Built To Last

TITLE: BUILT TO LAST

SCRIPTURE: ST. MATTHEW 7:24-27

It was during the Winter Olympics of February 1998 when Ford Motor Co.'s Ford Division launched its new tagline "BUILT TO LAST." They had changed their 15 year old long used tag line “HAVE YOU DRIVEN A FORD LATELY?” The idea is for the consumer to understand if you purchase a Ford vehicle it is engineered to last. The consumer was supposed to buy into the idea –

• Ford has something internally that competitors don’t have

• Ford has engineered their vehicles to last for years

• Ford has designed their vehicles to be attractive and appealing

• Ford suggests no matter how you use your vehicle or Truck it will last

As I began to think about that Ford Slogan, my mind began to think about the Spiritual. Isn’t that how God designed us? We were created and we are Built to Last!

• Every cell in our bodies is periodically replaced with new cells

• Our bodies have a phenomenal ability to heal

SO, IF WE WERE BLT, WHY DON’T WE LIVE FOREVER? Or at least for the 120 years that God promised after the Fall of Man? According to the Word of God, man was created to live forever and would have without sin. After Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, God said they would surely die. Sin caused a separation from God which ultimately prevented their bodies from living forever. For the next 10 generations mans life span was about 900 years. Just before the Flood of Noah when God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, He declared the life of man would be shortened to 120 years and ultimately reduced further to 70 years according to PSALM 90:10 - We are still Built to Last –

• Genesis 5:5 - Adam died at 930 years of age

• Genesis 5:8 - Seth died at 912 years of age

• Genesis 5:11 - Enosh died at 905 years of age

• Genesis 5:14 - Kenan died at 910 years of age

• Genesis 5:17 - Mahalalel died at 895 years of age

• Genesis 5:20 - Yered died at 962 years of age

• Genesis 5:23 - Enoch was no more at 365 years of age

• Genesis 5:27 - Methuselah died at 969 years of age

• Genesis 5:31 - Lamech died at 777 years of age

• Noah died at 950 years of age

• Shem died at 600 years of age

• Terach died at 205 years of age

• Abraham died at 175 years of age

• Isaac died at 180 years of age

• Jacob died at 147 years of age

• Moses died at 120 years of age

Yes, my brothers and sisters, we were Built to Last initially. Although this old flesh now returns to the ground from which it came, remember GENESIS 2:7 “AND THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND, AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE; AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” So therefore, because of sin our bodies go back to the dust from which is was created. But our spirit man lives forever, yes, Built to Last. Let me prove this through the Word -- ECCLESIASTES 12:7 “THEN SHALL THE DUST RETURN TO THE EARTH AS IT WAS: AND THE SPIRIT SHALL RETURN UNTO GOD WHO GAVE IT.”

• The Person dies, the body goes into the grave

• The Spirit or power of life goes back to God who gave it

• The Body goes to the earth and the Spirit to God

Let me help you understand the Process --

• Death is but a Sleep

• It is but a Rest

• I am simply resting, secure in the arms of God

• When I die, there is no more temptation

• When I die, there is no more harassment from the devil

• It is perfect rest and perfect peace

• But God preserves my personality

• God preserves my Identity

• God preserves my Individuality

• On the resurrection day, when the Trumpet Sounds

• When Christ returns

• I will be resurrected to serve Him forever

Built to Last suggest to us - THE LIFE THAT LASTS IS BUILT ON A FIRM FOUNDATION. The PARABLE of the Two Builders is about hearing and doing the Word of God. The emphasis is on OBEDIENCE. But that does not mean that hearing is unimportant.

• ROMANS 10:14 asks - “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”