BUILDING TO LAST
- Read Psalm 127:1-5
I. GOD MUST BUILD:
1. Our Nation
I don’t know about you, but I am already sick of political commercials and we still have weeks to go until the election. I recently heard on the radio that Florida, because our number of electoral votes, and because of the closeness of the presidential race here, is expected to see more political ads between now and the election than any other state in the country.
I told Gladys that last night and she said it wasn’t fair. Here we’ve had to endure 4 hurricanes, and now this.
Now, I have my preference. I have no doubt who I am voting for; but let me tell you this. It is neither Kerry nor Bush who are going to defend and build this country. Our security, and the prosperity of our nation rest in neither of their hands. You could have the greatest man in the history of the world running this country and the Bible’s truth would still stand, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that built it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.”
My friend, there is no homeland security apart from God. It is God Who designed this nation. It is God Who built this nation, and it God Who protects this nation. God Bless America is more than a song, it is a truth, and the only way this nation will continue to be blessed is if we continue to keep God central in it and He chooses to bless.
If God doesn’t build and guard this nation, your upcoming vote will be wasted and it will make no difference in America’s future. If you want to help America, if you want to protect our nation’s future, vote; but don’t stop with voting, you must also pray, because only God’s building lasts.
I will join with the Psalmist when he said:
>Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
We need God to build our nation; we also need Him to build our families.
2. Our Families
Listen to God’s word again.
- Read Psalm 127:1
We live in a country and in an age, where people do not care much for absolutes. In these changing times, many things once held as truths, or absolutes, have been found to be anything but absolute. There are, however, some things that are absolute.
Geography gives us absolutes. We can say for instance that the St. John’s River flows between Enterprise and Sanford. That is an absolute. You can argue about it all day long, but it doesn’t change the truth.
Mathematics offers absolutes. 2 + 2 = 4. That is an absolute. You can work on it all day long, multiply, divide, jiggle and wiggle and 2 + 2 will still equal 4.
History offers absolutes. For instance, history tells us that John Wilkes Booth, shot president Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theater. You can argue it, but you can’t change it.
The Bible also gives absolutes and here is one of the most important, “Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
Let me tell you my friend, God designed the home. He invented and created it. He invented marriage and this whole parent-child thing. It’s His idea, and if you leave God out of your family, if you leave God out of your home, it will never be all it could be. It will never be all God intended it to be.
I get so tired of people coming to me and telling me they’ve done all they can to save their marriage, or they’ve done all they can to help their children, when they’ve left God out of the equation.
My friend, if God is not the center, if He is not the bedrock of your marriage; if He is not first in your life and in your heart, then you have not done everything you can to save your home.
Some may say, “Well, I know such and such a family. They aren’t Christians, they don’t go to church, and yet their family and their children are doing fine.” My friends, they may be doing somewhat OK, but they are not living up to what God intended.
Some years ago Gladys and I bought a computer that was a display model. We used it for a number of years. As a matter of fact, Steve just finished rebuilding it so the church can use it while the church’s computer is being repaired.
Now, that computer served us well and I was able to do a number of things with it, but it never did all it was supposed to do, because when we bought it, it came without some of the software and without the manual. I didn’t have the manual and no one ever taught me how to do much with it.
The same is true of marriage and of your home. It may be OK, it may be good enough to get by. Your children might not be arrested and you might even stay married to the same person until you die, but it will never be all it could have been if God is not the center of it.
Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.
If it’s going to last and be blessed, God must build the nation. If it’s going to last and be blessed, God must build the home, and if it’s going to last and be blessed, God must build this church.
3. Our Church
This coming Wednesday night, we will be voting on whether to sign the contract for the 11 acres our church wants to buy. Oh my friends, God continues to bless. This church was started just over 4 years ago. During the past 4 years the Lord has given us the building and property where Enterprise Baptist Church used to meet. We have seen our building fund grow. We are on the verge of buying property where we will have room to build, and grow, hold our baptisms, camp outs, and ball games. It looks like an 11,000 square foot modular building is going to be given to us.
But my friends, it is not buildings, nor property; it is not programs nor advertisements that build a church. It is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said:
> Matthew 16:18 … I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And again Jesus says in John 12:32,
> John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
We must remember this church is not ours. It is not we who are building it. It belongs to and is being built by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is for His glory. It is for His honor, and He must be first and foremost in all we do.
Unless God builds this church, we are wasting our time. But if Jesus builds this church, then the gates of Hell will not be able to stand against it.
God must do the building. He must be the One Who builds our nation. He must be the One Who builds our homes. He must be the One Who builds this church, but He builds all 3 with people. The building God wants to do begins with you.
Great nations are made up of godly people. Great churches are build out of godly people, and great families are made up of godly people. You see my friend, it all starts with you. You can’t change or fix your spouse, but you can work on you. You can’t change or fix this church, but you can work on you. You can’t change or fix this nation, but you can begin with you.
In Jeremiah 29:13 we read: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Let me ask you this morning. Are you saddened by the condition our nation is in? Are you concerned that your family and home isn’t all you had hoped for? Do you want to see revival come to this church and this community? Then it must begin with you. It must become important enough to you that you’re willing to put actions to your words.
Will you do that this morning? Steps to change:
- Romans 12:1-2
1. Surrender to Christ – make Him your Boss
2. Renew your mind –
> Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Think on the things of God. Fill your mind with God’s Word. David said in Psalms 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
God promises: 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
