HUSBANDRY AND BUILDING
P. S. Chareyre
1 Corinthians 3: 5–15; 9: 24–27
I thought of this scripture in 1 Corinthians 3 in connection with what occupied us on Lord’s day, the heavenly Jerusalem. We have been taught that the presentation of the assembly in the Revelation, under the features of the heavenly Jerusalem, is a substantial presentation; it is a cube. I believe that the idea of substantiality is included in this symbol which John was given to see. It is a cube and it is a construction, an architectural piece of work; these two symbolic characteristics are found in the Scriptures and they evidently have their moral importance.
With regard to 1 Corinthians 3, the Holy Spirit, by the apostle’s mouth, alludes on the one hand to what is agricultural and on the other to what is constructive. A building suggests workmanship, whilst with what is agricultural—husbandry—we have especially the mysterious work of God, as the Lord Jesus said in Mark’s gospel in a parable, “as if a man should cast the seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise up night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he does not know how”, (Mark 4: 26, 27). Man does not know how the seed grows; it is God who does the work. And Paul speaks first of that side—“I have planted; Apollos watered; but God has given the increase”. Indeed, if we think about Christianity or, if we use the language of Scripture, the kingdom of God, we see an extraordinary work, now continuing for twenty centuries, in hearts, a mysterious work which has withstood all the efforts of Satan. The work of God, which has triumphed over everything, has a very mysterious character; you do not know how the seed sprouts and grows because the growth is of God. In generation after generation hearts are attached to Christ and grow in Him.
Now Paul introduces this idea of God’s husbandry to insist on the entirely hidden place of the servant; it is God who gives the increase; the servant, in one sense, does nothing about it. It is good to think about this aspect of the truth in the time in which we find ourselves, and after the experiences through which we have passed in which we have seen how often. Satan has prevailed in hearts which ought to have been faithful to the rights of the Lord Jesus, but have not been so. We have seen all the loss which has resulted from it—and how much we have contributed to it. We see in this passage a man who without any doubt has not had his equal in all the assembly’s history for the measure in which it was given to him to serve the Lord—the apostle Paul—who says of himself, “So that neither the planter is anything, nor the waterer; but God the giver of the increase”. That is the place he took.
But I would like to say a few words on the architectural thought. Paul adds, “God’s building”, then he continues speaking about his responsibility, the way in which he was used by the Lord to lay the foundation—“As a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it”. Then he speaks of the responsibility of him who builds upon it—“But let each see how he builds upon it”. It is not a question here of God who gives the increase but of the responsibility of him who builds. And then—a very remarkable fact—when the results of this dispensation are presented to us—the final result in the assembly seen on the threshold of eternity—what John sees is a symbol borrowed not from agriculture but from architecture, the holy city. In other words, what is shown to John does not suggest specially the result of the mysterious operations of God but it appears rather as something which has involved very extensive work. What work there is in the construction of a city! This city, we are told, has twelve foundations and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Then we have insistence on the side of responsibility, although it is still the divine masterpiece. We find earlier in the book of Revelation, “And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints” (Revelation 19: 8). How does God arrive at such a marvellous thing? What will be manifested for the eternal pleasure of God will be the fruit of much work, intelligent, skilful, and laborious work.
The Scriptures thus underline the importance of responsibility, even in these final features of the assembly. We have surely, therefore, to accept responsibility for the work. We might well ask ourselves how, in such small conditions, it is possible to wield the trowel and the plumb-line. Perhaps also we feel very incapable of doing it. God may place us in conditions in which we do not know too well what is to be done; and yet, as we find ourselves in them, there is certainly something to do. We have the word in our hands, and we have everything needed for the work for, by grace, we have the Spirit.
I read the verses from chapter 9 because Paul shows us one thing with which the workman must necessarily be concerned—he must take care of himself. The figure here is different; it is a question of running in the racecourse, but there is the idea of responsibility. He says, “I therefore thus run, as not uncertainly”, and he adds, “But I
buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected “. We see here once again the extraordinary way in which the apostle looked at himself. Is this Paul the apostle speaking? Yes, it certainly is—“I buffet my body and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should .be myself rejected”. O, beloved brother and sisters, if this had always been the language of those who serve the Lord, assuredly the public situation today would not be what it is. However, Paul remains a precious model from the Lord in so many details so that we can take account of him. It seems to me that this scripture helps us in regard to what is said in Romans, “If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live”, whilst “if ye live according to flesh, ye are about to die”
(Romans 8: 13).
It is a question of responsibility; we understand that the Lord expects His own to do something. In 1 Corinthians 3 the apostle does not say that we should do nothing, “but let each see how he builds upon it”. We do not wish to hold back, whatever the conditions in which we are. There is a work left to man’s responsibility, and therefore to our responsibility.
That is why we should seek, so that we can find, what there is to do. May we receive help from the Lord to recognise it and to do it humbly, accepting all that that implies, including taking care of ourselves. There is what God does, and there is what is left to our responsibility.
Word in meeting for ministry, Valence, France
19 October 1982