Okay kids are you ready, I mean really ready, to awaken from from your slumber? Your enemies surround you, yes, they are even within you, in your own imagination's and reasoning powers. That was what King David tells us in his Psalms and his son tells us in Proverbs, if we seek not first the Father of our creation first and foremost. Trust NO man or organization of his creation, to do so is to trust the arm of the flesh and is doomed to failure just as the Words of GOD tells us all from within us. (Jeremiah 17:5-8) Also keep this in mind, the synoptic gospels are the close of the old era of Jewish history, as Acts is the beginning of the Age of Grace and faith, in the law of love and life. Okay, lets turn to worldly builders as seen by Job and then by way of a few examples and then to men's plans before heading into unworldliness, the LORD willing.
Worldly Builders, example of,
Job 27:18 of 13-23 "This is the portion of a wicked man with GOD, and the heritage that oppressors receive from the Almighty: If his children are multiplied, it is for the sword, and his descendants have not enough bread. Those who survive him the pestilence buries, and his widows do not weep. Though he heap up silver like dust, and piles up clothing like clay, he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver. He builds his house like a spider web (some translation may say a moth), like a booth that a watchman makes. He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off. The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight. It claps its hands at him and hisses at him from its place."
Jeremiah 22:14 of 13-17 "'Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, "I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms," who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion. Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know Me?' declares the LORD. 'But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.'"
Daniel 4:30 of 28-33 "All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, 'O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom HE will.' Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws."
Luke 6:49 of 46-49 (Jesus is speaking) "'Why do you call Me "Lord, Lord," and not do what I tell you? (Malachi 1:6 of 6-14) Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood (the enemies of man and the trials and tribulations of life) arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.'"
Luke 12:18 of 13-21 "Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, 'Man, who made Me a judge or arbitrator over you?' Then He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' Then He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" Continuing he said, "I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But GOD said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul (My breath) is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward GOD.'"
Now for the Presumptuous Plans, of man, examples of,
The Men after the Flood,
Genesis 11:4 of 1-9 "Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth."
The Natural Man,
Proverbs 19:21a of 18-25 "Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again. Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar. The reverence (fear) of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth. Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge."
The Luxurious King,
Jeremiah 22:13-14, 17 of 13-17 "'Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, who says, "I will build myself a great house with spacious upper rooms, who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it with vermilion." 'Do you think you are a king because you compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me?' declares the LORD. 'But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.'"
The Rich Fool,
Luke 12:18 of 13-21 "Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?' Then He said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" And he said, "I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But GOD said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul (My breath) is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.'"
The Venturesome Business Man,
James 4:13 of 13-17 "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
Our next subject is the unworldliness, which we will look at if the LORD wills.
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