The book of Exodus chapter 20 Bible says thou shalt not steal and I'm not gonna steal the next man's time by God's grace So let's get right into the lesson this morning Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 Luke chapter 14 begin reading with verse 28 Luke 14 28. I For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest, happily, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth conditions of peace. I want to look specifically this morning at verse 28, for which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. But the Lawrence has already covered this verse, so I'm not going to go into any of the things that he covered the other night. In fact, I debated on picking up something and throwing at you when you read this the other night. But I do want to take this as a lesson, perhaps. It's not my intention to go into the specific lesson that Jesus is teaching. I simply want to look at a very practical lesson, a very practical application that I believe Jesus is giving here. And I want to see if looking at the natural man building a tower, I hope to look at this morning and show you that God is at least as smart as a natural man. And some of you already know where I'm probably gonna end up, that's fine. Just don't get ahead of me too far. First of all, look at a natural man. He talks about a natural man intending to build the tower. We built our new building last year. We built a complete new building from the ground up, relocated our church and everything last year. I learned the importance of having a good contractor. I learned just how much a good contractor does. One of the first things we did was we sat down and, well, the first thing we did is the church had to have a desire. We had to say, okay, we desire a new building. The church said, okay, what do we want to accomplish in this building? Well, we need an auditorium, we need a fellowship hall, we need city school, we need restrooms. The church decided what we wanted to accomplish in the new building. Once the church decided what the ultimate goal was, what the end result was, then we hired a contractor, we hired an architect, and we sat down and we began to go over the plans. Now we want this room to be this big and we want this room to be this big and he would draw the plans and would come back and say no that's not what the ultimate end is. We ultimately want to get to this point way over here. That's where we want to end up when the building's done. That's what we want it to look like. What's it going to be used for? We set up part of it for dining. We set up part of it for Sunday school. Obviously we set up part of it to do the printing that we do. And each part was different based on the intent that we had in using it ultimately. Well, the architect then and the contractor began to anticipate problems. Okay, if we do this, we have to do this. If we do this, then this is what the law states. And if the law states this, we have to change this. And it was a very long process just deciding what we wanted and what we could do and ultimately how to get to where we wanted to be when the building was finished. After we got all the plans laid out, He anticipated the problems. And by the way, we found out that as good as our architect and contractor were, they were human. They missed a couple of things. A couple of things caught us off guard. And then we found out that there was someone more powerful than the architect and contractor. He's called the building inspector. And he came in and changed a few things. We were almost done and he changed his mind and said, no, you got to rip it out and do this. And so the building inspector was more powerful than the church was, and more powerful than the architect and the general contractor were, and made us just change a number of things. But after we got our initial plans, The contractor sat down and said, OK, he began to figure. I'm going to need this many two-by-fours. I'm going to need this much sheetrock. I'm going to need this much two-by-sixes. I'm going to need trusses. I'm going to need commodes. I'm going to need, and he went through, and he figured it all out. He got the ultimate cost for what the ultimate building was going to cost when it was all said and done. Then he gave us the cost, and we negotiated on that. Then we worked back and forth. We had to decide, is it worth it? Are we willing to spend that much money? Are we willing to go into debt? Are we willing to do this? Are we willing to do that? It still came back to the church had to decide how much are we willing to pay? How much are we willing to do? How much are we willing to sacrifice? It ultimately decided we were building it. How much are we willing to do? How much are we willing to put into this? Had we started, had our architect and our contractor said, oh my word, we miscalculated by a half a million dollars, our building would have had the foundation and nothing else. We would have been the shame of the community. We would have been disgraced. Boy, look at those people. They don't know what they want. They built a building way too big. They hired a dumb architect. They got a stupid contractor. They started to build. They were not able to finish. And look at the mess that they're in today because of it. And like I said, I learned the value of a good architect and a good contractor. They anticipated 98% of all the problems before we ever got started and already had things worked out. That's true in the physical realm. If you intend to build a tower, you sit down and say, okay, is this gonna be simply a spy tower or a battle tower? Are we gonna fight from here? Are we gonna simply look out? What are we gonna use the tower for? You calculate the cost, lest happily after you lay the foundation, you're not able to finish. You behold, it becomes a mockery to everybody that goes by. We understand that in the physical realm. But you know that same thing is true in the heavenly realm. Many people won't even give God credit for being as smart as a natural man is. They believe somehow that God decided to create a universe and didn't have the first clue of what he was going to ultimately accomplish in creation. They believe that God planned a creation. They actually believe, some people do, that God is in heaven, taking it one day at a time, waiting to see what problems are going to come up, what mistakes are going to happen, and whether or not He's ultimately going to be able to accomplish what He planned in eternity. Now let me give you just a very, very brief scenario of what I think it was like before creation. There was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One of them decided, let's create a man in our image. And let's decide right now, before we do anything, that we're going to save some people. How are we going to accomplish this? Remember, the goal has to be set before you know the steps to take to reach to that goal. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit decided to save some people, and I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but that's all right. I'll just quit a few minutes early when I get to that point. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit said, what are we ultimately going to accomplish? Well, in the ages to come, we're going to show forth the exceeding riches of our grace. How can we accomplish that? How can we do that? What steps do we need to take? Well, they figured it out, they planned it out, and I'll list some of the steps, perhaps, and some of the questions that people raise. But folks, I believe that before God ever spoke the first word of creation, he was at least as smart as our architect was, and at least as smart as our contractor was. He had a plan. He had a blueprint. He knew what he wanted to accomplish. He knew the ultimate purpose. He knew where he was headed, what the end result was going to be, and what each part was going to be used for before he ever spoke the first word into existence. He had a plan and a purpose. A lot of people ask a lot of questions, and I ask a lot of questions. Sometimes that's good, sometimes it's not. People ask questions like, didn't God know that Satan would rebel if he created with that ability? Think about that for just a moment if you want to. Why would God create an angelic being capable of leading a revolt against him. Does that make any sense to us? You know, when we started building, I was down there every single day. If you've never been through a major building project, let me give you some advice. Don't. I was down there every single day, and I would go down there, and I had my set of blueprints, and I would look at my blueprints, and I would walk over, and I would look at this big hole in the ground, and I'd think it's never going to fit. You know, it's not going to work. I would come back the next day, and they had poured concrete. Well, why did you do it this way for? Well, just trust me. I know what I'm doing. That I would go back and I would see pipes just sticking up at random. Like somebody just went out there at random and just stuck pipes down. And I'd go over and I'd look at them and, well, that's a sewer pipe. What's it doing way over here? Well, just trust me. I know what I'm doing. They poured the floor, and I came back and I measured. This is the men's room. This is the women's room. There's not enough room here. You put them too close together. Just trust me, preacher. I know what I'm doing. Why did God create an angelic being capable of leading a revolt? To us it looks like God got caught off guard, didn't he? And yet God comes back and says, just trust me, I know what I'm doing. It's not a mistake. Why would you allow a rebellion? Because I know what the end result is going to be, and the end result is going to be for the honor and the glory of God. But how can you accomplish that if you created an angel capable of becoming the devil? Just trust me. I know what I'm doing. See, we don't even give God enough credit. By the way, when they built the bathrooms, they were exactly right. I would have bet $1,000 if I were a gambler. They had those pipes too close together. Why did God make Adam with the ability to sin? I'm not going into the theology of it. I'll save that for some of you older brethren more knowledgeable than I. When God made Adam and Eve, Why did he create them with the ability to see it in the first place? Think of all the problems that would have been solved had he just not allowed Adam the freedom of choice. Think of all the problems. And we go and we say, and people complain about God and, you know, they talk about God like, boy, if God had known Adam was going to sin, he would have made him different. Listen, God not only knew it, it was part of his plan before he ever created the world. It was part of his purpose that he was going to allow Adam to sin. My Lord, why would you do that for? Just trust me, I know what I'm doing. But I don't understand, and boy, the architect or the contractor. You're going to turn this into our building? Yes, just trust me, preacher. Just trust me. Well, I did, and he did, and I do, and God does. Why would God make Adam? Why did God make Adam capable of sin? Why didn't God do something to stop it? When God knew that Satan had led the revolt against heaven, why didn't God send an angel down right on the spot, send an angel down and guard Adam and Eve so that Satan couldn't get to them? It would have been a very easy thing. He could have sent Michael down there, and when Satan came around, Michael could have said, Eve, let's go. You don't need to be talking to this thing. When Eve came to Adam and said, sweetheart, here, eat this fruit, God could have had an angel and said, no, no, Adam, get away. Why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin, because you and I only see through our limited eyes. God sees the end result, which we won't see until we get to eternity. We're looking at it through finite eyes, trying to figure out how all of this is going to come together. Well, we're not capable. In the fall itself, why didn't God stop Adam? Why didn't he bind Satan before he got to Eve? Why didn't he just put a stop on Satan like he did Job? Okay, Satan, you've rebelled against heaven, but I set your bounds here. Stay away from Adam and Eve. You cannot go near them. It would have been so easy, but it wasn't part of the plan and purpose. It wasn't part of the original goal. Why didn't God appear on the scene and say, Eve, listen, you're fixing to go through the worst time of your life. Why didn't he warn her? Why was it that God had to come walking in the cool of the evening before God is even on the scene? Where was God when Adam and Eve sinned? Where was God when Satan was tempting? Why didn't God stop them? Why didn't God intervene? Why didn't God do something? You know, so oftentimes we blame God when if we would just stop for a moment, things are progressing, right? own target. Why didn't God stop Adam and Eve? Because he had a different blueprint than we've got. He had a different set of plans. Well, in the course of history, why did God allow the famine that ultimately sent Israel into Egypt? You know, he only had to take care of 70, 75 people. He didn't need to send a famine or even if he sent the famine, he could have very easily have allowed them to somehow miraculously have a land there that would produce so that they didn't have to go into Egypt at all. Why did God allow Israel to go into Egypt? Why did he permit a pharaoh who knew not Joseph to take over the throne and become the prime minister of Egypt? Did you ever wonder why God allowed these things? I'm going to come to us in a little bit, so don't get too far ahead yet. Why did he permit Pharaoh to take over who knew not Joseph? Had another Pharaoh taken over who knew Joseph and knew what Joseph had done, he probably would not have mistreated the Israelites. He probably would not have put them into bondage. Look at all the affliction. Look at all the problems. Look at all the grief. Look at all the beatings. Look at all the Israelites that were beaten. All because God allowed a Pharaoh that knew not Joseph to take over the throne. Look at all the sorrow, the heartache, the pain. Well, finally, God sent Moses, let him out, they get to Kadesh Barnea. Why did God allow him to send in the 12 spies? Now, as a pastor, one thing I've learned, and it's taken me, I've been preaching for over 30 years, One thing I've learned is you never go looking for trouble. You don't send 12 people in to see if God told the truth or not. So why did God allow Moses to send in the 12 spies? Had he just sent in Caleb and Joshua, 38 years would have been solved right there. Had he just sent in Caleb and Joshua, they would have gone into the promised land. They would have captured the promised land. They would have avoided 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Look at all the grief. Look at all the death. Look at all the sorrow. All of those 10 spies died. Everyone 20 years of age and over died. Why did God allow that to happen? Because he's following a different blueprint than we're following. You see, we think the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. And in geometry, that may be true. But God says, no, no, that's not the best way to get there. But Lord, I don't understand why you would allow this to happen. I don't understand why you would allow two and a half million people, 20 and up, to die. Why would you allow that? Because I'm trying to accomplish something that you don't understand yet. You don't understand what I'm doing. Just trust me on this. Just trust me on this. Someone mentioned some of the wicked kings the other night of Israel and Judah. Why didn't their parents have a miscarriage so that king would not be born? By the way, I told my wife this morning, I believe with all of my heart at this point in time, I hope and pray I'm wrong, but I believe Al Gore will successfully steal the presidency. I think that's a strong possibility. And I ask myself, why? Because God's not on the same blueprint we are. I personally believe God is getting ready to teach America a few things. And I tremble at that thought. Lord, why would you allow such a wicked, ungodly man Why would he allow Manasseh? Why would he allow Ahab? Why would he allow many of these other kings? Why would God allow them to lead his people into sin? Now, I'm not going into all the theological aspects of this, but why would God allow such a wicked, ungodly king? We could go in and simply say he was dealing with his nation, Israel, and he was accomplishing things that you and I don't understand. Why did he allow Assyria to become a world power and ultimately destroy Israel? You know, all he had to do was send somebody over and destroy Assyria and Israel would have continued on, wouldn't they? Look at all the death and sorrow. Look at all the grief and suffering and pain. Look at all the things that happened because God allowed Assyria to go in. And if you've ever read anything about Assyria and how they would torture people, they tortured people unbelievably terrible ways. They had cruel means of torture. Why would a loving God, why would a father in heaven, Why would a God who had the ability to stop such cruelty, why would God allow this to happen? Well, because He's following a different set of blueprints than we are. We look at things in space and time. God looks at things in eternity. And we just can't understand what How can good come out of this? Lord, you surely have made a mistake. Why would you allow all of these innocent people to die and be tortured? You've got to keep saying what I've said already. He counted the calls before he ever spoke creation. He didn't start something and say, oh my word, I'm not going to be able to finish this. Listen, let me jump way ahead and go ahead and say it now. God will not be mocked in eternity. Satan will not in eternity say, look, I won. In eternity, throughout all eternity, God will not be mocked, saying, behold, he began to finish. He laid the foundation, but he wasn't able to finish it, and they begin to mock. God will not be mocked. Creation will end exactly right on schedule, exactly like God planned it, right down to the last living stone. That'll be part of his building, right down to the end. What about Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon? Why did God allow Babylon to destroy Judah? Why didn't God transfer Pilate to another country before Jesus came to him? Jesus wouldn't have had to die if Pilate had not been there. Oh, but you see, God moved Pilate there for the express purpose of Jesus dying. We look at all of these things and say, I don't understand. And I had my message written out even before the election, so I didn't change it after the election. Why doesn't he do something to stop the U.S. from heading faster and faster down the slippery slope of sin? I believe that, quite honestly, in America, We become materialistic, and I said I wasn't gonna get into the different aspects of it, but I will here. I believe we have become so materialistic, very possibly, and certainly like the architect. I would have it all figured out and say, he's going to do it this way, and he would come in and do it different. But I believe America is fixing to learn just what it means to get away from God. But why would God allow us to prosper and then bring us down? Ah, because he's not following the same blueprints we're following. Doesn't that make God the author of evil? No, it just means God allows us to go so far as long as it conforms to his blueprints and then he puts the brakes on. and he stops us right on time. Why does God allow nations like Iraq? Why does God allow idiots like, well, I forgot his name, that idiot over there just south of Egypt there. Saddam Hussein, yeah. Why does God allow idiots like that? Because God's accomplishing. I started to say God's trying to accomplish. He's not trying, he's accomplishing. what he planned from creation. Exactly right on target. What about in our lives? What about in our lives? Why was I born? Why wasn't I born in Africa or Sudan or some other country out there somewhere? Why was I born exactly when I was born. Why wasn't I born 100 years ago or 50 years from now? Why was I born physically the way that I look or act? Why did God allow this? Because God had a plan and purpose that began in eternity to fulfill and accomplish in my life. I had to be born to the minute when I was born. I had to be born to the day when I was born. I had to be born in the very home that I was born in because before the God ever spoke the world into creation, he had already planned and purposed right down to the very last particle. I remember our electrician that came in. Boy, I tell you what, he ran several thousand feet of wire in that building. brought them all from all over that building, brought them all down this big pipe. And there must have been 10 billion wires sticking out that pipe. I walked in there one day and I said, he will never figure out where all those wires go. But you know, every wire had a plan and a purpose. And when he got done, every wire was wired exactly where it was supposed to be. And every plug worked when he got done. You may think, how can God make mess out of my life? You may be but a tiny wire, but that wire has a purpose. That wire has a plan. And when God gets through with you, you're gonna be exactly what God intended you to be when he planned and purposed you from the very beginning. Why has God moved me to where I am now? I look at my life, and it's been a series. Some of you have known me since I was a baby. Brother Eugene Clark, I was trying to figure while I go, you've known me probably longer than anybody here. You've known me since I was about 40, let's see, you've known me for about 43 years, 44 years, something like that, pretty close to it. Boy, I've been everywhere, seems like half a day. I've been all over the place. Why did God move me so much? I was perfectly content to settle down years ago and stay where I was. And God moved me, and then He moved me, and then He moved me. Why? Because I'm a wire that I have to be in an exact spot to fulfill His plan and purpose. If he had put the wrong wire in the wrong breaker, he even went back when he got through and said, this breaker goes to these classrooms, this breaker goes to these classrooms, this breaker goes to the furnace, this breaker goes here. He even knew what each wire went through. To me, it was a maze of wires that made no sense at all. But the master electrician knew exactly what he was doing. Now I ask you, is God at least as smart as man? Why has God allowed so many problems in my life? Some of you may be asking yourself that this morning. You look at your life and you think, why has God allowed this to happen in my life? Why has God allowed death and heart attacks and comas and accidents? To us, they look like tragedies. But in reality, God is just moving everything together as a wise master builder. Let's look at one final picture and I'll close. What about the cross? If you listen to people today, you would think that more than any place else, men think that God miscalculated when it came to the cross. They claim that Jesus died hoping, hoping, hoping that somebody would be saved as a result of his death. I got into a heated discussion with a man one time who tried his best to argue with me that God paid 100% of everybody's sins and then he sits back and hopes that they receive him. That doesn't even make Christ as smart as an architect, does it? I'm going to die without any purpose or plan for dying? I'm going to die without some kind of assurance that I'm going to get some results back from it? I'm going to die and leave it up to man? Ain't no way that's going to happen. Jesus did not die hoping that somebody would be saved. He did not die and pay for everybody's sins and then just hope and hope and hope that a preacher could tell a sob story and get somebody crying and get them down the aisle and get them saved. It wasn't a hope so death. There's a lot of people who believe that God accepted Jesus' payment in full, just in case somebody gets saved. This guy tried to argue with me that time. Those of you that remember when I was in Texas, this is the reason I ended up leaving. This guy was arguing with me. He said, Jesus Christ paid 100% for every man, woman, boy, and girl, period. I said, did God accept his payment? He said, yes, God accepted it. I said, then what about those that go to hell? Well, they rejected it. Did God accept it? Yes, God accepted it, but they rejected it. Then does Jesus get a refund? No. Listen, folks, Jesus didn't die without some idea of who and what he was dying for. Brother, when we sat down the final day of our building with the general contractor, myself and our treasurer sat down, we went over every expenditure. And brother, he had to account for every penny. We didn't pay him a single penny that he could not account for before we paid him that final check. Do you think that Jesus is just gonna throw his blood away without some idea of what he's paying for and what he's buying in exchange for his blood? Absolutely not. Let me give you a couple of scriptures and we'll close. Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, verse 18, this has already been used. By someone, I think. Known unto God are some of his works from the beginning of the world. No, sir. Known unto God are all his works. Well, that was after he got started. No, that was from the beginning of the world. He knew every little single thing He was going to do. Well, did Jesus die in hope? Listen at Matthew 1, verse 21. Thou shalt call His name Jesus, and thou shalt, I'm sorry. She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He will try to save His people from their sins. No, sir. He shall save His people. from their sins. He knew exactly what he was doing when he died. He knew exactly who he was dying for when he died. John 19, verse 30. I told my wife this morning, I said, I'm almost scared to preach this message. It's been preached five or six times. But that's okay, I'll bring out something a little different maybe. John 19, 30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is almost finished, a man will do his part. No, it is finished. What was finished? What he and the father had planned from eternity. Last verse, Romans eight, you don't even have to turn, every one of you can quote it. You read there, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Okay, let's go on, it gets better. Whom he did predestinate, them he also called. Whom he called, them he also justified. Whom he justified, he will glorify if they receive. No, sir, they're already glorified in the plan and purpose of God. It's past tense, brethren. It's a completed act in the mind of God. Glorification is just as assured as though I were already in eternity and already glorified because that was the ultimate plan before they created. That in the ages to come, God will not be mocked. God will not be mocked. Did God miscalculate Satan? I hope I don't get in trouble for saying this. And I hope I phrase it theologically correct. If I get a little bit theologically off to your persuasion, be understanding, I'm only 49 years old, I'm still a baby. God had to allow Satan to fall in order to show the exceeding riches of his grace. You can't show love unless there's an object undeserving of love. You can't show grace unless there's somebody there that needs undeserved, unearned favor. If man had remained perfect as God created him, he would not have been undeserving. So God allowed sin, that was part of his plan, so that he could demonstrate the characteristic of love and grace. Brother Jerry. Right, thank the Lord, Brother Wilbert. God counted the cost. And in his wisdom, it's all gonna come out right. I'm glad that's so. That's humbling, makes us responsible, but it's the truth of God's word. So I wouldn't be missionary if I believed that. You don't believe it like we do. Get it right, it'll make you more missionary. All right, let's stand and have a song. Right. Brother Wilbert, where are you? Have you got the speaker or microphone? Okay. All right. Brother Downs will be back in just a minute. I just want to make sure that's taken care of. Brother Ed was waving at me a while ago. I think he's wanting me to straighten up the microphone. Okay. All right. Okay. We may have to give this microphone to some of these fellows. Let them take it home with them. But anyway, he's wanting me to straighten up the microphone. I've got my signals right. I think our playing piano players are in place and our song leader is waiting on me to shut up. Let's everyone grab us a handbook and turn to page number 223. Page number 223. Sing the first, second, and last verse. I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story because I know it's true. This satisfies my longings, that nothing else can do. I love to tell a story, which will be my gleaming glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, for wonderful it seems, that all the golden fancies of our golden dreams. I love to tell the story, It means so much for me. And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee. I love to tell the story, which will be my king glory. to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story for those who know it best. Seem hungry and thirsty, to hear it like the rest, and when it seems the I sing the new, new song. T'will be the old, old story that I have loved so long. I love to tell the story. T'will be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his