Turn with me, if you would, back
to 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3. In my Bible, the heading at the
top of my page says, Christ the only foundation. Christ is the only foundation. Christ is the only foundation. The Apostle Paul gets to the
heart of that truth, saying in verse 11, For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Christ is the
only foundation. He is the only foundation. If
we can walk out of here, Remembering that. Sometimes, especially when
our girls were younger, we'd walk, you know, driving home,
we'd say, can you remember something from the message? Well, kids,
if your parents ask you, remember this, Christ is the only foundation. Christ is the only foundation.
Christ is the only foundation. Now, this statement has been
made throughout the years concerning preaching the truth of the gospel. I was told this over and over
again. Whenever I first started, I was told this over and over
again. And this is something that needs to be told to any
man who has this responsibility laid on him. This is good advice,
very good advice. The advice is, Lay down the straight
stick and the crooked stick will be
exposed. Just lay down the straight stick. Here's what that means. You have
the straight stick of truth and you have the crooked stick
of lies. You know, men will stand up in
pulpit and say, well now God says, when you can't find it
in here, you call that a lie. You have the straight stick of
the true gospel concerning the finished work and the finished
salvation that Christ accomplished alone for his people. And then you have the crooked
stick of the lies of false religion. Bless their hearts. It's concerning
the work that man must still do. Not finished. That's what
they stand up and cry. Not finished. Not finished. What
did our Lord Jesus Christ say? Three words. It is finished.
Anything other than that's a lie. But preachers stand up in pulpits
and they tell man that there's still a work that they must do
and there's still a salvation that they must accomplish for
themselves or you're not gonna be saved. That's a crooked stick. The straight stick is God's sovereign
grace. There's a reason why we named
our church that. Sovereign means he can do anything
he wants to do. He's God. And the glory of that
is he wanted to show grace, kind God. That's the straight stick. The crooked stick is man's free
will works. The straight stick is all the
glory goes to Jesus Christ alone. The crooked stick is, man is
sharing the glory with him. Man's in a cooperation and the
two of you are gonna, crooked, that's crooked. That crooked
stick of lies is so blasphemous and it is so damning. It's not
just wrong, it's not just error, it's damning. It is so damning
to men and women's souls. It makes true preachers of the
gospel want to expose those lies, like I'm doing. It causes us
to want very, very badly to expose that error. It makes a true preacher
want to warn men and women to run from that. Run from that. All right, but
here's the warning to preachers. Here is the sound advice that
wisely gets passed down to preachers. We are, we are so concerned about
steering men and women away from error. We are. We're so concerned
about exposing error to men and women. We don't want them to
be deceived by the lies of false religion. So we adamantly want
to expose it. But if we're not careful, we'll spend all of our time focusing
on exposing lies, and we'll never get around to actually preaching
truth. And that's a real thing, and
that's a real problem. It is possible for a man to spend
all of his time telling men and women what the gospel's not. and never getting around to telling
men and women what the gospel is. Life is not in exposing error. Life is in exposing truth. Our Lord said, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Good news is not heard in exposing
error. Good news is heard in declaring
truth, truth. So the wise counsel is if you
want to show men and show women the error of the crooked stick.
You don't have to spend all your time trying to convince them
that the stick is crooked. You don't have to spend all your
time saying, look at the crooked stick. Won't you just look at
that stick? Can you see that that stick is
crooked? Why can't you see the stick is
crooked? You don't have to do that. All you have to do is lay down
that straight stick right next to it. You just lay down that
straight stick of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And when men and
women see the straight stick, they'll know the other stick
is crooked. When they see the straight stick of Christ himself
and they see Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, they'll know
that crooked stick of man is crooked. It is most definitely
crooked. All right, now why did I just
tell you all that? It's because we could honestly
spend all of our time this morning exposing what is not a foundation
of hope for men and women to stand on and to trust in for
all of their salvation. We could expose that works is
not a foundation. And we could take all our time
exposing that a decision, that's what men stand up in pulpits
trying to get people to do, make a decision, make a decision.
Have you made your decision? That's not a foundation to stand
on. We could spend all of our time
exposing that baptism is not a foundation. What's your hope
of glory? Well, I was baptized. That's
not a foundation. We could spend all of our time
exposing that church membership. I love seeing everybody here.
I want everybody to come. Let's empty the whole town here.
But this is not a foundation of salvation. We could spend all of our time
exposing that this is not, that is not, or. We could lay down the absolute
truth that there is no other foundation to stand on but the
foundation of Jesus Christ Himself. We could spend our time declaring
there is only one foundation. There is only one foundation. If a man or a woman ever sees
the foundation of Christ alone. And I want to emphasize the word
alone. Christ alone. If the Spirit of
God ever reveals the foundation of Christ alone, once it is settled in their hearts
that He is the only foundation that there is, they will know,
men and women will know that works is not a foundation. Meaning
that's not a true salvation. That decision is not a salvation. Baptism's not. Church membership's
not. It's Christ alone. Christ alone. Verse 11 says, For other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now let's look at that and see
what that means. Why is Christ the foundation? What makes Christ to be the foundation? The foundation of everything,
namely salvation. We're talking about salvation.
Why is Christ the foundation? Well, number one, he's the foundation
because God says he's the foundation. We don't need any other reason
than that, do we? Because I said so. He is the foundation because
God the Father made him to be the foundation. Verse 11 says,
other foundation can no man lay, then that is laid. The foundation has already been
laid. And God the Father is the one who laid it. Turn with me
over to Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28, look with me at verse
16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, and I don't want to spend time
getting sidetracked, but do you see that capital L, lowercase
O-R-D? Look up at verse 14, wherefore
hear the word of the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
D. That's Jehovah. And in our verse 16 here, that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, who is speaking here? Both. Our Lord said, you've seen
me, you've seen the Father. Is this the Father speaking or
Christ the Son speaking? Both. Verse 16, therefore thus
sayeth the Lord God. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,
He that believeth shall not make haste. That means if a man or
a woman is standing on that tried, precious corner stone, that man
or woman will stand true and will not fall. And it's because they're standing
on the sure foundation of the rock. That's who Christ is. And
that's why He's the foundation. It's because He is the rock. Why is Christ the foundation?
What makes Christ to be the foundation? He's the foundation because he's
the rock that was tried in the judgment of God and that rock
stood firm. In Exodus 33, God told Moses,
he said, no man can see me and live. And our Lord said, He told His
disciples that this tried stone, this cornerstone, this sure foundation,
He said, men are either gonna fall on this stone or this stone's
gonna fall on them. One of the two. No man can see
me and live. But all those who are caused
to fall on this stone, for mercy. They're going to be broken. And
God told Moses in Exodus 33, He said, no man can see me and
live. So He said, I'm going to put
you in this rock. I'm going to put you in the cleft
of this rock. And He said, as my glory passes
by, I'm going to bring down my judgment on that rock. And that rock is going to stand
firm for you. You're gonna be saved in this rock. You're gonna
be spared in this rock. And that rock is Christ. Every time David said in the
Psalms, he shall stand me up upon a rock, every time he was
speaking of Christ. The only true foundation. So
he's the foundation because God the Father made him to be the
foundation. And he's the foundation because he's the rock. I love the story of that ship
that was wrecked one stormy night, it says, off the coast of England. And all were drowned except an
Irish boy because the waves swept him onto a great rock. In the
morning he was rescued and they asked him, lad, didn't you tremble
out there on the rock during the night? And he said, sure
I trembled, but the rock didn't tremble once all night long. Yeah, I was trembling, but the
rock didn't. David said, the Lord is my rock. Aren't you so glad God the Father
has planted us on a rock? When that storm of trouble and
storm of judgment over sin comes, we're standing on the rock. He's
the foundation because God the Father made Him to be the foundation,
and He's the foundation because He's the rock. Here's another
reason. Christ is the foundation because
not only was He in the beginning, He is the beginning. Turn with
me to Revelation 22. Revelation 22 verse 13, this
is Jesus Christ speaking. He says, I am alpha and omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I am, I am. Paul told the Colossians that
in all things, he has the preeminence. What that means is he's first
in everything. He is alpha. He is the beginning. I am first, he said. So Christ
is the only foundation that a man or a woman can stand on with
that assurance of never falling. There is no other appointed salvation
by God but Him. That's it. No other rock but
Him. Now this is my prayer. I pray
this for each one of us. Honestly, I pray that He might
not be a stone of stumbling or a rock of offense to us. That's what the flesh naturally
and feels toward Christ. May God help us and break this
old hard stony heart and put in a heart of flesh that desires
the rock and desires Christ. May He be that glorious rock
that was smitten. You know, those people were murmuring
and complaining out there and so thirsty and God told Moses,
the law struck the rock. and life poured out. May He be
that glorious, refreshing rock that was smitten, that rock that
we come to and thirst for, for life. May He not be set at naught
by us. Lord, please. May Christ not
be set to the side by us. No, we don't want this one. But may we see and glorify Him
for the fact that He has been made to be the head of the corner.
The chief stone has been made to be the head of the corner
to which all of His lively stones, the scripture refers to God's
people as lively stones. He said they're all fit to Him,
built upon Him. He is our salvation. He's everything. When the question
is asked, what is your hope? If anybody ever asks you the
question on this earth or at the gate of glory, what is your
hope? May our answer be Christ. One
word, Christ. What are you trusting in? What
are you trusting in? Christ. Where does your assurance lie?
Christ. Who settled everything that you
owed God? Who settled your sin debt before
God? Christ. What is your plea of righteousness? That means what is your plea
of good deeds? If you come to God, you better
bring righteousness. Perfection. What is your plea
that would make you good and worthy to enter into the presence
of God? What is your plea for that? Christ. Christ is. Lord, teach us and
show us and reveal to us that all other ground is sinking sand. All of it. May God give us this
resolve, by His grace, by God's grace, may He cause us to say,
on Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. If I'm standing on anything other
than Christ, I'm standing on quicksand. And I'm going to go
down fast. I'm going to go down fast. Now,
I pray that the Lord will expose to us the deception, this lie,
the error, the damnation of a false church a false gospel, a false salvation,
and a false hope and assurance. I honestly do. I pray that if
we've never realized this, He'll show us this. I sincerely do. May the Lord show us this. I
pray the Lord will reach our heart, and I pray the Lord will
reach our mind right now. and convince us of this and teach
us this and show us this. And I pray that He will expose
this by us laying down a straight stick here. There are, and I'm gonna put
in quotations, churches everywhere. We need to know this. There are
churches everywhere. Everywhere. Why did you come
to this one? You passed 41 on the way over
here. There are churches everywhere.
Religious assemblies everywhere. But here's the problem. They
are built on all kinds of platforms. And they're built on all kinds
of agendas and all kinds of goals. Just listen and pay attention
to what they emphasize and promote. They're built on all of these
platforms and agendas and goals. When that is the case for a religious
assembly, it is not a true church of the Lord God Almighty. It's
just not. The only true church that there
is, we're not the only one, we're not the only one, but the only
true church that there is, is the church that is built on Christ. That's just so. The platform
must be Christ. The agenda must be Christ. The goal must be Christ. It must
be Christ. There are messages being preached
all over the place right now. Right now, all over the place.
Men say that they're preaching the gospel. They stand up and
say they're going to preach the gospel this morning. They get
off on this subject. They get off on this issue. They
want to deal with theories. They want to deal with doctrines.
They want to deal with genealogies. They never get around to Christ. Christ, the person, the man,
Christ. The Apostle Paul said when that
happens, it's not true preaching. It's not the gospel. This is
what he called it, vain jangling. He said that's what it is. There
is no preaching. meaning men say they're preaching,
but they're not. There is no preaching, there
is no message, no good news gospel message, but the gospel message
that is built on Christ. It must be Christ in the beginning,
Christ in the middle, Christ in the end, leave man out of
it. It just has to be. It has to
be. With that being said, there is
no true salvation. But the salvation that is built
on Christ, the salvation that is built on the fact that He
came, and who it is that came, God was manifest in the flesh.
The one who is able to do whatever He wants to do. Why He came, who He came for,
You know, the gospel and salvation is a very particular thing. It's
a very specific thing. It's not just a general religious
thing. Who it is that came, that He
came, why He came, for who He came, what He did for them while
He was here, where He is now and what that means. It means
He's finished, accomplished. That's the only true salvation
that is. The one that's built on the accomplishment and the
blood of Jesus Christ alone. That's the only salvation that
there is. And when it comes to us individually, our faith and
our hope before God, people have within themselves a belief. They walk around, religious people
walk around with a belief. They walk around with a hope
in their heart. They walk around with a faith. When it comes to a person who
claims to be a believer, some people on this earth don't. Most
people in this area of the country anyway do. The term Christian has been very
abused, but it's a scriptural word. People talk about, I'm
a Christian, a child of God, a believer. There is no true
believer but the believer that is built on Christ. Christ, a man or a woman who
is built on Christ will say, my hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust that smooth-sounding
preacher. the sweetest frame, but I completely
lean on the Lord Jesus Christ name. That's what a true believer
will say who is built on Christ. Now, as you know, I will tell
an illustration a few times and then I did it and I'll put it
up on the shelf and I'll give it some time and let everybody
forget about it and then I'll bring it back out. It is not
time for me to bring this one back out, but I have to. I have
to, because this perfectly illustrates what we're talking about. If
anybody is wondering, what in the world are you talking about?
A church that's built on Christ and a salvation that's built
on Christ and a gospel that's built on Christ and a believer
that's built on Christ, what are you talking about? an assembly, a church, an assembly
who can say this is a true assembly. The message that declares this
is a true message. The salvation that cries this
is a true salvation. And the believer whose faith
and hope and trust is in this is a true believer. All right? This is the perfect example of
what it is to be built, to be founded on Christ. Charles Spurgeon
told this, all right? This Huckster Jack was a poor,
wicked fellow who had gone about from village to village swearing,
drinking, huckstering, and perhaps pilfering. thief. Some thought him half-witted,
but the story would show his wind to be sound enough. He heard
a poor woman sing somewhere, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. He remembered the
words and what was better he felt there since, I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all. but Jesus Christ is my all in
all." And he kept on humming those words to himself till God's
good spirit engraved them on his heart. So he assayed to join
himself unto the church. But the brethren looked suspiciously
at him and inquired, what is your experience? He said he had
no experience but this, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but
Jesus Christ is my all in all." The good elders very properly
asked, are you converted? Have you been born again? And
Jack replied, I do not know much about these things, but I do
know and am sure of I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but
Jesus Christ is my all in all. They put him back for a while
to try if he would grow in his knowledge. Maybe at some point
he'll leave that and grow in his knowledge, but he never went
an inch beyond the first standard. He knew what he did know, and
to that he held fast. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all. Well, they must take
him into the church. They could not well refuse a
man with such a confession of faith. And when he was in the
church, walking with the brethren, he was happier than the rest
of them. At which they greatly marveled,
and one said to him, Brother Jack, don't you sometimes feel
doubts and fears?" Doubts, he said? What do you mean? I never
doubt. that I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, for I have daily proofs of it. And why should I doubt
that Jesus Christ is my all in all? For He says He is, and I
must believe Him. Ah well, said one, sometimes
I enjoy good frames and feelings and feel very happy, and then
I lose them and sink in spirit. Jack answered, I never get lower
than I am, for I'm down at the bottom, a poor sinner, and nothing
at all. I cannot get lower than that,
can I? But I'm also at the top, for Jesus Christ is my all in
all. I cannot get higher than that,
can I? They tried him many ways with their blessed experience,
of which you and I have got cartloads, perhaps wagonloads, but he could
not be drawn out of his one firm position. They tried him with
their various attainments, depressions, anxieties, quibbles, and questions,
but still the huckster would not budge. He had bought the
truth and would not sell it, and so he stuck to. I'm a poor
sinner and nothing at all, but Jesus Christ is my all in all."
That right there is the only foundation that there is. That's
all that there is. Honestly, that is all that there
is. For many, sadly, that's just
too simple. That foundation's just not good
enough. I'm telling us all, that's the only foundation that there
is. That is the only one. And if
that's our foundation, we can rest in this. I love this. If
that is our foundation, we can rest in this. Don't turn, but
2 Timothy 2.19 says, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. He knows. He knows who He has
placed on the foundation. Not one will fall. Not one will
be lost. Not one will be left behind.
He's put every one of them on Christ the solid rock. And because
Christ stands firm, they're going to stand firm in Him. How firm
a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith
in His excellent Word. What more can He say than to
you He hath said, to you who for refuge to the Lord Jesus
Christ have fled? If you have fled to Him, you
have fled to the only foundation there is." All right, Brother
Eddie, you come.