The Lord’s Work – Part 26
We are saved by WORDS.
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Acts 11:13-14 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
We are saved by words. That is what our salvation is.
Psalms 119:123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
The word of His righteousness is the gospel: that we are saved by: His righteousness.
This is the very first instance of the words “word” and “work” appearing together in the whole Bible. It is not only incredibly significant WHAT is said, but it is incredibly significant WHO says it:
Exodus 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
Do you know who says this?
.
.
.
Pharoah says this.
Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
And do you know who Pharoah is?? … Satan.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
That Pharoah in Egypt was a shadow of Satan, but the true Pharoah IS Satan. “the great dragon”.
Exodus 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
Do you know who says this? Satan says this.
That is Satan’s doctrine: we need “more work”! Not just a bunch of vain words!
The words of God are never vain. The WORDS of Jesus are LIFE. They give life. WORDS save. WORDS alone, give eternal life. And man will be judged BY WORDS alone.
But to man, as preached by the deceiver himself, “words without physical actions are meaningless! Words without outward works are vain!”
This is the deception: we need more works, and not mere words, to justify ourselves. We need more WORK!
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
If otherwise than by grace (if by works), then you get NO MORE GRACE.
If otherwise than by works (if by grace), then there is NO MORE WORK.
If salvation comes OTHERWISE than by works, then there is NO MORE WORK
If otherwise than by works.. that is, if grace is present, then there is NO MORE WORK.
If you have received GRACE, then there is NO MORE WORK.
But the great dragon says, “Let there more work be laid upon the men…”
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Words. We are saved by words. The only good things that we can bring forth are WORDS.
Without these words of eternal life, we can do NOTHING. We can bring forth NOTHING. Less than nothing!
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
People who think they are Christians, that is, false brethren (Liar Christians), love to point out that God “created us unto good works”, deducing that, what this obviously means is that, a Christian’s life inevitably will be, must be, has to be better, full of good deeds.
We were not merely “created unto good works”. We were not improved.
We were “created”. A new creature. Born again.
We were created “in Christ Jesus”. Not in the world. Not in the flesh. Not even in our hearts.
It says that we SHOULD walk in good works. Nowhere in the verse does it say that we all do good works.
But yes, of course He created us unto good works! But see, that NECESSITATES that we could not do good works beforehand!! That is of course, why He had to create us, as new creatures, to do good works. Because we COULD NOT do them naturally. We could not do them before salvation. Neither can we do them in the flesh now.
A Christian is not created unto “better works”. Or improved unto MORE good works. Or unto a more sincere heart.
Where were we created unto good works? Where is that that we were both created, and are now able to work good? In Christ. We work good In Christ. Not in the flesh, not in the world.
The flesh profiteth nothing. The flesh did not profit at salvation, and the flesh cannot produce a profit after salvation. In the flesh, we can’t do anything different now than before we were saved. We can do anything that the unsaved can do. And… the unsaved can do everything we can do! We do the SAME THINGS (Romans 2).
I can do anything that they can do, and they can do anything that I can do (with only one exception – my words). But even having been “created unto good works”, my carnal works are still no more good now.
And its not about our purposes or our motivations.
They say, “well the difference is that before salvation we only did things for ourselves, but now we do them for the Lord”. Really? Only?
My heart is no better or more sincere than a false Christian! I like to think when I serve the Lord I ONLY do it for the Lord, but that would be a lie. My motivation is not 100% pure.
Truthfully, I like to be seen of men. Naturally. I can’t help it. I can’t stop. I like to receive praise. I wish I didn’t. But its nice. It feels good. It helps me to feel validated and confident and bold, and even… prideful! And sometimes I want and need thanks and appreciation from men. I’m no better. Sometimes when I do something that no one else sees, I just can’t stand it being done in secret. I need to tell somebody. Sometimes I boast about it. Sometimes, my motivations are just as unclean as the worst wolf in sheep’s clothing there is.
Sometimes, I do things completely for the wrong reasons: sometimes I want to hurt people. Sometimes, I do the right thing, not with a clean mind, but in anger. Sometimes, I preach the gospel in hate, and not in love.
I would like to say I only do things for the Lord, in the fear of the Lord, and I expect no recompense in the earth and no praise of men. But if all my thoughts were exposed, you’d likely find that my motives are never 100% pure.
But.. I do think they are partly pure. Maybe mostly pure. Mostly, I do what I do for the Lord, I do it for a heavenly reward, and not for an earthly one. And yet, their motivation is not less pure than mine.
They can do the same works that I can do, and they can be just as motivated and sincere towards God.
False Christians sincerely think they are doing their works for the Lord too.
People think God wants them to save the planet. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to negotiate peace. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to end world hunger. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to heal their fellow man. So they become doctors for the Lord.
People think God wants them to cast out devils. So they cast them out for the Lord.
(But why?? Jesus already did all of this!)
People think God wants them to battle communism. So they fight for the Lord.
People think God wants them to end racism and police violence. So they fight for the Lord.
People think God wants them to build churches in South America. So they build them for the Lord.
People think God wants them to teach Sunday school. So they teach for the Lord.
People think God wants them to sing in the choir or lead the worship service. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to invite people to church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to organize church activities. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to give money to their church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to dress up nice and greet people at the front door of the church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to become a deacon, or a Pastor. So they do it for the Lord.
They can do everything that a Real Christian can do. And they can do these things with sincere motives! Perhaps with even more sincere motives than Real Christians. They want God to be pleased with them!
Do they want to be seen of men. Partly. But so do Real Christians.
The unsaved, the saved, and the false brethren that THINK they are saved… they all do the same things with the same sincerity in their motives.
The unsaved do the same things, and with the same motives. They do it for the Lord. They do it in His name! Have they not…?!
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Lord, Lord, have we not…!? Have we not done it for you!? Are they all liars?
(You bet they are.. and so are you!)
But I don’t think they are sitting here knowingly trying to deceive their Judge. They are pleading their case. They sincerely believe that they did good things FOR HIM.
See, it’s not about the motive. Its not about how sincere the heart is. It’s not about the reason WHY behind the work. Either a work is good or it is evil, and the motive behind its performance has nothing to do with it. Either fruit is good or it is evil, and the motive behind bringing it forth is irrelevant.
A Christian was not created to do these good works in the earth after salvation. You could already do all these things before salvation. If that’s what Jesus, through His death, created us to do, He died in vain. What a waste!
You could do all these things before salvation! Unsaved people do all these things. False brethren do all these things. They can do the same things you do, and with the same motivation. Sometimes clean, sometimes less than clean. But the SAME as you and me.
The motivation can be clean, but the “good works” can still be FAKE.
The only difference is what is IN their heart.
Not the motivation. No… the Understanding!
A good work must be done “in Christ”, “in truth”, “by understanding”.
Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The problem was not the motivation. The problem was a lack of knowledge. The problem was the understanding!
Isaiah 27:11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, …
They are not rejected because their motivation was unclean. They are rejected because they lack understanding. Without knowledge, your works are rejected. Your works are counted less than nothing, and iniquity. Without knowledge, you cannot bring forth a “good thing” for the Lord.
Recall that the only “good work” in the whole OT was building the city of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
That is the true good work: building New Jerusalem, building the house of God.
This is what we should be striving to do! If we build God’s house, in truth, spiritually, there is no way He can reject our works.
(CAUTION: In truth that is! Be careful here! Don’t build God’s house with the wrong things.
1 Cor. 3:11-15, Mic. 3:10, Hab. 2:12, Jer. 22:13)
Micah 3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Well, how is one supposed to build God’s house Scripturally? How is a house builded?
.
.
.
By understanding, of course.
Proverbs 24:3 Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
That is how you build a house in Earth, and if God’s house is going to please Him, and last forever, it needs to be built by wisdom.
Its not just a few verses here and there. This is with a lot of precedent.
Who was the first man to build God a house? Rather.. a tent.. a tabernacle.
Moses. And in order to build the tabernacle, Moses had the spirit of wisdom on him.
Numbers 11:17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Deuteronomy 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
If Moses transferred it to Joshua before he died, you can bet it was on Moses first. Moses had the spirit of wisdom. And Moses used that wisdom to make the “good work” of the tabernacle.
But while Moses made the tabernacle, he was like the architect, he didn’t make it with his own hands. Someone else did. And that man, and all the men that made the tabernacle and the things in it, also had the spirit of wisdom.
Exodus 31:2-6 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, … 6 … and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
This is the precedent. God’s house must be built by understanding.
God’s works must be wrought by wisdom.
Of King Solomon who built the Temple of the Lord, we note the wisdom put in his heart:
1 Kings 3:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
David, whose motivation was to build a house for the Lord, but who shed much blood, didn’t get to build the house. But Solomon, who had peace and rest from wars, had shed no blood, he built the house. And he built it, by wisdom.
But Solomon, like Moses, was also like the architect. And of Hiram the lead foreman, who built it with him it is said that he also was filled with wisdom.
1 Kings 7:13-14 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
So that is both the architect and the head foreman of both the tabernacle and the first temple, both were given wisdom directly from the Lord to do this “good work”.
There is no good work, done without wisdom! All the Lord’s works are done in wisdom.
Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
There is no good work and no fruit without knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
Colossians 1:9-10 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
All our works should be done and shown with wisdom.
James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
The word of God is the good work, and by wisdom we bring it forth.
Instead, with a lack of understanding, there can be no good works.
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Doing good requires knowledge of how to do it. Because true good cannot be done naturally, carnally.
Without understanding spiritual things, your works cannot be “good”.
One must do good in truth, with understanding. But wisdom and understanding is not only something you have, it is a place!
Job 28:20,23 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? … 23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
The difference between good works and evil works, is the PLACE it comes from. It must come from a spiritual, heavenly place. A good work must come from the Spirit, and not the flesh.
We were created IN CHRIST JESUS unto good works. And IN CHRIST is the PLACE that we must work.
The only way we can do true good works is IN the Holy Spirit. The only way we can bring forth true good things is from the Holy Spirit. Not from our old heart of the flesh. From a new spiritual heart.
Not from a clean motivation. But from a clean Spirit.
And the things… the “good things” themselves are the words that we bring forth. The words of eternal life. They must be brought forth with wisdom. We must build the house of God in heaven with wisdom. Wisdom, is the only way to truly build a house. (1) Get wisdom and (2) Give wisdom.
By wisdom, a spiritual man can bring forth true “good things”.
Nov 7 2021
The Lord’s Work – Part 26
Downloadable Word document:
The Lord’s Work – Part 26
The Lord’s Work – Part 26
We are saved by WORDS.
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Luke 8:12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
Acts 11:13-14 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
We are saved by words. That is what our salvation is.
Psalms 119:123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.
The word of His righteousness is the gospel: that we are saved by: His righteousness.
This is the very first instance of the words “word” and “work” appearing together in the whole Bible. It is not only incredibly significant WHAT is said, but it is incredibly significant WHO says it:
Exodus 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
Do you know who says this?
.
.
.
Pharoah says this.
Ezekiel 29:3 Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
And do you know who Pharoah is?? … Satan.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
That Pharoah in Egypt was a shadow of Satan, but the true Pharoah IS Satan. “the great dragon”.
Exodus 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.
Do you know who says this? Satan says this.
That is Satan’s doctrine: we need “more work”! Not just a bunch of vain words!
The words of God are never vain. The WORDS of Jesus are LIFE. They give life. WORDS save. WORDS alone, give eternal life. And man will be judged BY WORDS alone.
But to man, as preached by the deceiver himself, “words without physical actions are meaningless! Words without outward works are vain!”
This is the deception: we need more works, and not mere words, to justify ourselves. We need more WORK!
Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
If otherwise than by grace (if by works), then you get NO MORE GRACE.
If otherwise than by works (if by grace), then there is NO MORE WORK.
If salvation comes OTHERWISE than by works, then there is NO MORE WORK
If otherwise than by works.. that is, if grace is present, then there is NO MORE WORK.
If you have received GRACE, then there is NO MORE WORK.
But the great dragon says, “Let there more work be laid upon the men…”
John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Words. We are saved by words. The only good things that we can bring forth are WORDS.
Without these words of eternal life, we can do NOTHING. We can bring forth NOTHING. Less than nothing!
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
People who think they are Christians, that is, false brethren (Liar Christians), love to point out that God “created us unto good works”, deducing that, what this obviously means is that, a Christian’s life inevitably will be, must be, has to be better, full of good deeds.
We were not merely “created unto good works”. We were not improved.
We were “created”. A new creature. Born again.
We were created “in Christ Jesus”. Not in the world. Not in the flesh. Not even in our hearts.
It says that we SHOULD walk in good works. Nowhere in the verse does it say that we all do good works.
But yes, of course He created us unto good works! But see, that NECESSITATES that we could not do good works beforehand!! That is of course, why He had to create us, as new creatures, to do good works. Because we COULD NOT do them naturally. We could not do them before salvation. Neither can we do them in the flesh now.
A Christian is not created unto “better works”. Or improved unto MORE good works. Or unto a more sincere heart.
Where were we created unto good works? Where is that that we were both created, and are now able to work good? In Christ. We work good In Christ. Not in the flesh, not in the world.
The flesh profiteth nothing. The flesh did not profit at salvation, and the flesh cannot produce a profit after salvation. In the flesh, we can’t do anything different now than before we were saved. We can do anything that the unsaved can do. And… the unsaved can do everything we can do! We do the SAME THINGS (Romans 2).
I can do anything that they can do, and they can do anything that I can do (with only one exception – my words). But even having been “created unto good works”, my carnal works are still no more good now.
And its not about our purposes or our motivations.
They say, “well the difference is that before salvation we only did things for ourselves, but now we do them for the Lord”. Really? Only?
My heart is no better or more sincere than a false Christian! I like to think when I serve the Lord I ONLY do it for the Lord, but that would be a lie. My motivation is not 100% pure.
Truthfully, I like to be seen of men. Naturally. I can’t help it. I can’t stop. I like to receive praise. I wish I didn’t. But its nice. It feels good. It helps me to feel validated and confident and bold, and even… prideful! And sometimes I want and need thanks and appreciation from men. I’m no better. Sometimes when I do something that no one else sees, I just can’t stand it being done in secret. I need to tell somebody. Sometimes I boast about it. Sometimes, my motivations are just as unclean as the worst wolf in sheep’s clothing there is.
Sometimes, I do things completely for the wrong reasons: sometimes I want to hurt people. Sometimes, I do the right thing, not with a clean mind, but in anger. Sometimes, I preach the gospel in hate, and not in love.
I would like to say I only do things for the Lord, in the fear of the Lord, and I expect no recompense in the earth and no praise of men. But if all my thoughts were exposed, you’d likely find that my motives are never 100% pure.
But.. I do think they are partly pure. Maybe mostly pure. Mostly, I do what I do for the Lord, I do it for a heavenly reward, and not for an earthly one. And yet, their motivation is not less pure than mine.
They can do the same works that I can do, and they can be just as motivated and sincere towards God.
False Christians sincerely think they are doing their works for the Lord too.
People think God wants them to save the planet. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to negotiate peace. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to end world hunger. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to heal their fellow man. So they become doctors for the Lord.
People think God wants them to cast out devils. So they cast them out for the Lord.
(But why?? Jesus already did all of this!)
People think God wants them to battle communism. So they fight for the Lord.
People think God wants them to end racism and police violence. So they fight for the Lord.
People think God wants them to build churches in South America. So they build them for the Lord.
People think God wants them to teach Sunday school. So they teach for the Lord.
People think God wants them to sing in the choir or lead the worship service. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to invite people to church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to organize church activities. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to give money to their church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to dress up nice and greet people at the front door of the church. So they do it for the Lord.
People think God wants them to become a deacon, or a Pastor. So they do it for the Lord.
They can do everything that a Real Christian can do. And they can do these things with sincere motives! Perhaps with even more sincere motives than Real Christians. They want God to be pleased with them!
Do they want to be seen of men. Partly. But so do Real Christians.
The unsaved, the saved, and the false brethren that THINK they are saved… they all do the same things with the same sincerity in their motives.
The unsaved do the same things, and with the same motives. They do it for the Lord. They do it in His name! Have they not…?!
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Lord, Lord, have we not…!? Have we not done it for you!? Are they all liars?
(You bet they are.. and so are you!)
But I don’t think they are sitting here knowingly trying to deceive their Judge. They are pleading their case. They sincerely believe that they did good things FOR HIM.
See, it’s not about the motive. Its not about how sincere the heart is. It’s not about the reason WHY behind the work. Either a work is good or it is evil, and the motive behind its performance has nothing to do with it. Either fruit is good or it is evil, and the motive behind bringing it forth is irrelevant.
A Christian was not created to do these good works in the earth after salvation. You could already do all these things before salvation. If that’s what Jesus, through His death, created us to do, He died in vain. What a waste!
You could do all these things before salvation! Unsaved people do all these things. False brethren do all these things. They can do the same things you do, and with the same motivation. Sometimes clean, sometimes less than clean. But the SAME as you and me.
The motivation can be clean, but the “good works” can still be FAKE.
The only difference is what is IN their heart.
Not the motivation. No… the Understanding!
A good work must be done “in Christ”, “in truth”, “by understanding”.
Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The problem was not the motivation. The problem was a lack of knowledge. The problem was the understanding!
Isaiah 27:11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, …
They are not rejected because their motivation was unclean. They are rejected because they lack understanding. Without knowledge, your works are rejected. Your works are counted less than nothing, and iniquity. Without knowledge, you cannot bring forth a “good thing” for the Lord.
Recall that the only “good work” in the whole OT was building the city of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
That is the true good work: building New Jerusalem, building the house of God.
This is what we should be striving to do! If we build God’s house, in truth, spiritually, there is no way He can reject our works.
(CAUTION: In truth that is! Be careful here! Don’t build God’s house with the wrong things.
1 Cor. 3:11-15, Mic. 3:10, Hab. 2:12, Jer. 22:13)
Micah 3:10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Well, how is one supposed to build God’s house Scripturally? How is a house builded?
.
.
.
By understanding, of course.
Proverbs 24:3 Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
That is how you build a house in Earth, and if God’s house is going to please Him, and last forever, it needs to be built by wisdom.
Its not just a few verses here and there. This is with a lot of precedent.
Who was the first man to build God a house? Rather.. a tent.. a tabernacle.
Moses. And in order to build the tabernacle, Moses had the spirit of wisdom on him.
Numbers 11:17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Deuteronomy 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.
If Moses transferred it to Joshua before he died, you can bet it was on Moses first. Moses had the spirit of wisdom. And Moses used that wisdom to make the “good work” of the tabernacle.
But while Moses made the tabernacle, he was like the architect, he didn’t make it with his own hands. Someone else did. And that man, and all the men that made the tabernacle and the things in it, also had the spirit of wisdom.
Exodus 31:2-6 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: 3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, … 6 … and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
This is the precedent. God’s house must be built by understanding.
God’s works must be wrought by wisdom.
Of King Solomon who built the Temple of the Lord, we note the wisdom put in his heart:
1 Kings 3:12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
David, whose motivation was to build a house for the Lord, but who shed much blood, didn’t get to build the house. But Solomon, who had peace and rest from wars, had shed no blood, he built the house. And he built it, by wisdom.
But Solomon, like Moses, was also like the architect. And of Hiram the lead foreman, who built it with him it is said that he also was filled with wisdom.
1 Kings 7:13-14 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre. 14 He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
So that is both the architect and the head foreman of both the tabernacle and the first temple, both were given wisdom directly from the Lord to do this “good work”.
There is no good work, done without wisdom! All the Lord’s works are done in wisdom.
Psalms 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
There is no good work and no fruit without knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
Colossians 1:9-10 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
All our works should be done and shown with wisdom.
James 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
The word of God is the good work, and by wisdom we bring it forth.
Instead, with a lack of understanding, there can be no good works.
Jeremiah 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Doing good requires knowledge of how to do it. Because true good cannot be done naturally, carnally.
Without understanding spiritual things, your works cannot be “good”.
One must do good in truth, with understanding. But wisdom and understanding is not only something you have, it is a place!
Job 28:20,23 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? … 23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
The difference between good works and evil works, is the PLACE it comes from. It must come from a spiritual, heavenly place. A good work must come from the Spirit, and not the flesh.
We were created IN CHRIST JESUS unto good works. And IN CHRIST is the PLACE that we must work.
The only way we can do true good works is IN the Holy Spirit. The only way we can bring forth true good things is from the Holy Spirit. Not from our old heart of the flesh. From a new spiritual heart.
Not from a clean motivation. But from a clean Spirit.
And the things… the “good things” themselves are the words that we bring forth. The words of eternal life. They must be brought forth with wisdom. We must build the house of God in heaven with wisdom. Wisdom, is the only way to truly build a house. (1) Get wisdom and (2) Give wisdom.
By wisdom, a spiritual man can bring forth true “good things”.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine • 0