I have said many times, that this life is only a test. The true life is that which comes after, when we will be with the Lord in heaven. My reason for saying this is that we are only here on this earth for a short time, 60, 70, maybe 100 years. But, eternity goes on forever. Looking at it that way, what happens here on earth isn't all that important, because after a few hundred years in heaven we probably won't even remember it.

But, the test is an important one. Because, if we don't do well on this test, instead of spending eternity in heaven with the Lord, we will be barred from entrance into heaven, and sentenced to spend eternity in hell.

What makes this test great is that it is a test with only one question. That question is whether or not we've received Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Notice I said both "Lord" and "Savior." The church is full of people who try and accept Jesus as Savior, without ever accepting Him as Lord. But, if Jesus isn't Lord, then He isn't Savior either. Those "believers" (and it put that in quotes intentionally) are living in delusion, thinking they have a ticket to go to heaven, when all they have is a religious system.

So, if all we are doing on this life is a test, then what? Why do we have to go through so much hardship and trial? Why do we have to even bother learning what the Bible says, how to live a sanctified life, or anything about testifying for the Lord? Why does God give us so many commandments if it doesn't affect our grade on the test?

Those are all good questions. It's because after passing the test, there is the review of the work we do in preparing for the test. The Lord is going to look back over our lives, seeing whether we have completed that which He expected us to. The recompense we receive in heaven depends upon the life we've lived here on earth. In other words, we need to do all of that because it affects our life to come in heaven.

Paul refers to the work we do here on earth, building up the Kingdom of God as that of workers constructing a building:

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. ¹¹ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; ¹³ Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If a man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1 Cor 3:10-15

There's quite a bit in those six verses, and it has an eternal impact upon our lives. So, it think it would be worthwhile for us to take a few minutes to analyze what Paul shared with us in this brief passage.

First of all, Paul refers to himself as a wise master builder. Not just any type of builder, but a master one. Not just any master builder either, but a wise one. What makes the difference between a wise master builder, and any other type of builder?

A master builder is one who not only knows how to do the work himself, and does it; but is one who directs the work of others. A wise master builder is one who through his experience knows the best ways to get things done. He works in a way that the materials and time of his workers is used with minimum waste; producing a superior product, without extra cost.

Looking at the book of Acts, and the epistles as well, we know that Paul not only built, but also directed the work of other builders. The New Testament church spread through his work of opening churches, raising up leaders, and continuing to minister to those churches and leaders that he had raised up. Most of the New Testament exists because of the work of the apostle Paul.

Okay, but how about the wise part of that statement? Paul himself answers that question in the following verses. He tells us that he laid the only foundation which can be laid, that of Jesus Christ.

In verse ten (the first one I mentioned) he tells us that others build upon the foundation which he has laid. Who are those others? Why, they are every believer from the time of Paul, to the end of time, who works to bring about the fullness of the Kingdom of God. Notice that I didn't say every minister, but I said every believer. Each and every one of us is a minister. As such, each and every one of us is responsible before God for some part of building the Kingdom of God.

You and I are charged by God Himself to add to the Kingdom of God. We can see this in a number of places, but the most obvious is in the great commission:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holly Spirit.

Matthew 28:19

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mark 16:15-16

If nothing else, these verses insure that there isn't one single believer that can say they don't have anything to do in the Kingdom of God. Maybe we don't know what else we are supposed to do for the Lord, but at least we know this. The great commission applies to all of us.

There's one more important statement that Paul makes in that first verse. This is a warning to all to be careful of how they build. Why do we need to be careful? To be sure that what we build, and what we build with don't negatively affect in any way the foundation that has been laid. It is quite possible, in fact, quite easy, to build in such a way that we totally disguise, or hide the foundation, so that people don't have any idea that our Lord and Savior is the foundation upon which we build.

That has happened all to many times throughout church history to count. There have been many false doctrines which have been preached throughout the ages, most often to the detriment of those who heard them. In addition, there have been teachings, that while not false, when taken to extreme, can destroy one's ability to follow the Lord.

One more recent example of this is the "faith movement." Now, before I get into this, let me say that there was a real need in the Body of Christ for the faith movement. In general, the Body of Christ didn't have enough faith to believe God to cure the sniffles, let alone anything major. But, what has happened in some circles, is that the message of faith has gotten to the point where people had more faith in their faith, than they did in the Lord. They were so focused on believing to receive something, that they forgot the basis of their faith, and thought that enough faith would make their desire into reality, totally leaving the Lord out of the picture.

Going on, we find a list of possible building materials mentioned in verse 12. The materials Paul mentions are gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and stubble. What? Does God actually expect us to build His Kingdom with these materials? No. They are physical symbols of spiritual building materials. To find their meaning, we must look at how such materials were used in Old Testament prophecy:

• Gold - represents divinity. The Holy of Holiness in the Tabernacle that Moses built was all of gold. So was the Holy of Holies in Solomon's temple. This was the place of God's presence, therefore it was a diving place.

• Silver - stands for sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming separated from this world. It starts at salvation, and is a lifelong process in the life of every believer.

• Precious stones - represent the variety of humankind. In the Old Testament, the high priest wore a breastplate with 12 precious stones on it, each of which bore the name of one of the tribes of Israel. When he stood before God, he did so in the name of all those people.

• Wood - represents the human body, with all its corruption and frailty. In the Tabernacle, Acacia wood was used for the furnishings boards, and poles. Acacia wood is very special in that it is the only wood that doesn't decompose when put in the earth. As a wood that doesn't decompose, it represented the body of Jesus Christ, a human body without the corruption and frailty the rest of us face.

• Hay - is a feed for animals, therefore represents food. There are some people who eat to live, and others who live to eat.

• Stubble - is a dried grass, similar in appearance to hay. However, it has no nutritional value. Unlike hay, which is useful, stubble has no real value whatsoever. The most one can do with it is throw it on the ground to walk on, or use it as a filler in making bricks.

Looking at these building materials in this light, we see something much different than just a bunch of materials, we see lives, work, and even waste.

In some way, or another, every act in our lives is building upon the foundation of Jesus. Some of those acts glorify God, help others, and bring us to a state of being more sanctified. Others build up our own carnal nature, feed our flesh, or are just plain wastes of time. God is concerned about which things we are building with, and what type of building we are making with our lives.

Please note that God doesn't force us to use any particular type of building material; He lets us chose for ourselves. Nor does He force us to chose only one kind of building material, we are allowed to use any, or all of the materials in the list. But, everything we do is building with one of those materials.

"Okay, so we're building, so what? I'm sure that God is happy with the building I am doing with my life, after all, I'm a believer."

Are you so sure about that? Are you sure that when the time comes for the Lord to review the building project of your life, He's going to be pleased? Let's take another look at the last three verses I had originally quoted, and see what they say about how pleased the Lord is going to be with our work:

Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If a man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1 Cor 3:13-15

It says here that the way the Lord is going to review the work of our lives is with fire. Our construction work is going to be put to the test of fire; to see what remains after that fire. If something remains, that is to our good; if nothing remains, oh well…

Going back to the list of those materials, we see another symbolism in how they react to the fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones aren't destroyed by fire, in fact it takes a pretty hot fire to purify gold and silver. On the other hand, wood, hay and stubble make for a nice roaring bonfire. Those materials will surely be destroyed by this fire that the Lord is going to use to review our lives.

So, those who truly glorified God with their lives, worked at being sanctified, and gave their lives for others are going to be in pretty good shape. Once the fire has passed, they are going to have their riches sitting there, for the Lord to see. But, those who remained as carnal Christians, wasting their lives and feeding their faces aren't going to have much to show for it. All that's going to be left to them is a bunch of ashes.

Take a close look at what Paul wrote there at the end of verse 14, "he shall receive a reward." Our reward in heaven depends directly upon what we do here on earth. There isn't any automatic reward for just getting there, our reward depends upon us, and upon our actions here on earth.

On the other hand, Paul also writes about those whose works are burned up in the fire. He says, "they shall suffer loss." That doesn't mean they lose their salvation, just that they lose the reward they might have otherwise received. They will enter into heaven empty handed.

We need to change our thinking from worldly focused to heavenly focused. We need to see that what we do here on earth has eternal consequences for us. As long as we are focused on this life here on earth, we will continue to invest our time, efforts and money on this life. But, when we start seeing our actions upon this earth as an investment into eternity, then we will start investing our time, efforts and money in the life to come.

Take another look at those who built with wood, hay and stubble. It says there, in verse 15, that they "shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Have you ever seen someone whose house burned down? I have, they quite literally stand there, with empty hands, having lost everything. A lifetime of work can be lost in a matter of a few minutes.

The only thing that a person whose house has burned down has going for them is that they are still alive. Unless they have money in the bank, or other investments, they are starting over with nothing but their two hands, and the clothes on their back.

That's how Paul is saying these people will enter into heaven. Yes, they will get in, but they won't have anything but their salvation to show for it.

There is a place that Jesus mentioned in Scripture called "outer darkness." He only mentioned it three times, and those three times are all recorded in the book of Matthew. It's not mentioned anyplace else in scripture, neither in the Old Testament, or the New Testament.

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 8:12

Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:13

And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:30

Many think of this outer darkness as referring to hell, or a part of hell, but I don't think it can. It is clear in all three cases that the Lord was referring to believers when he referred to outer darkness, not to unbelievers. He never called unbelievers "children of the kingdom," nor did He refer to them as "servants."

If this applies to believers, what kind of place is this outer darkness, and where is it? How can believers be consigned to an eternity in such a place? If we are forgiven for our sins, wouldn't that in and of itself eliminate any dark place in our lives?

To understand this, we must use our imaginations a little, to picture heaven. If we see heaven as a city, and we don't have any reason to not see it as such, it makes understanding this place of outer darkness a lot easier to understand.

As with any city, heaven has a center. There in the center is the palace of God Himself, with his throne in it. Around the palace are probably buildings which are used for the governing of heaven, and the homes of those who are closest to Him. As you move away from the center of the city, you find other buildings, homes, places of work, parks, worship centers, and maybe even some types of stores and businesses.

Eventually, as one moves farther and farther away from the center of the city, the city will end. Around it will be some type of countryside, probably more beautiful than the most beautiful countryside here on earth. There are probably mountainous areas, plains, lakes, rivers, and their might even be an ocean outside of the city. There may even be other cities, or towns outside of the main city of heaven, that are still part of heaven, but not so close to the center of things.

All light in heaven emanates from the throne of God, not from the sun. One thing we know from the study of physics is that the farther one moves from a source of light, the less light hits any particular point. This isn't because the light becomes weaker, or that the light rays stop after a distance, but because they disperse with distance.

So, the farther one is from the throne of God, the less light falls upon them. This would cause those towns that are outside of the main city to appear relatively dark, compared to the city itself (although they are probably much brighter than what we know here on earth).

Those areas, farther away from the throne of God, are what are called by the Lord, "outer darkness."

Why would the Lord require some believers to be in these places of outer darkness, while others while others have their homes near the palace? Does He have some favorites? Is there politics in heaven, where people are striving to receive the favor of the Lord?

No! if we look back at those three verses I quoted from Matthew, where the Lord mentions this outer darkness, and read them in context, we find out why those people are not closer to the throne. In the first case, the Lord is speaking of the centurion who had faith for the healing of his servant. We can apply this to those who should have known of Him from their birth (i.e. the Jews) and yet had refused to serve him; while others, who didn't have that opportunity had faith in Him. The other two cases come from parables. In both cases, it is referring to servants (saved people) who didn't do what they should.

Herein lies the secret to avoid being cast into outer darkness: drawing close to Him here in this life, and completing what the Lord wants us to do. Just being saved isn't enough; nor is just obeying the law. We have to go farther than that.

Those who don't learn how to draw close to the Lord in this life won't automatically receive this knowledge when they arrive at the gates of heaven. I'm not sure where that idea came from, but scripture doesn't say it. We will arrive there with the knowledge that we leave this life with, nothing more. Anything else w need to learn, we will have to learn once we get to heaven, and yes, we will continue learning there.

Going back to how I started this study, we find that the works of our lives determine the recompense we receive once we get to heaven. I am sure that those who are closest to the throne of God will be those who have completed the most for Him here on earth. That doesn't mean that people with big ministries, or those whom we think of as giants in the faith, will automatically have homes close to the center of the city, God doesn't measure things the same way we do.

God has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives. When we get to heaven, we will be judged on how well we completed that plan. There are some whom God has called to impact thousands of lives for His Kingdom. Since He called them thus, He has provided them with the ability to complete that work. If they only impact hundreds, they will not be so well received.

Or, how about a millionaire, who God has blessed with financial wisdom? The Kingdom of God here on earth requires finances. Therefore, God has gifted some people to be financiers of His Kingdom. Maybe that millionaire gave millions to the work of the Lord, but it was only a tenth of what he was supposed to give.

Here's another example, that most people would miss, of someone who doesn't complete what God wants them to do. That is the person who does God's work for their own personal benefit and glory. A preacher, or singer, who ministers to thousands, or tens of thousands, but does it for their own fame isn't completing God's plan. Oh, yeah, they've ministered to the number of people who God called them to minister to, but not in the way He called them to. Instead of glorifying God, they were taking God's glory. I guarantee you, they will not be well rewarded.

On the other hand, there are people who are called to minister to only a handful in their entire life. If those people manage to minister to all of the people in that handful, they will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven. Why? Because they have completed what they were called, anointed, and gifted to do. They will find their mansions waiting for them, closer to the center of the city.

Don't get me wrong. Outer darkness isn't a place of punishment. Nor is God forcing people to live there because He is displeased with them. The people who live in outer darkness live there because they cannot handle being closer to the throne of God. They don't have the relationship, nor the experience of being in His presence. Therefore, they aren't ready to be close to God.

When Solomon dedicated the temple to God, "the temple was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; ¹⁴ So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God" (2 Chr 5:13-14). Notice the underlined part, "the priests could not stand to minister." Why? I would think that if anyone could handle the presence of the Lord, it would be His priests, but they couldn't. Why? Because the presence of the Lord had come in a stronger manner than they had every experienced.

If those priests couldn't stand in the presence of God at the dedication of the temple, imaging how strong His presence will be in heaven! No wonder the place of outer darkness exists. Otherwise, the people who aren't accustomed to God's presence would never be able to get up off the floor.

I think, although scripture doesn't say anything about this, that those people in outer darkness will eventually move closer to the throne of God, as they gain in relationship with Him, and with ability to stand under His presence. Since they have all eternity to learn, they shouldn't have any problem.

As I said earlier, this life is just a test, but it is an important one. Our eternity depends upon how we do in this test. Not only whether or not we get to heaven, but how we will be received once we get there.

Let us learn to become wise master builders like Paul. Let us make every action of our lives be ones of which the Lord would be proud, building with gold, silver, and precious stones. That way, we won't have to enter into heaven as those who have escaped the fire, with empty hands. Instead, we will have an offering to give to the Lord.