There was a college student, whose home town was moved from a beautiful valley to a lovely hillside some one and a half miles away. The little town of 350 people had to be moved because a large Dam being built on the Missouri River. The reservoir, which was to become a Lake, would flow into the valley where the old town was situated and would form a smaller lake totally covering the old town.
The student was involved in the construction of the new town. And, he was also a participant in the destruction of the old town. The demolition of many of the old buildings he had come to cherish, including the gymnasium where he had played basketball, was a very emotional experience.
Through that experience, he learned an important lesson. What was it he learned? It was this: one can destroy in just a few hours that which has taken years to construct. However, to be a builder is much more fulfilling than being a destroyer!
Jude is closing out his letter by encouraging the believers he is writing to. He is trying to shore up their faith and to strengthen the Church as a whole. He is reminding us that our Lord has called us to be builders—not destroyers. Sin brings destruction, but it take building a spiritual life to brings growth. After condemning the false teachers who would destroy and tear down, Jude instructs his readers and us to build ourselves up spiritually. We are called to be builders! We are called to be a Church of action, not of stagnation. To be a Church of action we must be a people of action and in verse 20 Jude said that action is building our spiritual lives.
Jude
20
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
1. Building On The Truth Of God – To keep yourself in the love of God, as commanded; you must continue to build on the truth of God.
Building – Jude had been telling his readers to watch out for apostates, false teachers who had crept into the Church. Now he exhorts the saints of God – beloved – that just getting out of hell is not what salvation is all about. You don't get saved just to have a “Get out of Hell free” card. You are to keep building on your foundation of salvation. You are to keep growing in the Lord by: fellow-shipping with other Christians, by keeping up your prayer life, by studying God's Word, by doing all that it takes to strengthen your relationship with God.
Building Together – Jude uses the word yourselves. This could mean build yourselves up individually or it could mean building is a group effort. Each one of us is responsible for our own growth in the Lord, so yes in that respect our building of our spiritual lives is an individual effort.
But building is also a group effort, we as the body of Christ are to build each other up. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. The Scripture never talks about Lone Ranger Christians. The church is made up of individuals sure, but they join together with other individuals to make up the whole body of Christ.
Building Our Faith Together – It is by faith that we are saved. Saving faith involves personally depending on the finished work of Christ Jesus' sacrifice as the only basis for forgiveness of sin and entrance into heaven. But saving faith is also a personal commitment of your life to follow Christ Jesus in obedience to His commands: "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" (2 Timothy 1:12).
Faith accepts the truths revealed on the testimony of God. It is a belief in or a confident attitude toward God, involving commitment to His will for your life. Have you ever had times when you felt like you were running low or were running out of faith? It could be that your faith is being tested, but more often than not it is that you forget to exercise your faith.
Faith is like a muscle, you must exercise it for it to stay in shape. Your faith must be more than a word or mantra, it must be an active part of your life. Your faith must be an active faith, a faith that allows you to handle circumstances beyond your control. Your faith must have an “under construction” sign with it. You are to be building and strengthening your faith life continually.
While your faith is personal, it is also built by the encouragement of fellow Christians. It is built on the foundation of Christians who have gone on before you. Without the love of other Christians in your life your faith is in danger of faltering.
Gayla and I watched a movie the other day where a young lady hurt her spine while competitively horse jumping. This was on one of Gayla's Hallmark channels so you know that the young lady got better, and got the guy. But before all that happened she had to endure a rough surgery, and then daily physical therapy. Did she perform the surgery on herself? Well no, she had a doctor to perform the surgery. How about the physical therapy? Did she just show up in a room full of exercise equipment and start working out? No, she had a physical therapist and other patients to help and encourage her. She also had a Dad who loved her and was praying for her. So in the end with a teams who willing to help her, she was able to walk and ride again.
That is how it is with your faith, you church family is your team backing you as you learn to walk by faith, not by sight –- (2 Corinthians 5:7). How is your walk today?
2. The Superior Foundation
The Master Builder is Christ Jesus and the superior foundation of His Church and your Christian life are the Scriptures. In the Church today many take the Scriptures with an air of flippancy. They know what the Scriptures are, they know who gave them to us, and they may even have parts memorized, but they do not cherish them. And because they do not cherish them, they build their Christian life on a shaky foundation, not quite sand, but definitely not rock.What good is it to have God's Word, to hold it, to know it is the preserved Word of God if you don't build your life on it? Watchman Nee the famous Chinese Bible teacher would read through the New Testament every 30 days. There was a tradition in his school – No Bible – No Breakfast. How many of us would loose weight if that were our motto? Remember the Word of God will give you a firm foundation for your spiritual life.
God's Word not only builds a firm foundation for your spiritual life. It also builds a firm foundation for your family life. God's Word teaches Moms how to act: Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, (Proverbs 31:28). Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22).
God's Word teaches Dads how to act: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her...Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 5:25; 6:4.)
God's Word teaches Children how to act: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER(which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. (Ephesians 6:1-3). What is the foundation for your spiritual life?
3. Materials Needed
You can't build anything without building materials. Almost as bad is having the wrong materials to try and build with. As we look at materials needed, I am reminded of that children's story “The Three Little Pigs.” One house of straw, one of sticks, and one of bricks. Even without a big bad wolf, the first two houses were questionable in their construction. What about your Spiritual life? There is right stuff and wrong stuff to build with.First some wrong stuff.
The flesh is not a way to build a spiritual life or a life at all. It sounds like a no brainier, but so many people try to build their life with it.
They try using the sensual life as build materials for their life. The sensual life looks promising and inviting, it appeals to the psyche, but it falls apart soon. Look at the Prodigal Son, he built his whole life using a sensual life as building blocks and he ended up slopping pigs.
The other building block of the flesh is self-reliance. Now this doesn't sound to bad, and mixed with other materials it's not so bad. But total self-reliance is to trust fully in your own strength is not to trust in God fully. It is trying to do the work of God in your own power.
Fiction does not make good building material either. What do I mean by fiction? I mean things like the Power of Positive Thinking, the Power of Demands, and the Power of Health and Wealth.
What Materials are needed to build a Spiritual life? Here is a list of just a few things needed, it is by no means a comprehensive list.
Christ Jesus is needed, after all He is the architect and cornerstone of the spiritual life.
You need God's Word for your foundation.
You also need prayer to shore up the walls of your spiritual life.
Also needed are Christian brothers and sisters to help holds things together.
What are you using to build you spiritual life out of? Straw, sticks, or bricks?
4. A Saviour
and a Cornerstone
The cornerstone is the stone on which the whole building rests. If they are small and unstable and settle down, the whole building can become unstable. That is why great care is taken when placing this large stone firmly at each corner. Christ Jesus is our cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20). He is what our entire being rests on.
Because Christ Jesus is our cornerstone we have the assurance that ours is an established building: having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:7). Established means set – like a deep rooted tree – for our line of thought it is to build up like a building that is made firm. Set in concrete.
The Christian life is one of constant building. Are you building on the Cornerstone, Christ Jesus? Are you building on the Word of God? Are you letting others build with you? If you haven't already, are you ready to start building a life with Christ Jesus today?
I pray you and yours have a great week. May our Lord bless and keep y'all. Until next week.
Biblesurfer
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