金、银、宝石是经得起火试验的材料，但木、草、禾楷要被烧毁。木、草、禾秸表征出自信徒天然背景（如犹太教或其他宗教、哲学、文化），以及天然生活方式（大多在魂里，且是天然的生命）的知识、理解和成就。木与金相对，表征人天然的性情；草与银相对，表征堕落的人，属肉体的人未被基督救赎而重生的人；禾秸与宝石相对，表征出自属地的源头，未被圣灵变化的工作与生活。这些没有价值的材料，都是信徒天然人的产品，以及从他们背景中收集的东西。在神的经纶中，这些材料只适合于被焚烧。
在今天的基督教里，有许多的木头和干草，很难找到金子、珍珠和宝石。基督教的路是阔路，主恢复的路是狭路。有时候仇敌会企图引诱我们离开这狭路，进入外表庞大，由木、草、禾楷作成的事物里。然而，在新耶路撒冷里，将没有木头的东西，没有可燃烧或烧毁的东西。在新耶路撒冷里，每样东西都要存到永远。没有甚么能损坏金子、珍珠和宝石。
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Take Heed How One Builds Upon the Foundation (2) – 1 Cor. 3:12-13
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, 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.
Among today’s Christians it is difficult to find the gold, pearl and precious stones. The way of Christianity is the broad way, but the way of the Lord’s recovery is the constricted way. At times the enemy will attempt to lure us away from this constricted way into something that is outwardly big and bulky, something made of wood, hay and stubble. However, in the New Jerusalem there will be nothing wooden, nothing that can be burned or consumed. Everything in the New Jerusalem will remain for eternity. Nothing can damage the gold, pearl and precious stone.