiness for eternal riches. All such work of years is unfaithful building that will be consumed in the last great conflagration, leaving the lifework in ashes with eternal forfeiture of the reward faithful stewardship might have gained and loss of souls that might have been saved through neglect, while faithful unselfish service to save souls shines brighter amid the devouring elements.
Perishable material includes moral and spiritual failure built into character, such as impure licentious matter, rotten timbers clung to as precious, pride, self-esteem, love of supremacy, evil speaking, deception, unconverted labor mingled with self, unsanctified cleverness and ability, cheap wit and nonsense to amuse associates, false standards excusing wrongdoing, uncontrolled anger sowing unrighteousness in children, indulgence and neglect of children, yielding to temptation and strange paths, and obstructing salvation in the family by dishonest unchristlike living. Only work built upon character made Christian in every sense by sanctifying truth, with self-control, compassion, consideration, charity, patience and holy conversation, will abide the test of the Judgment when Christ gives every man according to deeds done in the body, while fun and frolic then appear as utter loss beside His self-denial, humiliation, shame and reproach to ransom souls from bondage. A worker must be converted and come to the high standard before doing acceptable work that stands, for works mixed with self are hay, wood and stubble kindled upon by last-day fires, and clinging to filthy garments leaves one unfit for the mansions above with loss of heaven and eternity of bliss.
Perishable building is willfully degrading soul and body and misapplying talents under the enemy's deception, perverting reason, intelligence, senses and every mental and physical power given for high holy purposes to minister to the carnal mind. This includes a continual round of excitement absorbing attention such as cricket and football matches and horse-racing, the liquor curse, tobacco, tea-drinking and drugs, placing destroying agencies on tables, any habit lessening healthful action of mind or body, and poisonous drugs that destroy God's building and temple, quenching divine attributes, selling reason for poison, and giving Satan control of reason, affections and conscience. Those who abuse physical, mental and moral powers all life till injured almost beyond recovery pile wood, hay and stubble that fire will consume, so if saved at all it is as by fire, and therefore the greatest labor is not to be spent on the most depraved outcast class while promising fields ripe for harvest who will stand for truth are left undone.
Perishable religious activity is loveless, divisive and unfaithful work, including gossip, accusations, evil reports, criticism, suspicion, faultfinding, talking of brethren's faults, sowing doubt, serving Baal rather than Jehovah, work without prayer and consecration, work without the Spirit under Satan's direction, mere profession and form of godliness without living experience, sentimental soaring religion, self-exhibition, false ideas counted as nothingness, and years of education apart from God's Word that eclipses faith, removes reverence for the Bible, and puts infidel books and unsound theories before students. Genuine Christian experience producing gold, silver and precious stones endures, learned by denying self, taking the cross, following Christ and sharing His humiliation and self-sacrifice in true sanctification and solid obedient character, while the world is not saved by beautiful songs but by such character-building. Unnecessary matters must be weeded from study and only studies of real value kept, centered on the Bible and salvation to lift the mind and leave cheap matters behind, for professing Christ without thoroughly Christlike influence is gathering hay, wood and stubble that will not abide.
Work that is burned brings loss of the lifework as valueless ashes and bankruptcy through unwise trading on the Lord's goods without increasing talents by right work, forfeiture of the reward faithful stewardship might have gained, and loss of souls that might have been saved and might have cast glittering crowns at the Redeemer's feet filling heaven with music in praise of the slain Lamb. The builder whose work perishes may himself be barely saved as by fire, like a brand from the burning or a man escaping a burning house with house and goods lost, having nothing to show for life-work but his own soul, and only through repentance, conversion, purification, being made white and tried, and clearing away rubbish to do thorough work. God keeps a ledger measuring every action and motive, calls for careful prayerful attention to assigned duty whether spiritual or ordinary, and desires not merely personal salvation but bringing others into right relation to God through influence in Christ.
The verse belongs to the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians to be read with prayer over lack of business ability, teaching that God does not call many wise after the flesh, mighty or noble, because those given to worldly pursuits and sharp business traits regard preaching of the cross as foolishness while to the saved it is God's power. God destroys the wisdom of the wise and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent, choosing foolish, weak, base and despised things to confound the wise and bring to nought things that are, so no flesh glories in His presence, with Christ made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption so he that glories glories in the Lord.
Building Carefully Together
Each builder must take heed how he builds upon the sure foundation of Jesus Christ, erecting his own character building not by himself but in union with the divine Builder and in faithful cooperation with Christ, taking careful heed to the material brought to the foundation stone because only work that abides will receive a reward. Taking heed means choosing only solid timber and precious material, laying every character-stone without flaw to bear pressure and storm and tempest, wrought point by point and stroke upon stroke with separate yet dependent faculties, for one stone mislaid affects the whole building and every hour must place stones to endure the day of test and revelation when each person is seen just as he is. Abiding building is done as gold and silver and precious stones and not as hay, wood, or stubble, refusing defective timbers and defective characters not under the special control of the Spirit of God who work at cross purposes and create variance and dissension, refusing cheap material and worthless timbers and haphazard, careless, indifferent work, but fitting piece to piece perfectly exactly as in God's temple so that the work abides like God's temple and stands the great conflagration when every work is tried of what sort it is. Such work is done in cooperation with God after His order and bearing His mold and not man's, by the willing and obedient with an eye single to the glory of God, wrought in righteousness and as enduring as eternity, building up imperishable things for the last days that ripen for the future life under the yoke of Christ, including establishing and conducting a health institution whose very foundation must be laid solid, for God examines kind and material to see if it must be taken down and built over.
Abiding building is done as laborers together with God building on the one foundation Jesus Christ, where every man's work will be made manifest in the day when it is revealed and tried by fire, and if the gold, silver, precious stones he has built thereon abide that testing he shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. All do not have the same work, yet he that planteth and he that watereth are one while God gives the increase, and though one minister emphasizes another phase of truth or presents the Word in a different way their object is to be the same as ministers by whom belief comes, so such difference is not to be condemned and no minister needs to fear that his brethren do not regard him and his exposition as of consequence. Each worker's instrumentality must be proved in love and harmonious action that glorifies God, each strengthening the other and each taking diligent heed to his own course in presenting sanctifying truth to souls ready to die, making straight paths for feet lest the lame be turned out of the way, counseling and praying together and making no move independently or in opposition, esteeming others better than self, keeping personal individuality in manner and bearing while working together in perfect harmony and depending on Christ as the living head. No one is to stand as an independent atom or in a separate bundle around a human leader under whose labors he received light, or draw apart over misconceived opinions, or build in self-confidence after his own notions, plans and desires without reference to brethren, or be controlled by fallible people, for that lays a mass of suppositions that is only rubbish and will not abide, while envy and strife over Paul or Apollos is carnality and walking as men, and prejudice, envy, jealousy and evil surmising that separate brethren separate from God and hinder the Spirit, who will not be sent as Comforter and Strengthener until His people are all of one mind, loving as brethren, pitiful and courteous. Building for God in this unity is to be done with heart, cheerfulness and willingness in a way that comfortably accommodates worshipers and does honor to God, as in dedicating a house of worship by those claiming to be Sabbathkeepers and Christians with experimental knowledge, with angels working alongside the workers.
Builders who brought rubbish can still be pardoned through God's great mercy if they repent from the heart, humble themselves before the Lord, return to Him, seek purification and make seeking the purification of His Spirit the first work, clear away hay, wood, and stubble, break Satan's yoke, take Christ's yoke, die to self, gain experimental religion, and do thorough work in being good and doing good. Many in every church have built wood, hay, and stubble upon the foundation in unfaithful, unrefined, unsanctified, impure life and work that must be purified, including exalting medical missionary work above the gospel ministry, making defective plans that weaken the warning of the last-day prophecies, and undermining confidence in the light given for the past half century, and such faulty building estimated by the Bible standard will be consumed by the purifying fires of the last day and bring no reward. Those who served unfaithfully but repent are forgiven and accepted, yet suffer loss of the lifework as valueless and loss of opportunities they failed to improve and loss of souls that might have been saved, and their defective works themselves are still burned up, bringing a great reformation where what is false is cleansed away so that what lasts can be built for the final reckoning.
God gives every person his own work to prove in love and harmonious action, to be free to seek His guidance and use gifts to win souls rather than be controlled by fallible people, and He tests whether it abides, stamps genuine work and counts sham as nothing, and requires thoroughness with no defective work, for the building is for time and for eternity. God alone judges every man's work and gives reward according as his work shall be, alone discerning between wood, hay, and stubble which are human devising and gold, silver, and precious stones which are the true doctrines of grace through Jesus Christ, and no man can estimate the influence of fellow workers or read the human heart, so none should stand aloof from brethren or measure self against others by human standards. Each must answer for himself and improve his own course rather than criticize others or find fault with another worker, focusing on making his own work lasting and using God-given ability to the utmost for the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, for thinking and speaking evil, carrying evil reports from church to church and conference to conference, watching and criticizing fellow workers, excusing failure to do appointed soul-saving work, hindering the gospel in the Southern field, and weakening churches, institutions, and conferences is building hay, wood, and stubble that will be consumed by the fires of the last day, hated by God, called to account, losing reward, and one day seen as wasted time, while the abiding work is the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages.
Faithful Application in Life
Ministers build work that lasts by doing deep, thorough plowing to secure the best harvest, bringing to the foundation only imperishable material so the work abides and receives a reward, since the kind of material decides the outcome and bringing perishable material will not abide but will be consumed in the testing. Teaching the truth makes a builder and the Word supplies the material that thoroughly furnishes for all good works, so failing to use that material means the labor is lost when burned, while building up a church of living characters requires undying love possessing soul and affections, seen and felt in countenance, words and actions to convict the unbelieving, with tireless persistency no obstacle overcomes and renewing power even at exhaustion, in humility under Christ's yoke, forgetting self and taking up God-given work with thankfulness. Building with lasting material means acting in harmony on the foundation of truth and principles, putting forth most earnest effort, holding the fort in Washington in the day of opportunity against Sunday legislation and petitions for religious instruction in public schools, and sending from Washington a decided influence for truth to arouse the people and magnify the Word in Washington, Baltimore, St. Louis, New Orleans and other large Southern cities, with heavenly angels working with power through consecrated agencies. The reward is not settled by time spent sermonizing or by human audit but covers real gospel work lived and acted, such as carrying truth to new places, converting souls, establishing churches, building meetinghouses and schools, and preparing minds to understand truth as it is in Jesus, when workers take a retrospective view and every man's work stands at its true value with recognition for souls shown as fruit of labor. Lasting work exalts truth, strengthens faith and devotion, elevates the standard, advances God's work in harmony with brethren in the Spirit of Christ, and brings sheaves with rejoicing, while sowing doubt, shaking faith and bringing the standard down to a common level serves another master and will not abide through the fires of the last days and the test of judgment, so ministers must examine themselves, undergo thorough conversion, bring lasting qualities rather than childish traits into service, use words as talents for God's glory and others' good, and let Christlike character benefit the flock.
Teachers and students build enduring work on love to God and His law, and such work endures the test and brings reward while work like hay, wood and stubble is consumed. Work driven only by human strength and wisdom accomplishes little even at its best, whereas teaching shaped by wisdom from above and the Spirit from above exemplifies Christ's character, subdues uncultivated manners and uncontrolled tempers, and influences youth toward eternal good, with grave consequences for helping or hindering and an account to be answered for results when teachers meet students around the great white throne. That reward includes the souls of students, the approval of God, eternal life and the joys of the redeemed. Laying lasting gems on the foundation stone means speaking right words, doing right deeds, influencing others to appreciate good instruction, and being not only a hearer but a doer of the Word, so youth in school become a power for good by encouraging teachers, seconding every effort to help pupils, uplifting, refining and ennobling the mind by contemplating Jesus, and joining well-organized efforts to strengthen religious interests through grace as laborers together with God. Years spent getting an education apart from the Word builds with wood and stubble to be consumed in the last great conflagration, placing no value before God when it eclipses faith, removes reverence for the Bible, and puts books tainted with infidelity and unsound theories before students, so unnecessary matters must be weeded out and only studies of real value kept, centered on the Bible and the great themes of salvation to lift the mind higher, leave cheap matters behind, and secure the life that measures with the life of God. Thorough work in essentials such as language and spelling lays a sure foundation, while worthless teaching that weakens faith does not abide.
Parents build children's characters for God, and reward in heaven depends on work built on the foundation here, especially this work, which is tested and shown for what it is, with worthless work burned up and enduring work receiving reward. To build work that abides is to follow God's will and way, devote life to Christ's service, educate children aright by weeding out every unruly trait, bring truth into the inner sanctuary of the soul, and labor for children and church with long-suffering, kind charity and the meekness and gentleness of Christ, guarding lips against faultfinding and kindly instructing instead. Building with wood, hay and stubble is neglecting or indulging children for ease, letting them follow their own way, sowing unrighteousness by uncontrolled anger, and bringing defective parental and childhood characters into the church, while self-control, compassion, consideration, charity and patience are lasting materials in character building. Negligent parents do not stand on the same footing as faithful parents, for if they at last awaken they and their children may still be saved yet will not be regarded in the same light nor receive the same reward as those whose lives were devoted to Christ, since saints differ in glory as one star differs from another. Bringing God-given abilities into the home to reform, restore and establish order, discipline and sound principles, making a model home where truth leads to right actions and brings souls ready to perish into actual contact with truth as it is in Jesus to produce good works, is imperishable work that receives God's approval and causes rejoicing among angels.
Stewards build with means and business by using every dollar to save souls, for only work that abides through the fires of the last day receives eternal life, and gaining the whole world with perishable building means loss of the soul. Honest dealings including repaying debts build enduring character, while refusing to meet an obligation is represented by wood, hay and stubble. Work that is merely common, financially driven activity does not strengthen faith or enrich Christian experience and will not last, so abilities should be used in work suited to capacities and directed to advancing truth for a lasting harvest, and commercial plans that draw workers away from Christ-ordained presentation of truth, with worldly plans driven by financial gain, are piling perishable material on the foundation and may fail to accomplish the ordained work. Taking money sacredly dedicated and donated for one field such as the Southern field and using it to cancel institutional debts mingles God's work with man's inventions of wood, hay and stubble, robbing that field and bringing displeasure, so faithful trustworthy oversight must examine every business transaction that only abiding work is built. Binding influence with those at enmity with God is perishable building that makes a shameful record when every case is decided from the books, while the one whose work abides commits the soul's keeping to God with arm linked in Christ's arm, reposing in faith that He is faithful who promised, for it is life eternal to be true and loyal to Christ, and doing work that supports falsehood for money must be refused.
Readers, writers and publishers build with solid truth and practical godliness rather than cheap, superficial, fictitious matter, since lasting work endures the last-day test and receives reward while hay, wood and stubble are consumed by the final fire. Building lasting material means bringing close searching of Scripture, solid truth, living realities and practical truth into life, while laying perishable material means feeding the mind on the superficial and fictitious, falsehood and fiction, light reading, novels, romances, comic and coarse writing, worldly publications and improper literature that corrode thought, dwarf experience and unfit for clear-sighted service, living an unreal imaginary life. The mind becomes the same character as its food, so advancement or weakness of conception follows the food given to it through assimilation to the standard handled, and the only remedy is to become conversant with Scripture and never stop studying the Bible. Perishable matter must not be taken in hand to handle because it does not abide and lays up no heavenly treasure, while only earnest self-denying work to warn the perishing, bear truth's message and save souls ready to perish lays up treasure and receives reward. Teaching mixed with worthless material weakens truth's influence on young minds when it needs strengthening, and frivolous private words, foolish talking, jesting, joking and cheap remarks create careless disregard for order, show the heart holds no good treasure and turn minds from important subjects, whereas abiding work makes wise improvement of time by using the ability to learn and power to obey that cost a death, letting truth make wise unto salvation.
Believers must build for eternity now before Christ comes, with work done in family, church and business with an eye single to God's glory abiding through the last-day fires instead of being swept away, coming from abiding in Christ, manifesting His mind, working His works, loving Him deeply, caring for souls for whom He gave His life especially the motherless and fatherless in wise well-directed labor, with grace blooming in the heart, humility, self-denial, devotion and lifetime sanctification putting away selfishness, love of self, money and world that would erase Christ's likeness and bearing good fruit in personal religion. Only work done in cooperation with God after His order and bearing His mold abides as enduring as eternity, laid as gold, silver, precious stones in solid timber rather than hay, wood or stubble, standing the great conflagration when every work is tried, done by the willing and obedient in righteousness, refusing defective timbers and characters not under the Spirit's control who work at cross purposes and create variance and dissension, ripening for the future life under Christ's yoke, since God gives the privilege of being laborers together with Him and if one refuses another will be chosen. This applies to dedicating houses of worship that honor God and comfortably accommodate worshipers, with heart, cheerfulness and willingness and angels working alongside to signal divine presence, and to establishing and conducting health institutions whose very foundation must be laid solid, as well as to building up imperishable things for the last days. Many who think they are prepared for the coming are not, so with God's help to understand and personally apply this teaching at home, believers bear testimony in the Lord's name, separate from hindrances, know God's will and walk that pathway, become free and all light in the Lord, confess Christ and come from darkness into marvelous light, caring for the soul rather than wealth and vanity and helping neighbors find salvation while time remains.
Work that abides includes marital faithfulness, where one bound to his wife by God's law is as true as steel to marriage vows in thought, word and deed, rejecting impurity and dangerous sentimental affection so truth triumphs in life, leaving no misunderstanding about building truly upon the foundation to abide and receive reward.