God Is Our Builder

Good afternoon, brethren. See, when I’m up to speak, everyone left. I don’t know why. Something going on about an hour away. Hear it’s a wonderful campsite. I’m sure that was stressed in the announcements.

I’d like to start today with an article. I think it’s from April of this year, Newsweek, and it speaks to changing trends in society, just the natural change of careers with the advent of technology. But it’s titled, “Gen Z Isn’t Looking To Make Blue-Collar Work a Career.” “Gen Z Isn’t Looking To Make Blue-Collar Work a Career.” “Younger American workers are approaching blue-collar jobs with caution, according to new data from the Pew Research Center. While some members of Gen Z are filling trade positions, data suggests that few intend to stay in the sector for the long haul,” and then they have a subhead here, “Why It Matters.”

“The findings highlight a critical challenge for industries reliant on physical labor. Younger workers may be willing to take blue-collar jobs, but they don’t appear to see them as viable long-term careers. Despite increased wages in many trades, the perception of blue-collar workers as physically taxing and flexible and offering limited advancement remains a barrier for Gen Z, who place a premium on work-life balance and professional development.”

Now, I grew up working for my dad, working with my dad, who owned Habboush Repair & Remodeling. I have many fond memories of tackling projects with my dad. He did both residential and commercial. He handled the maintenance for a lot of stores you’d know, Costco, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, although that was after I left. A lot of businesses that you could probably bring to mind or have heard of, but plumbing, electrical, carpentry, all manner of work.

I’m not saying I’m, by any means, a professional, but I’ve been exposed to the gamut of the trades. He was such that if no one could figure it out, they knew to call him. He was kind of the last line of defense. If you couldn’t figure it out or if you were smart, he was the first line of defense because you could call him first and know that the job would be done well. I grew up exposed to the trades.

My dad learned from his dad as most people did down through the centuries. His dad was a cobbler, a carpenter, and a farmer. People used to be more diversified, and they’d just simply pick up whatever came their way, and they had broader experience bases because of it. The vast majority of careers in the Bible were labor-based careers. You know, there were no search engine optimizers or data analysts after the current form or many of these hot-button jobs or these in-high-demand jobs that you hear about these days.

There were farmers. There were shepherds, vineyard workers, olive growers. You’ll read about all of these in the Bible, herdsmen, plowmen, harvestmen, stonemasons, potters, weavers, spinners, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, silversmiths, metal workers in brass and other kinds of metals, leather workers, tent makers, wood carvers, the list goes on and on. Bakers, cooks, winemakers, all careers that were very much related to the trades, working with the hands, producing a product for other people. Turn to Matthew chapter thirteen, Matthew thirteen, as we continue to set this up. Let’s see where I’m going soon.

Matthew thirteen and verse forty-four, Christ is dispensing incredible knowledge to His audience. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, which when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls,” speaking of the value of the kingdom.

And “When he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad was cast away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to them, Have you understood these things? They said to Him, Yes, Lord,” the disciples.

“Then said He unto them, every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder, which brings forth of his treasures things old and new.” Christ was bringing new information to His audience. He was saying things that no one had ever uttered before, explaining things that were locked in the scriptures prior to His arrival.

He was magnifying the law. He was explaining mysteries of the kingdom that had never before been known. And people were shocked at what they were hearing, as we’ll see here. “And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. And when he came into His own country, He taught them,” we could say, the same things. Wherever He went, He went preaching the kingdom of God and explaining matters related to the kingdom of God.

“He taught them in their synagogue, insomuch as they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty works?” How did he learn these things? Where did this come from? And why were they shocked? They asked, “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”

Is this not the carpenter’s son who would have learned his father’s trade? His presumed father, Joseph, the father God installed in his life. Is this not a blue-collar laborer? He’s not one of the scribes. He’s not one of the Pharisees. He’s a carpenter. He’s one of those trades that not many people want anymore, particularly the young people. Now, carpenter, there is artificer, specifically a craftsman of wood, and it’s no accident that God put him in a household where he would learn that trade because God himself is a builder.

God himself is a craftsman. He’s the creator. He’s the ultimate tradesman, if I could put it that way. What’s the very first thing the Bible records God is doing? Turn to Genesis chapter one. We’re talking about God as a builder, and we’re going to look at lessons from building today. There’s no mistaking the fact that God carefully chose Christ’s profession. Look at the Father himself here, Genesis one and verse one.

In the beginning, very first verse in the Bible shows God taking an action. “In the beginning, God created heaven and earth.” We could say built heaven and earth. God is the ultimate builder. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and He divided the light from the darkness.”

Verse seven, He made the firmament. Spotting through here at random. Verse sixteen, he made two great lights, the moon and the sun. He set them in the firmament, verse seventeen. Verse twenty-one, He created great whales and every living creature that moves. God is a builder. He made the beasts of the earth, verse twenty-five. Verse twenty-six, He said, “Let us,” because we know this was a pursuit that involved two beings, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness.”

Verse twenty-seven, “So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, created He him, male and female, created He them.” We know we have his nature after a certain sense, which is part of why we’re creative beings. We’re designed to build. We’re designed to make things that help us in this life and help others. It’s at the core of who we are as children of the Great Creator.

“And God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply,” and so on and so forth, and then in verse thirty-one, “And God saw everything that He had made,” that He had built, that He had created, “and behold, it was very good.” God appreciated what He had created. Now, this creation doesn’t just occur by fiat because we’re, again, looking at lessons from building, lessons from God’s creative process, lessons from the building trade, however you want to frame it.

It doesn’t just happen. Isaiah chapter forty. Now you think of building a house and you have certain tools that you use, or even assembling a shelf, certain tools that you use; making a repair, certain tools that you use; making an addition, certain tools that you use; baking a cake, certain tools that you use. Well, God, of course, has His own set of tools.

Isaiah forty and verse twelve, “Who has measured,” measuring is a process, “who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?” There’s a lot being said there. For one, God didn’t just haphazardly decide, “Oh, you know, I’ll just see how much water fills the oceans.” No, He carefully measured the waters that would be put on Earth that we read about back in Genesis chapter one.

This also speaks to His size. He measured the waters in the hollow of His hand. [chuckles] We’ve learned how big God is through this extraordinary series. Imagine a being so big, He could hold all the seas, the rivers, the oceans, the lakes, the aquifers. He could hold that volume of water in the palm of His hand if he chose to be that large at any given moment. Incredible.

“And meted out heaven...” Okay. If you mete something out, you measure something out. What measuring line does he use? “And meted out heaven with the span,” meaning the spread of the fingers. So He calculated how wide heaven would be using handbreadths, similar to how builders sometimes still will... If you ever see the way the Amish will calculate distances roughly, they still use the handbreadth.

A lot of people use handbreadth to calculate. Well, God is saying, “I calculated the width of heaven with my hand.” This is an amazing being, but also one who employs tools in the building process. Now we’re talking about building physical things. He’s, of course, building spiritual things in our lives. We’ll get to that. God, as a builder, employs certain tools. “Meted out the heaven with the span,” meaning the spread of the fingers, “and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure.”

I know a lot of ladies probably bake using a scale. That’s more precise than volume. If you’re like me, you’ve tried to at times just bake kind of, “Oh, I’ll use this much flour or that much flour,” and it ends in disaster. Maybe some of you are able to do it by eye. I’ve not fared as successfully sometimes, but measure things out. A tool in the kitchen “...and weighed the mountains and scales and the hills in a balance?”

But He doesn’t just employ tools. He thinks things through ahead of time, as we’ll see here. “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, has taught Him?” Now, He comes up with these things in his mind, He and Christ. “With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him and taught him in the path of judgment and taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding?”

He’s the originator of these things, but He thinks them through before He takes action, just like a builder follows a blueprint, thinks things through before he tackles a project, or has knowledge of how a repair is to be made prior to undertaking it, or he or she could make the problem worse than it originally was. “Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket,” verse fifteen, “and are counted as the small dust of the balance.

“Behold, He takes up the aisles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing.” Well, when you’re big enough to hold all of Earth’s water in the hollow of your hand, you can see why that would be the case. “And they’re counted to him as less than nothing and vanity. To whom will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare Him?”

“The workman,” the human workman, “melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold and casts silver chains.” These incredible skills here to the wrong end, just weak in comparison to God’s construction skills, in comparison to God as a builder.

And come down to verse twenty-six, “Lift up your eyes on high and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number, calls them by name,” and so on and so forth? God is the ultimate creator, but He employs techniques. He employs elements of design that He came up with, tools that He came up with, principles that He came up with that He wants us to learn from.

Again, no accident that Christ was a carpenter. No accident that He wove into his parables, over and over again elements of construction that we’ve started to take a look at, but we’ll continue to take a look at. Christ, John one, John chapter one. He was there from the very start. John one, one. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

Christ was right there employing the same techniques that the Father was, right there building at the Father’s behest. Let’s pull back this point as we continue to look at these principles, and let’s acknowledge something. You’ve had for all time in heaven a being who is the ultimate creator, who came up with everything around us, who has forever had beside Him a being who made all things that we see around us at the direction of the Father.

And if you want to take it a step further, considering what we’ve recently learned about these four beasts who are also called four carpenters, they have in front of them four beings, four awesome beings that are carpenters also. So, very important to God, a lot of lessons attendant to the subject. Two carpenters with four carpenters before them. Amazing. You might think of those four carpenters as a demolition team, based on what we heard last week, but they’re carpenters.

They have skills. Maybe they do some creating, at God’s direction. Very important subject to God. First principle we’ll look at, we’ve looked at certain principles, but first principle we’ll focus on is the fact that the foundation of a building is all-important. You could argue that a building could be without many elements; could be without plumbing. Most buildings were without plumbing for thousands of years.

Could be without electricity. Most buildings were without electricity for, again, thousands of years. My dad grew up in a house without electricity or plumbing. I remember, I think I’ve mentioned before, putting plumbing in my grandmother’s house in two thousand and six. Just fine without it prior to that. A building can survive with a few missing shingles. You get roof damage.

A building can survive without gutter. You’ll get erosion around your house. But a building cannot survive without a foundation, can’t. It will collapse. The foundation is all-important. I remember a job, one of the last jobs I did with my dad, there was someone’s house. It was a rental property for a certain party. There were two issues. One was a plumbing issue inside, and one was that the floor was caving in inside.

So plumbing issue, bad, but floor caving in, even worse. That’s a foundational issue. And we didn’t happen to have the key to the building, to the house, rather. So, my dad called up the lady and asked her to, you know, please bring the key. Well, we’d already seen that the foundation was sinking inside the house. You have to go under the house to fix it. And probably many of you are familiar with the fact that most houses in the South have a crawl space, different from basements in the North, where you have to really get below the frost footer.

And this particular crawl space didn’t have an access door to go underneath of the house. While we’re waiting for the key to arrive to address the plumbing issue inside, you, of course, have to begin knocking out block and creating a lintel to create a crawl space access. We’re in the process of doing that so we could get under the house and address the foundation issue.

And a couple of hours later, the lady comes, and she’s just beside herself. “You could have waited. You didn’t have to.” You know, she thought we were burrowing into the house to do the work because we were waiting for the key after all that time. We had to explain to her, “No, we have to get under the house to fix the foundation.” Thankfully, she understood and moved on. But then we had to jack up the house and repair the structurally unsound components, or the floor would have eventually caved in.

Catastrophic failure of a building. Now, we as brethren in the Church of God have a very strong foundation on which we stand. Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians two. God made sure, as the wise builder that He is, as the master builder that He is, that we have a perfect foundation, an incredibly strong foundation. Ephesians two, verse thirteen. “But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ.

“For He is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of the commandments contained in ordinances for to make in Himself of two, one new man, so making peace that He might reconcile both unto God in one body on the cross, having slain the enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you, which were afar off and to them that were near.”

“For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” Now Christ was perfect. The apostles and prophets were not, but we have their writings, and anything that made its way into the Bible is perfect.

But we have a foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, and then we’re built upon it. “In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you are also builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” Now, Christ is called here a chief cornerstone. A cornerstone, typed it into Google, and here’s how it explained it.

It’s not as widely used in today’s buildings, but very important. A cornerstone is a physical stone or figuratively a crucial element that serves as a foundation for a structure, acting... excuse me, for a foundation for a structure, whether it’s a building or a concept. In architecture, and this is key, it’s the first stone laid during construction acting as a reference point for all other stones and establishing the building’s orientation.

Metaphorically, a cornerstone represents something essential, indispensable, or basic to a larger entity or idea according to dictionary definitions. Now, we’ll come back to Christ being the chief cornerstone, actually a few times in this message. But for right now, consider what this definition is telling us. This stone in a building, now how much more so for the Church, had to be laid perfectly.

It was perfectly level, perfectly plumb, perfectly situated because all other courses of stone, all other pieces of timber were built in relation to it. So if this cornerstone was not perfect, the whole building would be off-kilter or cattywampus or however you want to call it; wouldn’t be true. So God set a chief cornerstone and then flanked that cornerstone, integrated into that foundation other stones, and that is the foundation of the Church, the chief cornerstone, and the apostles and the prophets.

Now, God isn’t into cinderblock foundations. Cinderblock foundation is good. He’s into magnificent foundations. Turn to First Kings. We must have a strong foundation, and we do. The Church of God does. First Kings and you might think about the story of the temple being built beginning in chapter six, but it actually begins in chapter five. For our purposes, First Kings chapter five. [silence] A look at the physical temple, which, of course, parallels the spiritual temple, and how important those foundational stones were in God’s thinking.

First Kings five, one. “And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon, for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father, for Hiram was ever a lover of David. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying, You know how that David, my father, could not build a house under the name of the Lord, his God, for the wars, which were about him on every side until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.

“But now the Lord, my God, has given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent. And, behold, I purpose to build a house under the name of the Lord, my God.” Now, Solomon, being guided by God, being given wisdom by God, would have understood that the foundation is arguably the most important part of any given building. “And the Lord spoke to David, my father, saying,” verse five, “Your son, whom I will set upon the throne in your room, he shall build a house under my name.

“Now, therefore, command you that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with your servants, and unto you will I give hire for your servants, according to all that you shall appoint, for you know, that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.” And you think about the cedars that were brought, but there’s more here than just the wood that was hewn.

“And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon that he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, which has given unto David a wise son over this great people.” A wise, we could say, general contractor in this sense, I mean, this was the greatest architectural undertaking the world had ever and maybe has ever seen. When you consider all the materials that went into it and the significance of the structure.

Verse eight, “And Hiram sent to Solomon saying, I have considered the things which you sent me for, and I’ll do all your desire concerning the timber of cedar and the timber of fir. My servants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea, and I will convey them by sea in floats...” You know, massive weight, “...in floats unto the place that you shall appoint me. And I’ll cause them to be discharged there, and you shall receive them and shall accomplish my desire in giving food for my household.” That was the exchange.

“So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees,” structural elements, “according to all his desire.” And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food, twenty thousand measures of pure oil, gave Solomon, year by year, and the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as He promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together.

“And Solomon raised a levy out of all of Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men, and he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses. A month they were in Lebanon and two months at home and Adoniram was over the levy. And Solomon had threescore and ten thousand that bare burdens and fourscore thousand hewers in the mountains. Beside the chief of Solomon’s officers which were over the work, there were a thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought the work.

“And the king commanded, and they brought” cinder blocks, cement, you know, joists. Now, “they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones to lay the foundation of the house. And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them and the stone squarers, so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.” Stone-squarers, those who would have made this the cornerstone of the temple, perfect, just as our cornerstone that forms the foundation of the Church is perfect so that a reference for the rest of the building was established and the building would be square and stand, pleasing to the site and safe to enter.

Revelation twenty-one, God isn’t just into strong foundations; He’s into beautiful foundations. Here’s a look at Holy Jerusalem. Foundations are all-important. We’ll take a look. We collectively stand on the foundation of Christ, the apostles, and the prophets, but we’ll take a look at our own foundation here very soon. Revelation twenty-one. The Holy Jerusalem, verse ten, Revelation twenty-one, ten.

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of the heaven of God, having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and it had a great and high wall and had twelve gates and at the gates, twelve angels and the names written thereon which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Now, this wall, of course, has to have a proper foundation, a strong foundation lest it collapse. So it’s no wonder in verse nineteen, we read, “And the foundation of the wall of the city was garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation, jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald, the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth, and the twelfth, an amethyst.

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and every gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” Amazing picture of the value God places on a proper foundation, a square foundation, a strong foundation, but also a beautiful foundation.

Now, a lot of lessons probably come to mind hearing that. We’ll delve into more of them, but a question here emerges because we, too, are stones upon that foundation. Because that cornerstone was perfectly placed, we can be perfectly placed in the body of Christ. First Peter, two. God isn’t putting us haphazardly into His magnificent building, into the temple. He’s carefully placing us, excuse me, into that building, carefully using Christ, the apostles, the prophets as a reference point, because He wants a building, we saw, that is fitly framed together, that’s strong, that doesn’t have gaps, that won’t collapse.

First Peter, two, “...laying aside,” verse one, “all malice and guile and hypocrisies, envies, evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious...” He was rejected by those in His own town, who said, “Oh, is this the carpenter’s son? Why would we listen to him?”

Rejected and mocked down through the centuries, not even understood by those who profess to be His followers down through the centuries, who’ve just trashed His word, God’s word at every turn, including the very words Christ brought as the word, rejected, “...disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious” for a very specific purpose, to be that cornerstone, to be that reference point.

“You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed.”

They said, “This isn’t the right cornerstone. This isn’t the right foundation stone. This isn’t the person we should make our reference lines off of North, South, East, and West.” He wasn’t who they had in mind. They had their own image of what God should be, and what God should look like, and how God should act and how humans should act. “Unto you therefore which believe he’s precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,” the most important stone in the building.

I said we’d come back to that concept and we just did, but we’ll come back to it yet again because it’s that important and because it’s everywhere in the scriptures. So, what about our personal foundation? Now, we’ve been given an awesome foundation by God. We’re founded on Christ, the apostle, the prophets, their examples, their words, on what Christ is doing for us now as our mediator, on what He did for us as our savior.

What about our own foundations, our personal foundations? Because we’ve got to be strong, lively stones if we’re going to be on that chief cornerstone, referenced off of that chief cornerstone. What about our own foundation? What about our own foundation, Matthew seven, fifteen. Matthew chapter seven.

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” Christ warned. “You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles?” Talking about character here. “Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree can’t bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits, you shall know them.

“Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many wonderful works? And I’ll profess to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work iniquity.”

Now, they had a problem. They had bad fruit in their lives, and that doesn’t just happen by chance. It’s not just subject to circumstance in life. You know, the curse causeless won’t come, I think the Proverbs say. There’s a reason they generated bad fruit, and a reason they’ll meet the fate just described. And here Christ explains it. “Therefore,” meaning coming off of everything I just said, “therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine,” and we could add the sayings of the apostles and the sayings of the prophets, “and does them, I’ll liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock,” upon a solid foundation.

We could say upon the rock that is Christ but look at a physical house. If its footer isn’t below the frost line, or if it’s not on bedrock, or if it’s not properly secured per an engineer’s specs, you’re in trouble. It will shift. It will eventually be subject to the weather, subject to temperature change, and it can collapse, or be damaged beyond repair, be condemned if it’s not built on a sure foundation.

“And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.” It had a solid foundation. It was unmovable despite whatever came its way. “And every one that hears these sayings of mine and does them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.” Christ, as a carpenter and as the Great Creator that He was, would have known a thing or two about this in his physical life and his life prior to becoming a human being.

Just like the Father knows all about this. It says that the Earth is built on foundations, in the Psalms somewhere. Incredible. These same principles, you know, gravity has to be taken into account when building something. All the principles of physics were designed by the Great Builder, and buildings are subject to those principles of physics. Break them, and they’ll break a builder every time.

Violate them, and they’ll violate a builder every time. “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” People don’t just leave the Church for no reason or slip into horrible sin and jeopardize their eternal lives for no reason. No, they haven’t founded their lives on what Christ explains you need to do, we need to do, what the apostles and the prophets, communicating on behalf of God, explain what we need to do.

And, eventually, their foundation becomes weak to the point where the slightest wind that blows can destroy their house. Any unexpected change in temperature or weather can be catastrophic. I found an account of a woman online, a really fascinating account. She wrote in a blog post in a blog post and titled it “When Foundations Fail, Unexpectedly Perfect.” I don’t know why the ‘unexpectedly perfect.’ I think that’s the name of her blog, maybe. “When Foundations Fail,” and she tells the story of what happened when she was a teenager.

I’ll read you a couple of paragraphs from it. “Natural disasters are not subtle. They come sweeping in with an unpredictable fury, leaving destruction, devastation, and chaos. That’s what I had always believed.” And that’s what we generally think of when a building fails. A tornado comes through and rips it from the ground or destroys its walls. That’s what we generally think of.

“That’s what I always believed. Earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters have always had widespread coverage in the news. I was familiar with these stories. So when the hairline cracks appeared in the foundation of my childhood home during the spring when I turned sixteen, I wasn’t worried.” She started to see cracks. “No, I mean, it’s just a crack. It’s an old house. Just a crack.”

“The street I lived on, which bordered a hill, had slight changes to its original positioning, and several of our neighbors had been noticing minor cracks in their foundations and shifting on their land.” Here are some homes, a subdivision, or a community that was not built on rock, if I can borrow Christ’s words. Built on sand, so to speak. And what started to happen? “‘The land is probably just settling,’ was a phrase I heard several times,” she writes.

“Specialists, like the state project geologists, came out and surveyed the land. They measured the cracks with special equipment and looked at the five homes on our street who were affected. At first, they didn’t say much, so I assumed everything would be fine,” she wrote. Those hairline cracks in the foundation, as subtle and inconspicuous as they appeared to be, started to separate at a rapid rate by summer.”

So imagine living in your home and seeing a little crack, not addressing it, or thinking, “Oh, it’s no big deal.” Well, we live in homes where we’re in this temporary dwelling. If we start to see minor cracks, not something to let slip. So they began to separate rapidly by late summer. “One home after another was being condemned. The experts continued to monitor the land, but they couldn’t figure out what was causing the ground underneath us to shift. When our house was condemned, we were given twenty-four hours to evacuate.

“About a week after we moved, a ten-foot drop separated the front of our foundation from the back foundation.” So the house, condemned, told, “Get out within twenty-four hours,” and after a week, the front door or the back door was ten feet lower than the back door because there had been so much cracking in the foundation. Deadly. I have here an infographic I found fascinating online, talking about the importance of a strong foundation, the main element here today.

But it’s “The Thirty Deadliest Structure Failures of All Time,” put together by a building materials company. “Throughout history, structural failures caused by faulty construction materials or heavy rains have led to building collapses, dam failures, bridges collapsing, and more, with some of the deadliest of these causing deaths of hundreds or even thousands of people.” And it goes through and lists some of the most catastrophic.

The Fidenae Amphitheater in Rome, twenty-seven CE. “The amphitheater was cheaply constructed with wood and not able to withstand the fifty thousand people who came to watch the Gladiator games, causing it to collapse,” and it resulted in twenty thousand deaths. Improperly built. Portugal, eighteen hundred and nine, Ponte das Barcas killed four thousand. “The bridge was uniquely built,” it was a bridge, “by connecting wooden boats together, which collapsed under the weight of the thousands who were escaping Portugal when the French attacked.”

Dam failures. Here’s an instance in Italy, Vajont Dam in nineteen sixty-three in Italy. “After the government dismissed reports that part of the basin was unstable, a landslide caused a mega-tsunami in the lake and sent a wave with thirteen billion gallons of water over the top of the dam.” Just ignoring early warning signs that could lead to catastrophic failure. Here’s one more, nineteen ninety-five.

The Sampoong Department Store. Five hundred and two people died in South Korea, Seoul. “During construction, the building’s use changed from a residential to a department store, and multiple support columns were removed. This led to widespread cracking in the roof when heavy AC units were moved. The owner refused to evacuate for fear of loss of revenue, and the building collapsed not long after,” killing five hundred and two people.

And you can go through page after page of just people generally ignoring early warning signs. Not taking the time to repair cracks, not caring about cracks, worrying more about revenue loss than the warnings posed by engineers, all over the world. We could ask ourselves, we’d do well to ask ourselves, you know, a good question, are there cracks in my facade?

You know, is the siding of my building suffering? To extend the analogy, do I need maybe a little more polish in life? A little more oil and honey, as we’ve learned in Spokesman’s Club, for you, gentlemen. Well, it’s a good question. It’s an important question. Or maybe, where can I upgrade my structure? How can I improve in this area or that area? Again, a good question. Fitting question. Wonderful question.

We heard a great message about serving last week. Wonderful questions. And they’re part of the foundation, too. Don’t get me wrong. But the most important question is, are there cracks in my foundation? Do I have certain niggling, you know, doubts or sins that I’m just kind of pushing off and not really addressing? Address them right away, brethren. Those cracks can, in twenty-four hours, spread.

And then in a week, your house can be cattywampus to the point where your front door can be ten feet above the back door when they used to be perfectly level. We must address foundational concerns as we see them. They can spread. They can spread. Now, next principle here, God, as a builder, strives for perfection. We saw that in how He designed the foundation, but He strives for perfection.

Matthew chapter five. God, as a builder, strives for perfection. And this is where we’ll focus for the balance of the message. Very simple, easy to understand. Just lessons, fundamental lessons from building or construction. Matthew five and verse forty-three. “You’ve heard that it has been said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.”

These are some of the very words that Christ was building to His statement about foundational collapse, foundational catastrophe, that we read earlier. “Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them, which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them, which love you, what reward have you? And do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?” Everybody salutes their friends and brethren. “Do not even the publicans do so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Now, thankfully, “be” there is become. We’re in the process of trying to become perfect.

I remember my first Sabbath I ever kept. It was in a splinter organization. But the man who drove me to services, who I very much respect, thankfully, told me, “Don’t expect to see perfect people here, just people who are trying to become perfect.” And it was a helpful piece of advice to an eighteen or nineteen-year-old coming and expecting to see the holy Jerusalem on earth. You know how it is on your first Sabbath, and you learn we’re all human beings at different points on the growth curve.

We’re to become perfect, meaning complete in various applications of labor, growth, mental, and moral character. Become perfect, and the standard is, as our Father in heaven is perfect. Now, thankfully, we have help in that regard. We’re not doing it on human steam, as we’ve heard. Hebrews chapter thirteen. Hebrews thirteen verse twenty. Ultimately, we’re what God is building. Humans are what God is building. That’s who he’s focused on. That’s what he’s focused on. That’s the entire reason for this physical construct around us, to teach us certain lessons so that we can go on to become spirit beings and escape this physical realm.

But He teaches us lessons with what physically surrounds us. We’re temporary and able to learn those lessons. And if we don’t, sadly, there are some who perish. Hebrews thirteen verse twenty. “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight…” He’s building in our lives, but we have a part in it, “…through Christ Jesus…” that chief cornerstone, “…to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Now, I promised we’d come back to Christ being the chief cornerstone, and here we’ll start to look at that. We think of God, and now we understand Him better than ever. And you think of Him having this sword we know now, or a glittering spear, or a silver trumpet, amazing things we’d not previously seen. There’s something that God has that I would argue has even more meaning for us, greater meaning for us as Christians. I mean, I hope none of us are worried about God coming and using His sword on us. I don’t think that’s a rational fear right now. If we fall into the hands of the living God, it’s a terrifying thing, and you could meditate on that.

We’d all do well, I guess, to meditate on what it means to walk away from this way of life, ultimately, but that’s not what I’m getting at. There’s a tool that God uses that maybe we should focus more on, that maybe we should think more on than, say, His sword, or His trumpet, or His spear, something He’s using right now in our lives, that I would say we probably don’t think much about. Now, God is very concerned with the world we’re in. We know we live in a crooked and perverse generation, Philippians says. He’s not into crooked things.

We saw He’s into lines that are drawn off of that chief cornerstone. He’s into things that are perfectly square. Turn to Zechariah chapter four, Zechariah four. The Father in Christ, His builders have certain tools. Zechariah four verse six. “Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.”

Verse eight. “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house;” Seen a lot about foundations. “...his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you. For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

So a plummet will be used to complete that foundation, a plummet. What’s a plummet? Well, before addressing that, Isaiah twenty-eight. Isaiah twenty-eight. God has a plummet. If He’s using a plummet to build His foundation, if He’s using a plummet to build His house, and we’re lively stones on that foundation, in that house, we’d do well to take heed and to learn what this means.

Isaiah twenty-eight and verse fourteen. “Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:”

These are people who built their foundation on sand. “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation a stone.” Here’s that reference I promised, “...a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believe shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line,” meaning a cord for measuring. God uses measurement when it comes to judgment. It’s no surprise Christ said, “With what measure you meet in judgment, the same will be meted unto you,” if I’m recalling correctly. But that’s not our focus here.

“And righteousness to the plummet:” God is going to judge righteousness using a plummet. “And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.” Now, a plummet there simply means wait with a line attached. And if you’ve done any amount of construction or building, you’re familiar with a plumb line. And assuming I can get it untangled here. I built a crude plumb line last night. God is going to take a plumb line. I’ll step to the side here. Gravity pulls the weight down, and that line is perfectly perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

If you were to take a level, and you were perfectly level, and assuming this wasn’t wobbling, that would be a perfect right angle. God uses a plummet when searching for righteousness. He looks at our lives and says, “Well, this is the standard. How far are they deviating from that?” There we’re talking about Israel, I think, collectively. How far off measurement, off of the cornerstone line, is my son or my daughter? I don’t say this to discourage any of us. None of us are yet truly plumb, yet truly square in that temple.

But that’s the goal. That’s what he’s working in us to achieve, so that we’re perfectly straight, perfectly in line with his way of life. And we know that will not happen to perfection as physical beings. But when we’re transformed, when we’re changed, we will be plumb. So, just picture it, it’s a little bit nerve-wracking to think of God coming up to you with a plumb line and inspecting you. My wife did it to me, and I thought, “Should I even do this to the brethren? It’s kind of scary,” but that’s what God is doing. He’s examining our lives with a plumb line.

The plumb line of righteousness. We’ll read verse seventeen once more. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. This being perfectly righteous. How far off? A degree off, five degrees off, ten degrees off, or is their foundation sure? Is it true? Powerful mental picture. Now, God is into finishing what He started, and that’s the encouraging part. If we’re far off plumb right now, there’s time to fix our foundation, thankfully. God is not in the business in giving up on anyone. We’re the ones who have to give up, and that’s the last thing He wants, or any of us wants.

We’ve got to finish the project. Luke chapter fourteen, as we begin to come to a close here. We have every tool necessary to finish this building that God is constructing in our lives. Every tool necessary. Luke fourteen and verse twenty-five. “And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.”

He’s got to put me first. Hate means love less. Of course, you wouldn’t want to hate them, or that would be contrary of thing He said elsewhere. “And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he had sufficient to finish it?” When we were baptized, we counted the cost. We saw this awesome and mighty reward ahead of us. We meditated on, we learned these awesome promises that God gives us, and we decided, “You know what? With God’s help, I’m willing to do anything in this life in pursuit of that.”

We counted the cost, but we have to continue to count the cost. As we continue to build, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, counts the cost, whether he had sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation,” great to lay the foundation, hopefully, a good one, “...and is not able to finish it, that behold it begin to mock him,” people begin to mock him, “Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an ambassage, and desires conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever be of you that forsakes not all he has, can’t be my disciple.”

God is into finishing projects. It says in Job, “He’ll have the desire to the work of His hands.” One day, we’ll be complete. One day, soon, hopefully, we’ll be complete. We’ve got to keep on relying on God, keep on examining for cracks in our foundation. Keep on examining for where we can make renovations and improvements to our structure. Keep on determining where we’re out of plum with God’s way of life. Out of plum with the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, where we might look like the crooked and scolios generation, where we can’t put ourselves beside the plummet of righteousness and say, “Oh, self-examination doesn’t just happen leading up to the Passover.”

It can be easy to think we don’t have what it takes, but consider that we’re partnered with the greatest builder in eternity. When He built everything around us and He’s promising to guide us every step of the way, if we rely on Him. If we study our orientation relative to that foundation stone and the greater foundation there is. And if we mess up, He can create other things in our life. We don’t want to mess up. We heard last week, we read Psalm fifty-one, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God.” He can do that because He’s the ultimate creator.

One last passage here as we come to a close. Isaiah forty-five. With the ultimate builder at work in our lives, with these foundational, no pun intended, elements of construction in our mind, we can’t fail. Isaiah forty-five. Here’s God talking to Cyrus. Look at what He says. “Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before you, and make the crooked places plain: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give you treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I am the LORD, which call you by name, and am the God of Israel.”

If God is for us, who can be against us? Not that He’s using us in this way now, but “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name:” This great Persian king who God used to help fulfill His plan. “I have surnamed you, though you know not me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me:”

He’s willing to help a man like this who doesn’t even know Him. How much more so us, brethren? “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”

“I’m in charge of everything,” God is saying.

And it’s in that context that He says this, “Drop down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation.” Righteousness and salvation. The righteousness that is measured against the plummet in his hand and salvation, which that chief cornerstone brought. “And let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.”

God created righteousness. God created salvation. God created this plan that you and I are a part of. There’s nothing we can’t achieve with His help in pursuit of that salvation, in pursuit of that righteousness, and eventually, we’ll be free from this body of death, as Paul put it, won’t be subject to sin any longer. “Woe unto him that strives with his Maker!” With his builder, we could say. Thankfully, we don’t strive with our maker. We rely on our maker.

That’s why we look forward to that new body He’s prepared for us, that new way of life He’s prepared for us. That new place in His plan that He’s prepared for us. Brethren, let’s work under the great builder to build in our lives what’s necessary to be in that city, to be in that permanent city, to dwell in eternity, with that being whose habitation, said elsewhere in Isaiah, is eternity. He’s nearly ready to unveil the work he’s done in each of us.