Well, good evening. If you would,
open your Bibles with me to Psalm 127. Psalm 127. Accept the Lord,
build a house. They labor in vain and build
it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but
in vain. It is vain for you to rise up
early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so
he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage
of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows
are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.
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." Thank God for His Word. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, oh, how we thank
You to be able to bow before Your throne and know we're bowing
before the God of very gods. Father, we thank You for your
mercy and your grace to your people. We thank you for your
holy and just and sovereign rule over all of your creation. Father,
we pray for the faith to be able to rest in your character, your
mercy, your grace, your justice and holiness and sovereignty.
Cause us to rest, knowing that our God does all things well.
Father, how we thank you for the forgiveness of sin that's
found in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It could come no
other way. Cleansing of our sin could come
no other way than the blood of your son. And how thankful we
are that it was freely shed for the sin of your people. We thank
you for the righteousness of Christ so freely given. It could
come no other way than by his obedience. And Father, we're
thankful. And Father, I pray that this
evening you would send your spirit upon us and enable us to have
an hour of true worship. Deliver us from just going through
the motions. And Father, enable us to worship,
to set our affection on things above, on our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let his name be extolled and magnified. Father, I beg that
you would be with me in this hour. that you not leave me alone,
but that you would uphold me with thy spirit, enable me to
rightly divide the word of truth, and in clarity and in the power
of your spirit, preach the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And Father, give the people that
you've gathered here tonight a hearing ear and a believing
heart to believe the things that you brought us here tonight to
hear. Father, enable us to hear, to
believe, we pray. Father, we pray for our country
at this difficult time, the time of this virus. We pray that you
would give relief soon, if it could be thy will. We pray, Father,
at this time of this election, that you would give us a man.
We know that you are the one who put men in power, removes
them from power. Father, we pray that you'd give
us a man who would rule well, that his heart will be in your
hand. Father, we pray you turn his
heart wisely to rule well, to rule for the good of people,
to protect the freedoms that we enjoy and are so thankful
for. Father, again, we pray that you
bless us. Enable us to forget about the goings on of this life.
And for just this hour, let us hear a word from thee. Lift up
our hearts and cause us to leave here rejoicing in Christ our
Savior. It is in his precious name we pray and give thanks.
Amen. What a friend we have in Jesus All
our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything
to God in prayer O what peace we often forfeit! O what needless pain we bear! All because we do not carry Everything
to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? ? Who will all our sorrows share
? ? Jesus knows our every weakness ? ? Take it to the Lord in prayer
? ? Are we weak and heavy laden ? ? Cumbered with the load of
care ? Precious anchor, still our refuge, Take it to the Lord
in prayer. Do thy Prince despise forsaking
thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He'll take and shield
thee, Thou wilt find us almost there. That was so beautiful. Thank
you. I was listening to them sing thinking, oh, I wish I could
do that. That was just beautiful. Thank
you. Open your Bibles with me again, if you would, to Psalm
127. I have had the best time this week in this psalm. I pray
the Lord will make it a blessing to you as it was to me as I looked
at it this week. I titled the message tonight,
A Well-Built Happy Home. That's something I think we'd
all be interested in. A well-built and a happy home.
Now you usually hear this psalm quoted. This will be very familiar
to you. You hear people quote it often.
But it's quoted as two separate thoughts. First, you hear people,
quote, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain
to build it. You hear people talk like that
frequently, don't we? And we quote that when we do,
we mean unless the Lord's in something that we're doing, it's
going to be in vain unless the Lord is in it. If what we're
doing depends upon our works and our ability to make it happen,
it's vain, isn't it? It's going to fail. We will only
be successful if the Lord is the one that does it. Now that's
just true. We should always seek the Lord's
will in everything that we do. Because unless the Lord's in
it, it's going to be vain. And that word vain means empty. Unless the Lord's in it, unless
the Lord's the one doing it, it's going to be empty of anything
useful to anybody. And I'll give you a good example.
People think this is what was in David's mind as he wrote this
psalm. David had it in his mind he wanted
to build the temple. to the Lord. He wanted to build
a house of worship to the Lord. And the Lord told David, no.
He said, you're not going to build a house for my name. He
said, you've been a man of war. You've been a man of blood. You're
not going to build me a house. He said, your son. Your son's
going to build me a house. And David labored in vain to
build that house. He gathered up a bunch of materials
and money and things. He labored in vain. Never laid
a single stone. But when Solomon, his heart was
moved to build the temple, People would just fall over themselves
to help Solomon. Even the heathen sent Solomon
just gift after gift after gift so he had everything he needed
to build a spectacular place of worship. It was just easy
for Solomon to do it. You know why? The Lord was in
it. The Lord was building the house. Now, this is necessary
to say. By no means does that mean that
all of us should just do nothing and say, you know, oh well, I
don't have to do anything. If the Lord's in it, it'll happen
no matter what I do. No. No, that's not it at all.
You'll be familiar with this saying from an old English general
who said, trust in God and keep your powder dry. That's good
advice, isn't it? Trust in God and keep your powder
dry. See, what this is teaching us
is do everything that you know to do. Do it to the best of your
ability, but never trust in anything that you've done. Always trust
in the Lord to make it effectual. It's just like this virus that
we're living in now. Be cautious about this thing,
but now don't be fearful of it. Don't live in fear of it. Wear
your mask and wash your hands and social distance. Do the wise
things that we've been told that keeps the spread of this thing
down, but trust in the Lord to protect you. Don't trust in your
ability to dodge the virus. Trust the Lord to protect you.
Don't trust in the measure you're taking. Trust in the Lord. So
except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain to build it.
And then you hear people quote the second part of the psalm.
They talk about our children. Children are the heritage of
the Lord. Happy is the man that's got a quiver full of children.
Happy is the man that's got him a bunch of children and grandchildren. Now everybody in this room, at
least the ones who are a little bit older, know that is exactly
so. I mean, we know that. And we
quote that, and we mean this. This is so. Children are a blessing
from the Lord. We just find so much happiness
in our children, our family all being together. Now that's true. Children are the heritage of
the Lord. None of us are going to have any children unless God
gives them. Isn't that right? Now the Lord's
the only one who can give life. And oh my, what a blessing when
he does. I remember the day Janet told
me she was pregnant with Holly. She came to where I work and
she was sitting out in the lobby there and they called me on the
phone and said, your wife is up here. I said, oh no, what's going
on? And went up there and she was sitting there and her hands
just trembling and she's just holding this little thing. And
I had no idea what it meant. And she was so excited, she couldn't
speak. She finally said, we're going
to have a baby. Oh, we're so happy. What a blessing. What
a blessing. God gives us children and grandchildren. We're so happy and all the families
together. Now, we quote those things like they're two separate
thoughts, but they're not. David has one thought in mind
in this whole psalm. He's talking about a well-built,
happy home, and he's not talking about his home. He's not talking
about his children. He's not talking about our homes
or our children. You know, there are children, unfortunately,
who break their parents' heart. Jan and I talked about, we remember
being little, and Henry would say, some of you children's broke
your hearts when we were little. We had no idea what he means.
Well, we've seen it now. David experienced a broken heart.
All his children didn't always make him happy, did they? I know
people have experienced that sorrow with their children. They
love that child, but that child's caused him worry and grief. So
this is talking about something that's all the time a happy home. and the child that makes the
father happy. So David's not talking about our earthly homes
and our earthly families. His subject here is the same
as the rest of Scripture. His subject is the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm going to show you that. Look here at verse 1. He
says, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that
build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain. Now, when God builds his house,
the house is built. When God does something, it's
done right. And I want to give you four points
to show you God's well-built, happy home. Number one, God's
house is a happy home. It's well-built, and it's not
going to fall down. His children are safe inside
that home because God builds His house on Christ. Look over
to Isaiah chapter 28, and I'll show you that. Isaiah chapter
28. You're just not going to feel
safe in the house. You feel like it's going to fall down with
the slightest wind or something, you know. God's house is a happy
home because it's a safe place. It's built on Christ. Isaiah
28, verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in time for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Now every other refuge of man
is a refuge of lies. Anything that's based on a man's
religious works is a refuge of lies, and it's going to be swept
away. God's going to sweep it away
in judgment. But anything that's not built on Christ is going
to fall to eternal ruin. But the house that God has built
is not going to be swept away because its foundation is sure.
It's all built upon Christ, the chief cornerstone, the sure foundation. Now look over Matthew chapter
16. The Lord talks about this and
this is going to be comfort for God's people. If you are built,
your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, His blood,
His righteousness, Him and Him alone. If all your hope rests
upon Christ, nothing, nothing, nothing ever can cause you to
lose your salvation. Even hell itself can't do it.
Look here at Matthew chapter 16 verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist. Some, Elias, and others, Jeremiah,
or one of the prophets. Now that's what men say. That's
what people out there say. But now here's the issue, verse
15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God, And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father, which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that
thou art Peter and upon this rock. Now this is not Peter.
And aren't you thankful God's not this rock he's talking about
here is not Peter. Peter's unstable as water. He
wouldn't be a good foundation. It's not talking about Peter.
This is talking about the one whom Peter professed to believe.
This is the one Peter confessed upon this rock. I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Now, the Lord told Peter, Peter, you're blessed. Why was Peter
blessed? Because the Father had revealed
Christ to him. Peter was blessed because the Father had took Peter
and built him on this chief cornerstone, on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
built him on Peter, and Peter and no other believer who's built
upon Christ can ever be moved. Hell itself can't do it. You
just can't be moved away from Christ. Because Christ is the
sure, unmovable foundation. And here's why the house is well
built. It's built by Christ and it's built on Christ and by Christ. He says here, I will build my
church. The Son of God's going to build His church. Then it's
going to be well built, isn't it? Well built. You can depend
upon it. And this is interesting. You think about when God created
the world. There was nothing, just an empty void. And God created
the world. And when He did it, He simply
spoke, didn't He? He said, let there be light.
There's light. Let the dry land appear, and it appeared. Let
the animals appear. Let the grass and trees and herbs and everything
appear just when God spoke. But when it came time for God
to build His church, He sent His Son into this earth as a
man, and He got to busy working, building. Christ came and He
built His whole church. He built all of His people on
His obedience and on His sacrifice, the blood of His sacrifice. So
the house is perfect. It's built on Christ and it's
built by Christ. And He's not going to ever let
any of His people be moved away from Christ. The horrors of hell
are not going to move anybody, anybody away from Christ. And
the storms of this life, the sinful hatefulness of our flesh
and the flesh of other people around us, will never move us
away from Christ. It might hurt, but it's not going
to move you away from Christ. God's house is a happy house
because it's built on Christ. And it can't be moved away from
Christ. It's secure. I remember when Jan and I first
began looking for houses, and we were poor as church mice.
We had no business looking for a house, but we were looking.
We thought we were going to buy a house. And we went looking at houses, and
there was one house we stood on, and the realtors opened the
door, and Janet grabbed my arm. The whole porch was shaking.
The front porch was just shaking. We thought, Janet, this thing's
going to fall down, the three of us standing on it. And she
said, I can't live in a place like this. I won't ever feel
safe. And the house we did end up buying,
first thing she told me about it, she said, it's got a solid
front porch, and it's not going to fall down. It's secure. That's a happy home. You're safe
there. Alright, now look back at our
text, Psalm 127. Here's the second thing. God's
house is well built, and it's a happy house because it's full
of children. You know, when you build a house,
or most people buy a house, you know why you do it? You do it
so your family has a place to live together. You know, normally
young people, they get them a house so they have a place where they
can raise their children. And there's just nothing like
the sound of children. There's just nothing like the
sound no matter what age they are, children in your home to
make it a happy place. Well, that's God's house. It's
full of children. God's children are the heritage.
The word heritage means inheritance. It's the inheritance that God
has chosen for himself, his children. There are several points about
this, about God's children. First, God's house is a happy
house because it's full of Christ. Look at verse three. Low children
are an heritage of the Lord. And the fruit of the womb is
His reward. Now, children are the fruit of
the womb. But who is the fruit of the womb? It's the Lord Jesus, isn't it?
Remember when Mary found out she was with child. She went
to see her cousin Elizabeth. And Elizabeth saw her. She was
pregnant with John the Baptist. And a babe left in her womb.
And she saw Mary and she cried out and she said, blessed is
the fruit of thy womb. And the whole earth was blessed
from the fruit of Mary's womb. The whole earth was blessed by
Christ. He is the first fruits, the fruit of the womb, and all
the rest of the harvest is blessed in Him. See, the Lord Jesus,
God has lots of children, but He's got one Son. He's got one
Son. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only begotten of the Father. He is the Son of God. And here
it says, He's the reward of His Father. You've heard it said
in the past that how the father looked at his son one day. He
was so pleased with his son. He said, I'm going to populate
heaven with a people made just like him. The father rewarded
himself. You know how he did? With his
son. He rewarded himself with the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He rewarded himself with the
perfect son, the perfect obedient son who would fulfill all of
the Father's will of redemption. That's the Father's reward. It's
His Son. And God's house is a happy house because it's full of Christ. It's full of the righteousness
of Christ. There's not one stick of man's
works in it. There's not any wood, hay, and
stubble in this place. There's not one bit of wood, hay, and
stubble of man's works in it. It's all the righteousness of
Christ. Everybody in this house has been
cleansed by the blood This house is a glorious, happy house because
it's full of the glory of Christ. There's no wonder this is such
a happy house. If our natural children are a
blessing to us, how much more is the Son of God? He makes this
house a happy house because He fills the house. And second,
God's house is full of children, full of all of God's children,
because God's children are the very building blocks that build
a house. Look here at verse 4. And all
those children, they're sent to the exact right place. They're
all put in exactly the right place where God put them. Verse
4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children
of the youth. Now, arrows in the hand of a
skilled archer. I'm not much of an archer, but
I do know this about somebody that's skilled. Those arrows
go right where they're supposed to go. In the hand of a skilled
archer. When God sends His arrows, He hits the bullseye every time. He never misses. Now, remember
here, God's arrows are his children. Look at 1 Peter 2. Let's see
what Peter has to say about these children. God's children are
all the seed that Christ saves, and they're all in exactly the
spot where God put them. 1 Peter 2, verse 4. to whom coming, as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.
Ye also, as lively living stones, are built up a spiritual house
and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded." Now there it is. That's Christ, the precious
cornerstone. The building built upon Him cannot
be moved. But who is the building? Ye also
as lively living stones are built up a spiritual house. God's children
are the very building blocks that comprise His church, His
house. Believers are these Peter describes
here. They come to Christ. They come
to Christ because God chose them and put them in Christ. They
come to Christ because God gives them faith in Christ. They're
living stones. They have life because they're
built upon Christ. They get their life from Him.
And they're the ones that God uses to build His church. The
church is not these different buildings that the different
local churches meet around and all across the world. There's
one church. It's God's church and it's comprised
of His people. That's what the Apostle Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 3, 9. He said, you are God's building. You who believe, You are the
living stones that make up God's building. Later on that chapter,
verse 16, he said, you're the temple of God. The spirit of
God dwells in you. You're the temple of God. So
God's house is a happy house because it's full of children,
full of children who, by God's grace, make up that spiritual
house. They make up the spiritual body of Christ and they're all
happy to be there. You don't have one bad apple
in the bunch. You don't got one black sheep
in the bunch. They're all happy to be there. They're exactly
where God put them. And the only reason they're there
is God's grace. And they know it. The only reason
they're in the body of Christ is God chose them and put them
there. And they're right happy about it. They're happy children.
Then third, God's house is happy. It's a happy house. It's full
of children. And none of them's missing. Not one of them. Look
here at verse 5 in our text, Psalm 127. Happy is the man that hath his
quiver full of them, full of these children of the youth.
They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies
in the gate. Now there isn't any doubt in
my mind whatsoever that the happiest time of life is when you're raising
your children. When they're all just right there,
you've got them under your wing, That's the best time of life.
And when children are grown and out of the house, and especially
if they're like our children, they move off to the big city,
how do you tell? I was at physical therapy the
other day, and the guy asked, well, you got big plans for Thanksgiving?
How do we tell if it's going to be a good holiday? How do
we tell is this going to be good? Is this going to be a good weekend? All the kids are going to be
home. Oh, it's a happy place. All the kids are home. Well,
I'm telling you what. There's coming a holiday. There's
coming a wedding feast like this world has never seen. And all
of God's children are going to be called home for it. These
children, the children of the youth, they're children given
to Christ in eternity. His quiver is full. They were
given to Him in eternity. All throughout human time, and
human time is no more, And God's gathered them all together. You
know what you're going to find? God's quiver is full of His children.
Not one of them is missing. Not one of them. They're all
going to be home. They're all going to be there.
There's not going to be one empty seat at the dinner table. And
none of them will be ashamed. Because they're all going to
belong. They're going to belong there. You know why they're going
to belong there? Because they're all dressed in the wedding garment.
In the perfect righteousness of Christ. They won't have anything
to be ashamed of. And there's not going to be one
enemy there spoiling the party, spoiling the holiday. David says
here, they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. That word
speak means subdue. God's going to subdue all of
his children before they come into the house. God's going to
subdue them, make them willing, happy, obedient children. And
the house is going to be full of them. And I'm telling you,
there's going to be joy there like we cannot imagine. We just
can't fathom it. Not one of God's children is
going to be missing because God doesn't do anything in vain.
You remember the word vain means empty. God doesn't do anything
that's empty. God's going to fill his house with his children.
You know why? Because Christ came to build
his house and he did it by his death. Christ did not die in
vain. When Christ died, he fully and
completely redeemed all of God's elect from their sins. So there's
no reason any of them would be lost. There's no reason one of
them would perish. There's no reason one of them
wouldn't come to Christ in faith, because they've all been subdued
by God the Holy Spirit. They've been made willing in
the day of His power, and they're happy about it. They're happy
to surrender to Christ. Now I'm telling you, only God
can do that. Only God could build this house. You know, people
talk about wanting to build a ministry. I saw a book the other day about
how to build a successful ministry, how to build a big ministry.
I thought, boy, I bet that book's something. So I'm telling you,
if we tried to build the house, at best, at best, we're going
to have an empty house. And at worst, we're going to
have a house full of goats. We're going to have a house full
of disobedient children. But when God gives life and He
fills His house with His children, there's joy. You know, God's
children are happy to be living in the Father's house right now.
You who believe, aren't you happy to be in Christ? A whole lot
rather be in Christ than in Adam, wouldn't you? Aren't you happy
to be in Christ? We're not as full of joy as we should all
the time. Too much stuff gets us down. But God's children are
happy people. They're happy to be in Christ. But I'm telling
you what, you ain't seen nothing yet. You just wait until God
brings all the children home together. When they're all there
at once, That's going to be a happy house, isn't it? Oh, a happy
house. Then thirdly, God's house is
a happy house because Christ is preached there. Look here
again at verse 1. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain. Now the watchman here represent
God's preachers. Isaiah in Isaiah 56, he talked
about these watchmen. He called them false prophets.
He said they're blind watchmen. They're ignorant. He said, they're
all dumb dogs. They can't bark. They're sleeping.
They're lying down. They love to slumber. He said,
they're greedy dogs that can never get enough. They're shepherds
that can't understand. That's the watchman, a false
prophet. And I tell you why they're dogs that don't bark, why they
don't have anything to say, because they don't understand the scriptures.
They don't have anything to preach because they don't know Christ
is the subject of the preachers. But that's not all the watchman.
Look in Isaiah chapter 62. And here Isaiah talks about God's
watchmen. And they don't wake in vain. They don't go about
their ministry in vain. Isaiah chapter 62, verse 4. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. Neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate.
But thou shalt be called Hephzibah. you should be called my delight
is in her. And thy land, Beulah, married. For the Lord delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. As the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Now there's
God's happy family. And God gives his family watchmen,
preachers with a message. Look here at verse 6. I have
set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never
hold their peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, until
he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." Here's God's watchman.
They preach, and they don't preach in vain. Listen, we never preach
in vain, ever. I don't preach in vain, and you
don't listen to preaching in vain, as long as the preaching
is all Christ. You know, it's not in vain. Just
keep preaching Christ. Just keep begging God to call
out His people and save His people. And I promise you, He will. His
quiver is going to be full. I just can't emphasize this strongly
enough, the importance of hearing a faithful man preach the gospel. A believer will never have life.
They'll never be fed and they'll never be happy without it, without
the faithful preaching of Christ. Now remember, God's the one who's
building the house. But the house will never be built
unless God's preachers go out and preach. Well, it'll never
be built. God's people will never be saved unless God raises up
preachers to preach the gospel of Christ. God's people will
never be saved. This here where he says, keep
not silent. That means two things. Keep not
silent in preaching. Don't quit preaching Christ.
Just don't give people a break. Just keep preaching Christ. But
it also means this. Keep calling out to God in prayer.
And don't give Him rest until He has mercy. Keep calling out
to God until He builds His house. Because unless He builds it,
it's going to be in vain, isn't it? See, God's house is a happy
house. Because of the conversation that
goes on inside that house. There's some things in Janet
Tate's house she is not going to let be discussed. Because
it's going to make it a not happy place. Her home is going to be
a happy place. God's house is a happy place
because of the conversation that goes on there. It's the preaching
of Christ. I tell young parents this. This
is my word of advice to young parents. Just be sure to let
your children hear mom and dad talking about Christ. Don't just
let them hear the name of the Savior here. Be sure your children... Mom and dad are talking about
Christ. Let your children hear mom and dad talking about the
message that they heard earlier this week. And be sure your children
bow their heads and are led in prayer to God. It'll go a long
way toward making a happy home. And it'll go a long way toward
making a happy child, too. This is something else. I just
thought of this. Don't sell your children short.
Don't sell them short. Teach them. Teach them. Have
them under the sound of the gospel. Gene told me the cutest story
by his granddaughter earlier this week. And I just laughed.
I told Jan about it. We just laughed. But, Gene, I've
been thinking about that story. That kid understands what she's
heard, doesn't she? She understands what she's heard.
She's 4? 5? She understood. She understands
what she's heard. Don't sell them short now. Let
them hear you talking about Christ. And be sure they're here to hear
the gospel. Now, God's home. is a happy home
because Christ is preached there. And the children just don't fuss
and fight. I'm telling you, if we're feeding
on Christ, if we're constantly feeding on Christ, we're going
to be a peaceable, happy people. That's God's home. All right,
here's the last thing. God's house is a happy house
because it's a place of peace. Back in our text here, Psalm
127, verse 2. It's vain for you to rise up
early. to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows, for so
he giveth his beloved sleep." Now, like I said earlier, this
is not teaching you, well, don't work, don't do anything, well,
the Lord's will is going to be done. No, you get up and you
go to work and you work hard every day. And don't expect to
eat if you don't. Paul said, man, don't work, don't
lay me. And work as hard as you can to provide for your family. Work just... The absolute best
job is possible for you to do, but never trust in your own work.
Work as hard as you can possibly work. Trust in the Lord to feed
you. Isn't that right? The Lord taught us to be good
workers. Be obedient. Good workers. Work
as unto the Lord. Just do your dead-level best
at work every day, and then come home and pray, Father, give us
this day our daily bread. And the same thing is true spiritually.
Work hard. at serving and helping one another. Look for a way to do it. Don't
wait to be asked. Look for a way to do it. Because
the way we serve Christ is by serving one another. Be diligent
in prayer. Be diligent about being in the
worship service as often as humanly possible. Be diligent in giving. God loves a cheerful giver. Be
diligent about living an honest life of faith before men. Be
diligent about that, but live trusting Christ as your righteousness.
Don't live trusting anything you've done now. Live trusting
Christ as your righteousness. Once you begin trusting in your
works, you're going to lose your peace. You will. Because how
do you know if you've done enough? How do you know if you've done
it well enough? But if you're trusting Christ, you know it's
been built well, haven't you? See, true rest is being turned
away from trusting self to trust Christ. That's where we have
peace. Because he's done all things well. You see why God's
children have peace and lay down, sleep at night? It's not because
of their works. It's because they have faith
in Christ. God's children are at peace because they trust Christ,
just like our children. They just don't worry about the
goings on. of this life, you know? They
got mom and dad to worry about that stuff for them. And they
just don't worry about it. You know, whatever it is, I'll take care
of that. My dad can take care of that. My mom will take care
of that. I don't worry about that. There's so many worries that
just never cross their mind because they trust mom and dad. Our father said, be as little
children. Accept you be converted. Become
as little children. You'll never enter the kingdom
of heaven. Be trusting of our father. That's the way we have
peace. See, God's house is a happy house. Because our Father built
the house. He built it well. And He's going
to take care of all of His children in it. I'm telling you, that
makes me happy. Does it make you happy? God's
house is a happy house. Alright. Well, I hope that's
been a blessing for you. I've enjoyed that this week.
I hope God blessed it to your heart. Let's bow together in
prayer. Our Father, oh how we thank You. for your word. How we thank you
for this precious passage that we've looked at this evening
that shows how our Father has built a house, taking care of
all of his children in it, and not one of them will be missing. Father, how we thank you. Father,
I ask you to give us the grace to rest in Christ our Savior,
to enjoy the perfect peace that's ours in Him. And Father, I pray
you bless your word to call out your sheep. Call those here tonight
that as of yet have not bowed and trusted and believed in you.
Call them to Christ. Grant faith and repentance, we
pray, for your glory, for the glory of Christ our Savior, we
pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, you're dismissed.