Tower Building, #101
by Pastor Bulldog
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish" (Luke 14:28-30).
"You have been advised," is the tone of the Master's voice as he teaches his disciples with this kingdom parable in Luke. He is illustrating that whoever would be His disciple must be prepared with a tower-building mentality; able to visualize the cost of building stone upon stone.
You may be saying, “What has a tower got to do with my affliction? I'm sick!” And the answer is ... believers should understsnd that accepting Christ as saviour is only the beginning of a glorious lifetime of spiritual growth, illustrated by tower-building.
In ancient Palestine towers were built to protect vineyards, sheep, and for vineyard keepers and shepherds. They were built tall in high places, sometimes as parts of city walls, or separately, for observation, protection, and defense against predators; man or beast.
When the Lord had delivered him from his enemies, the sweet Psalmist of Israel called the Lord, ”[my] goodness, my fortress; my high tower, my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust… (Psalm 144:2).”
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Building a spiritual tower costs dearly. Studying to know God from the word of instruction that he left us, calls for a cost of absolute love, unfeigned faith, obedience and time. The cost could be too severe for today’s average church member; more than someone is willing to pay.
A tower must be on a sure foundation: “... Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16).”
Many want to know how to attain eternal life and ask to be placed on that foundation. But like the rich man that Jesus told to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, the influence of the world system makes the cost was too much for him.
He turned aside preferring the tarnished relics of a world system of sin and pleasure. I feel sorry for that poor rich idiot. He was blinded to the simple concept of “love God with all heart, mind, soul, and body.” The Lord wanted all of him: experience, fortune, and loyalty.
If he had shown willingness to follow Jesus, he could have become a valuable disciple and a faithful steward of his own possessions, washed and restored. And … maybe he would have had his name in the Bible, instead of just “rich man.”
The Cost:
- Surrender All to Jesus:
- to love Jesus more than family members;
- to love Jesus more than his own life,
- to love Jesus more than any or all of his possessions,
- to deny oneself,
- to pick up one’s cross and follow Jesus,
- to expect to be hated of all men for “His name's sake.”
”These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” ”And: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Matthew 10:22).”
Towers are actually made of lofty goals and implemented by disciples, which make for easy attitude measurements of how sincere one is when singing, “Oh, How I Love Jesus.” Building your spiritual tower is to snap “living” stones in place, one on top of the other, on the sure foundation.
These new hopeful disciples are “lively [living building] stones,“ as Peter calls them, ”built up a spiritual [tower], an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2:5).
“Foundation stone,” then, calls for another tower to build; the Church of God, which has merged together in one, Gentiles and Jews who have decided to follow Jesus. ”For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ (1Corinthians 3:11).”
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Does God Intervene Into the Affairs of Men?
Do Policemen Like Coffee and Donuts?
Ananias, a humble church member in Damascus, a common man of no significant reputation, except that the Bible refers to him as a “certain disciple,” was a faithful believer, growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. He was ready when Jesus spoke to him in a vision to receive Paul, “… a chosen vessel to the Lord, to bear his name before the Gentiles ….” The Lord placed him exactly where he was for a reason, “Behold, I am here, Lord.”
Paul built his tower on the foundation of the LAW as given to Moses. He received a Rabbinical education, a zealous defender of the LAW, persecuting believers of “that way,” consenting to the martyrdom of Stephen, when he was blinded by a heavenly light so that he fell off his “high horse.” He met Jesus, the fulfillment of the LAW, who told him to go to a certain disciple in Damascus where he would get his sight back and receive inner light form the whole counsel of God. “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
A common man, Ananias, discipled the acclaimed and powerful persecutor of believers, so that Paul built a new tower on the Church’s one foundation, which is Jesus Christ, the Lord. His tower protected much fruit, a hundred-fold, for he was a church planter as well, to all they in Asia and to the Gentiles through Europe.
Is your tower a refuge, an escape, an armory for putting on the whole armor of God, and for a place to worship and to heal. Have you started to build your tower since having believed? Or did you consider the cost too much and decided to suffer the shame of not completing your growth in Christ?
"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 (1Corinthians 3:13)."
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New and hopefully permanent email addresses for Pastor Bulldog:
omc.fmh@gmail.com : Both email addresses are sent to the same Inbox. =====================================
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