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 and 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. 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 is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 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 purposed
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 truths 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 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.
Here are the three foundations, and if these be destroyed, what
can we do? 1. 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,
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 Revelation
say He is coming again. It all points to Christ and is
all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? 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. If this foundation of God's word
be destroyed, what can we do? Well, man has been trying to
do away with and disprove God's word from the beginning. No more
so, that's 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. 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. The foundation. If the foundation
be destroyed, what can the righteous do? There's a story in the book
of Jeremiah chapter 36 of a 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. Threw
it into the fire. 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 elect and 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 is 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 in red. 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's 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. Salvation is by grace through
faith, and that is not of yourself. Even that is the grace or the
gift of God. Without faith it is 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. I'm going to go ahead and do
the same for the other side. I'm going to do the same for
the other side. you