Psalm chapter 102 and verse 16. Psalm 102 and verse 16. The Scripture says, When the
Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory, he
will regard the prayer of the destitute and not despise their
prayer. The Lord shall build up Zion." Now, the title of the message
this evening is the building of the church. The building of
the church. When the Lord shall build up
Zion. The building of the church of
God is not something that started in time, but in eternity. God
from eternity laid a foundation upon which his church should
be built, and that foundation, that stone is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the foundation upon which
all of the souls, all of the beings that God has chosen rest
completely on Him. All of His chosen people rest
on Him. Jesus said this, upon this rock,
and He is talking about Himself, Upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
The church, friends, is not a place. Somebody asks you, are you going
to church? They are talking about a place,
a building. But we are talking about a building
that is not made with hands. We are not talking about a place,
but rather a people. When I am going to church, I
am going to see you. I am going to be identified with
you, who are the body of Christ. The glory of the church is not
found in any of its ceremonies, but it's found in its Savior.
The glory of the church, the rest of the church is not found
in our works, our ability, or our merit. But the rest of the
church is found on Jesus Christ, our sure foundation. Our rest is based on His works. My rest, for my soul, rests completely
upon the works and merit and ability of this man, Jesus Christ,
who is the Son of God. If you go now over to Isaiah,
you can hold your place here, but go to Isaiah chapter 28.
This is the passage that speaks to us concerning God's foundation
stone, the foundation for his church. But first of all, I want
us to see what the foundation of the lost is. He reveals to us the foundation
of all lost sinners. Look at verse 14. It says, Wherefore, hear the word
of the Lord, you scornful men. that rule this people which is
in Jerusalem, because you have said, We have made a covenant
with death, and with hell are we in agreement. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we
have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." This is the refuge of the natural
man. It is a refuge, a foundation
built on lies. Lies. Have you ever heard someone
say, well, it'll all just work out in the end? Lie. If that's what you're basing
the foundation of your soul on, your refuge, your foundation
is made up of a lie. It will not always just work
itself out. We reason within ourselves by
nature and we call our sins mistakes. We count our hatred of God to
be His fault rather than ours. We think to make a covenant with
death that somehow, in the end, God will wink at our sins and
overlook them at the expense of His justice." Now, is that
not what they're thinking? That somehow God will overlook
their sins at the expense of His justice. And so, men hide themselves in
these lies of religion. Like Adam, they take fig leaves
and sew them together and think that God would not see their
nakedness. Their sin. Have you noticed that the lost
are always looking to either the past or the future? They're never living in the present.
They never base their salvation on anything in the present. They
always pace it on something that they either have done or something
they plan on doing later. But they refuse The natural man
refuses to see his natural state of sin. It's always based in
something past or something that they did in the past or something
they're going to do. But you know this, that neither
the past nor the future exist. They never exist. The past is gone. It's never
coming back. The future is always ahead, and
we never reach it. We never reach the future, because
the future is now. And then now, so where'd it go? Now it's past. It's gone. It
doesn't exist anymore. The future is not yet, and therefore
the natural man has no desire to seek any refuge in his present
state of sin. In John chapter 3, with the Lord
talking to Nicodemus, he testifies of three great loves in that
passage. God's love for the world, the
love of God's people for the light, and the love of the wicked,
the love of the natural man for darkness. Go to verse 19 in John
chapter 3, verse 19, it says, This is a condemnation, that
light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. Men hate the light, and when
the light is presently shining in their presence like a cockroach,
they run to the darkness to hide. They run to obscurity and lies. They run to their refuge that
they have made for themselves, saying, we've made a covenant
with death. Me and God are buddies. It'll just be all right. This is the experience of all
of Adam's race. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. I know that in my life I have
made lies my refuge. I have sat under the sound of
this gospel that I have preached to you. I have sat under this
gospel all of my life. You know I made that a refuge?
Well, because I was under the gospel, then therefore I must
be saved. I made a lie my refuge. Well,
my parents are believers. I do the best I can. I've made
lies my refuge. And we all had some experience
of this in our lives. None of us were ever righteous
and none of us were ever good. None of us have ever obeyed the
law of God, not even the law of our own hearts, the law that
was written in our hearts. We didn't obey it. Neither did we desire the gospel
of Jesus Christ. We could not know God's salvation. We could not know it unless the
sovereign hand of God gave us life to see it. And that is the
same tonight. If you are without life, if you
are dead in your sins, it takes the hand of Almighty God Himself
alone to save you. This is a work that only God
can do. And here, in this passage of
Scripture, we have hope for sinners. This is a message of hope for
sinners. Because God does have a church. God does have a people. Christ
did come and die for those people. Who they are, I don't know. I
know this, that the Lord shall build up Zion, His church. The Lord will build His church. He will raise up His people. Because all are born Believing
a lie, therefore God, by His own free grace, the only reason
that God ever purposed to save anyone was because of His own
sovereign will. There was no merit in any of
God's elect. They were chosen Because God
would love them, and no merit is to be found in them. And because He chose them, He
laid for them a foundation. In eternity, this church that
is built, this church that God says He will build up, This foundation
is Jesus Christ. And that foundation was laid
before the foundations of the earth were laid. This foundation
was set first. Look at this in Isaiah 28 and
verse 16, Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation of stone. a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. He that believeth shall not make
haste. This foundation of the church of God we know is Christ. It is amazing to me to see God's
master workmanship. How that God, who purposed to
save sinners in Christ, would take such in one as ourselves,
sinners, and give us the righteousness of God. That He would take our sins and
put them on His own Son and crucify Him in our stead. God's building of His church
is marvelous in our eyes, because there was no grounds for our
acceptance. There was no grounds for us to
be a part of this. Can you find anything worthy of being part of His body? Can you find anything worthy
in yourself to be in union with the Son of God? This is His prayer. That His
church, not a building but a people, would be one even as He and the
Father are one. I in them, and thou in me. One in union together. There was no grounds for our
acceptance except we were accepted in the Beloved. We were accepted
in Christ. The Son of God swore with an
oath to be our surety. To be the surety for everyone
that God gave him. What does that mean, the surety?
It means he became responsible. He said, I'll be responsible
for every soul you give me. For everyone the Father chose,
the Son received, and said, I will bear their burden, I will bear
their sin, and I will bring them to you. And if I don't, then
I'm responsible. I'm to blame. Jesus was appointed of God to
be this foundation. He said, Behold, I lay in Zion. This foundation stone is appointed
of God. It was laid and chosen of God. He says in Isaiah 42, Behold,
my servant in whom my soul delighted. God is always delighted in His
Son. There has never been a time in eternity. I can't even say
that, but I just did. There's never been a time in
eternity that God has not delighted in His beloved Son, rejoiced
in Him always. And He said, I have put My Spirit
upon Him, and He shall bring forth judgment unto the Gentiles. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Why? He is the foundation of
the church. He is what we rest on. What God has chosen to be our
foundation, to be our resting place, our refuge. God says this in Isaiah 42. He says, I'm God. And there is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who will let
it?" Have you ever heard anybody say,
let God, let God as though you must give Him permission to do
something? Who's going to let me do anything? I'm going to
do my work, now who's going to let me? Who is His counselor? that he would advise God as to
what to do. Oh, I pray that God forgive me
of my sin for always trying to advise him as to what's best.
I told Gil, whatever it is I think God's going to do, you bet the
opposite and you'll win. Because I don't know. I don't know what's best. And
the more I grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, I know
this, the less I know. What's best? I'm so glad that God is so patient
and kind. And yet he is so mighty, strong. Stop for a minute and behold
God's foundation. God's appointed foundation, the
only foundation that God has set, and who will disannul this
foundation? Second of all, this foundation
of God's church is a tried stone. It is a tried stone. A proven
stone that can be trusted. I had heard this before, that when they built buildings before,
they would go into a quarry, a rock quarry, and they would
pick out a corner, a stone that had been proven, that couldn't
be removed. And they made that the head of
the whole foundation. It was a tried stone, tried by
time, proven not to be able to be broken. Jesus Christ was a
tried stone. He was tried of men. You heard
the illustration or the saying, you've gone over it with a fine-tooth
comb. Well, when they made the sacrifice, the animal must be
without blemish. And so they would take a comb
and they would comb through the hair to see if there was one
black hair in the lamb before they offered it. And this is
what the rulers, the Jews, did. They searched for one sin and
could not find any. They could not find any in Christ.
They searched. It wasn't for a matter of effort.
They really tried. They tried their best. And I'll
tell you, some of those questions, if we didn't have the answer
given to us, we couldn't have answered any of those questions.
But the Lord Jesus Christ made them look like fools when He
answered their questions. When they tried Him, He said,
which of you convinces me of sin? Which of you convinces me
of sin? None of them could. Satan had
tried him and tempted him. And what did he find? He said,
the prince of this world hath found nothing in me. Nothing. Jesus was tried of God concerning
his sufferings. Tried and tested to be proven. To be proven. especially when
he was tried on the cross. Jesus all of his life had known
no sin. That is the exact opposite of
us. We all our life have known no
righteousness. Even though I by faith have imputed
and imparted righteousness of God, I know this, I have not
experienced righteousness. Jesus Christ experienced no sin
in His life. No sin. He always did that which
pleased the Father. He is the righteous Son of God,
approved and declared to be the righteous and beloved Son. He
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And
yet He knew that He had come for the specific purpose of bearing
the sins of His people. Remember when he did the first
miracle, what did he say to his mother, to Mary? He said, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. In
other words, I'm not under the authority of man just yet. God
has not turned me over into your hands just yet. Mine hour is
not yet come. He knew He had an hour when He
must drink the cup of our sins and our iniquities. The dregs
of our sin must become in union in some way to Him that He would
bear our guilt before God. And on this stone was laid all
the weight of our sins, the sins of His church, the wrath of God
poured out on this stone? And what happened in the end?
When all the sins were punished, when God's justice was satisfied,
what happened to the stone? The stone was still standing. The stone had been tried and
proven and the stone cried, it is finished. sin. The sins of His people were
burned up by the justice of God, as like that altar, that brazen
altar. You put the sacrifice on the
altar. You light the sacrifice. It burns
up into ashes. But what about the altar? Nothing
happens to the altar. Nothing. It still stands. Our Lord Jesus Christ burned
up all our sins. under the wrath of God, he endured
them, he paid them all. And God, by raising him from
the dead and sitting him on the right hand of the throne, has
proven him to be the only foundation for the souls of men. The only
salvation. The only forgiveness of sin.
is found in this one man. One man. This foundation stone. The scripture says, For there
is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. Thirdly, this foundation of Jesus
Christ is a precious stone. Precious. He was precious to
the Father. In Proverbs chapter 8 and verse
30, He said, Then from eternity was I by him, and brought up
one as one with him, and I was daily his delight rejoicing before
him." This is all the hope and standing of sinners. Not that
God loved me, but that God loved me in Christ. If you want to find a reason
for God to love you, you won't find one. You'll find a reason for God
to hate you. You'll find a reason for you to deserve hell. But
one thing about it, if God is going to love anyone, it's going
to be in the Beloved. In the precious Son of God. To men, Jesus is not precious.
He's of no value to men. He's of no value to men. They
may profess to believe on Him. They may even claim to know Him
and to love Him. One thing about it, if Jesus
Christ is precious, then nothing will be set above Him. I love Christ and He is precious
to me because He first loved me and gave Himself for me. He is precious to me. Is this stone precious to you?
Does it have value? Does Christ have value? What will you measure the value
of what He's done? Can you find anything that is
worthy to be above what He has done? Anyone worthy to be above
His person? Is He precious to you? Are you trusting in Him as your
refuge alone? He is precious to us because
the Holy Spirit has given us a new heart to make Him precious. I'll tell you, He was not precious
to me for years. Now, I said it, that He was precious. But you couldn't find evidence
of it. You couldn't find evidence. How precious is Christ to his
disciples? He is of greater value than all
the treasures of this world. He is of greater value to us. In Luke 14, our Lord, after stating
that parable of the king that had the great supper and said
that all was prepared for him, those men began to give excuses.
They said, oh, I bought some land. I haven't seen it yet,
but I bought some land and I've got to go look at it. Another guy said, I bought some
oxen, but I haven't proven them. I haven't tried them to see if
they're any good or not, but I bought some oxen. I need to
go out there and make sure they're good. That's like you buying
a car sight unseen. Nobody does that but a fool. And the last one said, well,
I have a wife. I've just married a wife, and I need to tend to
this family business over here." You notice how all of those things,
we can relate to those things? Because we once set all those
things above Christ. All those things we set above
Christ. What fools! would rest their souls on anything
that was not proven. Faith is not blind. I have sight to see, spiritual
eyes to see, and God has given me a cloud of witnesses concerning
his foundation. But after this, the Lord told
those people in Luke chapter 14 He said, if any man come unto
me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children,
brethren and sisters, and yes, his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. Gerald was making bags this afternoon
at lunch for the homeless, and they were writing scriptures
on the bags. And I told her, I said, well, why don't you write
this? It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this,
the judgment. Well, they were just giving bags to the homeless,
and you know, you wouldn't want to write really anything offensive. What if they wrote this? If any
man hateth not his father, and his mother, and his sister, and
his brother, and yea, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
That'd be a good bag to give out. I love the way my Lord is so
clear. Are you his disciple? You are his disciple if he is
the most precious thing to you. If he is so much above all men
that it's considered hatred. Would you not give up your family
for him? Would you not give up everything you have for him?
Because if you are not willing to give up everything, you cannot
be his disciple. I know this, the Lord is gracious
and merciful. He doesn't ask us always to give
up all things. Have we resisted unto blood?
Anybody here been tortured? I know the apostles were, and
there were many, I believe, God's children. Maybe it'll happen
to us, I don't know. But friends, we must be willing
to sacrifice all things for Christ. He must be to us precious. Precious. In closing, let's look at this
in Peter's epistle. 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 18. It says, for as much as you know
that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain conversations received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without
blemish and without spot. His blood to me is precious because
His blood has redeemed me from all my sins, cleansed me from
all my sins. Flip over to chapter 2 and look
at verse 4. It says, to whom coming? If you're
coming to Christ, we come unto Him as a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and what? Precious. You also are living stone. are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in sign a chief
cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe
he is what? Precious. Precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same has become
the head of the corner, the stone of stumbling, rock of offense
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto they were appointed." Jesus Christ, His person, His
work, and everything to God's people is precious. It is simply amazing how far the church
has fallen, how far the people of God are consumed with themselves
and the things of this world. I know right now there are several
churches without pastors, and a lot of them are asking for
men to come and to preach there, and that's good. I hope that
they do get a pastor. But you know what? It doesn't
seem to me that the church is willing to move where God has
men. If God has men, Why not move
there? Well, I've got my well, I've
got what? What could you not give up to
hear the word of God? What could you not leave at the
drop of a hat to be in God's church? We should be willing to give
up everything and leave everything to find a place where God's people
gather. Otherwise, what are we doing?
We are putting the things of this world above Christ. And I'll tell you, none of us
are above this sin. We've not arrived. If something
were to happen to this church, what would you do if God wouldn't
send another man? Where would you go? I suggest
you find someplace where God has sent a man and leave everything
and go there. Because to you who believe he
is precious. Therefore. All those that are
built on this foundation, the scripture said they shall not
make haste. What does that mean? They won't
be confounded. Well. If I give up this and leave this,
then I, what? What will God not take care of? What will God not do for you? Has he given you what you have
already? Can he not give more? Yes. The Lord will do what he
wants to. But one thing about it, I'm not
going to be moved from Christ. I'm not going to make haste from
Christ." When the disciples didn't understand
what Jesus Christ was doing, when they didn't understand,
the message was too deep and they didn't understand it. And
the other disciples had left, he turned to his disciples and
said, will you go away also? What was their response? Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the Word of eternal
life." I don't understand what God is always doing, but that
doesn't matter. I'm not going to leave this stone.
This is the foundation of God's church, is Jesus Christ. And
I rest completely on Him. Do you? Rest. Are you troubled? Rest. This foundation isn't going anywhere.
God's church isn't going anywhere. God's church. God said, I'll
build my church. And when he comes, all the church
will be gathered together. You imagine how loud the hymns
will be. What a glorious day that'll be
for us. I pray that God blesses to your hearts. Let's stand and
be dismissed in prayer. Cook, would you dismiss us in
prayer, please?