Turn back with me to 2 Timothy
chapter 2, and I want to read one verse in particular, and
that is the 19th verse. And I want you to remember that
first word. I want you to remember it in
light of all that He has said before that, because He says,
nevertheless." He says, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every one that nameth
the name of Christ depart from iniquity. I call this encouragement
for Christ's church. And as you have surely noticed
in our reading, even in Paul's day, the professing church was
plagued with doctrinal error, moral error. There were deceivers,
there were false professors, there were apostates, and obviously
these things were very discouraging to the Apostle Paul. They were
very discouraging to this young preacher, Timothy. And they're
discouraging to all true believers. Some, obviously, had been deceived
by such as Hymenaeus and Philetus. The faith of some had just proved
to be false faith. And some had even gone off in
a course of serious misconduct in their lives. But if you notice,
he in verse 20 likens the professing church to a great house. A great house where there were
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and
of earth, some vessels to honor and others to dishonor. And all these things, he warns,
in many places would not only carry on, but would also increase
as the ends of the age come to pass. But to this man, Timothy,
And to the faithful of that day, and I hope to us, he gives some
words of encouragement. I like what he says in that first
verse. He says, "...thou therefore,
my son, be strong, in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus. The grace that is in Christ Jesus
is all our strength. But not only does he say that,
but he also, I guess you would say, reaffirms something that
we as his people are always in need of being reminded of. Because by the Spirit of God,
he reaffirms an unchanging truth. He says, nevertheless, the foundation
of God stands sure. As a matter of fact, in some
margins, it reads something like this, nevertheless, That means
even though all this may be going on and all these discouragements
may be true, he says, nevertheless, the solid foundation of God is
steady. It is still steady. And we know that a house or a
building which the church is often likened to, it is only
as steady or only as sure as its foundation. And that's why
the psalmist writes in Psalm 11, if the foundations be destroyed,
If that were possible, if the foundations be destroyed, what
can the righteous do? All our hope, all our future,
all our standing before God rests in the strength of this foundation. But we ought to always remember,
and Paul states it by the Spirit of God so well, that the reason
the foundation is sure is because God laid it. It's not the foundation
of men. It's not the foundation of kings
or medieval theologians or anything like that. If you notice here,
he says, the foundation of God stands sure. And not only will
every other foundation not stand sure, But every other foundation
will surely crumble, and all the Lord's people would say,
the sooner the better. The foundation of God stands
sure. And there are many ways in the
Bible that this is expressed, and I want to give you two or
three of them this morning, and then get to the real heart of
it all. But first of all, I believe he's
talking here on the one hand about the purpose of God. In other words, he could say
just as easily, and it be true, that the purpose of God standeth
sure. And that is exactly what we find
in this book again and again, that is, that God's purpose,
and especially what Paul also calls in another place his purpose
of grace to his people, that purpose which he purposed before
the world began, that purpose stands steady and sure. In Isaiah, the prophet expresses
it like this, "...this is the purpose that is purposed upon
the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out
upon all the nations." In other words, the scope of it covers
everything and everybody. but it pertains particularly
to God's elect. He says, "...for the Lord of
hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?" Who shall
bring it to naught, and His hand is stretched out, and who shall
turn it back? There is not man or devil or
any power in this earth or the universe that can stay or stop
or hinder or thwart the purpose of God. I listened for just a
bit as I read the description that a man who is a noted scientist
in England, I believe it's where he lives, by the name of Stephen
Hawking, and how this man, I believe, is the man who lays limp for
the most part in a chair with very little of his own faculties
available to him other than his mind. And yet he states, in light
of all the evidence around him, that God is not behind this creation
in which we live. And I thought about how this
man, in his weakness in every sense, reveals the very root
and source of all of unbelief, and that is the heart of man
and the mind of man who is unable and unwilling to believe the
obvious all around him. But the purpose of God, Not only
the fact that God created the heavens and the earth, but also
the purpose, whereunto He purposed this creation, it will stand,
and none, not even Stephen Hawkins or anybody else, can thwart the
purpose of God. The purpose of God in His providence
as He carries out the affairs of men, as He raises up and brings
down, that cannot be thwarted. The purpose of God in salvation,
it says that whatever it is, In Ephesians 1 it says that he
works all things after the counsel of his own will, and he does
what he will in heaven and earth, and none can stay his hand, whether
it is his covenant, whether it is his glory, whether it is his
purpose of grace, whatever it is. However it affects you and
me, however it affects everybody in the world, and everything
going on in the world, the purpose of God stands sure. And we can mark that as the case
of God who is the faithful God. And then the second part of that,
I believe, would be this, and that is, you could replace that
with this, the truth of God stands sure. In other words, the Word
of God, irregardless of what men say or don't say, even regardless
of what they say about the Word of God, It does not alter or
change or dilute or diminish in any way the Word of God. And when I say the Word of God,
I mean that which is expressed most focally and centrally in
the Word of God, which is the everlasting gospel. Why would the Word of God change? Why would we need a contemporary
gospel when God is the same? When the state of man is still
the same, when the condition of man is still the same, we
have no need of any change in the Word of God, even though
it does always appear, as it was said years ago, that truth
is forever on the scaffold and error is forever on the throne. But hold your place here and
turn back over to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, and look down, if
you would, at that 89th verse. Now, there are wonderful things
stated in every verse of Psalm 119 about the Word of God. But I want you to look at what
this 89th verse says. Forever. That's a long time. And as I understand it, forever
in the Bible, not only reaches out all the way into the infinite
future, but also all the way back into the infinite path. Forever. Oh Lord. Thy word." If men speak with
great eloquence, and they say things to appeal to and appease
the minds of unbelieving sinners, and they believe what men say,
If they disregard the Word of God, if every Bible is destroyed
on the face of the earth, thy Word is forever settled, fixed
in heaven. That doesn't mean just one part
or another part, but every part. Every verse, every statement,
every decree, he says, is forever settled in heaven. And if you'll turn over to Luke's
gospel in that 6th chapter, this is exactly what is being said
by our Lord in Luke chapter 6 and verse 47. You see, Hymenaeus
and Philetus had erred in their doctrine, and they were telling
everybody and teaching and preaching that the resurrection was already
passed. But that didn't change anything.
The resurrection hadn't passed. But look at what Christ says
in verse 47 of Luke 6. He says, "...and why call ye
me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say. Whosoever comes to me and hears
my sayings and does them, I will show you to whom he is like."
They didn't say you go to your theological book. or your biography,
or somebody's autobiography, or somebody's book on this book
in the Bible, but he said, whoever comes to me and hears my sayings,
I've told you this before, I want to tell you one more time. You
and I only believe what we know for ourselves to be true from
this book. being taught it by the Spirit
of God. In other words, if you just take
my word for it, if you just take another preacher's word for it,
if you take just somebody's book for it, and you do not know in
your own heart for yourself that that is truly the Word of God,
you've not believed God, you've believed them. But he said, a
person who comes to me, hears my sayings, this is how they
are. He is like a man which built
an house and digged deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood rose, and
it will, it does, The stream beat vehemently upon that house
and could not shake it for one reason, for it was founded upon
a rock." The truth of God's Word. Somebody said that the assaults
of men and women on the Word of God, the truth of God, Well,
like coming against an anvil with a glass hammer, the anvil
will always be the same, because the truth of God. And though
there have been many assaults on the truth and many abandonments
of the truth in our day, To the glory of God and God alone, the
truth is still preached in some places. And it stands steady
and sure. Here's the third thing. You could
say also, in the same sense and surely in the same theme of all
the Word of God, not only that the purpose of God stands sure
and the Word of God stands sure, but the church of God. You know,
when Paul writes here, he doesn't in any way glamorize or misrepresent
the professing church in the world, even at that day. Christ Himself had just been
in this world and gone to that cross and died and called out
these very apostles. But there were still problems,
weren't there? There was preacher worship at Corinth, there was
ungodliness there, there was this in one place and that in
the other place. You know, it's amazing, just
like it is today. But he said, the church of God
stands sure. As a matter of fact, Paul tells
Timothy in his first letter, he says, the house of God, He
said, if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave
yourself in the house of God. And he's not talking about a
building there. He's talking about among the
Lord's church in this world. He says, the house of God, which
is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the
truth. Now, I don't know if you've noticed
this or not, but even outwardly in this world, there are not
many churches anymore. You say, well, there are some
that call themselves. A few, but not even many of them. We've got the House of Divine
Light. We've got this Gospel Fellowship
over here. We've got the Spirit of Life
Group. We've got everything. But they're
about hesitant to even call themselves the church now. But I've got
news for you. That's what God still calls His
redeemed people. Christ called it, My Church. Upon this rock I will build My
Church. I will do it. It will be My Church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it." You know what that sounds like to me?
That sounds like that every power of hell and the devil, the gates
of hell, will do their dead-level best to prevail against it. But he said, it's my church,
and I build it, and they'll never prevail against it. Never. I don't care what goes on in
this world. Somebody was telling me recently
about someone referring to the church. I guess they were referring
to this church or something. They said there was a bunch of
hypocrites in them. You know what? That's right. That's right. As a matter of
fact, I would be glad that all hypocrisy was gone out of me,
but it's not. As a matter of fact, you'd have
to say this, that the Lord's people, all of them, since we
are all so prone to present something that we're really not, since
we're all so prone to be self-righteous in ourselves, the Lord's people,
even saved by grace in this world, are only recovering. Pharisees. Isn't that what they call an
alcoholic? I'm a recovering alcoholic. Why? Because anybody who's dealt
with that problem, they know that they have that same tendency,
inclination, and possibility that they might go back to it
again. Recovering... Well, I'm a recovering Pharisee.
But why? is the purpose of God, sure,
and the truth of God, sure, and the church of God, sure, because
of who the foundation really is. It is because of the Christ
of God. Now, listen to what Paul says
to the Corinthians. Now, he's talking about a man's
ministry. He's been dealing with this preacher
problem, you know, preacher worship. And he says to them, "...for
other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid." He's
likening the work of God's servants and all who profess to be preachers
like this, as they are building on a foundation that is already
there. And he said that some build gold
and silver, and some build what is going to just prove to be
wood, hay and stubble. In other words, if a man builds
a big ministry and big name and all this kind of stuff, and it's
all for his glory, it's all wood, hay and stubble, God says He's
going to try it by fire. But He said, "...other foundation
can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
What is the foundation? Who is the foundation? already
laid the foundation of God, the foundation upon which He based
every promise, all His purpose, all His truth, the hope of His
church, everything, His own glory, Jesus Christ. We sing a hymn
sometimes that says this, the church's one foundation is Jesus
Christ the Lord. When he writes to the church
at Ephesus, He tells these Ephesian believers in chapter 2, he says,
"...now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets."
What was the foundation? that the prophets spoke of. What
is the foundation that the apostles speak of? He says, Jesus Christ
Himself being the chief cornerstone. What's the chief cornerstone?
Sometimes we get in our minds that it's that little stone that
people erect when they build a building and they put their...
that's not this. The chief cornerstone is that
part which bears all the weight. And you take it out, and the
whole building comes down. You take out Jesus Christ, and
every doctrine is a damnable doctrine. Every profession of
faith, every hope, all these things are absolutely false. outside of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the Apostle
Peter speaks in this way. He says, "...to whom coming as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious, ye also as living stone are built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
and he that believes on him." shall not be confounded." Actually,
that is an Old Testament prophecy several times over and quoted
often. Here he is, this foundation,
Zion's foundation, this one who is himself elect and precious
and chosen of God. And all who believe on Him, they'll
never be disappointed. They'll never feel that foundation
crumble out from under them. There'll never come a storm along
big enough to wash it away. Unto you, therefore, which believe
He's precious. What is something that's precious?
Well, it's the thing that you value most of all. It's the thing
you need most of all. It's the thing that if every
other supporting force or thing is washed away, blown away, done
away with, rotted away, if this is the one thing that you're
counting on above everything else. He said it's Christ. Christ. unto you therefore which believe
he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner." It is because Jesus Christ is the foundation of all
God's purpose, of all God's truth, and most definitely of the Lord's
church. And if He's not our hope, if
He's not the one we rest in everything in, if He's not sure, then we
have no hope. Let me say this, Christ is sure
in His purpose, in His person. He's always been the second person
of the Godhead, and He is right now. Even though He was made
flesh, even though He came into this world as a man, even though
He was persecuted and tortured and crucified, even though He
died, He is the same yesterday and today, and forever. He is the Lord who
changes not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed and
are not going to be consumed. He is that gift of God's grace
that has come down from heaven from Him in whom there is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning. And He is sure as
the surety. He's already made sure the people
that He stood for as their surety. Which means He's the One who
before the world ever was, took upon Himself the whole responsibility
and work of their salvation. And when He came and suffered,
When He came and He died in their place, when He came and He paid
the ransom with His own sacrifice, He made them sure, everyone. He's sure in all His offices. He's sure as God's prophet. He
is the only one who has revealed God to us in mercy and grace. He is sure as God's priest. He has already, as a perfect
priest, offered up to God a perfect sacrifice. And God's accepted
it. And he is sure as God's King. He left the throne of heaven.
But he did not give up the throne of heaven, and he now sits on
the throne of heaven, King of kings and Lord of lords. And Christ is sure as the foundation
of God's infinite and inflexible justice, because he's satisfied. What is it that old hymn writer
says? My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You say, why would God let a
fellow like you into His heaven? How could you ever have any hope
of life or blessing? Because of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. He had given His Son for me,
The Son has come and bore my sins in His own body on that
tree, and in Him He has already raised me up and seated me with
Him in the heavenlies." He said, nevertheless. You know, I don't
know what's going to happen in this world. Sometimes I remember
what the Lord says when He said, when He comes will He find faith
in the world? Sometimes I shake my head, I
don't know. Not a lot of people are really interested in the
gospel. But I know this, no matter what
happens in the world of politics, in the world of government, no
matter what happens in local churches, even grace churches,
no matter what happens to all that are gone on in this world,
it doesn't matter. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God stands sure. And then he identifies some here. He says, having this seal, the
Lord knows them that are His. I've about quit trying to figure
out that myself, and I rest in this. The Lord knows them that
are His. Knows in the sense that He loves
them with an everlasting love. But knows in the sense that He
knows who they are. He's known forever. He knows
where they are. He certainly has always known
what they are. And He knows what He's made them
in His Son. He foreknew them. They're His
by creation, His by election, His by redemption, His by calling. Christ came to save His people
from their sins. That shows discrimination, and
that shows possession. The Lord knows them that are
His. He'll say to those in Matthew
7 in that day, who said, Lord, we've preached in your name,
we've done great works in your name, we've done all these. He'll say, depart from me ye
that work iniquity. I never knew you. He knows them
in communion and fellowship. He knows them as to love them.
And we may not, but He does, and He'll never be deceived,
and He'll never be surprised, and He'll never be disappointed."
And Paul said, if any man loved Him, the same is known of Him. And then here's the last thing,
something that he gives a command to. He says, and let everyone
that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Depart first of all from the
greatest iniquity, their own self-righteousness. But in their
life, though their character and conduct in no way has any
basis whatsoever of their justification before God. He said, if you name
the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. Let not the sins of
those who are not Believing, redeem people, be counted among
you. Flee from all unrighteousness. The foundation, stand sure. The foundation is Christ and
Him crucified. And the only way we can ever
be encouraged is when the Spirit of God brings us back to remember. that it all comes from Him, it
all depends on Him, and it's all for His glory. When we know
with the knowledge of faith, when we know because He says
it in His Word, when we know in our hearts and minds that
it is all of God, and that everything depends on Him, and that therefore
He gets all the glory, that's when we're encouraged. Whatever
he does is right, and he hath done marvelous things. May the Lord encourage our hearts. The psalmist said, Hope thou
in God. Father, this day we give you
thanks and praise for the suffering, for the bleeding of the Lord
Jesus Christ in our room instead. That which He manifested on earth
is the very purpose and heart and will which you purposed in
the earth, and there is none that can disannul it. Encourage our hearts in our God. Give us grace, faith, and looking
to Christ, may our hearts be made to rejoice. take our eyes
off of this world, take our eyes off of our circumstances around
us, take our eyes off ourselves, and enable us to look to Christ,
knowing that no matter what these things be, no matter what anyone
else may be, the foundation which you've laid in Christ, which
you've given by your grace in Christ, We thank you this day and we
pray in Christ's name, Amen.