The Cost of Building .Proverbs 16:3Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
1 Corinthians 3:9-17New King James Version (NKJV)
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Building on the foundation.
Getting the plans
Last week we talked about how important it is to build our lives on a firm foundation
1 Corinthians 3:9-17New King James Version (NKJV)
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building
Once our foundation is right then we need a plan.
When we commit everything to God then Proverbs says our plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
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I know in the life of Johnathon Goforth that he began walking with the Lord in Canada and as he ministered faithfully it was then that God’s plans for him became clear.
Here is a story about him He exhibited a fervent zeal for souls. At the opening of a new fall session at college the principal asked Jonathan how many homes he had visited during the summer vacations. "Nine hundred sixty," was the reply. "Well, Goforth, if you don't take any scholarships in Greek and Hebrew, at least there is one book that you are going to be well versed in and that is the book of Canadian human nature." Indeed, not only were many souls saved but many valuable lessons learned, for, as he discovered later, there is no essential difference between Canadian and Chinese human nature. During his years in college and in slum work he was often down to the last penny but God proved faithful in every test. Like George Mueller and Hudson Taylor, he learned to trust God utterly for all his needs.
He also learned to trust the Spirit's guidance in all circumstances. On one occasion when scheduled to speak at a certain place on Sunday, he found he had only sufficient money to buy a ticket one station short of where he was to speak. After praying for divine guidance he bought the ticket and rode to that station, then began to walk the remaining ten miles. When he had covered approximately eight miles, he came upon a group of men repairing the road. He engaged them in friendly conversation, pointed them to the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" and invited them to the service the following day. To his great joy several of them turned up and at least one of them was saved. In referring to this later he would say, "I would gladly walk ten miles any day to bring one lost soul to Christ." He was indeed a missionary long before he reached China. It was said of him, "When he found his own soul needed Jesus Christ, it became a passion with him to take Jesus Christ to every soul."In my own life as I committed my life to the Lord that then the Lord established my path and it lead to this place.
What does this mean for you?
Begin doing what the Lord requires and God will establish your plans. I can see certain people in this parish doing what God requires and I have no doubt that as they move forward God will establish their plans.
Foundations laid and as you move forward God reveals his plan for you.
You never know what God is going to reveal and you never know where he will lead you. You possibly never expected to end up here but here you are.
You never know what God might have you frame up take for example Sometimes people come up with all manner of projects but the great projects are well founded on Christ.
Take for example Vik Muniz and what he did with the garbage pickers of Gramacho, Jardim Gramacho is the largest landfill in the world, The Godzilla of garbage dumps. What Rio de Janeiro discards Gramancho takes.
And what Gramancho takes, catadores scavange About three thousand garbage pickers scrAPE A living out of the garbage. They salvage two hundred tons of recyclable material daily. They trail the never ending convoy of trucks, trudging up the mountains of garbage and sliding down the other side, snagging scraps along the way. Plastic bottles, tubes, wires and parer are sorted and sold to wholesalers who stand on the edge of the dump.
Across the bay the Christ the redeemer statue extends his arms towards Rio’s South Zone and it million dollar beachfront apartments. Tourists flock there; no one comes to Gramancho. No one except Vic Muniz.
This Brazillian born artist convinced five garbage workers to pose for individual portraits. Suelem and eighteen year old Mother of two, has worked the garbage since the age of seven, Isis is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. Zumbi reads every book he finds in the trash. Irma cooks discarded
Jean-Paul Marat was overcome with emotion that the image made in his likeness in the interpretation of Machiavelli sold and for so much money. He expressed to Vik that “God was so good to me, so wonderful” to which Vik replies” you’re the strong one, you are the one who is doing everything.” I reflected on this scene for some time, though Jean-Paul had used his faith in God to come to this point, Vik Muniz who had brought the opportunity to him was not thinking in the same context. Sometimes when you believe in God. God will begin to establish his plans around you as he did for Jean Paul Marat.
You need plans to build and God will establish his plans in your life.
Paul says: . 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
So the question is how do we build well?
The first answer is – we have already mentioned it – build according to God’s plan! How do we build according to God’s plan
Proverbs 16:3Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Commit your way to the Lord!!!!First point really is if you want to build a quality house out of your life Work to God’s plan!!!!
Jesus made it clear that God has a plan for our lives in John 15:16, "You didn’t choose me. I
chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit…” He chose YOU! He has
ordained that your life be fruitful. Notice how Jesus describes the fruit that comes from our
lives… He says we should “produce lasting fruit.” That means God wants us to have
longevity, staying power, to not give up or give in… To finish strong!
In order for God’s will to come to pass in your life, you will have to learn and cooperate with Him.
Second point in helping us build a Christian life well is be Willing to Pay the Price.
(2 Tim 2:3-7) 2 Timothy 2:3-7New International Version (NIV)
3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
Paying the price is pictured three ways here and those pictures show us how much it will cost to build the house of our lives.
1st picture - , like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers can do all kinds of things but their whole lives are spent serving in the army. They are focused and directly involved in what their commanding officer decides they should be doing. Part of the price of building our lives for Christ is being 100 percent available for Jesus.
Roman soldiers were often conscripted by their commanding officer. A soldier also has to stay free from civilian affairs. The word "gets involved" in v. 4 literally means "gets tangled up in." In the Roman world a soldier wasn’t allowed even to get married until his enlisted time ended (Craig Keener,IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 626).
Instead a soldier wants to please his commanding officer. Literally the Greek word for commanding officer in v. 4 is "the person who enlisted him." You see, back then generals would recruit their own soldiers, to serve in their own units, so the commanding officer was often the person who recruited all of his soldiers.
So the idea is that serving Jesus is like being recruited by Jesus to serve in his army. The focus here isn’t so much on fighting battles, as it’s on the single mindedness and self discipline it takes to stay disentangled from things to please Jesus. That kind of discipline and single mindedness is a kind of suffering, because it means saying no to certain things.
Supplementary to this idea is the picture of a dedicated athlete and a hardworking farmer.
In both cases the people invest all that they have and are into their calling.
Here is some advice for athletes that I found on a website!
Anybody can quit. It’s exactly what your adversaries or competitors hope you will do, and there’s always a legitimate excuse. But have faith; hang in there. Stay in touch with your dream and commitment. Remember that your resources are always far deeper and far greater than you ever imagine them to be. You got yourself this far. Down deep you’ve got what it takes to go the distance.
Do you have whatever it takes?
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Everything counts! Everything you do today, every decision you make, every thought you have, every action you engage in, has some kind of consequence somewhere in your future. Without measurable specific goals for each important area of your life, these decisions, thoughts and actions become nothing more than a random exercise in futility.
Make a conscious decision today to take control of your life. Instead of maintaining a habit of procrastination, develop a bias for action! Remember, goal setting is not about timing; it’s about decisions. It’s not about luck or chance; it’s about determination and hard work. Being athletic isn’t just about how much talent you have. It’s about being persistent in every aspect.
LUke chapter 14 27"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29"Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,…
When I met Heather – and we had decided to get married – she informed me that she wanted a three diamond engagement ring. Now I was not very well off. But I loved Heather and was prepared to invest virtually all my savings into this ring. I had already bought a late model car to impress her – Why because she was and is worth it!!!!
When we know what God has in store for us we will be willing to pay the price.
The famous preacher D.L. Moody told about a Christian woman who was always bright, cheerful, and optimistic, even though she was confined to her room because of illness. She lived in an attic apartment on the fifth floor of an old, rundown building. A friend decided to visit her one day and brought along another woman -- a person of great wealth. Since there was no elevator, the two ladies began the long climb upward. When they reached the second floor, the well-to-do woman commented, "What a dark and filthy place!" Her friend replied, "It's better higher up." When they arrived at the third landing, the remark was made, "Things look even worse here." Again the reply, "It's better higher up." The two women finally reached the attic level, where they found the bedridden saint of God. A smile on her face radiated the joy that filled her heart. Although the room was clean and flowers were on the window sill, the wealthy visitor could not get over the stark surroundings in which this woman lived. She blurted out, "It must be very difficult for you to be here like this!" Without a moment's hesitation the shut-in responded, "It's better higher up." She was not looking at temporal things. With the eye of faith fixed on the eternal, she had found the secret of true satisfaction and contentment.
Our Daily Bread.
That is the point when we have Christ – when we are in love with Him it is always better higher up and we are willing to pay the price.
Suffering teaches us patience. These words were found penned on the wall of a prison cell in Europe: "I believe in love even when I don't feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent."
Billy Graham, Till Armageddon.
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Thirdly Plan well because what you build matters.
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
What you build matters You may have heard of COUNT VON ZINZENDORF.
He was born in Czechoslovakia, in 1700. As a child he saw a picture of Christ on the cross
saying: "This I did for you. What do you do for me?" This made a great impression on him
and his entire life was controlled by a love for Jesus and a burning desire to win souls for
Christ. When aged 10 years old he started a club to promote personal holiness and the
evangelization of the world.
When aged 15 he and his classmates promised on every occasion to confess Christ and to
seek the conversion of men. He bought a large area of land near Dresden. In 1722 he gave
Christian David permission to let the Pietists come and live on his estates. He devoted his
life to reorganise this group of 300 people to win the world to Christ. Where they lived was
called Herrnhut, meaning the Lord's lodge. They were later called Moravians. Zinzendorf
looked on the members of the Moravian church as soldiers of Christ who were to go to all
the world to conquer it for Christ.
The Moravians were the first Protestant body to take seriously the Great Commission. They
established missions in Africa, Asia, Greenland, Lapland, to the American Indians, and
home mission work. There are 70,000 Moravians today in United States. They had an
impact on other denominations to soul winning, entirely beyond proportion to their small
number. They first lit the torch of Protestant missionary zeal. "Go and preach the Gospel to
every creature." Mark 16:15.
A Moravian asked Wesley if he knew Christ. This triggered Wesley's desire to be saved.
All this came from a child who saw a cross.
So when you build on a firm foundation – you need to plan to build well.
The way that we do that is:-
Proverbs 16:3Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
Second point in helping us build a Christian life well is be Willing to Pay the Price.
Thirdly Plan well because what you build matters.
Who wants to get into heaven with their lifes work burnt up?
Not me and not you
In the 1800s a guy named Alfred Nobel woke up on morning and opened the newspaper, only to see his own obituary printed. Imagine the shock of seeing your own obituary printed in the paper. You see, Alfred’s brother had died, and the newspaper mistakenly printed Alfred’s obituary instead of his brother’s. Now Alfred was a very wealthy person. He had made his fortune by inventing a kind of explosive. But as he read his own obituary, he wondered if that’s what he really wanted to be remembered for: Alfred Nobel, creator of a weapon of mass destruction.
Alfred decided he wanted his life to count for more than that. He decided he wanted to live a life built to last. So he started making changes. When Alfred died, he left most of his immense wealth gained from his invention of dynamite to a foundation designed to honor people who made a difference. Thus was born the Nobel foundation, with prizes each year in five areas, including peace. Winners of this prize would include Mother Teresa, Desmund Tutu, Henry Kissenger, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Albert Schweitzer.
Also it says "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp & put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, & it gives light to everyone in the house.
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds & praise your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16
