Discipleship: Construction Zone

INTRODUCTION

-What do you think of when you think of a construction zone?

-Dirt

-Noise

-Progress

-Chaos

-We normally try to avoid such places, don’t we

-Hospital Construction

-Road Construction

-House Construction

-We like for things to be neat, orderly and completed

-But seldom are things in life that way

-Life is always in a state of process

-Our lives are the exact same way, always in a state of process and progress

-Especially when it comes to spiritual matters

-Colossians 2:6-7

-Let me share with you four key stages in physical construction that are also important in the spiritual construction of our lives

I. The Blueprints

-The first thing done is to decide what the project will look like

-God has plans drawn up for your life

-Psalm 33:10-11

A. He plans for you to come to know Him

-Salvation

-This is why Christ was sent to earth in the first place

-It was God’s plan ever since the Garden of Eden

B. He plans for you to serve Him

-He has given you gifts for this purpose

-Many believers never use their gifts

-Perhaps because they’ve never discovered them

-Perhaps because they are somewhat selfish

-Perhaps because they are somewhat jealous

C. He plans to bless you

-The Bible is full of such promises

-You are His child, and like and father, He longs to lavish good things upon you

-But, blessing requires obedience

II. The Permits

-After the plans are made, the necessary channels must be pursued to get approval to begin the construction work

-You must allow Him to come in and begin the work in your life He wants to do

-Revelation 3:20

A. He is patient

B. He is persistent

C. He is polite

-He is simply waiting your response to His request to come in and begin construction on your life

III. The Construction

-Then the actual construction begins and there are several elements involved in this stage of the game

A. The workmen

-Ephesians 2:19-22

1. The boss

-God Himself

-He has come up with the plans and will oversee the entire job that is done in your life

2. Carpenters

a. Christ

-Through His death on the cross has begun the process within you through redemption and salvation

b. Holy Spirit

-Someone once said, “Though the work of Christ is finished for the sinner, it is not yet finished in the sinner.”

-The Holy Spirit is God’s agent to continue the work within the heart and life of the repentant sinner

-Continues God’s work in you through sanctification, initial, progressive, entire and continual

3. Assistants / helpers

-There are many others that God has used to help in your construction process

a. Parents

-They have laid the foundation for who you are

b. Pastors

c. Teachers

d. Yourself

B. The machinery

1. God’s word

-Psalm 119: 154

-Romans 10:17

-Ephesians 5:25-27

-God’s Word is vital to the believer

-It is useful everyday to show us more of who God is, what He has done and what He will do

-It is useful to show us how God wants us to live

2. Circumstances in life

-James 1:2-4

-Ofttimes, God uses even the most difficult of circumstances to shape us into the people He wants us to be

C. The process

1. Demolition

-Sometimes, to make something great, you have to start from scratch

-Pruning

-John 15:2

-Granted, this is the painful part of the process

a. It involves discipline

b. It involves selflessness

2. Reconstruction

-This is when the new you begins to take shape

-The fruit of the spirit becomes truly evident in your life

-You walk as the new creation God has made you

-Others notice the changes day by day

IV. The Dedication

-Once the building is complete, there is usually a dedication or ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opening the building for its designed purpose

-Our dedication comes in heaven

-This is glorification

-Which is out of this world

-I love how it is described in Revelation

-Revelation 3:12

CONCLUSION

-Illustration: A Spiritual Temple

Years ago there was discovered in Jerusalem a deep cavern close by the Damascus Gate, and those who have explored it have come to the conclusion that it is the spot from which the stones were taken to build the glorious Temple of Solomon. It was there that the hammering and the cutting were done. It was there that the stones were shaped, and from thence, by some process that we do not now understand, they were brought from their deep grave, and separately placed in position upon Mount Zion. The blocks of stone were taken one by one out of the bowels of the earth and out of darkness, and then carried by mighty power to the temple walls, until, when the last stone was cut out and placed in position, with shoutings of "grace unto it," the whole building was complete. This forms a beautiful illustration of the way in which the Lord builds His spiritual temple. The Spirit of God goes into the deep black quarry of fallen nature, and there hews out the hidden stones, and by His own almighty power bears them to the foundation stone and places them in a living temple to go no more out forever.