I hope you'll look with me this
morning at the book of Psalms. Psalm 11, and I want to look
at one verse of Scripture with you this morning. Psalm 11, verse
3, which reads, If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous
do? If the foundations be destroyed. What can the righteous do? The foundation of a building
is the most important part of that building. It is the base
or the footing upon which the whole structure rests. The whole building depends upon
the foundation. Whether the building stands or
falls depends upon the foundation. how the building is built up. Whether the foundation is correct
is whether the building will be correct. You cannot build
a building without first building a foundation. Oh, back in the
old days they used to put a rock on the ground and build a building
on top of it, but after so long a period of time it began to
sag and to fall down. It may look fine for a while,
but it must have a good foundation in order to be a safe and sound
structure. Well, the foundation of all things,
especially salvation, is Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11. He said, "...other
foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. Other foundation can no man lay
than that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, the Lord
God Almighty is the one who made Jesus Christ the foundation,
the basis of salvation, that upon which all salvation depends. He said in Isaiah 28, verse 16,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation. Before the foundation of the
world, God Almighty purposed this whole thing of salvation. He purposed everything. Acts
15, verse 18, reads like this. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Nothing took God by surprise. Everything was in his eternal
purpose which he purposed before the foundation of the world.
Even the fall of Lucifer and the fall of man and the redemption
of man was accomplished by Jesus Christ. All of this was purpose
by God before the world began. And before the world, he made
his Son, Jesus Christ, the foundation of everything. Everything would
depend upon him. Everything would rest upon him,
and his church, his people, his family, his kingdom would be
built upon Christ the solid rock. This is why Paul called him,
Christ is all, in Colossians 3 verse 11. Life, death, judgment,
all authority over all things, principalities, powers, the decision
of salvation, damnation, whatever it may be, temporal, eternal,
all things are in Jesus Christ and dependent upon him. Well,
in our text, though, in Psalm 11, verse 3, it says, if the
foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? I want
to show you this morning that Jesus Christ is the foundation
stone of all things. And while there are many foundations
or trubes or things upon which our salvation depends, yet all
of these things point to and depend upon and are built on
and find their meaning in the Lord Jesus Christ. Foundations,
if the foundations be destroyed. what can the righteous do? I
submit to you this morning that there are basically three foundational
truths upon which everything depends. Three foundations, and
all of these have their meaning in Christ. And, by the way, God
Almighty used these three things to awaken a world out of idolatry
and and religious darkness. It was a time God used these
three things, these three truths, to awaken many in what was once
called the Reformation, led by men like Martin Luther and others.
All right, here are the three foundations, and if these be
destroyed, what can we do? Number one, God's Word is the
foundation. upon which everything depends.
Everything depends upon God's word. Everything that the believer
believes depends upon God's word. This is the basis for what we
believe, the grounds, the foundation of our faith is that this book
is indeed the holy, inerrant, that is, without error, infallible,
perfect word of the living God, the Creator. that this is actually
the written word of God Almighty, not the words of men, as Paul
said to the Thessalonians. He said, I thank God you received
the word as it is in truth, the word of God. Not the words of
man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. And he said in another
place, Peter said then, the holy men of old spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God. is not by any private or personal
interpretation. This is indeed the Word of God
Almighty. And this foundation, God's Word,
every bit of it depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It all
points to Christ. It all points to Him. He said,
they are they, speaking of the Old Testament scripture, they
are they which testify of me. All the prophets prophesied of
Christ. The whole Word of God from Genesis
to Revelation is about the Christ. The Old Testament says someone
is coming. The Gospels say He is here, and
the Epistles and the Revelations say He is coming again. It all
points to Christ and is all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. But
the Lord Jesus Christ is even called by this name, the Word
of God. The Word was made flesh. The
Word was with God and the Word was God, and this Word was made
flesh. This is the foundation, Paul
said in Ephesians 2.20, of the apostles and prophets, the Word
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. But if this foundation of God's
Word be destroyed, what can we do? Man has been trying to do
away with and disprove God's Word from the beginning. No more
so has never been more true than of our generation. But this whole
thing started in the garden with Satan. Satan put a question mark
upon God's Word. He questioned it. He twisted
it. He wrested it. He put a question in the minds
of God's children, Adam and Eve, and he's been doing that ever
since. He and his ministers, who are disguised quite often
as Bible scholars, our Lord said, ministers of righteousness, they
are in disguise. And they question, they rest,
as Peter said, they that are unlearned and unstable do rest
or twist the scriptures. They change it, add to it, attempt
to destroy it. by translating it away, the foundation
of our faith. If the foundation be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? There is a story in the book
of Jeremiah, chapter 36, of an evil king who took the role or
the book which Jeremiah had written, which God told him to write.
And he, as it was read to him, he took a knife, a pen knife,
and began to cut out pages of that book. What he was hearing
he did not like. And he began to cut out pages
that he didn't like and throw them into the fire. Incidentally,
people, what he was hearing was nothing but judgment and wrath
and God's anger against Israel. Yes, those who were supposed
to be his children. There was no mention of God's
love and how that God needed man and so forth. But nothing
but judgment from a just and holy and angry God. Well, this
king didn't like that. And I submit that neither do
men today like that. That's the reason they've done
away with the Old Testament, people. That's the reason. And they basically have most
people basically believe one verse of Scripture, John 3, 16. and have cut out the rest of
it. Well, this king tried to do away with God's word, and
he ended up cutting all of it out. He didn't like any of it.
He threw it into the fire. Well, it goes on to say that
God Almighty told Jeremiah to write another book exactly like
the first one. You see, this book cannot be
destroyed. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven, Scripture says. The master copy is with
God. And though men have made actual
attempts at doing away with the word of God, yet God Almighty,
His words still stand. Christ said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one
tittle shall no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. And Christ came down to this
earth to fulfill every jot and tittle Himself. Thus it is written. The next foundation is salvation. is by grace." Now, this is what
God used during the Reformation, these foundational truths. The
Word of God, the Word alone, scriptures alone, grace alone. Yes, people, salvation is by
grace. If it's not, what are we going
to do? Salvation is by grace, and what I mean by that is not
an offer, but a sovereign, free bestowal of salvation upon the
objects of God's electing grace. Yes, electing grace. predestinating
grace, calling grace, saving grace, constraining grace, restraining
grace, keeping grace, eternal saving grace. If salvation is
not by grace, what are we going to do? Scripture says, if thou,
Lord, should mark iniquities, who shall stand? If God marks one sin, no one
can stand. But salvation's by grace. It's
by grace. A free, unearned gift and an
eternal one from God Almighty. A man has tried to destroy this
foundation for years and still is trying to do so. He's telling
men to go to work. A man tells men to go to work
to earn their salvation. But Christ said, come unto me
and rest. Come to me and rest. And I submit
to you that you look at the epistles for yourself. From Romans all
the way to Titus, all of Paul's epistles begin this way. To the
believers it is written. The first word out of his mouth
are, Grace be to you. And he ends every epistle the
same way. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. The third thing I submit, the
foundation, and it all has its It all points to Christ, it all
has its fulfillment in Christ. The grace of God is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the one that earned this
salvation for us and freely gives it to his people. The third foundation
is faith alone. God's word alone, grace alone,
and faith alone. Faith. Salvation is by grace
through faith. And that's not of yourself. Even
that's the grace or the gift of God. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. But he gives his faith to all
of his people. He has faith alone. Not works,
not faith plus, but faith alone. The just shall live by faith. Simply trusting, believing, and
looking to Christ alone and nothing and no one else. not even yourself.
Well, I hope that you heard this message and I hope that God will
instill these foundations in you and build you up on Christ
the foundation.