Long-Term Thinking

Good afternoon, brethren.

Mr. Sarracco’s message really resonated with me near and dear to my heart. That was actually the scripture I used in my first ever sermonette. And it emerged from something that happened to me that most of you probably haven’t heard because it was a sermonette and it wouldn’t be in the library. But I didn’t know until reading that verse there in Matthew how dangerous pigs were. And I did research and found that they’re quite dangerous. And it made a story that occurred early in my life all the more relevant. How many have heard the term going out on a limb? I’m sure you have. Well, I went out on a limb in the truest sense. I was at a park and I could hear the pigs behind a fence, but I couldn’t see the pigs. It was at a kind of farm-themed park, hearkening back to the way life was in the eighteen hundreds there in Richmond. And I got this brilliant idea to climb up a tree, it was a relatively high fence, and shimmy out onto a branch.

And as I was getting further and further out on that limb, my weight started sagging it more and more, and it snapped. I fell, hit my head, and was unconscious down in the pig pen. So after learning that pigs regularly eat farmers that slip and fall unconscious, I realized I may have been the subject of a miracle very early on. But incredible how dangerous swine are. And I had to throw that in because of the message we just heard, which I very much appreciated.

I want to start now with a question. This message, not coming off of the last message. A question. And we’re not going to immediately answer that question. You can ponder it. Maybe a few of you will guess the answer early on. I don’t know that I’d have been able to get the answer. In fact, I know I wouldn’t have. And we’ll answer it deeper in the message, and we’ll build to it and build on it after we do answer it.

The question is, what did the Apostle Paul most want brethren to understand? You could argue there are a few ways to answer it, but there’s something explicit that we’ll again build to and build on. What did the Apostle Paul most want you and I to understand about this way of life? You think back to, for instance, the Apostle John. He said, “I wish above all else that you’d prosper and be in good health.” That’s an easier one. Spiritually prosper, physically prosper. What about the Apostle Paul? What did he want brethren most focused on? What did he talk to God about constantly, pray to God about constantly? The Bible is pretty explicit.

The answer to that is all important. We’ll take a bit of a left turn here, but it’s not really a left turn. It ultimately relates to what we’re going to talk about. We live in what has been called a throwaway society. Now is the day of plastic containers and vehicles that people only drive for a few years and then they’ve got to have the latest and greatest. The days of things breaking early in their life cycle, planned obsolescence, you’ve probably heard the term.

If a marketer cannot repeatedly sell you the same thing, companies go out of business. It’s in a company’s interest in this consumer society, in this internet connected society where everyone can be advertised to at all times to constantly make you feel like you need new products. You think of the throwaway society, you can approach it from many angles, but think of something as simple as a razor, if you’re a gentleman. Back in the day, you’d have a straight razor. It would last you decades. Some of them would even last to the point where you could pass it down to your son. Just a hunk of steel that you could constantly refresh and use over and over and over again.

Well, over time, marketers began to realize, “Well, if I’m in the razor blade industry, this isn’t sustainable.” So they created the safety razor, where you had this beautiful handle, strong. I’m sure most of you men in here, your fathers shaved with a safety razor. Beautiful, strong piece of steel, again, hefty, weighty, something you could hang onto, something, again, you could pass down. The only thing that became disposable was that little blade. Put the blade on, you’d take the blade off when it was dull, and you’d put a new sliver of steel on.

Well, still, how much profit comes from those little tiny pieces of steel? We’ve got to make two blade razors. No, no, no, we’ve got to make three blade razors. Now everyone seems to shave with five blade razors. You not only throw away the razor blade, but in many cases, you throw away the handle too. It’s a throwaway society designed for the consumer. Planned obsolescence. Things are designed to go bad, to break.

Even within the military, biggest example you could think of. They make highly sophisticated weaponry. It works. But think about it. They’re creating products that literally blow up, so you have to create new ones. The name of the game is consumerism. More and more, things that break, things that need to be replaced.

Well, God is different. God, who’s been here for eternity, who inhabits eternity, is different. He’s into things that last, things that last, things that remain, that endure, that are permanent in a certain sense. Sometimes quick results are necessary. You think of our wall to the south, very effective. We’ve cut immigration dramatically, illegal immigration dramatically. It’s essentially a flimsy metal wall that will rust over time, not very aesthetically pleasing, but it’s serving its purpose in the immediate. It’s keeping people out, but a relatively temporary structure.

Compare that to, for instance, the Great Wall of China, ten thousand plus, I think, thirteen thousand miles of brickwork, stonework, designed to keep northern invaders out of China. Still standing to this day, centuries later. If you look into the Great Wall of China, it’s fascinating. Here’s the Google AI overview. The Great Wall of China is a massive, multi-generational defense system built over two thousand years. It lasts. It lasted. It’s still here today. Still serving its purpose today. Stretching roughly fifty-five hundred miles across northern China.

Primarily built during the Ming Dynasty, it features fortresses, watchtowers, and barriers with about seventy percent being constructed wall and the rest using natural terrain. Fifty-five hundred miles is cited there, but there are actually walls that run parallel to each other to prevent waves of invaders. It’s a series of walls built by various dynasties, often including parallel walls.

And it was primarily designed as a military defense system comprised of brick, stone, and rammed earth featuring, in some sections, towers, fortresses, and beacons. It has stood the test of time. It’s older than our country is, to put it into perspective. We’re about to celebrate our two hundred and fiftieth as America. This wall was there for, what? Was built eight times as long ago as we’ve been in existence. Astonishing. Well, God is building something that lasts, brethren. He’s the ultimate builder. Turn to Hebrews Chapter eleven, Hebrews eleven.

Hebrews eleven and verse six, “Without faith, it’s impossible to please Him, for He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He’s a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” We have certain promises. We know we can count on those promises. And God, as our Father, is pleased if we’re willing to count on them because it means that we trust Him. We diligently seek Him and trust that He’ll reward us.

“By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which He condemned the world and became heir of righteousness, which is by faith.” He built something. Took a long time to build it. It had a great purpose. But that’s not the building we’re talking about here in this passage. “By faith, Abraham,” Verse eight, “when He was called to go out into a place where he should after receive an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith, he sojourned in the land of promise.”

God told him to leave his homeland, and he obeyed, he listened, and he trusted that God would reward him for that. We see part of that promise here in this verse. “He sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.” They’re heirs of the same promise, just as you and I are heirs of the same promise. It’s a promise universal to the saints. “For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Abraham was willing to leave his affluent lifestyle in a seemingly very permanent city. He was a wealthy man. His father was a wealthy man. He’d have done well if he stayed where he was, but he knew there was something beyond that physical city that he could have enjoyed, that he could have rose to prominence in. He sought a city which has foundations, real foundations, eternal foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

God is building, brethren, a permanent place. This city, you could say, is at the center of it, but He’s building a permanent kingdom, the kingdom you and I are seeking to enter, the kingdom that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob sought to enter, the city that all these saints in this faith chapter sought to enter.

They wanted something permanent because God is into permanent. He’s into the eternal. That’s what He wants to give us, eternal life alongside Him. He wants us to have what He has. And the entrance into that subject, for our purposes, is this city which has foundations that God Himself built. But He’s building something even more important than a city, of course. We understand that. And that’s why He’s put laborers in place.

Here is Paul. We won’t answer the question yet. What was most on Paul’s mind. First Corinthians three. What he most wanted on brethren’s minds, what he asked God about constantly. First Corinthians three, Verse one, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I’ve fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither are you now able. For you are yet carnal: whereas there’s among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?”

Once we’re converted, once we receive God’s Holy Spirit, we’re not automatically in the God family. We’ve got things to work out, every one of us. The Corinthians here had a lot they were dealing with in terms of spiritual problems. They were yet carnal. I’ve heard it put, when you receive God’s Holy Spirit, it’s been said you’re point one percent God, and the objective is to grow in the Holy Spirit and eventually become composed of it altogether, but they were yet carnal, Paul was saying.

“While one says, I’m of Paul; and another, I’m of Apollos; Are you not yet carnal?” Are you not carnal? Focused on men rather than the God who’s working through those men to a great end. “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed even as the Lord gave every man? I have planted, and Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is He that plants anything, neither is He that waters; but God that gives the increase.”

I’m not a plant type man, plant type guy. The Houks once gave me a plant when I was a single man, and Mrs. Houk told me that you need to water it I think once a month and it will live forever, and it died within six months. I’m almost ashamed to report that. And it lived six months without being watered once a month or maybe even twice a month. When you’re colorblind, green and brown looks the same. It looked just as good to me as the day I got it until it started to actually shrink.

But now I’m married to a plant person and I’ve actually come to appreciate them. I don’t want any more of them, believe me, but I’ve come to appreciate them in the sense that my wife goes around and waters these plants. It’s not him that waters or, as Paul said, he or her that waters. And they just grow. And it really is, it’s amazing. God gives the increase. There’s nothing man can do to generate life. We can care for things, and then God, by the way He has the universe structured, makes things grow.

Well, the same is true spiritually. Ministers can teach brethren things. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. You can read in your Bible certain things. You can read in The Pillar magazine or The Real Truth magazine certain things, and you can act on them, but ultimately it’s God who gives the increase. He’s doing something in each and every one of us, and it’s miraculous. That’s why Paul is saying, “Don’t focus on the man, focus on God who gives the increase.”

“For we are laborers together with God: You are God’s husbandry, you are God’s building,” meaning His architecture or structure. So yes, God is building a city, a city whose foundations are built by God, but more important than that city are the inhabitants of it, those who make up the city, the people, you and I, those who want to be eternal in that eternal city.

And ultimately we want everyone to be eternal, everyone to be permanent. That’s God’s ultimate goal. He wishes that all men would be saved. And He’s using us to that end. But God is an architect. He’s a builder and He’s an architect. Very plain. “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder.” So God has, as a builder, employed other builders to help with His grand project, to help with His biggest project. “I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how He builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Foundation is crucial.

“Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” God wants allies in this process. We’re building in our own lives. He wants us to build with good materials. We’ll elaborate on that shortly.

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, He shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire. Know you that you are the temple of God,” Paul asked, “and that the spirit of God dwells in you?”

Yes, you’re seeking a permanent city out there, but right now you’re the temple of God. Right now, he says, God dwells in us. The stakes are already high. No, we’re not yet in that permanent city, but God is living in us now. Amazing. “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.”

“Focus on God’s principles,” Paul says, “not on the world’s principles.” If somebody leaves God’s church and attacks it, attempts to destroy it, or if somebody commits the unpardonable sin, they just don’t care anymore about the temple of God, very serious, Paul says. So God is a builder. He’s, of course, an engineer. He knows how to stitch the body together. We’ve learned more about that than we ever have in that recent sermon on government. But He’s also, this verse says, an architect. Architect’s plan ahead.

I remember as a boy, we’d have to sometimes go and see Mr. Childry was his name. He was my dad’s architect. If it was a bigger project we were working on, you had to go to the architect, the architect had to draw up your plans, and then you had to get those plans approved. It inherently requires planning. Architecture is the stage that precedes building. Architects don’t let things happen haphazardly within the sequence of building a structure. So it would be fitting then to ask, how long has God been working on this project? This project, this building that involves you, and that involves me, and that involves everyone that God has been working with, how long has He been working on this project?

Turn to Matthew twenty-five. Let’s elaborate on that eternal city that Abraham sought. Matthew twenty five, Verse thirty one, “When the son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, when He shall sit upon the throne of His glory: And before Him shall be divided all nations: and He’ll separate from one another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: He’ll set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left. Then shall the King say unto them on the right hand, ‘Come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’”

So this kingdom that God has prepared for us has been a long time in the works. “From the foundation of the world: For I was hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: Sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.” He’s looking for people in this kingdom who will care about one another, who will care about other people, who will attempt to edify the house, to build up the house, to build up the other citizens, who want to help the other citizens, serve the other citizens.

“I was thirsty: and you gave me drink: Stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: Sick, and you visited me in prison, and you came to me.” Then shall the righteous answer to Him saying, “Lord, when did we see these things?” Verse forty, “And as much as you’ve done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you’ve done it to me. Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed and everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was hungry, and you gave me no meat: thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: Naked, and you clothed me not: Sick and in prison, and you visited me not.’ Then shall they say unto Him also, ‘Lord, when did we see you in these conditions?’”

Verse forty-five, “Verily I say unto you, and as much as you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Into that kingdom that God has prepared for them, into that everlasting place God has prepared for them, into their place in that city whose foundations are built by an eternal being.

First Peter one. First Peter one. So this place we’re going to has long been in the works. Let’s take it a step further. First Peter one. The place has long been in the works. But God knew that working with flesh, working with people who were not yet permanent, He had to devise a way to make us perfect, to make us permanent. And being flesh and blood, being like those Corinthians, carnal, we weren’t going to be perfect from the womb. He had to have a plan. Remember, this is a long-time project, many moving parts, many factors at play that God had to take account for.

First Peter one and verse three, “Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We start to see what it is that God added to His plan so that we could move from the carnal to the spiritual. “To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you.” An awesome future that God has offered to us.

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you’re in heaviness through manifold temptations.” It can be tough in this life, but we keep our eye on the prize. We keep our eye fixed on that inheritance, on that calling. And I’m tipping my hand here, but you’d think Peter would want the same for the brethren, for us, that Paul wanted. We’ll build to that again. “Wherein you greatly rejoice.”

Though now verse seven, “The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen you love; and whom though, now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Christ’s role is central to this long-term plan that’s underway. It wouldn’t be possible without Him. It wouldn’t be possible without He and the Father deciding to send this sinless being down here to die on our behalf. It’s fresh on our minds. We just came out of the Passover season.

Verse eight, “Whom having not seen, you love; and whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you: Searching what, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,” The spirit of Christ is the same spirit that’s in God, the Holy Spirit, of course. There aren’t two spirits.

“When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The Proverbs say where there is no vision, the people perish. Peter is saying, “Look ahead. Meditate on that hope. Meditate on that eternal city. Meditate on your part in it.” Let it be real, but also think on this specific element directly tied to it, Christ’s sacrifice, which we’ll see he explicitly ties to this long-term plan in a second here.

“As obedient children,” verse fourteen, “not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as He which called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conduct. Because it’s written, ‘Be holy for I am holy.’ And if you call on the Father who without respective persons judges according to every man’s work past the time of your sojourning here in fear: For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conduct received by the traditions of your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained, not just from the foundation of the world.”

This kingdom has been planned for us from the foundation of the world, but here we say Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world. “But was manifest in these last times for you.” So God wanted you and I in His family from before the foundation of the world. He said, “It’s one thing to build an eternal city, wonderful, a permanent city that’s going to be here, but if we don’t have people to fill that city, what use is the city?” In other words, the inhabitants of the city are more important than the city itself. So it’s no wonder He devised a plan to get other beings ready to inhabit that city before the foundation of the world. Incredible.

“Who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing as you’ve purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.”

So God put this sacrifice in place before He even made the world, because He had you and I in mind before He made the world, more important than the kingdom itself. I should say, there are certain elements of the kingdom that are more important than others.

A kingdom is comprised, we understand, of four components: Territory, important, laws, important, but if there’s no one to follow the law or administer the law, kind of unnecessary, but then also leaders and subjects, people, those God wants to add to His family, those God wants in His family for eternity. I think it’s fair, I’m not going out on a limb, if I could harken back to my story earlier, going out on a limb saying that the leaders and the subjects are the most important components of the kingdom. I think it’s fair to say.

John seventeen. John seventeen. So this kingdom was long ago planned. Even before that, a sacrifice necessary to get us into the kingdom was planned. Let’s look more at that sacrifice. John seventeen, verse eight. “I’ve given them the words which you gave me.” Christ transmitted the message that the Father delivered to Him to give to us. “And they have received them, and have known surely that I came from you, and believe that you did send me.” Christ brought a credible report, not just in the truth that He spoke, but it was backed up by mighty miracles. No one was without excuse who rejected Christ. It was evident.

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which you’ve given me; for they are yours. And all mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I’m glorified in them. And now I’m no longer in the world, but these are in the world.” He’s about to leave. “And I come to you. Holy Father, keep them through your own name whom you’ve given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name.”

We’re the church of God. We’re under the Father’s name. “Those that you gave me I’ve kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that scripture might be fulfilled. And now I come to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they’re not of the world, even as I’m not of the world. I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil.”

We’re in the world. We live and work and have neighbors that are in the world, and they have a bright future, many of them. But right now, we’re very different in that we’re living lives different from them. There’s nothing they can see other than our conduct that makes us... we don’t have green hair or bigger eyes. We’re not extraterrestrials. We might seem it sometimes, but we’re not extraterrestrials. We’re in the world. We just have a different mission. We’re focused on a city that’s invisible. Try telling that to your neighbor. That’ll cast a pearl before...

I want to take care of my house, but I’m not really concerned about moving to a bigger house or anything. I’m going to actually move into an invisible city one day. Pearls before swine. You’ll get rant. Maybe not to your face, but behind your back.

“They’re not of the world, even as I’m of the world. Sanctify them through your truth: Your word is truth. As you’ve sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they might also be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone,” For those eleven and the others who listened and would go on to conversion, including the Old Testament saints in the vicinity there. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”

There’s a work that has been going on since that time, since the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost in thirty-one AD. And the Lord began adding to the church daily such as should be saved. Down over the centuries, the millennia now, God has been adding others to the Church. Christ was not praying for those alone in the first century, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. You and I, brethren.

“That they may all be one; as you, Father, are in me and I in you, they may also be one in us: that the world might believe that you’ve sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I give them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world might know that you’ve sent me and have loved me and that I have loved them and that you loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom you’ve given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which you have given me: for you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

There’s that phrase again. The Father has long loved Christ. In fact, we know that that’s for eternity. There’s never been a moment where God didn’t love Christ. “You loved me before the foundation of the world,” Christ said. Well, we know Christ has been slain from before the foundation of the world. Presumably, you know, after this moment of inception, not that there is a moment of inception. These things can only be understood to a degree with our limited understanding of physics and time and space. We can’t fully understand how things have always been here. But Christ has been slain from before the foundation of the world, and He’s been loved from before the foundation of the world.

Foundation just means the founding, the conception, but it also means the deposition. You know, you think of if you sit for a deposition, the lawyers will ask for information and you’re laying fact upon fact and eventually you grow this body of evidence. Well, it’s usually used in a legal sense, but it’s also used in a geological sense. You think of erosion where water or wind wears away material. The opposite of erosion is deposition, geologically speaking. The addition of material to build something. So you’ve loved me since before the accumulation of materials that built this world is another way of putting it.

“O righteous Father, the world has not known you: but I’ve known you and these have known that you sent me.” Now that’s Christ’s role from before the foundation of the world. That’s the plan to give us this city from before the foundation of the world. We know we’ll receive the kingdom. That’s plain from Matthew twenty-five. But let’s answer this question. Now is the time to answer. What was on Paul’s mind? You probably get a pretty good glimpse of what it may have been by this point. You probably have a pretty good grasp of what it is.

But first a concept here. How many have read about or heard about the Great Wealth Transfer that’s currently underway? Okay. I see some hands. Actually a lot of the audience raised their hands. The Great Wealth Transfer is real. What it is is you have families who’ve accumulated wealth over time and they have so much wealth that the interest alone, the investments alone are compounding at a staggering rate and the rich are, sorry to use the cliche, but the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer. The gap between the wealthy and the poor is growing immensely.

And as this article puts it, yes, the Great Wealth Transfer is real. The ongoing economic shift where trillions of dollars in assets are passing from the baby boomer generation to younger generations. Estimates suggest over eighty-four to one hundred and twenty four trillion dollars will transfer in the US through twenty forty five to twenty forty eight, though this wealth is expected to be concentrated among already affluent households, potentially widening inequality.

The transfer is not a universal windfall. Much of the wealth is concentrated, meaning a small percentage of heirs will receive the majority of assets. In one sense you’d say, “Okay, that’s inequitable. It’s unfair.” And we know God doesn’t want us focused on the mammon of this world.

We’re not interested in accumulating vast material wealth. That’s not our purpose. It’s not what we’re called to do. “It’s more blessed to give than to receive,” Christ said. But this concept of a small percentage of heirs receiving the majority of assets should be fascinating to you and I. Working class families may inherit little due to rising healthcare and long-term care costs reducing their parents’ assets. You’ve got some people who are essentially riding the coattails of generational wealth, for better or worse.

Ephesians chapter one. Let’s answer that question we asked out of the gate. What was most on Paul’s mind? What did He most want us to understand? Ephesians chapter one. What one thing did he want ingrained in brethren’s minds? Ephesians one and verse three, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who’s blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He’s chosen Him before the foundation of the world,” there it is again.

“Chosen before the foundation of the world, but chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,” no surprise, “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Built this place for us, sacrificed this being that He’s loved forever for us, devised this plan for us, already put us in His building now, despite the fact that we’re still primarily carnal. But all this for us.

“He’s predestinated us to the adoption of children,” to the sonship, “by Christ Jesus to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” He wanted to do this. He didn’t begrudgingly add us to His plan. He’s wanted this for a long time, longer than we can comprehend as humans. He’s known you and I for longer than we’ve been in existence, far longer than we’ve been in existence. His capacity to think and plan is not only the builder, but the architect of our salvation is almost incomprehensible.

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He’s made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; Wherein He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He’s purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance.”

We have an inheritance, brethren. We’re like those who are the subjects of the Great Wealth Transfer, except the wealth we’re going to receive far outweighs anything that they could hope or imagine they’re receiving. “We’ve obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will.” God just decides to do something, thinks on it, and does it. It’s the counsel of His own will.

Yes, He might receive feedback from others. I’m sure He and Christ discussed what they were doing. Yes, we see, for instance, God taking counsel from the twenty-four elders or from Moses. It’s not to say that He’s impervious to counsel, but He does things after the counsel of His own will. “That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom also you trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance,”

Is a tiny down payment, a tiny foretaste of what we’re going to receive, “until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of His glory. Wherefore, I also,” Here’s Paul giving his take on this, “Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you.” Paul constantly prays to God in a spirit of thanksgiving for the brethren. Why? “Making mention of you in my prayers.”

What did He mention? Just, “Oh, Bob is a really great guy, God. I’m glad I get to see Bob every Sabbath.” No. That’s wonderful. I’m sure if there was a Bob in Corinth or wherever Paul was traveling, wonderful. but no. What did he mention constantly in his prayers to God? What did he cease not to give thanks for? “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.”

We’ve heard a lot about wisdom and knowledge last week. Well, this is the most important wisdom and knowledge in a sense. “That the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know,” this is what Paul was super focused on. This is what He constantly talked to God about. This is why He constantly talked about the brethren’s reward, our reward. This is why Peter constantly talked about our reward and Christ did and other of God’s servants.

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of this calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power,” the magnitude of His power, “to us-ward to believe according to the working of His mighty power.” Paul constantly asked God, “Expand the brethren’s minds. Help them to understand what it is that you’re giving them. Help them to appreciate this calling that’s unlike anything else, that’s understood by very few, that’s offered to very few. Help them to understand, take that in,” was His constant prayer to God.

“Which he wrought in Christ, when He was raised from the dead, and set him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the world, which is to come: And has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.”

Paul wanted, brethren, our minds expanded because He understood that’s the only way to stay motivated. Focus on the goal. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Christ put it that way. Stay focused on that permanent reward that’s coming to you. Stay focused, he said, on the character that you and I need to build that will get us to that permanent kingdom. We can never lose sight of the incredible calling we’ve been given. We must focus on it constantly, just as Paul did, just as Paul constantly prayed to God about it.

Let’s answer Paul’s prayer in a sense. Let’s make sure we’re constantly focused on it. We have a full appreciation for it. There’s a lot we have to focus on. I understand this can’t be the only focus, but it should be front and center. Should be at the core of what we think about. We have an awesome future, brethren, but we also have an awesome present. The future is incredible, but remember we’re God’s building now. Right now we’re living in an extraordinary state.

You think of building materials. We talked about the wall to our south earlier made of steel. Steel is very strong, but over time it will rust. It will corrode. It’s a good building material, but it’s not the best. If you live in the Western world, most of our homes are built out of wood. It’s a great substance. God gave it to us.

The temple was adorned with cedar wood specifically and others as well. The tabernacle used a lot of acacia wood. Many beautiful species of wood, but wood isn’t the best building material. It’ll rot over time if not taken care of. If a fire sweeps through, it doesn’t matter what kind of coating you put on it. It will turn to charcoal and dust. A good material, easy to work with, lightweight, but not the best.

Concrete, very strong. You go to other places in the world and many of their buildings are even residential buildings, homes are built out of concrete. Look at the rubble overseas. It’s very sad, but you see in these conflicts, just these clouds of concrete dust. Most homes in the Middle East are built out of concrete. They might remain in good shape for fifty, sixty, seventy years maybe, have to rejuvenate them, but a concrete driveway twenty, thirty years, whatever it may be. But a lot can go wrong with concrete. It’ll crack over time. It’s not the best material.

The best material by far, talk to any builder, talk to any mason, talk to any engineer or architect, and they’ll tell you stone. Natural stone is the prized building material. Fire won’t take out stone. Water won’t destroy stone. Maybe mortar between stone, but that can be repaired. The elements won’t destroy stone. There are stone buildings that have been in existence for thousands of years and they’re still there.

Harking back to Mr. Sarracco, I was talking to him on the Sabbath and he explained to me something I didn’t know before. Apparently there were pyramids in Egypt that were originally built using brick. Now you can see the outline of the building, but they’ve crumbled in the thousands of years since they were built. Not like the pyramids that we’re familiar with, which are all made of hewn stone, which, if you were to whitewash them, would probably gleam just like they gleamed thousands of years ago when they were first built. They’re still there because they’re made of the best building material, stone. Turn to First Peter, one, twenty-four. Yes, we have an awesome future, but we have a great present as well. First Peter one and verse twenty-four, Peter building on this concept of the temporary versus the permanent.

“For all flesh is as grass and the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower thereof falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore...” chapter two, “...laying aside all malice and all guile and all hypocrisies and envies and evil speakings as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. If so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.”

Christ was a stone in this life rejected of men, not a brick, not a concrete block, not a timber beam, a stone, a living stone disallowed of men, but chosen of God and precious. “You also…” Peter told the brethren, tells us, “…as lively stones are built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” We’re stones now. God could have picked any material to liken us to, but He says, you’re stones in my building. I want you to be permanent, so I’m picking the most permanent building material that I can think of that I created to represent you with, to represent us with.

Stone is the ultimate building material. That’s what we’re made of now by analogy, of course, living stones. When God looks down, my son, he’s a stone. He’s a rock. My daughter, she’s strong. She’s stone. She’s a rock. Not a two-by-four that the fire will ravage or that mold can get to. No, He thinks of us as stone. We just heard about, learned more about when the foundation was laid, central to the time we’re in in terms of prophecy, but the backstory of that stone, that stone foundation being laid, Solomon’s temple foundation being laid is found in First Kings chapter five, First Kings five. Let’s turn there.

God wanted only the best when it came to building His temple, representative ultimately of us. We’re God’s building now, but you look in First Kings five and verse thirteen, after Solomon had these conversations with Hiram, who was King David’s friend, if I’m recalling correctly, the King of Lebanon and Solomon knew that there were materials in Lebanon that he needed to build this temple, and that there were laborers in Lebanon that he needed to build this temple.

We cut into the story here in verse thirteen, First Kings five thirteen, “And Solomon raised a levy out of all 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...” this is Solomon’s laborers to build the temple. “Solomon had three score and ten thousand that bear burdens, seventy thousand people just carrying the materials from Lebanon to Israel, and four score thousand, eighty thousand hewers in the mountains, people cutting wood and cutting stone. Besides the chief of Solomon’s officers, they were over the work three thousand and three hundred, which ruled over the people that wrought in the work.” So the overseers.

Imagine that many people cutting wood and cutting stone for the temple, just seeking out the very best. “And the King commanded and they brought great stones, costly stones and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house and Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them.” So not only that crew of a hundred and fifty thousand that Solomon appointed plus the thirty-three hundred overseers, but also the laborers in Lebanon itself. How many people were searching out these great stones, costly stones, huge stones to lay the foundation of the house? The ultimate search party for the best materials should expand our mind with respect to our calling.

“And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them in the stone squares.” So they prepared timber and stones to build the house, not concrete, not brick, not dirt for that foundation, not wood for that foundation, stone. I’ve inspected some of these stones overseas, and some people speculate that some of these monoliths that you see in Lebanon were part of the stone squaring operations that would have resulted in transport of certain materials down to Israel. But I’ve stood on what’s called, and I’ve talked about this before, the stone of the pregnant woman, which is the... at the time it was thought to be the largest hand cut stone in the world.

It is sixty-seven feet long, roughly, about fifteen, sixteen feet wide, seventeen feet at its widest point, fourteen feet high. Imagine a hewn stone, almost seventy feet long, seventeen feet tall, and fourteen feet wide, giant. But archeologists have since found that just under the surface beside that stone of the pregnant woman, as it’s called, are two other stones that are even bigger. That’s what these people were capable of, incredible, what man can do, but only with the material that God has given him. Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. It’s no wonder Paul wrote this to the Ephesians.

Ephesians two, thirteen. “But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood for He is our peace, who’s made both one and is broken down the middle wall of partition for us having abolished in His flesh, the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances to make Himself twain one new man. So making peace.” He didn’t do away with the law. He did away with certain sacrificial elements. He was the sacrifice. He did away with the penalty for the law if we accept that sacrifice and uphold our end of the deal, not that we can ever earn salvation.

“Having abolished in His flesh the enmity...” okay there. Verse sixteen, “That He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you, which were far off and to them that were near for through Him, we have both access by one spirit under the Father. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God and are built upon...” We are lively stones “…built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord in whom also you are built together for habitation of God through the spirit.”

Now brethren, there’s only one substance that’s more permanent than stone. Only one. You know what it is, I know what it is, Second Corinthians chapter four. There’s only one thing more permanent than stone, which God calls us now stone, Second Corinthians four and verse three.

“But if our gospel be hid, it’s hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them, which believe not less the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine to them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants for Jesus’s sake, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure…” that earnest of the spirit we read earlier, “…in earthen vessels that the excellency of power may be of God and not of us.”

Earthen vessels are subject to destruction. I was attempting to make my wife a large flower pot recently, and I didn’t realize that the temperature had dropped. So my fast setting cement didn’t set right. And when I pulled the form off, it didn’t look right. It should have cured long before I was scratching my head and half of the wall of this pot just crumbled. It’s an earthen vessel, just stone and dust and sand.

“But these earthen vessels that we’re in, our bodies, even though they’re going to crumble just like that pot, even though they have a life expectancy, even if that pot was in perfect shape, it would eventually crumble, it would eventually perish, it would eventually return to earth just like we will. But we have a certain treasure in us, in these earthen vessels, “…that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

“We’re troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We’re perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death works in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it’s written, I believed and therefore I’ve spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not.

“Though our outward man perish…” though this fleshly body perish, though this carnal creation perish, though entropy is at play, we’re winding down, though it perish, “…our inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction…” that pressure we experience, which causes growth, which kicks the learning mechanism into gear, as Mr. Pack has put it, that “…our light affliction…” which is but for a moment, “…works for us…” builds in us a character, “…a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Christ learned by the things He suffered, just as we do.

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen…” we see that city that Abraham could see. We see the invisible, as I think it says Moses saw, or maybe it was Noah, I can’t remember, elsewhere in that faith chapter. We see the invisible. We see things not seen. “We look not for things which are seen, but the things that are not seen. For the things which are seen, ironically, are temporary, temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” The things which were planned from the foundation of the world, this building which has been planned from the foundation of the world.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”

That inward man, that spirit in us that we’re hopefully growing over time, is the only thing more permanent than stone. The only thing more permanent than stone. Turn to John chapter four, John four, verse twenty-three. “The hour comes and now is...” Christ was explaining to this woman at the well who He was talking to about spiritual water, living water. “The hour comes and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” That’s what we do now, brethren. “For the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

And it was just in the previous chapter that He explained to Nicodemus, we have to become spirit because we’re entering the family of God. We’re going to be born again. We’re begotten now, but we’ll be born again composed of that very spirit. A question before we conclude here. Turn to Luke fourteen. How is our building going? With all this set up, with all this knowledge of the building process that God is taking on to produce sons and daughters, how’s our building going? We often look at Luke fourteen in the context of baptismal counseling, in the context of committing to this way of life, but it’s an ongoing commitment.

Luke fourteen and verse twenty-five, “And there went great multitudes with Him and He turned and said to them, Christ, ‘If any man come to Me and hate not, love less...’” meaning his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, there can’t be anything that we put before God in this life. The two great commandments are love man, but the chief is love God. Can’t put anything ahead of Him, including these, wife, children, brethren, sisters, yes... “in his own life, even our own life, he can’t be my disciple, and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me can’t be my disciple. For which of you intending to build a tower sits not down and first counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”

A lot of big building projects involve constantly going to the bank and getting more funding. I remember one of the most memorable instances of, I guess, a tragic outcome to a business venture that I was personally involved with, to a degree, was with my dad and his former business partner. The business partner wanted to go build spec homes in Arizona, and my dad didn’t want to because of the distance, the inability to manage it, and I don’t know if he was nervous about the housing market as well, but this was just prior to the two thousand eight housing market crisis, and I remember seeing these houses that my dad’s business partner built in Arizona, mansions, incomplete, vandalized, windows broken, squatters living in them in the middle of the desert, beautiful homes, and it hits home.

He couldn’t secure further funding. The market went bust. He may have counted the cost at the beginning and thought, “You know, I’ve got what it takes to finish this,” but conditions turned south, and he couldn’t get the funding. We’re constantly counting the cost. The only way to truly count the cost and continue moving forward is to focus on Paul’s answer to the question we had about Paul. We’ve got to cease not, as he put it, to meditate on this awesome calling. That will motivate us beyond anything else. That will keep us going like nothing else.

There is coming a time when God will have a desire to the work of His hands. Looks like it’s very close. Job said he was waiting for that time. We’re all waiting for that time, when God will say, “You know what? This stone is ready. This stone is ready to be transformed into spirit.” That moment is coming. He’s going to finish His work. Philippians chapter one, final scripture here. Philippians one. Philippians one, three.

“I thank God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my request with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” And He’s fully capable of performing it because of that exceeding greatness of His power that Paul spoke of.

Brethren, let’s pray Paul’s prayer and meditate on the things we just heard. Let’s pray that the God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, to again, quote Ephesians one, seventeen, might give unto us the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge of Him, the eyes of our understanding, being enlightened that we may know what is the hope of this calling and the riches... His calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according to the working of His mighty power.