BUILDING MATERIAL
[p. 108] BUILDING MATERIAL
Haggai 1:7,8; 1 Corinthians 3:10 - 13
I have been thinking, dear brethren, of building material, having in view that this is the time of building, and if it is a time of building there must be material. Thus I have read from Haggai, a well-known prophet, not only because he speaks of building and of material, but because he took part in the work himself. Many of us can speak of what is needed and urge others on, but what God looks for is a leader, and to give a lead I must go on ahead.
So we find with Haggai, and his associate prophet, Zechariah, that they not only urged the builders to build, but it says they helped in the work — “the prophets of God helping”, as we read. One who thus puts his hand to the work deserved special attention, and I may add that prophecy is that which in the first epistle to the Corinthians is especially commended for building. Of the gifts, each of which is of value, prophecy was commended. Before, however, commending the gift of prophecy, the apostle said, “yet shew I unto you a way of more surpassing excellence” (1 Corinthians 12:31); he could not only speak of the way of love but show it. It is a thing rather to be shown than defined, and so having shown that way, he goes back to the subject of gift and urges prophecy, for he that prophesieth edifies or builds the assembly. So Haggai, associated with Zechariah, demands special attention, as a man who, in a day of very small things, spoke the mind of God. He also builded, worked with the others, with the rank and file of the people, as we may say.
But I am speaking now of material, for however clear the mind of God may be as to what is required, and however skilled the builders, there must be [p. 109] material, and we should note what it is. What elements form the physical system around us, or what the primary materials were, we can say but little, but we are not left in any uncertainty or cloudiness as regards the material needed for God’s building. The first building that we get in Scripture, as has often been pointed out, is in Genesis 2, but we read of the foundations of the earth being laid, which I suppose may be taken to lead to building. The word employed directly for the physical system is ‘framed’: “By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God”, (Hebrews 11:3). The first building is that recorded in Genesis 2, and there is nothing vague as to the material. It was a rib taken out of Adam, and out of that, we are told, God builded a woman. The material therefore was to be understood as the building was there, and so in the New Testament we have the material for God’s building. The Lord is very explicit, first in regard of the foundation upon which He would build, and then in regard of the material which He would use in the building.
First He says, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”. (Matthew 16:17). Now that, taken as it is, is not material for the building. Simon Bar-jona refers to the believer as he is here, born in this world, whose history is known; such a one is blessed, that is to say, as a responsible person here, having had a sinful history, you, like Simon who acknowledged his sinfulness, are blessed. “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”. But that was only a part of the Lord’s pronouncement, a part which involves much in principle, indeed, involving the epistle to the Romans, which contemplates us as responsible. Yet as convicted sinners who believe through grace, we are blessed. But then the Lord goes on with a new thing. What He says about Simon being blessed as receiving a revelation from God was not exactly a new thing, because the [p. 110] reception of revelations of God was not new. Many before him had received such, not of that kind, of course, but nevertheless many had received revelations from God, and they were blessed. It was a blessed thing in each case.
But the Lord goes on as if He were saying something extraordinary, “flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens”. He has revealed that to you, “And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter”. That is not a mere question of blessing, not that I would minimise blessing, but it is a question of material: “Thou art Peter”, the Lord said. In John 1:42, the corresponding passage, He says, “Thou shalt be called Cephas”, and then the Holy Spirit tells us the meaning of that word so that we should understand. Whenever the Holy Spirit interprets a word He means to impress it on our minds that we may understand it, so that in John we get the interpretation of the word ‘Cephas’. The Lord did not use that word in speaking to Peter in Matthew. He used, as far as we can see, the ordinary word Peter. We have no word to be interpreted, it was a word that was known, the Greek word for Peter, that is to say, the material was divinely provided, and the builder has to understand, has to distinguish in himself between “Simon Bar-jona”, being blessed, and “Peter”, if he is to have part practically, and surely, in the great system which God is building, the great spiritual system for, from this point of view, wood, hay, and stubble have no part at all. They cannot be introduced. It is what the Lord Jesus Christ is building, and He never used any extraneous material at all. The material was there, He gave it a name, He pronounced upon it, and then He says, “on this rock I will build my assembly”. Having designated the material for the building, He speaks of the foundation.
In keeping with that we read in Acts 19 that the [p. 111] apostle Paul arrived at Ephesus on the upper line; it is the upper line. Matthew is the upper line, and so is Ephesians. What I mean by the upper line is this, that Luke deals with what is moral, what is in keeping with God morally down here, involving righteousness, whereas Matthew presents the thing from the side of elevation, and produces a vessel formed of spiritual material for practical use here — the vessel of testimony. He produces it by way of the mount of transfiguration, where you have the Lord Jesus transfigured, His countenance shining as the sun — a great heavenly thought; and then that we are associated with Him as sons; for He says, “Then are the sons free”. And finally He says, “Take that and give it to them for me and thee”, (Matthew 17:26,27). We are thus brought in on the upper line — the mount of transfiguration and sonship. It is on that line that we have the vessel of administration in Matthew — the assembly. It is not earthly, or governed by earthly principles, it is governed by heavenly principles, and its material is spiritual. It is formed of those who are the sons of God and companions of Christ. Luke gives us the moral line, and takes us up as we are, so that we are brought together as recognising the Lord’s authority, as deposited in the eleven. They were saying as gathered together in Luke, “The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34) — not Peter. It is a question of Simon in his responsibility, and the Lord meeting him in grace — an important side surely of the truth in our relation to one another.
Luke refers to Him as the righteous One. He introduces the centurion as saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man”, (Luke 23:47). It is the moral side, and so the thief owns Him, “This man has done nothing amiss” (verse 41); and in keeping with that the Lord prays in Luke that the Father should forgive His murderers — another moral feature which we need in our public [p. 112] position; if God is to be related to us morally, these features must be present. But Matthew is, as I said, the upper line, and I hope you will take note of it. The thoughts presented in Matthew are immense, and I have therefore taken the liberty of calling it the upper line. It involves that we should be here representative of heaven in our administrative capacity.
Having spoken of Luke and Matthew, I want to open out the link between Matthew and Ephesians. The apostle, as you will remember, reached Ephesus by “the upper districts”, (Acts 19:1). He had been there before he left Aquila and Priscilla there, and went off elsewhere in his service, and in the interval Apollos arrived and was instructed by Aquila and Priscilla. Apollos goes to Corinth, where Paul had been, and where he had built up the lower line of things, that is to say, the order of God in a city, in a locality. He had been to Athens, and there was not a word said to him in Athens about God having His people there, although there were a few; but arriving at Corinth he associates himself with two tent-makers, a man and his wife. This was not a vain appearance of things; he meant it, he lodged with them and the Holy Spirit tells us he wrought with his hands; he was a real worker, making tents. You will see we are coming down to everyday life, and it is important to see that the people of God are seen in that connection. The Lord said, “and no one shall set upon thee to injure thee; because I have much people in this city”, (Acts 18:10).
Thus we are in the presence of potential material for the structure in its locality, or everyday feature. It is said that Apollos was at Corinth after Paul had been there, and after he had set up the structure there. It speaks of Apollos as at Corinth, as though he was there to hold that position. Apollos being there, Paul arrived at Ephesus by the upper districts, and he asked certain disciples whom he found there [p. 113] if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed. It is not a question of much people, of tent-making, or being outwardly anything — that is not the point at Ephesus. The point is, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” (Acts 19:2). And may I raise the question as to whether as believers you may or may not have the Spirit? If we are to approach the structure from the standpoint of Ephesus, it is most important for every professing christian to face this, for every one should wish to have part in it. “So then ye are no longer strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone”, (Ephesians 2:19,20). There is nothing like it in the whole universe, and it depends on the Spirit. If you have not got the Spirit, you are out of it, and so it says, “Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?” and you know what they answered, “We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come”. Paul says, “To what then were ye baptized?” and they said, “To the baptism of John”, and he tells them, “John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus”, (verses 3,4). John’s own words were, “He it is of whom I said, A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he was before me; and I knew him not; but that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore have I come baptising with water. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God”, (John 1:30,31; John 1:34). That is John’s witness, which would point the believer away from John to another — to Christ.
The apostle Paul heartily endorses John the baptist’s ministry, but John could not give the Holy Spirit, so immediately those at Ephesus were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus. That principle comes in, for it was a question of their seeing what was [p. 114] available. They would go in for all that was involved in that name. It was not only protection, there were great positive things involved. Paul laid his bands on them and they received the Holy Spirit, “and they spoke with tongues and prophesied”, (verse 6). The Holy Spirit in those days was a Person to people, His presence was a reality, and as if the apostle recognised the material in those twelve men, it says he remained and laboured in the synagogue for three months — a long time for him. Certainly it sets us an example to stay a good while in a place, but it is a question here of having found material. When some disbelieved in the synagogue he leaves it and goes into a school-house, and he teaches in that school-house for two years. You see how all this is linked up with the material he had found. He remained there for two years and three months, and in another scripture we are told that he stayed altogether three years. All this work is in relation to those twelve men receiving the Spirit.
The assembly at Ephesus was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the corner-stone. Acts 20 is Himself; it brings out affection, the love of Christ as expressed in Paul. The building was complete and as Paul was leaving them he embraced them; he also embraces Eutychus in the same chapter. In his reference in Ephesians 2:20,21, you can see the love of Christ, Jesus Christ Himself is the Head of the corner, and the response to that in the end of Acts 20 is that the elders of the people of the assembly at Ephesus fell on Paul’s neck and wept. You see what reciprocation of affection there was. It is a fine picture of the dispensation viewed from the spiritual standpoint! It is just a picture of it, but you can see how important the material was as it stood there; the apostle coming in by the upper districts and finding spiritual material, he stops there and rears up the great structure at [p. 115] Ephesus. While addressed as a local company, the assembly at Ephesus is treated in the epistle as representing the whole assembly formed of Jews and gentiles, both reconciled in one body by the cross. It is a habitation of God in the Spirit. It is a spiritual thing, and as I said before, no one could afford to be outside of that. If you are to be in that, and linked up with it, you must have the Spirit in a conscious way. In the scripture I read you see all these things, for it is a question of the kind of material that is needed now.
I have been speaking of the spiritual side at Ephesus and in Matthew, but I want to speak now of what is presented in 1 Corinthians 3, for there we have the foundation that Paul laid. He does not say “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”; he is speaking of what he laid. He says, “According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it. For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”. The words are chosen with wisdom, as discovering the effect of his ministry in that setting, for it is a question of bringing in amongst the Corinthians the kind of man that shone in Jesus here below — a Man who had to do with all kinds of men, and ever remained Himself. Never for one moment did He come under the influence of any one. He was ever Himself; from His infancy to the cross He was “the man Christ Jesus”, never anyone else. You can understand how this was in God’s mind when Peter and John were imprisoned and He opened the door and said, “Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20), that is to say, the life of Jesus in detail. “The words” — every detail of that life was precious under God’s eye, and it was to be preached. If you heard Peter speak [p. 116] about Jesus, you would understand this — all the words of that life, that perfect humanity as it is presented to us, particularly in the gospel of Luke, would be presented; and that was the kind of thing that Paul introduced at Corinth.
If anyone had come to him as he wrought with those two, Priscilla and Aquila, and had said, ‘Paul, what is it that you are doing here?’ he would say, ‘Do you not know that my Master served at a carpenter’s bench?’ Would not that touch the heart? How it builds into your inner soul the idea of Christ! Think of Him, the Lord of glory, working as a carpenter! “Is not this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:3) It is not the words of this ministry, but the words of this life. Ministry is wonderful, but the life of Jesus, what a life — all the words of it! the Holy Spirit Himself choosing the words; what an interesting matter! All this was brought into Corinth, and the intent was to shut out all Greek pretension. Some Greek philosopher might come to Paul, but he could say, ‘Andrew and Philip told me that on a certain occasion the Greeks came up to my Master to see Him and He did not make much of them’. He did not say, ‘I would like to hear a Greek discourse or oration’. I never heard of my Master reading the Greek letters. Indeed, it is said of Him, “How knows this man letters, having never learned?” (John 7:15) That is how the matter stood.
Is what I have spoken of found in the men of this great educational centre? No, it is not found. I may add that it is as sure as possible if I am living in a town of letters, I shall be defiled by the thing unless I set myself against it. If I am living in a manufacturing town, I am defiled by the spirit of it unless I set myself against it. The spirit of it is militant against the Spirit of God, and flesh is flesh. There is nothing that appeals to the flesh of the cultured class more than Greek philosophy, and yet it is nothing.
[p. 117] Paul shows in this passage that it is so. He says, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God”.
If I lived in a centre of learning, I should read 1 Corinthians 2 and 3 frequently, for learning has nothing to do with Christ. It is useful to a point, but it has nothing to do with christianity as such. So Paul says, The kind of foundation I laid in your town was Jesus Christ, and nothing else. Build on that, and let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. So that everyone has to build. Paul does not divert anyone from building. Build, but be sure you get the right material; you will not get it from the colleges, you have to get it from Christ. It is a question of the kind of humanity that shone in Jesus, and of Him it is said He had never learned. Think of the Lord of glory having that reputation, and yet He is frequently called Master by those who knew! Even if He thought it necessary to acquire ordinary education, this would be an extremely small matter to Him. He knew all divinely.
The word in Haggai is, “Go up to the mountain” — not to the university — but to the mountain; that is the word here. “Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house”. Wood, in Scripture, is used in a variety of ways. It does not always mean the same thing, but in this instance it undoubtedly points to that kind of material which is needed for divine building, that is to say, the kind of man God requires. I might point out the character of the leading woods of Scripture. There is the gopher wood, the first wood mentioned in Scripture that is used in a structure. Its identity is not known, but it is a wood — Scripture is sufficient to indicate that — which was exactly suitable for the purpose required; it could go through the flood. It was a question of going through the judgment of God, and retaining intact through the judgment every living thing; all [p. 118] was carried through. Everything that is of God was embraced in Christ. Think of the kind of man, think of that one Man embracing in Himself every divine thought, and going through the judgment, and bringing all out intact on the other side, and setting up another order according to God!
That is one most important feature. Then acacia, or shittim wood is the one used in the wilderness for the tabernacle. It refers, too, to Christ, the kind of humanity, the power of bearing, and going through the wilderness patiently. How important these features are, carrying everything through for God on the one hand, even through death, and on the other, walking with patience and love with the people of God in the wilderness! It is Christ in His love, the more excellent way, and that is what is needed. There are also the cedar, olive and other woods spoken of as used in God’s building.
Now the point is to go up to the mountain, and that means exercise. The word ‘exercise’ is one much used among the people of God. Paul used it: “Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men”, (Acts 24:16). That is a fine exercise, and if you are exercised in that way, there will be in you material for the building of God. You want a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. I think it is righteousness, for every one that is born of Him is righteous. In every case going up to the mountain requires purpose, and that calls out the Spirit’s power in the builder, but as you come to do the thing, you are surprised at what you do, and God goes with you.
Here they said, “The time is not come, the time that Jehovah’s house should be built”; but it was the time, and the prophets of God were telling them it was. “Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the house”. It was necessary to get suitable [p. 119] material. For us it is what is according to Christ. The gospels present it to us. We are to go up to the mountain and get it and build the house. God will take pleasure in it and be glorified in it.
God is not so concerned about quantity as He is about quality. The wood here refers to quality, what is suitable for the building, and it is obtainable on the mountain. It is a question of exercise, of judging ourselves, and so making room for the Holy Spirit to work in us and produce the character of Jesus Christ. God will not ask anything of us which we have not the means of providing. He sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, saying, “I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee”. Elijah goes, and he found her at the city gate. What a tax was laid on that poor widow! The prophet says, “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink”. He told her to bring it in a vessel. She would have to do that, but he mentions the vessel. You see how God looks for things as they should be. If He is asking anything from you, He is asking for it as it should be, however little it may be. It is in a vessel.
She goes for the water without a murmur; and then see the fresh test; Elijah says, “Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand”. How she is tested! Now it is a question of what is in her hand. This brings out what is there. It is God’s way with us at the present time, and He never asks anything from us that we have not got. She had already made an inventory of what she had — a little meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse — and so she says, “I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die”. She is going to eat to die, but we eat to live. Then the mind of God comes out. The prophet says, “Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel The meal in the barrel shall not waste, neither shall [p. 120] the oil in the cruse fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the face of the earth!” So she went and made bread with her own hand and she and her household (a greater thing than she mentioned) lived on that for a whole year, (1 Kings 17:9 - 16). What a result! God in that way will demand what He knows we have, and what we have as we respond in obedience will be enlarged. As we yield ourselves in obedience to the divine will, the Spirit in us will work and the demands of God will be met — our own needs, too.
Now that is what God proposes. He knows we can get it; it is only a question of going up into the mountain to get it. Go to the mountain, there is plenty there, plenty of wood. The prophet points out that the latter glory of the house shall be greater than the former glory. There is thus, dear brethren, every incentive to sacrifice, to go up to the mountain, to get the wood and build. May God grant us all this purpose and energy!