The Heaton File

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

Who Is Building Your House?

In the art world, paintings are known by the personality and character of the creator. Experts can easily detect a painting by Claude Monet in contrast to the style of Picasso. Music has a defined style that can distinguish arrangements by Mozart from Beethoven and vice versa. The world of literature is determined by the style of writers such as Shakespeare and Mark Twain. Each has a distinctive style, setting them apart from others. Architects like Frank Lloyd Wright created such a defined building style that it was easy to identify the buildings he designed. The buildings he designed showed the handiwork of a master’s touch.

There is another building that is created far above the world of human wisdom. The eternal spirit of man was created by the hand of God to give glory and honor to his maker. Man was created from the dust of the ground, and the woman was formed from man’s rib. God united these two creatures together as man and woman to be husband and wife. Everything the man and woman needed for happiness was provided in abundance. Because of the deceitfulness of the devil, Adam and Eve lost paradise because they listened to the lies of the deceiver rather than the word of God. Man disobeyed the word of the Lord, but God did not leave man without His witness. From the moment Adam and Eve stepped out of the garden, the Lord instructed man on how to find happiness.

Life took a dramatic change for Adam and Eve, but they trusted in God. The Lord revealed His will to the world; many obeyed, but many did not. In the days of Noah, only eight people would be saved from destruction. They followed the plan given to them by God to be saved. Generations later, the children of Abraham became the nation of Israel. The Lord told the Hebrews if they obeyed Him, He would bless them abundantly. If they refused to obey the word of the Lord, the wrath of God would come upon them. Israel did not listen, and the Lord destroyed His Beloved. Jesus Christ came to bring all men to the Father. The world rejected Jesus and killed Him. Through the death of Jesus, God established His plan to redeem men through the church. God has provided the answer to the plight of humanity in these last days.

Solomon was the wisest man of his day, but the truth he gleaned was not new. The son of David writes that unless the Lord establishes the character of a man’s heart, there is nothing to live for. A building must have a designer and builder. The heart of man is the building that will never die. Unless the Lord establishes man’s heart, he lives a foolish and unprofitable life. God made man in the beginning, providing everything he needed to fulfill his purpose. Jesus Christ came to bring the abundant life to those who follow Him. When a man establishes his life without God, he is a fool. There is no value to live a lifetime without God because it will not end well. The temptation that Satan allures the world with is to deny God and live for self. That is a fool’s errand. If a man will not form his life around the word of God, he is wasting his life and endangering his eternal soul. God created man and knows everything he needs and how to bring him the greatest measure of happiness. Human wisdom has never brought man fulfillment.

Solomon reminds the soul of man that failure awaits unless the Lord guards the heart. A poorly designed building will not last. Buildings fail because of the failure of its builder. Lives fail because of the failure of those who live for themselves, seeking the pleasures of life and not God. There is an absolute about the word of God that must be read and understood. If God is not the center of your life, you are a fool and wasting your life. You are building something in vain. There is nothing you can do to guard your life from perdition if you don’t have God. The Lord created us to rely on Him and seek His blessings. Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessings will come down. Examine your life. Who is building your life? The Gospel of Two declares there are only two builders: God and Satan. Which one is building your house (life)?

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

Evil For Evil

Retaliation and retribution are two characteristics that should not be part of the Christian’s life. God has always wanted His people to stand above the world in their conduct and attitude toward others – including enemies and evil persons. It is easy to be good to those who show love for others. Everyone wants to show kindness to those who show kindness to them. When an evil person treats others with contempt, the reaction is often to return kind with kind. If someone does something wrong against a neighbor, the offended one will return the evil with evil. Road rage has become a social phenomenon that often ends in someone killing another.

Jesus warned against the spirit of vengeance. He taught in the mountain sermon how His disciples must learn to walk the second mile and never seek retaliation against others. The early church taught the disciples not to render evil for evil to anyone. There were challenges in the First Century church with the blending of Jew and Gentile. Paul repeatedly emphasized that there was no difference between Jew and Gentile and that all were one in Christ Jesus. This removes the stigma of revenge against others. A Christian will not do anything against another that is evil because to do so is sinful and condemned by God. The world teaches the philosophy of “getting even.” This is never found in the heart of the child of God.

Jesus Christ wants His people to seek all things that are good. Following things that are good is how the Christian frames his life. In a world filled with hatred, the Christian aims to bring the light of goodness into a dark world. Revenge is never the tool of the child of God. Getting back at others should never be known among the people of God. Even when the world treats the Christian badly, there is no recourse to return the favor. Jesus is the eternal example of never rendering evil against others. He always pursued what was good for Himself, others, and, first of all, His Father. Jesus forgave those who killed Him. He never reviled when they reviled Him. There was never a curse that came from his lips as those standing before Him cursed Him. Jesus wants His people to seek all things that are good because He gave that example in His life.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)

His Coming Is Like A Thief

The Holy Spirit is very descriptive in the language He uses to declare the word of God. Since the fall of man in Eden, the Lord has told man of an impending day of judgment. This message has taken on many forms through the centuries as God warns the world of His wrath against those who reject His word. Noah was told to build an ark for the saving of his household but was not told when the global flood would come. The day came when the Lord told Noah to gather the animals and his family to enter the ark. Then the waters burst forth, and the world was destroyed. There was no warning, no timeline declared, and no mercy given to those unprepared. When God told Noah to enter the ark, it was too late for the world to repent.

Jesus would use the story of Noah to describe the world on the last day. When God told Noah to enter the ark, the world was frolicking in its pleasures, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and living life without a care in the world. Men were in the field working, women tended to the needs of the family, and children played in the fields, unaware of the impending doom. Like a thief in the night, the judgment of the Lord came upon the world. When a thief plans to enter a victim’s home, he does not give a warning or notice. His purpose is to strike unaware and without warning. If someone knew a thief would break in and steal, he would prepare for the moment. God has told the world a day of judgment is coming, and there will be no warning.

The world has survived more than two thousand years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. One of the central themes of the gospel is what a man must do to be saved. The reason this is so important is because salvation is necessary to understand the peril of eternal damnation that awaits all who disregard the word of the Lord. A day of judgment for all men is coming. This day is as certain as death. God has never hidden the fact that all men will face His judgment. Jesus described the judgment as separating sheep from goats. Those on the right hand enjoy eternal life, and those on the left face Hell. No warnings will be given to let men know the final day has arrived. Like a thief in the night, the world will pass away with a great noise, and the universe will melt with fervent heat. Everything man knows will be burned up.

The Son of God has said that no man knows the day His Father will bring final judgment upon the world. There are many people who declare they know when the Lord is coming. They are liars of the highest caliber. What purpose would be served if God told men when He was coming? There will be no warning. The world can end before the reading of this paragraph ends. What happens most often is the world does not end, and the heart of man settles into complacency and apathy. Know this and know this well. A day is coming. There is no warning. God will not give a hint of His wrath. You will be doing what you always do. In a moment, in the twinkling of the eye – the world ends, and you face the wrath of God. If you are not a child of God, you will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and eternal darkness from the face of God. It is then you will understand the language of the thief and the coming of the Lord. But it will be too late. Today is the day of salvation. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. Be faithful unto death. Live for Jesus. Be watchful. He’s coming like a thief.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man! (Isaiah 5:20-23)

The Woes Of Israel

A woe is an interjection and a denunciation. God uses the language of woes to tell the people of Israel of sins they have done to provoke Him to wrath. The woes are specific and dangerous, and the consequences are eternal. Israel is failing, and the prophet Isaiah preaches against the apathy and pride destroying the people of God. His mission is to turn the people’s hearts back to God, but they are not listening. The appeal of sin has entrenched itself so fully into their hearts that they have changed the moral compass of God to their own desires. They no longer see sin as the depraved nature declared by God. The heart of the wicked change what God has said is evil into something that is good. What the Lord says are the works of darkness are not accepted as the fruit of light. The bitter taste of evil has been turned into the sweet nectar of delight.

God’s word has been cast aside for the wisdom of men who seek their own counsel to say what is right and wrong. The world accepts the norm: there are no absolutes, and everything is allowable for the heart of man to please himself. Everything in the world has become the pursuit of passion and self-desire. Injustice abounds in the world, righteousness is ridiculed, and those who believe in God are mocked as fools. Morality is served by the desires of the flesh through sexual immorality, drunkenness, deceit, murder, stealing, and cursing God.

Marriage is no longer described by one man and one woman. The world of Israel is unsure of what a woman is. Homosexuality and transgenderism abound as the normal acceptance of one’s sexuality. Men are with men, and women with women, and children are taught the acceptance of perverted sexuality. It is not uncommon for someone to kill a rival. The government is corrupt, society is immoral, and families have so many last names no one knows who the fathers are. Goodness is now the evil. Marital unfaithfulness is expected. Couples live together and have children together, and there is no shame.

Israel takes what God has said is good and calls it evil. There is no longer a view that sin is the darkness of hell but the enlightenment of a new world. The consequence of sin and its bitter taste has become the accepted flavor of a perverted world. Men are wise in their own eyes, rejecting the word of God as outdated, outmoded, and out of touch. Life is filled with frivolity, drunken feasts, and corruption. Isaiah preaches against the evils of a doomed nation. There is little hope as the nation falls further into the pit of damnation and despair.

Israel was destroyed 2600 years ago when the Babylonians burned Jerusalem and the Temple to the ground. This became the fulfillment of a nation that changed evil to good and good to evil. God warned the people of the consequences of sin and the coming judgment, but they would not listen. The greatest failure of humanity is the inability to learn from its past. When history lessons are not viewed as a template for today, the world tends to repeat itself. What is found in the world today is not a new form of sin or a new philosophy. It is Israel repeating itself.

The world now views the goodness of God as evil and accepts wickedness as goodness. What man does not realize is that while they say the darkness is light and light is darkness; what God has called darkness is still darkness, and what God has called light remains light. The philosophies of men can be likened to someone who calls the Moon the Sun and the Sun the Moon. No philosophy of man will change the nature of what they are. The Moon is a dead rock, and the Sun is a fiery, brilliant star. Light is light. Darkness is darkness. Sin is Sin. Righteousness is righteousness. God is.

“Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:30-32)

Stealing The Word Of God

Truth is older than error, and false teachers have existed since the beginning of time. Satan is the father of lies and the greatest thief of God’s word. The world in the days of Noah was destroyed because the hearts of men believed the lie more than the Creator. Israel was warned not to trifle with the word of God to add or take away from its holy commandments. They were destroyed when they began to be like the nations around them. Rejecting the word of God, the Jews followed after false gods promoted by false prophets. As Israel sank further into the mire of apostasy, men like Jeremiah warned of the consequences of neglecting the commandments of the Lord.

Jeremiah spoke the word of the Lord in truth, but many prophets tickled the ears of the people. Through deception and deceit, the prophets stole the pure word of God from the hearts of the people, leading them to believe in themselves. Apostasy comes from denying the word of God. The prophets stole messages from others, claiming they had divine revelation. Jeremiah calls them smooth-tongued prophets, falsely claiming what they said was from the Lord. Their flagrant lies led the people of God into sin and destruction. As a result of false prophets, Israel was destroyed. God would not tolerate a people who turned away from His words to heed the doctrines of men.

Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God on earth which was accomplished on the Day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem. The twelve apostles preached a sermon of repentance to a crowd of devout Jews who were convicted that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Son of God. In response, three thousand people were baptized and had their sins washed away in the blood of Jesus. Luke writes that the Lord added those who were saved to the church. The church of Christ began to grow and prosper under the teachings of the apostles, who were led by the Holy Spirit. Congregations of New Testament saints began establishing themselves throughout the Roman Empire until Paul wrote to the church at Colosse the church that the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven.

The Holy Spirit began to warn the early disciples of a coming apostasy. Men began to have itching ears to heed the doctrines of men rather than the teachings of God. In the past two thousand years, doctrines differing from the word of God have turned souls away from the truth and seen the creation of many churches that are not found in the New Testament. False preachers and teachers have stolen the word of God away from the hearts of the people, leading them into the path of apostasy. Many believe in false doctrines because of the glitter and entertainment of men and women preaching a foreign gospel that God never approved.

Like in the days of Jeremiah, the Lord is against those who preach a perverted gospel, who steal the words of God for their personal gain. Many smooth-tongued preachers convince the people they are preaching from the Bible. God is against them as they lie to the people and lead people into perdition. As in the days of Jeremiah, the challenge is to test whether the spirits are from God. Everyone can read and understand the Bible. God did not give the world a message they could not understand. If there is religious division, it is not a creation of God but man. There is only one book of divine knowledge, one church, one Savior, one Lord, one faith, one path to eternal life, and one hope found in Jesus Christ. Read the Bible. Learn the one truth from the one and only Lord God Almighty. Do not allow men to steal your soul from truth and the hope of eternal life.

“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

The Fire And Hammer

When God spoke, the universe came into being. No words in the human language can explain the power of the word of God. Everything in creation was established through the spoken word of “God said!” Human wisdom can never match or come within a glimpse of the power of God to establish the world by the word. The revelation of the word of God has the power of dynamite to change the hearts of sinful, corrupt, and evil men. Jeremiah describes the word of God like as a fire and a hammer. God created fire for good and to destroy. A hammer can create masterpieces or tear them into pieces with its fierce blows. Jeremiah shows the power of God as something for good and a force to destroy those who trifle with its content. Like a hammer, the word of God can create a new heart from corruption, and it will destroy anything that resists it.

Fire has great value in warming a home, cooking food, and creating metal strengthened by the flame. The same flame can burn a house down, destroy lives, and devastate the land. When fire is controlled, it serves the purpose of a blessing but let a flame escape uncontrolled, and the results can be catastrophic. God’s word is given to show the heart of man God’s love, mercy, and grace. The character of man is strengthened by the flame of truth that burns from the word of God. When the heart is filled with the word of God, the soul solidifies into the mold of strength, courage, hope, and peace. Someone rightfully said the word of God is given to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. Great peace comes from spending time in the word, but there can be greater conflict when the heart of man seeks to rebel against God’s will.

A hammer is a tool designed to build and create. It is a simple design that is easy to use and effectively constructs what it is purposed to build. In the hands of a craftsman, a hammer can create great edifices that will last for many centuries. A hammer is also used to tear things down. It can be used as a tool to destroy. The word of God is a tool designed to build trust in God in the heart of man. It will create a soul confident in the grace of God to save. The same hammer will also resist those who try to change the word of God. As the anvil of truth, the Bible has stood the test of time against a world bent on its destruction. All arguments against the word of God have been destroyed by the hammer of God, which is truth.

The Bible is a book of controversy. One of the reasons most people reject the Bible is because it exposes their sinful life. God’s word reveals the conscience of evil that men enjoy. As Creator, God condemns all those who challenge His authority, declaring penalties for those who refuse to obey Him. Like a fire and hammer, the word of God convicts the soul of sin, crushing everything that is evil. Human wisdom cannot change the revelation of the mind of God because it is settled in heaven. False religions have created false doctrines to their own destruction, but the word of God remains the same. The Bible was first written down by Moses 3,500 years ago and has remained unchanged as it developed over the centuries. Only the power of the spoken word of God could produce the universal message of hope and salvation. Read the Bible to be wise, but do not challenge its content. The fire and hammer of God endure until the end.