Israel and Their DIY Plan

How many of you have watched these rehab programs where they either buy houses and turn them over and resell them or they fix them up? It seems like there's a million of them, aren't there? Like flip or flop. Let's see, this old house, there's all kinds of them out there.

You can watch these people buy a house, fix it up. I was watching one the other day, so I was flipping channels and I said, this realtor was trying to sell this house. I said, well, here's a house with an ocean view. It's like, all I see is cement. They positioned this couple in this house and you can kind of see out of the corner one window, a little water way out there, and this was their ocean view.

I thought, oh boy, they'll do anything to try to sell a house. But it's interesting, if you've ever tried to do anything like that, you know, they've got a little acronym now, DIY. First time I saw it, I thought it would die. That's the wrong way to spell that. What is that? But do it yourself. Doing it yourself is the big fad these days, to try to do it yourself. And I thought, well, if I can figure this out, maybe I can do it myself, too.

So I remember one of the first projects I tried to do was in a kitchen we had. I thought, wow, it'd be nice. This old anoleum is getting bad. Maybe I could tile this. So I got some tile, figured out this is going to be easy, started laying it down. And that thing kind of went just off the side.

It's a little harder than it looks to try to get this thing exactly right. And if you've ever tried to build a wall or if you're an old house, try to put something up against a wall that's already there, sometimes it seems like it's just absolutely impossible, especially if you want to keep it straight.

If you're going to build something, you've got to have it straight. And if you don't have it straight, then it's going to get totally out of alignment. And it's going to look terrible. It's not going to work. It's just going to be obvious you did it yourself. Now if you look at the story of the Old Testament, Israel tried to do it themselves. They had their own DIY kind of thing going and decided, well, our way is better than God's way. So we're going to do it ourselves and we're going to do it our way. And God keeps coming back to them saying, listen, if you do it my way, my way works.

This is the best. And you'll be happy. You'll be prosperous. If you do things my way, life will be good. You'll be straight. This will be wonderful. But they continued to do a bad tile job. They continued to do it their way. And so God started to warn them. If you continue to go your way, eventually it's all going to collapse, just like this old house that's built on a terrible foundation. And ultimately, you're going to be taken into captivity. And of course, we know the story.

It ends up that's exactly what happened. But God warned them, and He warned them, and tried to guide them, and tried to lead them over and over and over again so they wouldn't be faced with that fate. In fact, there's an interesting passage in the book of Amos. If you look over to the book of Amos, one of the minor prophets, Amos chapter 7, verse 7. Amos chapter 7, verse 7, is the fifth vision that Amos saw concerning God's judgment against ancient Israel.

And God was going to judge them. He tried to help them to see this is the way to do it. And Amos saw something pretty specific in his vision. Notice Amos chapter 7, verse 7. God is showing Amos. It says, "'Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.

And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see?'" Now, if you're not a carpenter or a mason, you might say, I have no clue what in the world he's talking about here. But Amos says, I saw a plumb line. Then the Lord said, behold, I'm setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not pass by them anymore. So here in this vision, in this dream, Amos sees God, well, kind of like a mason.

In fact, I brought a prop. I forgot to bring it up. Let me grab my little prop so I can show you exactly what a plumb and a plumb line is all about. So imagine this situation here. Amos sees God standing on a wall, and this wall was made a specific way.

It was made with a plumb line. What is a plumb line? Well, here is a plumb line. It will have to be a little short one. But this is it. And this plumb line, it says the wall was made with a plumb line. So this is a plumb line with a plumb, they call it a plumb bob at the end of it. And if you notice, it hangs straight. Straight as an arrow. And this instrument has been used since ancient times, since the time of the Egyptians, especially for the brick layers and the masons and the carpenters. Because that wall and the wall that Amos sees here is perfectly straight.

Perfectly straight. And he imagines in this dream God holding a line, probably something like this. And since gravity pulls perfectly down from the center of the earth, this line hangs perfectly straight. And so it's considered to be this perfect vertical standard that you would measure whatever it is you're building. If it's a wall, a brick wall, a carpenter's wall, whatever, that's what he sees.

So he imagines God holding this. And if you think about this, what did this represent? When he says, I'm setting a plumb line in the midst of my people, and I'm not going to pass by them anymore. I mean, God's basically saying, I put up with bad construction for far too long. And the building you're making, it's going to collapse. It's going to collapse. I'm not going to keep trying to hold this building that you're trying to do it yourself together. You need to be following my instructions. You need to follow my law.

I know the way to spiritually construct a building. Even physically certainly knows that. And so here, God is showing Israel how far out of line that they had become. And Israel was far from upright. They were crooked. They were totally unbalanced. And through the book of Amos, it's such a great reminder for all of us. He's telling Israel they weren't following Him. And yet today, we are spiritual Israel.

Is God any less concerned with our spiritual construction? The construction of our spiritual house? I think when we read Scripture, it obviously is the case that God wants us to build a sound spiritual building.

But if we're not using God's plumb line to do it, what's going to happen to our spiritual construction project? It's going to be in tough shape, isn't it? And so we've got to make sure that we're building according to God's pattern, according to what He's designed, according to His rules, according to His law, according to His standard. And so in order to do that, where do we start?

Israel obviously started at the wrong place. But if we're going to do it right, we have to have a right foundation first, don't we? Got to have that right foundation. We know that story that Christ talked about in the book of Matthew, where He talked about a house that wasn't built on a strong foundation. Remember that story about the man who built his house on the sand and the wind and the rains and the storm came?

And what happened? Blew the thing right over. But He compares that to the one who built the house on a rock, on a strong foundation. And what happened when the winds and the rains came?

I mean, it stood fast. It wasn't about to fall over. And so He compares that to us. Our spiritual foundation has to be rock solid. And so you can find that example in Luke chapter 6 or Matthew chapter 7 tells that story. That foundation has to be firm. It has to be stable. If it sags, if it moves, if part of it starts to decline, boy, the structure is going to be affected.

So we don't want our spiritual structure affected, so we've got to have that absolutely solid foundation. In fact, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 tells us a little bit about that. If you'll turn over with me. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Notice verse 10. Here it tells us about starting with that right foundation, making sure we're solid, spiritually solid. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 10. Here is Paul writes to Corinth. Corinth had a lot of trouble back in the day.

Here they were in the place where the temple of Diana was, that there was so much pagan worship, so many evil influences of the culture around, they were being corrupted. And so here Paul is telling them and telling us by extension, that foundation better be solid or the building is going to fall. Look at verse 10. He says, According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

So he's talking about how are we building? What are we building? Well, we want to build a spiritual structure. We want to build a building. We want our lives to be representative of God's way. We need to be this spiritual building in honor of God. But in order to do that, Paul says there's only one foundation you can build on. Notice what it is. Verse 11.

No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid. The rock's already been laid, he says, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is that foundation. Verse 12. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear. For the day will reveal it. It'll be revealed by fire. And the fire will test each one's work what sort it is. If it endures, it says he'll receive a reward. If it's burned up, he's going to suffer loss. And so I think it's interesting to begin to see if we're going to have that straight wall that is perfectly plumb, that is absolutely lined up and upright, has to be on this foundation of Jesus Christ. And if we have that foundation, it's not going to sag. It's not going to crack. We're not going to have to call in the foundation experts to try to repair it because it's going to be on the right foundation. Christ is the foundation. Paul calls him the chief's cornerstone at times throughout the New Testament as well. And so if we don't use Christ as that starting point for plumb, we're going to be out of line. So we don't want to be like ancient Israel. We want a solid foundation to build from. So the walls that we built, the foundation that it rests on, will be absolutely secure. And so then from there, every part of this building, every part of our life, has to be built by God's plumb line. Every wall that we built, what's it going to be like? You know, are the walls of our life going to be tilting? Are they going to be leaning? Are they going to be out of line? Are they going to be like my tile project?

It's going to kind of go off cockeyed? You know, if that's the case, we're going to be in trouble. And so what a reminder that every decision, I mean, every action has to be connected to this straight line of God's measure. Because what standard are we going to build our lives around? I mean, if we build it around our standard, our choices, our will, our decisions, they're not based on God's law, on His Word, on His way, then that building is going to be one that's not on the rock. It's going to be like, well, maybe like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, right? It's going to be tilting. It's going to be in trouble all the time. And so we're told about this structure that we're to build. 1 John 2, verse 15. 1 John 2, verse 15. I think this connects to the walls that we have in the spiritual structure of ours. If we don't rely on God, and if we don't follow His will, His law, His standard for spiritual construction, things are going to be out of line. They won't be plumb. And we won't have what they call square construction. We'll be out of square. We'll be tilting. We'll be leaning. We won't be upright. And here, John warns about this other measurement standard that's out there. I mean, there's all kinds of ways to build, but only one right way to build a spiritual building. And so John gives us a warning here. He says, don't love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. All that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. That's not our measuring standard. That's not the plumb line that we use as our guide. He says this is passing away. In fact, if you read this passage in the New Living Translation, it puts it pretty straightforward. Here's what it says. If you look back to verse 15, stop loving this evil world and all it offers you. We've got to get out of that kind of framework, because that is cockeyed. That is tilting. He says that doesn't show the Father's standard, the Father's love. He says this world only offers physical things, physical pleasures, physical aspects, but these aren't from the Father. That's not his guidelines. They're from this evil world, and this world is fading away. We begin to see these different standards. We can look back to Israel and which standard did they base their lives on, their choices. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It wasn't God's guidelines. The only way to build a straight, true, square, spiritual wall is one that's built around this character of God. Only God's standard, only his plumb line, can be the guide. I suppose you can imagine this kind of a physical plumb line when you think of building a physical structure and how straight it is. When you think about those things in terms of the spiritual guidelines, this is the plumb line, isn't it? This is the line by which we measure by the Word of God. We measure our lives according to his standard. All of our thoughts, our actions have to be measured through the view of God's Word. By God's Word, then, I recognize it's not what I want. It's not my opinions that count, but it's God's directions. It's his guidelines and his plumb that we need to follow. We're told over and over again, this is his true Word. Every word of God is God-breathed. It's given by God's inspiration. We can use it to build a spiritual structure. Do you remember what Paul told Timothy?

2 Timothy 3, 16, when he talks about how Scripture is so valuable for it, that God's Word gives us the ability to reprove ourselves, to correct ourselves, to be led by God's Spirit, and be instructed in righteousness. When we do that, what's the building going to be like?

Well, Paul told Timothy that building would be complete. It would be thoroughly equipped. It would be one that wouldn't be blown over. When you think about those types of things, we are building a structure. We're building a spiritual structure.

Do you think there's ever going to be a building inspector that comes to see how we're doing?

I think so. I don't know that we... it seems in this world you can never escape the building inspector. They're going to come and they're going to find everything that's wrong that you haven't done, and they'll find the little details that you might have missed.

You know, ultimately, we do have a spiritual building inspector that will see how we're doing. And as we think about that, certainly Christ, ultimately our judge, is going to recognize whether we're building according to the proper code and by his standard or not. If you turn over to Ephesians chapter 4, when you think about it in these terms, Ephesians 4 talks about how we build and how the church is built and really how individual construction should be as we strive to be these spiritual creations that God's called us to be.

He reminds us here in Ephesians chapter 4. Look at verse 14. Ephesians 4.14. Here Paul says, we should no longer be children tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men. Okay, how do we know the difference? Well, we've got to measure it by God's standards, by His plumb. So we're not going to be fooled by that. Verse 15. Speak the truth in love and grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ. So I've got to put myself aside and be like Christ.

And as I do that, then I recognize this very clearly that ultimately every wall has to be built by His standard, every wall. And when that happens, look at the results. It's not going to be like Amos envisioning the trouble that was lying ahead for Israel. If we build by God's standard, we put on the character of Christ. Verse 16. It says, the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share.

So as we're doing our share individually, collectively as God's church, what comes about? It causes growth of the body for edifying itself in love. And so ultimately, we look like Christ. We look like the great architect, Jesus Christ. And when we build our spiritual house according to God's plans, then we look like Him. We look like Him. We emulate Him. We follow Him. We think like Christ. We put on the mind of Christ. And so we're like Him.

Now that can be a challenge, no doubt, because we all get in our own way sometimes, don't we? I was reminded of this a while back. I was talking to a friend who was an architect. And he had a lot of different clients.

He was in the home side of things, not some of the commercial things, but he would he would conceive and design homes. And they'd come up with all these different plans. Someone would come to them and say they'd like a house like this or that. And he'd design it for them. But oftentimes he told me that people would come to him and they'd have their own drawings all done already. And so they'd come to him and say, well, we'd like this house just like this.

And of course, he'd look at these designs and say, well, you know, this won't work because of this reason and because the electric that's got to go in and there's this plumbing problem that you'll have if you do because he could see how it's supposed to be built. And he'd look at these designs that some of his clients would have and say, no, you just can't do it that way. And so he explained what they really wanted was that they wanted their own plan sanctioned by him.

Rather than coming and saying, well, we'd like a two-bedroom home with two baths and then let him give some designs that would work for that. They already wanted their own plan validated. That's what they wanted. And I couldn't help but think as I heard him tell that story, how many times are we like that?

You know, when I come before God and we go before the great architect, we ask him for wisdom and guidance, but I already got my plan. I already got my mind made up. I've already built the structure in my own mind and I just want God to validate it.

You know, God, this is what I want, so just put your stamp of approval on it and we'll be good to go.

But wait a second, I can't do that. You see, my way isn't the best way. And that's exactly what happened to Israel. They thought their way was the best and so it just led to disaster.

You see, if we've already planned our own building and we haven't based it on God's guidelines, how can he approve of our way? He can't. He just can't do it. And so, you know, we look out and what's happening in the world today. Isn't that really what's happening there? That people don't recognize God's standard. They don't look to God. And so, the structure of our society is coming down. It's coming down. I mean, what would it be like if a carpenter or a mason, you know, started to build the building, started to build a wall and it's not lining up. You know, it's a little out of plumb. He notices that and should he just say, well, close enough. That doesn't matter that much.

I mean, do you want to pay a builder like that? No. We can't have that kind of an attitude. We can't have a casual attitude just to say, well, that's close enough. At least I'm not as bad as those people are. You see, but that's not our standard. That's not our standard. So, every wall, every part of our life, has to be lived and framed by God's standard. Because ultimately, we're going to be judged by his standard, by his exacting standard. And I think he uses this concept of this plumb line to really make it live in our minds. In fact, Isaiah used a similar kind of illustration.

Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16. Notice how God judges this. As the architect would look at a plan and say, you know, that's just not going to work. You're going to have to do it this way in order to meet the code, in order to have a solid structure. In a way, God does a similar kind of a thing. And Isaiah talks about this in chapter 28. Notice verse 16. Isaiah chapter 28 verse 16. It says, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily, I'll make justice with the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet. Of course, that's the plumb, the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies. The waters will overflow the hiding place. So imagine this illustration that he's giving here. I'm going to take that measuring line. It's going to be a measuring line, a plumb line, and it's going to be perfectly lined up with righteousness and justice and God's way. And even though, like he's saying here, your fortress might look strong, your building might have an appearance, that it's okay.

If it doesn't measure up to this line, if it's not laid on that true foundation, he says, it's going to fall. It's going to fall to this hailstorm. It's going to be knocked down. The flood is going to come and take it away. And of course, what a great reminder. We've got this straight, perfect, upright line that God measures by. And of course, if you were a mason and you're trying to build a wall, put those bricks up one of the line, if he finds out it's starting to get off, well, what does he do? He just hopes it's going to straighten out? No, he's got to remove that and adjust the wall. You don't throw out the plumb line. You don't throw out the measurement.

You've got to adjust the wall. And so that's a great concept for all of us. If I find I'm a little out of line, can I just say, well, hopefully it'll get better. I don't know.

No, I can't. I can't throw out God's standard. I've got to get realigned to his standard, because his way is truth. It is righteousness. And his word guides us in that. And so over and over and over again, we are reminded of that standard. Even in the very end, if you go all the way to the end of the book, you know, what will mankind be judged by? What will we be judged by?

Well, Revelation 20 says it will be judged by what's written in the books.

What's written in the books. And so as we consider that, if we're not in line with God's plumb, how can we be a part of his kingdom? Which then reminds us, if we're going to be lined up, we have to test every course. That's the way the Masons do it. You know, if you're a Mason, you're building a brick wall, you can't just wait to finish the entire wall and then measure it to see if you're lined up. They test every course because they put a course of bricks, one level, and then they put the next level. And they make sure that's right. And they keep going up, checking that plumb, every level, every line, every course. And when you do that, I mean, can you imagine if you didn't? You just wait till the very end and hope it's close enough?

And I think that's a great reminder for us. You know, as we're building this spiritual house, do we check every course? That means, what, every day? Every day we've got to make sure we're lined up with the standard. It would be silly to wait and put it off and not keep checking that course of our life. And how do we do that? I mean, spiritually speaking, Paul told the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. You're familiar with this passage.

Think of it in terms of this measurement, this straight line, this wall that is a part of our spiritual structure of our life. Think of it in these terms as Paul told Corinth, 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5. Examine yourselves. Check every course, every level. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Don't just put it off. He says, do you not know yourselves? Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you're disqualified. So in a way, he's saying, am I out of line? Am I out of plumb? I've got to continue to do this. How often do I test myself? Do I check the course of my life? How often do I do that? Is it a once in a while kind of a thing?

And of course, when we find God's guidelines, we're told pretty specifically that we have to do that on a continual basis. In fact, there's a passage we don't read very often. I think it's kind of a hard one to find. It's in the book of Lamentations. If you turn back to Lamentations, chapter 3, if you can find the minor prophets, get before them and get before Ezekiel.

After the book of Jeremiah, we get beyond Jeremiah. I'm going the wrong way. Not Isaiah, Jeremiah. Lamentations. There it is. So when you get to Lamentations, look at Lamentations chapter 3, verse 40. I wonder if the Apostle Paul had this passage in mind when he wrote to the Corinthians, because it sounds really familiar, doesn't it? Look at Lamentations chapter 3, verse 40.

Here it says, let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord.

So maybe not every brick in our wall is out of line, but when we see there is one, maybe that mortar is too thick, or maybe it's caused at the lean one way, we've got to pull that one out and straighten that one out. We might not have to tear down the whole structure, but as it's getting out of line, we've got to change that. We've got to adjust that. So he's saying, search that out, examine it, and if it's off, get it fixed. Turn back to God. He says, verse 41, let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We've transgressed. We've rebelled.

And you see, this lamentation goes through some of the things that had been happening in Israel. And yet it's interesting that as they get to the conclusion of the story here, when we do that, when we do as the Apostle Paul suggests, when we do search, when we do examine, when we do make those adjustments so we line up with God's way, notice what happens. Verse 57, 7, You drew near on the day I call to you, which is awesome. We've got a God who loves us, who cares for us, who wants us to be straight, who wants us to be, who's on our side, who wants the best for us. You drew near, and I said, don't fear. Oh, Lord, you've pleaded the case for my soul. You've redeemed my life. You've seen how I'm wrong. Judge my case. And so when we rely on God, we look to His direction, we look to His guidance, then we're checking the course of our life.

And we're adjusting the things that need to be adjusted. So if I'm not praying the way I need to, I've got to get that in order. If I don't study the Word of God as I should, I've got to put the goal down and strive to meet that goal every single day. And whether it's attending church, keeping the Sabbath holy, fellowshiping together, emulating Jesus Christ, make it our goal to make sure the course is clear and that it's straight, that it is absolutely straight according to God's will. And stick to it. Stick to it. Sometimes that's the challenge that we've got to keep going. We've got to finish this spiritual project that God's called us to.

And Paul reminded a young minister about that very fact. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Here Paul is writing to this very young minister who now has the responsibility of guiding God's people.

And notice what Paul tells this young minister, Timothy. And I think by extension he's telling us the same thing. Notice it's kind of like this idea of testing every single course as we're building the spiritual wall. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Notice verse 13. Here's what Paul told Timothy.

He says, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. So hold fast or stick to it. Follow it. Hang on to it. Hold the pattern. If you look this up in all kinds of different various translations, those are the words these other translations use. Keep it. Keep that form. Keep that guideline. Hold the pattern. Make sure it's plumb. Retain it, some translations say. That's the word for hold fast. Hold fast. It means to keep it in your possession. Hang on to it. Don't lose your grip. Don't lose your grip. On what?

On the standard. Don't lose grip on the sound words that you've heard from me. Well, what sound words did he hear from him? This word. God's word. It wasn't just Paul's word. God's word. God's guidance.

Where God was leading. So don't lose your grip on the standard. And it's interesting the way that Paul says it there. This isn't like, well try not to, or it would be nice if you held on. No, the way it's written in the Greek is called an imperative. It's an imperative. In other words, it's like a command. This is so important, Timothy. Make sure you do this. Continually hold on. In fact, it's a present type of command. A present imperative, they call it, which means it's ongoing. Not just, well do it once and you got it. No, it's like that builder. Keep checking the standard. Keep making sure you're straight. You're in line. Retain the truth. Retain the love of God. Keep measuring your life by his standard. And when you do that, then you know that you're going to follow his way. And so as we do this, it's just a powerful thing. In fact, just a little later, look down to verse 15. Second Timothy chapter 2.15 Paul says, be diligent to present yourself approved to God.

That's that word for testing. Be diligent. Prove yourself. Prove yourself. Test yourself. And of course, what did they do? If you're a builder, you test every single board. You test every single block so that it's going to fit. It is going to fit. It's going to be a good fit because you've tested it. You know it. You're sure of it. And when we do that, he says, you're approved to God. You're not unapproved. That that wall is going up. That spiritual construction is going up right according to the standard. And then he says, when we do that, we don't need to be ashamed. Because then when the spiritual building inspector shows up, we're going to be lined up to his way. And we will then be approved. And we can do that, he says, by rightly dividing the word of truth.

And like a mason who has to cut a stone to fit in just right, that's what we're doing. We're cutting the stones of God's truth and fitting it perfectly into our lives, making sure that we are following his way and his will. And we're studying God's word to make sure we're in line. And we're checking ourselves through study and staying close to God. And so as we do these things, that spiritual construction that God's called us to will be one that is honorable to him. And it doesn't matter whatever field we look at in life, there is a standard, isn't there? There's a standard to masonry. There's a standard to carpentry. There's standard weights and measurements in science.

And there's no doubt God has his standard as well. And so let's follow that standard.

Lean on that right foundation. Make sure we're leaning on that foundation of Christ in everything that we are. And as we build this wall, this building, this spiritual calling that we have, let's stay straight. Let's stay true. Let's build by God's plumb line and be sure we're keeping to his standard. Testing every single step, every single day, every course of our life to make sure we're lining up. And so God has given us this great calling to build this spiritual building. And let's frame our lives then by his standard. Let's be sure that we have that perfect measure of his word and following the ultimate architect, Jesus Christ. And if we're going to succeed spiritually, that's exactly what we'll do. We'll measure our lives by constantly using God's plumb line.