Psalm 127, the title of this message, and accept with
no exceptions. And accept with no exceptions.
You know, there are some accepts in the Word of God that have
absolutely no exceptions. Except you be born again, you
cannot enter the Kingdom of God. except you be converted and become
as little children. You'll not enter the kingdom
of God. No man can come to me except the Father draw him. There's no exceptions to those.
That's exactly how it is. And here's another one, except
the Lord build the house. In these verses, we find that
God is the first cause of all things. Scripture says in 1 Corinthians,
or 2 Corinthians, 5 I believe it is, all things are of God. All things. And God is the first
cause of all things, whether it's building a house, spiritually,
or even physically, naturally. You're building a life, a career,
a family, except the Lord built it. It's going to be in vain. It's useless. He is to have the
preeminence in all things. Everything that concerns me,
He has the preeminence. It starts with Him. It starts
with the Lord. And where he is not recognized,
he left out, he says, your labor and your
life is in vain. It's useless, it's empty. Now it's written to Solomon,
it says there, and that said a song of degrees for Solomon,
but most believe Solomon himself wrote it. I don't know. But it's written, let's say it's
written to Solomon. who was charged with building
the Lord's house. He was charged with that. And
Solomon, who was given wisdom above all people on the earth,
he was given more wisdom than all of them. But this is given
to Solomon that he trusts not in his wisdom. He's going to
take the materials that David, his father, had laid up, but
whose material materials, are they really? They're God's. David didn't create them. God
did. When we build a house, we build it out of the materials
that God made. They're God's material. And so
he's telling Solomon here, or at least Solomon, if he's writing
this, he's not to trust in his own wisdom for this. It's the
Lord who actually built the house. Now God's a God of means. He
uses men and women. He uses means, but God's the
builder. He's the builder. If the Lord does not prosper
our efforts or the efforts of those who don't believe, nothing's
going to happen. Nothing's going to happen. That's
of any real worth. Nothing's gonna happen. You know,
even the wicked, when they build a home or they build a house
or they build a city, God's in that. God has to allow that. God's hand is in that. This is how minutely God is connected
to his own creation. It rains on the just and the
unjust. That garden is God's garden. I don't care if a man
believes or not, it's God's garden. Every man, every woman's bank
account belongs to God. It belongs to God. It's His. You and I have no power at all
to do anything unless God gives it to us. We don't have the power to get
out of bed unless God gives it to us. Listen to this in John
19, verses 10 and 11. Then saith Pilate unto him, unto
our Lord, speakest thou not unto me, knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus
answered. Here's another one of those accepts.
Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it be
given thee from above. No. Satan said to God concerning
Job, you have put a hedge about him. You have blessed. You have
blessed the work of his hands. I can't touch it. And you blessed
him. Job worked and God blessed and
Job gave the glory to God, didn't he? When God took those things,
when the Lord Let Satan touch him and all these things, his
children died and he lost all of his wealth. Job said, the
Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. Blessed. He gave it to me. It's his. If he wants to take
it, he can take it. And he's not going to ask me
if he can. God's not going to consult with me whether he can
take something from me or not. Just as he did not consult with
Job over this matter. Listen to Proverbs 22 to the
rich and poor meet together. The Lord is the maker of them
all, the poor and the rich. He's the maker. Lazarus laying
at the rich man's gate. The Lord is the maker of Lazarus.
And he's the maker of that rich man. But that rich man gave him
no honor. He did not recognize God in all
his riches. He didn't. But Lazarus did. And the reason I say that, because
Lazarus was taken to glory. He's a child of God laying there
at the rich man's gate. The Lord killeth. and maketh
the lie. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. He does these things. The Lord
maketh poor. And there's a real spiritual
significance to these words. He maketh poor. He maketh us
spiritually poor. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
You were not poor in spirit. I was not poor in spirit until
God made me so. He made me realize it. He opened
my eyes. He gave me life, and I realized
I was spiritually bankrupt before God. I have nothing to give to
God. The Lord maketh poor, and He
maketh rich. Spiritually, we are rich in Christ. But even in this world, those
men that are rich, God made them rich. He made them rich. He has made them rich and they've
created these big businesses so that some of his people, his
sheep, will have a job and can work, have a place to live and
food to eat. God's provided that. They don't
know that. Bill Gates don't know that. Warren
Buffett don't know that. But I guarantee there's a sheep
somewhere out there working for him. But God provides these things
for us. He provides them for us. God
said here in Isaiah 45, 7, I formed the light and create darkness. It's not I formed the light and
the devil creates darkness. You know, as he said here, I
kill and I make alive. As one, this woman told me this,
her pastor said to her when her son was killed, he said, God
didn't do that, the devil did that. The devil don't have that
kind of power. He does not have the power to
take life, to give life or to take it. It's not in his hands.
It's not his. I form light and create darkness.
If God leaves you in darkness, you're going to be in darkness.
And the way God creates darkness withholds the light. That's all. There are some people who sit
under the gospel day in, week in, week out, and they never
see it. They never say, I see, I believe. God leaves them in darkness.
They're left in darkness. If the light in you is darkness,
how great is that darkness? I form the light and create darkness.
I make peace and create evil, trouble. I the Lord, Jehovah, I the Lord
do all these things. Now that's a God you can bow
down to. That's a God you can worship. That's a God worth worshiping. This little peanut God who can't
do anything unless you let him, that's no God at all. The God
of this Bible, the God of the Bible is a God that makes poor,
he makes rich, he lifts up, he brings down, he kills, he makes
alive, he gives light, he makes darkness. He does these things.
He's not out there watching this roll on. He's making it happen. He's making it happen. God makes
things happen. The man I ran a business for,
he said, there's three kinds of people. And he told me, he
said, you're gonna be one of these three people. You either
make it happen, watch it happen, or you don't know what's happening.
He said, now you're gonna be one of those three kind of people.
God is one that makes it happen. Nothing happens that he doesn't
make happen. Now, verse one. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. Now, as I said, there's a natural
sense to this and there's definitely a spiritual sense to this. And
I want to apply this to Christ as we get to the end of this.
But when a person is going to build a house, a dwelling place
to live, he or she makes their plans, don't they? And they go
and they use them. They go by the material, which
is God's material. It's his material. Wouldn't it
be wise to seek the Lord? And yet you see all these houses
being built, and I assure you, very few of them have sought
the Lord in any way, shape, or form about building those houses.
And those houses are going to be in vain. They're going to
come to ruin sooner or later. They will. It says in Psalm 24, 1, the earth
is the Lord's, the fullest thereof, and they who dwell therein. It's
all His. It's all His. And if God is not
the first part, He's not the first part of our plans, our
efforts are in vain. They're in vain. Seek the Lord. He's the builder. He's the builder. And these same
people, they go about to build a life. They set out on a career
path, except the Lord built the path. The career, it's in vain. It'll end in vain. Everyone who
perishes under the wrath of God, their whole life was vanity.
Zero, it's vanity. I don't care if the richest man
in the world, when he dies, his whole life is vanity. It's vanity. except the Lord build the path,
it's going to end in vain. If you think that a person is
going to go through this life and ignore God, and it's going
to end up all right, think again. Think again. I don't care if you're the valedictorian
of your class. You're crazy if you leave God
out of it. crazy to not seek the lord at all to leave out
the master builder listen here hebrews 3 4 for every house is
built by some man but he that built all things is god he that
built all things is god and you're going to leave him out of it
you're going to ignore him someone goes about to build a business Shall we not seek the Lord? Shall
that person not seek the Lord first? Listen here, in Ecclesiastes
5.19, Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,
and hath given him power to eat thereof, of that riches and wealth,
to take his portion and to rejoice in his labor, this is a gift
of God. It's a gift of God. To be able to take a portion
of your labor and to rejoice in it and to know where it came
from, to know it's of God, that's a gift of God. But Solomon goes
on to say this also. A man to whom God has given riches,
wealth, and honor so that he wants nothing for his soul of
all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof.
He can't be satisfied. He can't be satisfied. He can't
be content. He just can't, he just still
just, he can't sleep at night. Rich man's riches won't let him
sleep. God hasn't given him power to eat of it and to be satisfied
and content with it. But he says here, but a stranger
eats it. This is vanity. He said, it's an evil disease.
that God would say, give you riches and then not enable you
to eat of it and thank Him and be very thankful to Him? All achievements here, all achievements
are of the Lord. Especially the spiritual, growing
in grace and the knowledge of Christ, that's of God. That's
of God. How many times, and I've seen
this so much over the years, so often the person working for
the rich man is happier than the rich man? The rich man is
worried about his riches. As I just quoted, the rich man's
riches won't let him sleep. He's worried about the market
going up and down, up and down. And the man working for him,
he works all day and goes home and he goes to sleep. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain. We put watchmen on the towers
and tell them to watch the city. But unless the Lord keeps the
city, he wakes but in vain. He stays up long hours in vain. He can't stop a fire from burning
the place down. He don't have that kind of fire,
does he? How many cities have burnt to the ground? Except the Lord keep the city,
except the Lord keep my house and keep your house. Sitting
up late and worrying is not going to do it. It's the Lord keeping
us. It's the Lord keeping us. The
watchman, he wakes in vain. This is this. The horse is prepared
against a day of battle, but safety's of the Lord. And that
word safety there actually means victory. God uses means, he uses the watchman,
but it's God who keeps the city. It's God who builds the house.
It's God who built this house, not these, well, even this building. This building was put together
for you. God built this building for you. What, back in the 60s? It was built for you, right now,
God's children. It's vain, what he's saying here,
it's vain, it is vain for you to rise up early, sit up late.
It's vain to worry. Have any worry warts in here? It's vain, that's so dishonoring
to God. That's so dishonoring. Turn over
to Matthew chapter six. You'd think we'd read this and
read it and read it until finally soaked in. But unless the Lord
sends it in power, it won't soak in. Verse 24. No, that's not the
one I want to start with. Verse 25. Therefore I say, I
say to you, take no thought for your life, no anxious thought.
He's not saying be thoughtless. Take no anxious thought for your
life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for
your body, what you shall put on. Is not life, and this statement
here caught me, really jumped out at me some years ago. Is
not life, is not the life more than meat and the body more than
raiment? Is not life more than Paying bills, is it not more
than buying a house and paying for it until you about die? Life is to know God. Eternal
life, he said, is to know God and Jesus Christ whom he sent.
It's not to be all the time working and paying debts. Life is more
than that. It's more than that. It's more
than making money. It's more than material possessions. It's more than that. It's not
the life, more than meat. in the body more than rain. That's
what animals are, you know that? That's all they look for, just
something to eat. I was watching some birds here not too long
ago, and it just, the thought came to me as I was watching
them on the ground as eating, I thought, that's all they do.
They wake up in the morning and they just search for food all
day long. Fly up in a tree, go to sleep,
go back the next morning, just animals, their life is spent
just looking for food. We're not animals. or we act
like it at times. David said, I'm a beast before
you. But life is more than this. It's to know God. It's to know
Him. Behold the fowls of the air,
which I was just talking about. For they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than
they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to
your stature? Why take ye thoughtful raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not,
neither do they spin. Yet I say to you that even Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore,
if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, tomorrow
is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe ye, O
ye of little faith? Therefore, take no anxious thought
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For all these things do the Gentiles
seek after. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that you are in need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. I told a young man some time
ago, I said, I can give you the key to success from the word of God. And I quoted
that scripture to him. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness and all these things be added to
you. That is success to the believer. Now to the world, it's not enough.
Christ is not enough. Nothing's ever enough. Take therefore
no thought, no anxious thought for tomorrow. You might not live. You may wake up dead in the morning. You might do it. Therefore no more thought for
tomorrow, for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of
itself, sufficient unto the days of the evil era. Take care of
today. You may not be here tomorrow.
There will come a day when there will be no tomorrow. It's coming. It's on its way. It's on the
calendar, God's calendar. So it's vain. I like this here. I read this. Don't rob your sleep
to pay for your cares. Isn't that good? Don't rob your
sleep to pay for your cares. I thought that was a beautiful
statement. Matthew Henry said that. For so he giveth his beloved
sleep. In reading this, it seems like
that was out of place. But he's saying here to his beloved.
You see, this is written to the church. This is to believers.
This is not written to unbelievers. Because they don't care anyway,
but you do. And we are to recognize God is
the builder of everything in our lives. He's the builder and
the giver of everything. Now listen here to John Gill.
For so he giveth his beloved sleep. Those who are partakers
of his grace, that fear and love him, to them who are diligent
and industrious, he gives not only bread to eat, but sleep. which to a laboring man is sweet.
And having food and raiment, he gives them contentment, quietness,
and satisfaction of mind, which is the greatest blessing of all.
To have a quiet mind. To have a quiet mind. At the
end of the day, you can sit down from all the toil and all the
trouble, and you can actually sleep. You can sleep. He says,
Sleep, even bodily sleep, was reckoned with the very heathens
a divine gift. For so he giveth his beloved
sleep. He gives us contentment and rest. Now, what does this understanding
promote in the believer? What does this promote? Just
reading this, what does it promote? Well, one thing, it promotes
contentment. To know that, to know that, except the Lord build
the house, I'm laboring in vain. Well, the opposite of that is
true. If the Lord builds the house,
I'm blessed. It's not in vain. What the Lord doeth, he doeth
forever. Philippians 4, 11, Paul said, not that I speak in respect
of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content. If I've got plenty, I know how
to handle it. If I don't have much, I know how to handle that
too. You see, our circumstances shouldn't change us. Because
our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the same yesterday, today, forever.
So circumstances should not change us. It's weak faith that changes
us. It's weak faith that makes us
wring our hands. If you go about your day and
you do what the Lord's given you to do, as Solomon said, whatever
you do, do it with all, whatever your hands find to do, do it
with all your might, go home and sit down and whatever happens
happens. Whatever happens happens. The Lord is in control of your,
your life is just, I love this. My life is ordained of God and
everything in it. Somebody said, that's just like
being a puppet on a string. Well, I like being a puppet on
his string. I can tell you that. I don't have enough wisdom to
pull the strings. He does. And then it promotes peace in
the midst of trouble. If you know this, if you know,
if the Lord has given this to you, not in word only, but in
power, you can find peace in the midst of trouble. Isaiah 26, three, thou will keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he
trusteth in thee. And then it promotes purpose.
I know why I exist. People going around, they go
out and... These people who try to go out and they take these
retreats out in the woods or someplace trying to find the
reason for living, why I exist, what's my purpose in life? I
know what mine is. My purpose for existing is for
Jesus Christ. And right now it's being a pastor
of this church. And God's purpose for every one
of you, his sheep, is for you to be doing what you're doing.
And be slow to change it. Be slow to change. Don't get
up just one morning and, well, I'll just decide I'm not gonna
do this or I'm gonna do something else. Be careful. God put you
where you're at doing what you're doing. Consult the Lord long and seriously
before making those kind of decisions. And then it promotes expectation. I expect good things. I expect
good things coming my way and your way. It's coming. One day we're going to be gone.
We're going to be with the Lord, and we're going to enjoy the
fruits of his labor, the fruits of his labor. And now he talks about the home.
Children, he says here, are of the Lord. Now you have to realize,
at the time this was written, and then among the Jews, children
were, they recognized, they recognized children were of the Lord. Hannah
prayed and God gave her a son. They prayed to the Lord, they
knew when they couldn't have children, the Lord shut the womb.
They knew that. We don't know that in this country.
I mean, it's just like God doesn't even exist, except among those
who actually believe. But children are of the Lord. We're not to leave God out of
the family. God builds the house, God builds the family. He's building
his own family, but I'll get to that in a minute. But he says
here in verse three, lo, and I looked that word up, I like,
I like, I like, this is one thing I like about my computer. I can
just highlight that and it says definition. I can just hit definition
and I get the definition of the word. And I do it now all the
time with all these words. But low means drawing attention
to an amazing event. Low! It's an amazing event. Having a child. That's not like
building a house. It's not like building a career.
We're talking about a soul that's eternal. We're talking about
two people come together, and this human being comes out, and
this child will live forever. House will burn down, fall down,
or something will happen to it, but that child's forever. Just
like you, you are forever. The day you were conceived, you
were forever. Low children are an heritage
of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. You don't
just accidentally get pregnant. Someone said that years ago.
They said, well, it was an accident. Well, maybe for you it was, but not with God. Not with God. And a soul coming into this world
that God's hand is not in it. Just like it says about Christ
over in John, John chapter one, he lighteth everyone. He's the
light that lighteth everyone that comes into the world. That's
no, that's no trivial matter. Because that one comes into the
world is going to stand before God one day. Now he's either
going to be saved or he or she is going to be saved or going
to be lost. They're going to be rejoicing in Christ. They're
going to be under the torment of God one way or the other. All life is of God. All life. That's why you don't, we don't
have abortions. Life is of God. God gave life. I know, I know that women say,
well, it's my body. Let me tell you something. Your
body, that's not your body. It's God's body. This body belongs
to God. It doesn't belong to me. It belongs
to Him. You know, back in the Old Testament
Israelites, God told them not to cut their bodies, mark it
up, not to tattoo it up, pierce it everywhere. Because that body
is His. You know, your body, you who
believe, you know, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
God dwells in you. You're a temple. You're a temple. Now, I know somebody that's got
tattoos and everything ain't going to be feeling bad. That's not going to keep somebody
from the Lord saving them. You know, we do stupid things
growing up. We do stupid things. Don't we? Jeremy's got one on
his arm, he's trying to have it removed. He said, I just don't
want nobody to see that and encourage them to do it. I said, well,
you know, I mean, there's nothing, there's no sin in it. You know,
sin's in the heart. Sin's in the heart, but I'm glad
you don't, I'm glad you don't want to do any more. But anyway,
the body, the body belongs to God. And I say this to all the
women who claim that it's their body they do what they want.
No, it's not your body. It's God's. And that life is
of God. Conceptions of God. Life, all life is of God. All
of it. And of all things that are of
the Lord, this is probably the most weighty, having children. They can be the greatest burden
of your heart. Ain't nothing break your heart
like that, nothing. And then he says here in verse
four, as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children
of the youth. The Lord's children, now in a
spiritual sense, the Lord's children are mighty in his hand. You who
believe, everyone who believes, you have been birthed of God.
You have been conceived of God. God has conceived you. And the
word is the seed. And you've been birthed of God,
and His children are mighty in His hand. Paul said, I can do
all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I can do everything,
anything, as long as Christ strengthens me. In Psalm 18, he says, For
by thee I have run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over
a wall. Sounds like Superman, doesn't
it? Leaping over tall buildings.
But he's saying here, by my God, I have run through a troop and
leaped over a wall. He's giving the credit to God.
If I win a war, it's of God. It's the Lord who did it. Happy
is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not
be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
This does not fit the natural realm, for many children are
a great heartache. I've known over the years some
who've just been a heartache all the way to the grave. There's
a couple people come to my mind. One of them died young in a car
wreck. He was just a pain to his parents. So not all of them. So when you
see this, and you look at that, and you think, It doesn't really
fit everything. What about Absalom? Absalom,
Absalom, would to God I'd have died for you. Tried to dethrone
his father. His brother raped his sister. What about the two sons of Aaron?
What about Eli, Hop, Nile, and Phinehas? God killed them. God
killed them. That's the armory. But not God's
children. Here He's speaking of spiritual
children. You have to read this in the
light of the Word of God. He's speaking here of God's children,
is what He's speaking of. This applies to the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the builder of God's house, and all the children
in that house are His. And the children whom thou has
given me is what he said God has a house. He God has a
dwelling place and it's you the church We are not building churches
God The Lord Jesus Christ is building his church. He's building
the Lord's Church what he's doing Look over in Ephesians chapter
2 You got to read this Ephesians chapter 2, let me get
there. Look in verse 19. Now therefore,
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." God dwells in every individual
believer, and He dwells in us as His body, as the Church. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the master builder. He is God's listen.
He Jesus Christ is God's Solomon He's God Solomon Here's here's what's interesting
David prepared all the stuff and Solomon built it God the
Father prepared everything in that covenant of grace and Jesus
Christ is building it He's building it according to that covenant,
that covenant of God. He is the master builder. He
is God's Solomon who's building God's house. 2 Corinthians 6,
16, if one agreement at the temple of God with idols, for you are
the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them. You're God's temple, you're God's
house. I'll be their God and they'll be my people. God gave
his son a people to redeem. And to think that I'm one of
them is amazing. And he's going to bring them
home. He's going to bring the children home spotless, spotless. And these children are sinners.
I have good news for sinners Christ died for sinners Psalm 2 8 ask of me and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession He asked for us God said ask
me I'll give them to you The good news of the gospel Is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the master builder. He's building the house. The
children are his children. He's bringing them together.
He's gathering them together out of all countries. And Christ
has his quiver full of them. His quiver is full of them. And
he's happy. Happy is the man who has his
quiver full of them. This definitely applies to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because not everybody who has even a lot of children. And they're
going to be disappointed. Some of them are going to disappoint
you. They're going to disappoint you. They're going to break your
heart. But the ones whom God saves now, they're a blessing.
They're a real blessing. But all God's children are saved.
Every one of them. Every one of them. I was trying
to think of that scripture. I got to stop here, but let me
see. I shouldn't do this, but it's
over in Hebrews. I think it's chapter two. If
I don't find it, you can find it yourself later. I think it's in chapter two,
I and the children whom thou has given me. I just read that before I came
out here. Is it verse 13? Okay, there it
is. In verse 12, saying, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while
I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust
in him. And again, behold, I and the children which God has given
me. You, as hard as it is to conceive,
you are a gift from God to his son. And that new earth is going to
be filled with all those children whom the father gave to the son.
He redeemed him, bringing him home. And except, with no exception,
except the Lord built the house, Our labor's in vain, even here,
except he built this. You know, I pray often, I do,
that the Lord will fill this up, because I know this, if he
doesn't, it ain't gonna happen. Not with the gospel we preach
here. Nobody wants this gospel except those whom God saves.
Take any other garbage, but they don't want this. God hath saved
you of this. All right.