BUILDERS OR CONQUERORS -- By PASTOR DAVID J. LEET

INTRODUCTION

Let’s hop straight into:

Zechariah 6 V 12 and 13:

12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord:

13 Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Hosea 2 V 19-23:

19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel.

23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Now then, let’s take a look at King David and the Jewish people for a moment.  There are (12) twelve tribes that compromise the company of Israel.  Consider this, you have twelve (12) groups of people numbering up to 1.5 million or so, hanging on your every wood, as their King, Prophet, Counsellor, Pastor, Father, etc..

You along with the Israelites, have known of this invisible yet powerful God in your personal and collective past, since Adam and Eve.  He brought you out of your Egypt today, as he did for Israel then.  Have you ever thought of yourself in this light?

David was a sheepcote. If you like an apprentice shepherd, who did all the following as he learned his trade, and about the God of Heaven and Earth.  Whom he came to dearly love enough to defend his name and honour, against the Philistine champion, Goliath.  He risked his own life for God and his people.

God had cut David out for this very purpose - Too lead Israel to victory against all of their enemies.  God had established David as King and conquer - Not a builder of churches or tabernacles, for worship.  How do you see your own situation fro what we have just read about?

The Lord seals this in verse 9A of 1 Chronicles 17:

9A Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel., By this statement, God is saying that he has a plan for our lives, if we would only seek out, and give first place to His will instead of ours.  He will establish us in the Earth.

Further into verse 9B:

9B And will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place in God’s will for our lives, our roots will go down into the Earth, as it were.  That is our position or vocation in life, and we will not eat to move or look around any more. 

In verse 9C - we read -

9C “Neither shall the children of wickedness wast them any more, as at the beginning”.  People influenced by doctrines of Devils, or Demons and lying spirits, will not prevail against us.  Because we are firmly rooted in God, they shall not wear us down by their lies and tricks.  For we will have power and authority over all situations, and principalities in this world.

How do these three (3) definitions in verse 9, affect your personal walk with God?

To confirm this Old Testament promise, turn to the New Testaments in:

Luke 22 V 69:

69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Read Out Matthew 28 V 18-20:

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Can you see the confirmation of our text in 1 Chronicles 17, as we go through God’s Word?

Also notice smoothing here, in all of this study, as indeed all of God’s Word..we are all looking not just at the individual life.  But the generations of that life.  We will talk more on this subject later on, with the relevance too, and in our lives today.

What does stand out though, is that no matter what we do for, in God, He has made provision for us to conquer all obstacles!

Now I don’t know about you, but I had always seen myself as a builder.  The pressure was on to build a future not only for me, but for my family too.

So consequently, there was no real time for the important construction work to be done.

Namely, people and family and Godly relationships.

It seemed impossible sometimes to wear so man ‘Hats” as the saying goes.

As - Good Husband, Good Father, Good Provider, Good Christian, etc..

However, look at what we have learned here:

1. God has ordained a place for us!

2. God has planted us in a place to dwell, and ‘we shall not be moved!”

3. The wickedness of this world will not waste us, ie diminish or destroy us, wear us down etc…

We have a great strength to draw upon in all circumstances.  The Living Bible puts it this way:

Philippians 4 V 12:-13:

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.  I have learned the secret of contentment every situation.  Whatever it be, full stomach or under, plenty or want,

13 for I can do everything God asks me to do with the help of Christ who give me strength and power.

To me, this means then that you and I, are conquerors of all life’s problems and situations through Christ Jesus!  Though we all still have much to learn; But isn’t it easier to take out a mountain with dynamite, than a spoon?

How much of that brief analogy of min could you relate to in your own life?