1Cor 3:12 But if anyone builds upon the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, stubble, 1Pet 1:24 For "all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen off, 25 But the word of the Lord abides forever."
[Part 1 of 2] Wood, grass, and stubble signify the knowledge, realization, and attainments which come from the believers' background (such as Judaism or other religions, philosophy, or culture) and the natural way of living (which is mostly in the soul and is the natural life). Wood may be in contrast to gold, signifying the nature of the natural man; grass may be in contrast to silver, signifying the fallen man, the man of the flesh (1 Pet. 1:24), unredeemed by Christ; and stubble may be in contrast to precious stones, signifying the work and living which issues from an earthen source, without any transformation by the Holy Spirit. All these worthless materials are the product of the believers' natural man together with what they have collected from their background. In God's economy these materials are fit only to be burned (v. 13). To build the church with grass is to build it with what we are in our natural being. For example, the leader of the Brethren assembly I attended in Chefoo was a very slow and steady person. He always walked slowly, carefully, and deliberately. Once in teaching the Bible he said that God always does things slowly. Because of the influence of this leader, almost everyone in that assembly learned to be slow. When they came into the area of the meeting hall, they walked very slowly. Furthermore, all the prayers in the meetings were offered in a very slow way. That entire Brethren assembly was according to the natural being of the leader. This is an illustration of what it means to build the church with grass. [Continued tomorrow] (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 241-242. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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