FIRST THINGS FIRST
 

TEXT: Prov 24:27 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

Introduction; Consider the folly of the rancher who would build a large plantation home before he cleared the ground for his first crop!
How might we apply this practical truth to each of our lives?
I. Order in service.
A. God is orderly and demands order in all things.
1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
1 Cor 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

B. God was orderly in creation. What if he had randomly placed man on earth before it was ready for him?!

C. In the Tabernacle and in the journeys of the Israelites there was order.
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.

D. Even in the resurrection there will be order;
1 Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

II. Christ followed the order of our text.
A. Birth, life, ministry , church, teaching, death, resurrection and then;
John 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.


III. As a church we must observe order.
Col 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

A. The order;
[1].Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
[2] so walk ye in him:
[3]Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him,[4] and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, [5]abounding therein with thanksgiving.

IV. As individuals there is an order we must follow.
A. First,. the cross. This is the foundation for all else.
Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
1. Whether family, church, nation or individual life, all built here is safe.

B. Baptism.
1. The Divinely prescribed order is; Salvation, baptism, service.
Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

C. Study.
2 Tim 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
A lack of study is what Solomon referred to;
Prov 26:7 The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

D. Stewardship.;
2 Cor 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.


V. You can't raise Christian children without Christian homes and that takes Christian parents.

VI. Christian parents require Christ in hearts and lives.

VII. How is your field coming along?