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HE THAT INTENTED TO BUILDLuke 14:28. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Most Of Our Churches Would Not Hold All The People Who Have At Some Time Attended There That Really Intended To Go To Heaven. They Start Sometime In A Rush, Then As The Daily Grind Of The Real Life Of A Christian Wears On Them, Many Slow Down And Some Quit Altogether. In This Study We Want To Take A Look At Some Of The Reasons Why Many People No Longer Attend Church. A Little Boy Fell Out Of Bed One Night And When His Mother Came In To Enquire Why He Had Fallen Out Of Bed. “I Just Laid Down Too Close To Where I Got In,” Replied The Boy. That Is One Of The Reasons Why People Fall Away From Church, They Just Lay Down Too Close To The Place They Got In. They Never Move On Into The Depths Of What God Has For Them. Some Even After A Good Start, Are Not Able To Finish. These People Had Good Intentions, They Really Intended To Become A Part Of The Church, They Intended To Go All The Way With God, But For Many And Various Reasons They Quit. We Want To Look At Our Opening Scripture And Analyze What Jesus Is Telling Us In Luke 14:28-30, To See If We Can Find Something That Will Help Us To Not Become A Drop-Out In Our Christian Walk. Our Text Is Part Of A Discourse (Luke 14:25-35) By Jesus To A Large Group Of People Who Were Following Him. Jesus In No Wise Minimized The Difficulties They Would Incur If They Became A Follower Of Him. In Fact Jesus Emphasized The Hardships And Adversity His Disciples Would Have. In This Discourse Jesus Uses Two Examples Where People Might Start Something They Did Not, Or Could Not, Finish. The First Example, And It Is The One We Want To Focus On Now, Was About A Person Starting To Build A Tower That He Did Not Have The Money To Finish, And Then About A King Wanting To Go To War And Sitting Down To See If He Had Enough Soldiers To Win The War. The First Century Was An Age Of Unfinished Towers. Many Towns And Even Individuals Had Started Building Towers And Were Unable To Finish Them Because They Ran Out Of Money. Jesus Said That People Mocked (Made Fun Of) Them Because They Had Started Something They Could Not Finish. Jesus Went On To Say To Avoid The Mockery People Should Count The Cost Of Building The Tower Or Building Before They Started The Project. The Same Thing Is True In Our Christian Life. Jesus Said Count The Cost Before You Start. There Are Many Preachers Who Do Not Tell The People What To Expect When They Become A Follower Of The Lord. They Talk Like You Can Go To Heaven On A Flowery Bed Of Ease, No Sacrifice, No Commitment, No Pledge, No Vows, And No Accountabilities. Large Congregations Are Being Built By Not Requiring What Jesus Told These People Who Came Out To Hear Him On That Day. In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus Said There Had To Be Some Forsaking Of Things We Dearly Love (Fathers, Mothers, Wife, Children, Sisters, Brothers, And Our Own Life), And Taking Up Some Things Which Would Be Difficult To Bear (A Cross). He That Intendeth To BuildJesus Said, “Count the cost…” (Luke 14:28b) How Much Are We Willing To Pay? Yes There Is A Cost In Going To Heaven. You Say That, “I’ve Been Told That Salvation Is Free.” This Is True In Since, Jesus Paid The Cost Of Our Salvation By His Death On Calvary. But This Does Not Set Us Free From The Sacrifices We Must Make To Build An Eternal Home. (Romans 12:1) Sometimes It Cost Us Friends, Maybe Jobs, The Way Of Life We Have Been Used To. There Are Some Things We Must Be Willing To Give Up, But The Benefits Far Outweigh The Cost. Think Of The Beauty Of That Mansion We Are Building. Make Up Your MindThe First Thing Jesus Is Teaching Us Is To Really Make Up Our Mind That We Want To Be A Christian, And Will Do Everything It Takes To Be One. We Need To Have Convictions Of Our Own. We Sing A Song That Says, “My Mind Is Made Up, My Mind Is Made Up.” It’s Got To Be That Way Or We Will Succumb To The Adversity. A Building In ProgressThe Bible Likens The Christian Life As A Building In Progress In Several Places. And We Want To Use This Metaphor In This Study To Help All Who Intend To Build.. 1 Corinthians 3:9b. …ye are God’s building.
There Is A Master PlanFor Every Acceptable Building That Is Being Built There Was First A Plan. We Have All Seen Buildings Which Were Put Up Without An Architectural Drawing Or Pattern And The Results Are Not Only An Eyesore, But Unsafe In A Storm. The Bible Is The Master Plan, And There is No Substitute. Any Plan For Going To Heaven Which Is Not Based On The Scriptures Will Fail In The Long Run. We Must Begin By Hearing The Word. Jesus, In Luke 14:35b, Put The Responsibility On Each Person To Pay Attention, “he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” A Good FoundationOne Of The Most Important Features Of A Building Is The Foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). Unless The Foundation Is Firm The Whole Building Is Insecure. In Our Christian Life We Must Build On A Firm Foundation. Get Started Right. We Are Building For Eternity. 1 Corinthians 3:9b. …ye are God’s building.
Jesus Christ Is The Foundation Upon Which He Built His Church. We Must Get Established In The Doctrine (Foundation) Of The Church. Know What The Church Believes. This Is The Foundation Of Our Christian Life. If We Do Not Know What We Believe We Will Fall For Anything. Make Sure You Get Established On The Principals Of The Doctrine Of The Church. Ephesians 2:20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Jesus Gave The Keys To The Kingdom (Authority To Open The Door) To Peter. Matthew 16:16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Peter Used The Key To Open The Door On The Day Of Pentecost Acts 2:37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter Speaking To The Sanhedrin In Jerusalem. Acts 4:10. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This Is The Foundation That The Apostles Laid In The Early Church, And We Must Build On This Foundation. This is The Only Foundation That Will Stand In The Day Of Judgment. Rooted And GroundedColossians1:23. If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, … (KJV) Many Christians Never Get Themselves Established In The Faith And That’s The Reason Many Fall Away. Paul Emphasized This Over And Over. Colossians 2:7. Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (KJV) So Far We Have Only Discussed The Foundation, Now We Want To Talk About The Building Itself. Choice Of Materials1 Corinthians 3:12. Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stone, wood hay stubble;
Notice The Different Grade Of Material Paul Says People Use To Build Their Christian Life With. Naturally We Recognize The Fact That Some Of The Material Paul Mentions Will Not Stand The Fire He Says That Will Try Every Man’s Work. We Are Building For Eternity So We Want To Use First Grade Material. A. We Want To Offer God The Best Of Our Time. Don’t Give God Your Left-Over Time. Reserve Time For Prayer, Bible Study, And Most Of All Time For Regular Worship In The House Of God Where We Hear From God’s Word. B.We Want To Give God The Best Of Our Service. We Want To Hear Him Say To Us, “Thou good and faithful servant.” There Is Much Service We Can, And Must, Perform To Be A Good Servant. Visit The Sick, Comfort The Down-Hearted, Teach Others The Things We Have Learned. C.Worship Sincerely. Jesus Says, John 4:24. God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth. (KJV) D.We Must Make Sacrifices To Be A Good Saint Of God. Paul Says, Romans12:1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. (KJV) We Must Also Support The Church With Our Tithes And Offerings. Some Give Their Tithes But Not Their Hearts.
God Uses A Lot Of People To Build His Church Which Never Become A Part Of The Kingdom Of God. He Uses Their Knowledge, Their Money, Their Influence, But They Never Really Become A Part Of The Church. Jethro, Moses’ Father-In-Law, Gave Words Of Wisdom Yet Did Not Go To Canaan (Exodus 18:7-27). There Are A Lot Of Things Which Is Used In The Construction Of A Building That Never Become A Part Of The Building. Scaffolding Is Used Throughout The Construction Process But When The Bricks Are All Laid, The Painters Are Through, The Scaffolding Is Pulled Down And Carried Away. We Don’t Want To Just Become Scaffolding, Or Some Other Aid That Will Never Become A Part Of The Fixtures Of God Building. Scrap HeapIn The Construction Of A Building A Lot Of Things End Up On The Scrap Pile. Bent Nails, A Crooked Piece Of Lumber, Pieces Of Material That Never Fit Anywhere, These Things All Get Thrown In The Scrap Heap To Be Hauled Away To The Dump. We Want To Take Heed Lest We End Up On The Scrap Pile. There Are Many Who Come To Church Who Never Learn To Fit, Or Blend Themselves Into The Kingdom Of God, Or The House Of God, They Just Come To Church. Others Are Like A Piece Of Sandpaper, They Are Abrasive, They Despise Leadership, Despise Church Government, Resist Discipline. God Take Away Our Pride That We May Become An Integral Part Of Gods Building. Some Have Lost Their Respect For The House Of God. They Run In And Out During The Services, Wander Around In The Hallways, Talk During The Message, Don’t Pay Attention To The Minister. It’s A Shame For Him To Have To Fight For Attention. These Are Carnal Christians That Don’t Have Their Minds On God. Many Times God Stands At The Door Of His Own Church Knocking. (Revelation 3:20) The Last Phrase In Our Opening Scripture, Luke 14:34. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
Jesus Is Saying That It is Possible For Us To Lose Our Christian Influence Among The People Of the World, And When We Do We Are In danger Of Being Cast Out Of His Kingdom. We Are Intending To BuildWe Want To Take Heed Lest We Lose Step. When The Children Of Israel Were On Their Way To Canaan Many Times The March Got Tiresome, The Days Were Long, Many Times The Weather Was Almost Unbearable, Some, Lost Out By The Wayside Thinking They Would Catch Up Later. But The Camp Kept On Moving. When The Cloud Moved They Moved, When The Cloud Stopped They Stopped. When They Got Up In The Morning And The Cloud Was Rolling They Pulled Up Their Tent Pegs, Rolled Up Their Belongings And Got Ready To Move On Whether They Felt Like It Or Not. That’s The Way Of The Christian Life, When God Moves We Must Also Be Ready To Move. We Are Intending To Build, We Are Going To Build, We Will Build. I Hope You Enjoyed This Study And Will Read The Other Studies On This Web Site. Visit Our Other Web Sites By Clicking On The Links Below. E-Mail Address, Godsgrazingfield@att.net By James L. Thornton |