June 23rd, 2020

     
Building for Eternity
 
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?   Luke 14:28
                                         
     Our Lord refers not to a cost we have to count, but to a cost which He has counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal and hatred; the deep unfathomable agony in Gethsemane, the onslaught at Calvary and the glorious resurrection— the pivot upon which the whole of Time and Eternity turns.
 
     Jesus Christ has counted the cost. Men are not going to laugh at Him at last and say—“This man began to build, and was not able to finish.” Those passionate, consuming words at Calvary "It is Finished" describes the payment, in full, for all sin and clinches the victory for those who believe for all eternity.
 
     The conditions of true discipleship laid down by Our Lord in Luke 14:26, 27 and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in the mighty building of His kingdom are those in whom He has done everything. “If any man come to Me, and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple.” Our Lord implies that only the men and women He can and will fully use in His eternal endeavor are those who love Him personally, passionately and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth. The conditions are stern, but they are glorious.
 
     All that we build is going to be inspected by God. Is God going to detect in His searching fire that we have built on the foundation of Jesus some enterprise of our own? These are days of tremendous needs and opportunities, days when we are facing ever mounting obstacles in trying to work for God, and therein is the snare.
 
     Profoundly speaking, we can never, in ourselves, work for God. Jesus must be given the permission by each of us to indwell our lives with His own.  His building plans for you and me are entirely out of our reach and only through Him can we reach our potential and accomplish the wonderful plans He has for us.   No soul has any right to claim where he shall be put but utterly trust and depend on Him who knows all.  To override His glorious plans with our own will thwart the plan of God for each of us and cost us much sorrow and regret. 
 
     Those who have understood this, and echoed the chorus," I'll go where you want me to go; I'll do what you want me to do; I'll be what you want me to be;" are the ones that will experience the sweetness and  glory of almighty God.   Join with me in truly, fully, declaring Jesus Christ as "Lord" of your life and truly experience the wonder and glory of God.
 
                                                  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
                                         and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be
                         my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
                                                                                                     Luke 14:26-27  
 
Pastor Rudy