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Rowland Wheatley

Foundations that cannot be destroyed

2 Timothy 3; Psalm 11:3
Rowland Wheatley May, 10 2026 Video & Audio
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If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

*1/ Who are the righteous?
2/ Foundations that cannot be destroyed.
3/ When the teaching and belief of the foundations is destroyed, what can the righteous do?*

**Sermon Summary:**

This sermon centers on the enduring security of the righteous in the face of spiritual and ecclesiastical crisis, anchored in four unshakable foundations: God's sovereign rule, the divine and human nature of Christ, the eternal covenant of grace, and the inspired authority of Scripture.

Drawing from Psalm 11 and 2 Timothy 3, it emphasizes that while the world may appear to be crumbling—when churches abandon core truths or promote heresies—the righteous are called not to flee in fear but to trust in God's unchanging throne and to hold fast to these foundational realities.

The preacher warns that when doctrine is compromised, especially in matters of God's sovereignty, Christ's deity, election, or biblical inerrancy, the faithful must respond with prayer, personal steadfastness, public witness, and, if necessary, separation from such environments.

Ultimately, the message is one of profound hope: though institutions may falter, the foundations of salvation are eternal, and those built upon them—through faith in Christ—will endure forever.

This sermon, "Foundations that cannot be destroyed," preached by Rowland Wheatley, addresses the critical doctrine of the enduring security of the righteous amid spiritual crises. The key arguments highlight how true believers—identified as the righteous—must rely on four fundamental foundations: God's sovereignty, the dual nature of Christ, the covenant of grace, and the authority of Scripture. Scripture references, particularly Psalm 11:3 and 2 Timothy 3, are used to illustrate the danger of compromised teachings that can lead to ecclesiastical ruin, framing God's unchanging nature as a source of hope and strength. The sermon underscores the practical significance of holding firm to these doctrines, as the faithful are encouraged to pray, remain steadfast, and maintain a public witness against heretical teachings, trusting that their foundation in Christ is unshakeable and eternal.

Key Quotes

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

“When doctrine is compromised, the faithful must respond with prayer and personal steadfastness.”

“The foundations of salvation are eternal, and those built upon them will endure forever.”

What does the Bible say about the foundations of faith?

The Bible teaches that the foundations of faith cannot be destroyed, primarily focusing on God's sovereignty and Christ's righteousness as the cornerstones.

Psalm 11:3 poses a crucial question regarding the foundations of faith: 'If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?' This indicates the significance of these foundations in the life of believers. The foundations of our faith include God's sovereignty, the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the covenant of grace, and the authority of Scripture. Each of these plays a vital role in assuring believers of their hope and stability in Christ despite life's trials or church adversities. Importantly, God's sovereignty emphasizes that nothing can thwart His divine plans, providing both peace and assurance to the faithful.

Psalm 11:3, Romans 10:1-4

How do we know that God's sovereignty is true?

Scripture consistently affirms God's sovereignty, illustrating that He is in control of all things.

God's sovereignty is repeatedly affirmed in both the Old and New Testaments, providing assurance to believers that He reigns supreme over all creation. For instance, Psalm 11:4 declares, 'The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven,' emphasizing that God observes and governs all events. Additionally, the story of Joseph in Genesis showcases how God uses human actions, even sinful ones, to fulfill His divine plans. This understanding reassures believers that despite circumstances appearing chaotic or unjust, God's purpose will prevail according to His divine will, offering peace and trust in His governance.

Psalm 11:4, Genesis 50:20

Why is the righteousness of Christ important for Christians?

The righteousness of Christ is crucial because it is the basis for our justification and acceptance before God.

The righteousness of Christ is foundational to the Christian faith as it is through His perfect obedience that believers are justified before God. Romans 10:3-4 points out that individuals cannot establish their own righteousness; rather, they must submit to the righteousness that comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ. This imputed righteousness grants Christians the privilege of standing before a holy God, not based on their merits but on Christ's finished work. Understanding and embracing this doctrine fosters humility, as believers recognize their utter dependence on Christ for salvation and eternal hope.

Romans 10:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:21

What should Christians do if church teachings compromise foundational doctrines?

Christians should pray, hold fast to the truth, and may need to leave congregations that undermine vital doctrines.

When a church begins to teach doctrines that destroy foundational truths, such as God's sovereignty or the nature of Christ, Christians are compelled to take action. First, they should pray earnestly about the situation, seeking God's guidance. Next, it is essential to hold fast to the biblical truths themselves, ensuring personal beliefs remain aligned with Scripture. Moreover, if the teachings continue to undermine the faith's core tenets, it may be necessary for faithful believers to leave that congregation and seek one where these foundational truths are upheld. The responsibility of believers is to promote and defend the truth, ensuring that essential doctrines remain clear and unwavering in their church communities.

1 Thessalonians 5:21, 2 Timothy 2:15

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 11. Psalm 11 and reading for our text, verse 3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11 and verse 3. This is a psalm of David. He speaks of those who were wicked and were shooting at the upright in harm, seeking to destroy them, seeking to distress them, and some advised as a remedy to him to flee. clay as a bird to a mountain.

We need to be very careful when we see brethren or those that are walking through trials as to how we advise them. We think of Peter when our Lord was foretelling his coming sufferings and Peter said, Be it not unto thee, Lord, be it not unto thee. And the Lord turned and rebuked him, rebuked Satan. Get thee behind me, Satan, thou savour'st not the things that be of God, but that which is of men.

No doubt Peter had good intentions. He loved his master. He didn't want him to go through that. We might have loved ones as well. hard path, a difficult path. Advice might be flee from it, don't walk in it, don't walk along that path. And yet it not be helpful advice at all.

And certainly here it wasn't, because David, his trust was in the Lord. And the path the Lord had put him in, he was walking in it, and trusting in the Lord. Of course we knew or know how much he was pursued by Saul, how much his life was in danger. The many times that perhaps in a natural way he had to flee, but in a spiritual way his trust was in the Lord. And there's one thing It was a comfort, one thing, that he remembered that the Lord was on the throne.

Whatever happened, whatever came to pass, verse four, the Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven, his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. And it's vital that we remember The Lord is in control, whatever comes to pass. There's no such thing as that there is one will of the Lord, another permissive will, or things that come to pass and the Lord commandeth it not. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

The other thing that is set forth here, and this is in our text, that foundation of hope cannot be destroyed. The question is here, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Well, those that are depending upon foundations, they can't do anything. If that is destroyed, they will be destroyed. the foundations of God, of the hope of God's people, cannot be destroyed. And yet there is a situation in which they may appear to be. When a church that we're in, a congregation, begin to have doctrines that are contrary to those foundations, And it appears then, as far as our church is concerned, those foundational doctrines are destroyed. They're not held anymore.

And in that situation, we could apply our text and ask this question, what can the righteous do in that case? So I want to look with the Lord's help this evening Firstly, who are the righteous? Who are the righteous? And then secondly, the foundations that cannot be destroyed. And I'm only going to mention four of them, but they are very important. They are the foundations of our home. And then thirdly, when the teaching and belief of the foundations is destroyed in the church, what are the righteous to do? What should they do? But firstly, the question, who are the righteous?

The word of God declares plainly that there is none righteous, no, not one. That is, as we are by nature, there is none that doeth good. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have nothing but rags, filth, uncleanness to stand before God. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

So then how can it be that there are those that are righteous? In the word of God, there is one that is set forth that is the righteous one, the Lord, our righteousness, the one that on this earth as truly man and truly God, in all of his life, was perfectly righteous. He's perfectly righteous in his divinity. He was perfectly righteous in his humanity. We cannot comprehend how it could be that one born into this world never thought a wrong thought, never said a wrong word, never did a wrong action, In all the times the scribes, the Pharisees goaded him, tried to provoke him, never did they stir him up to sin. In the 40 days in the wilderness that Satan tempted him, we only read of the last three temptations, but never was he brought to sin.

The spotless, pure, holy righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. But that righteousness that he worked out as a man, that righteousness was to be imparted to believers, to his people. Their righteousness is of me. So when we read in our text of the righteous, It is those that have believed in the Lord and had put to their account the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul in Romans 10 was desirous that his people might be saved. But he looked at them and he saw that they were going about to establish their own righteousness and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. It is a hard thing for a proud man to have to confess that he has no righteousness, no good works whatsoever to plead, and to relinquish those, and to embrace a righteousness that is not ours but is imputed or made There is nothing for pride to take hold of in that situation. It is an utter dependency upon another, another's works, another's goodness, and not our own. The Apostle Paul in Romans 10 sets forth the righteousness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

So those here are those that have been brought to a link as their own and to embrace the Lord's and to trust in that. We have this other description here, verse one, in the Lord put I my trust. It's one aspect of the righteous that they are trusting in the Lord. trusting in his governance, trusting in his righteousness, trusting in his way of salvation, in all that he does in this world. In the Lord put I my trust, a mark of the righteous. Another mark is in verse five. The Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked, and him that loveth violence his soul hateth." So we have a picture that those that are righteous, the Lord is trying, the Lord is testing them. And in effect, David would be saying, these trials, these attacks, these things that are coming upon me, rather than God designed to destroy me, They are designed to try and test whether the work in me is of God or whether it is of man.

The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If we were to be needing to trust in something like a rope to hang upon, and we didn't want it to break, we'd test it first. If there was a plank we were going to walk across, you'd want to make sure it would hold our weight, so you'd do something to test and make sure it would. And with God, he knows who his people are, he knows where they are, he knows who he has given faith to, who he's given life to, but he would try them for their own benefit, we read of those going through the wilderness, thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to try thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst serve the Lord or no. And the trying and testing was really to try that grace and that union that they had with the Lord that couldn't be broken by their rebellings, by their murmurings, by their complainings, their sins, the Lord still held on to them. And we read in Hebrews 12 that the Lord chasteneth every son whom he receiveth. We have with the Apostle Paul who had the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet him. And when he sought that that might be taken away, the Lord said that my grace is sufficient for thee. It was a lifelong trial. But the Lord gave him that strength and he was pleased with that. Therefore, rejoice in infirmity. When I am weak, then am I strong.

So the writers were marked, God will test and try, bring them into situations where the natural flesh would say, if this is what God does to me, if this is how he treats me, I'm not going to serve him. I'm not going to trust him. It will show whether the work is real or whether it is just man's work. There are those that you might say are fair-weather Christians. They'll follow the Lord as long as things go well. If they don't, then they'll reply against Him and go back and walk no more with Him.

And that's the reason for the trials. It is to make manifest who are the Lords for the comfort of God's own people. Really, we should not be afraid of trials that come hard. Bitter though they are, they are the times that we are more likely to see more clearly the grace, the help that the Lord has given us.

But then we have in our text, the righteous, they value and need a foundation. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The implication they can on, they need that foundation. We read that underneath are the everlasting arms. And sometimes we get into trials and troubles, we might feel to absolutely sink, and then sink onto those arms. Sink onto a promise the Lord has given us. Sink onto his all-seeing eye. sink onto those precious truths, foundational truths of the Word of God.

It's a blessed thing to be not righteous in ourselves, to painfully feel that, but to feel that our righteousness is of the Lord and we depend solely upon Him. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sins. That pays our debt, that brings us nigh unto God. But it is the righteousness that makes us acceptable to stand before God and appear in His presence. A wedding garment, as the scripture would put it. A garment to be worn that is given us by the Lord. the righteous.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? May our prayer be, put me amongst the righteous. May we ask for the Lord's righteousness as often as we feel our own ranks and sin. May we remember the Lord's promise in Matthew 5. Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Those that feel not to have it, but hunger for it from him. I want to look then secondly at foundations. Foundations that cannot be destroyed. I want to begin with verse four.

The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. God reigns, he is on the throne. Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass when the Lord commandeth it not? Is a vital foundation. If we could say that men could frustrate God's purposes, or devils, or angels, or circumstances, or nature, then God would not be on the throne. When we think of the fall, did God ordain it? Was it his will? Did he bring it about? God is not the author of sin, but the fall of man was in God's counsels and purpose.

The same as Peter could say to those on the day of Pentecost, he who was delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands crucified and slain. And there is joined together God's determinant counsel, Him being on the throne, and then wicked men that He used. It's a mystery to us how it is that God uses man's will, He uses their sins, He uses things not making Himself as the sinner, but arranging it so that what is brought to pass is exactly what he has decreed. Joseph was able to look back and say to his brothers who had thrown him into the pit and sold him, ye sent me not hither but God.

Be not angry with yourselves. Ye meant it for evil. God meant it for good, and we see God on the throne. It's vital for us to rest on that foundation. There's so many that are tossed to and fro, get upset when they think that God's will should have been this, or was this, that something should have happened, come to pass, and it didn't. And where they view that men are the reason why it didn't come to pass because of wrong choices, because of wrong decisions, then they're angry with those people. They cannot be submissive to it. They say, well, God's perfect will was to do this, but he permitted that to happen because You rebelled and you didn't do his perfect will and you did that.

You cannot argue with God's providence. I think it was Thomas Boston, or Thomas Watson maybe, said that he would rather trust in providence than trust in words that had been given him. I don't want to minimize where the Lord has blessed us, with words. But some have said, the Lord has given me a word for this, a word for that, but it doesn't come to pass. But you can never go against providence.

Sometimes we just cannot understand it. I always think of one occasion here where I felt persuaded one Wednesday that I would preach that evening. I'd be asked to preach. And while I was out, then There was a phone call, and I was asked to preach. But I wasn't home. And when I came home, I phoned up the minister, and they'd got another minister. They found someone else. And I never did preach that night. But I'd been persuaded I would, and I believe also I had a text. And I thought, well, did that.

Minister is wanting me to fulfill his pulpit. Did he do wrong? Should he not have waited? If he has exercised that I should go, should he not have waited until I got home and asked? But whatever way it was looked at, I didn't go. And you cannot say it was not God's will that the other minister went. He did go.

And we can't argue with that. But they're perplexing things. We cannot understand it. We don't know why. But we leave it with the Lord, that what happens is by His decree and His purpose. And it's important that we are very firm on that, that no man, nothing can frustrate His will.

When you look at Matthew 1, and you find a list going through the kings of Judah, right through to our Lord. We have 14 generations, 14 generations, 14 generations, and they're split up between Abraham and David, David and the carrying away into Babylon, and carrying away into Babylon under Christ. You think, you look at the providence, the lives of those men, the things that happened in all of those things, but God made it perfect. orderly way. And the scriptures fulfilled at Christ's crucifixion.

The bone of him shall not be broken. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced. All these things foretold a thousand years before, and God makes sure they come to pass. And this is one of these foundations God is in control. Whatever we hear from other nations, from our own government and things that are happening, man may be in fear and wonder where things will end. Well, God is in control, not man, not nature. God will bring the world to a close in his time and in his way.

When they sought to take our Lord, to cast him down from the brow of a hill, he went right through the midst of them. They couldn't take him. My time is not yet. Your time is always ready. My time is not yet. The appointed time came, and the Lord was delivered as it was foretold."

So this is. one of the main foundations. You may be in things that you really struggle with in your life. Maybe it is decisions that you yourself has made or things you've done. Great regrets. You want to turn the clock back. You wish that things weren't like that. But they were done. They were appointed. We need to rest in that. Sometimes we can be very hard on ourselves in that way.

The Lord brings things to pass. The second foundation is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Other foundation can no man lay, than that is lay, that is Jesus Christ, is Him crucified. Our Lord Jesus Christ as the true God, the second person of the Trinity, truly God and man in one person.

This is a vital foundation and John in his epistles, he says if any, don't abide in that doctrine, don't bid him into your houses, don't bid him good speed, he is in error. The Lord Jesus Christ is not truly God, then his sacrifice is of no avail. He is but a sinner. If he's not truly man, then he's not a near kinsman, and he has not got a right to redeem. And so if one brings the error that the soul of Christ was taken by his divinity, and he didn't have a soul like Abraham, That is undermining, taking away the foundation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a heresy, it's an error. But for the people of God, they hold fast to this, that our Lord Jesus Christ is as he says he was, divine.

I am the good shepherd. We had this the other week. And the Jews understood and knew He was claiming he was equal with the Father. I and my Father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father also. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. I'm going to hold fast to that foundation, build upon that foundation, the foundation stone of our Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation of God standeth sure, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and those that are his are chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. The third foundation is the covenant of grace.

David says that although my house be not so with God, Yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation and all my desire, though he make it not to grow." So on David's side, his house was not so with God. And even when blessed, he made it not to grow, as if he would look upon the work that was wrought in him and it didn't flourish and was blessed as he no doubt hoped it would and many of the Lord's dear people though they confess that they are the Lord and Lord's worked in their hearts yet they feel their poverty they feel their poor specimens of the Lord's people ashamed of themselves not what I would be David felt that But that didn't change the fact that the covenant was all his salvation and all his desire. What is meant by that? What was the covenant? A covenant of grace, not a covenant of works, but a covenant of grace. Covenant of works is what Adam broke in the Garden of Eden.

He sinned, he died, and death passed upon all men. And from that point, God revealed, right through the Scriptures, a covenant of grace. He saved Noah by grace. And all was shown to Israel in the wilderness. Grace was stamped upon it, free, unmerited favour of God.

And a covenant is an agreement, and it was an agreement before the world was, between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, concerning the people of God. Our Lord says, thine they were, and thou gavest them me. When, in eternity past, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, those people, that God has set his love upon and that Christ has agreed to take and to pay their debt, to give them a righteousness and to bring them to be with him in heaven.

Beautiful illustration of David and Jonathan making a covenant that David would spare Jonathan's seeds, Saul's seeds, And when Saul was dead, Jonathan was dead, David was on the throne, he said, is there any of the seed of Saul that I may show him favor for Jonathan's sake? Not for his sake, but for Jonathan's sake. And so there is Mephibosheth, lame in both his feet, nothing in himself to merit favor, but he is brought to the king's table. looked after all his life because of that covenant. And that is foundational.

The Lamb's Book of Life, before the foundation of the world, God's people are written there. They are chosen in Christ with that covenant agreement. And so then, that is why right through There's scriptures, there's grace, and right through God's work in making known to those who are in that covenant that they are in that covenant is all by grace. By grace you are saved, and that not of your, but through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. It's why this is a real clear mark of being one of God's children. that we are saved by grace.

None will be able to look at anything in their lives or what they've done before or after and say, well, wasn't I good? Haven't I done well? Hasn't God blessed me because of my obedience and goodness? Instead, why, we're exhausted, aren't we? But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And grace opposite to works. Don't expect as you go through life, you'll feel more and more godly and more and more upright and more and more worthy of the Lord's blessing. No. If we're to grow in grace, it is like John the Baptist said, he must increase, I must decrease. That will be right through life. The Lord brings us love. and he blesses us for Christ's sake.

And as David saw, it was because of the covenant. Then we have the word of God, the scriptures of truth, the Bible, the inspired, infallible word or scripture is given by inspiration of God. The Lord said that, though heaven and earth pass away, yet my word shall not pass away. Forever, O God, thy word is settled in heaven. The Lord gave the word. Great was the company of them that published it.

It is vital that we hold fast to that foundation Every word of God is pure. That we may trust in it, lean upon it, receive it as the word of God. And that build our hopes for heaven, our doctrines on it, our practice on it, feed upon it, be strengthened through it, a foundation. in the Word of God.

The authority of that Word, it is written, our Lord used that when Satan tempted him in the wilderness, if thou be the Son of God, command these stones that they might be made bread. It is written, says our Lord, that man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And each temptation that Satan brought, the Lord answered with the word of God.

Take away that foundation. What can the righteous do? It is a foundation. And it was a foundation, even you might say the Lord himself was bound by. hath he not said, and shall he not do it? Or when in the garden, and Peter takes the sword, the Lord says, put up the sword within its sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Thinkest thou not I may pray my father, you presently give me 12 legion of angels, 72,000 angels, but how then? should the scriptures be fulfilled. And our Lord is putting the weight on that foundation of the scriptures that must be fulfilled.

I want to just leave it at those four vital foundations. But to look in the third place, What if we'd have the situation when the teaching and belief of a foundation is destroyed in a church? Say if we were to have a minister come, a pastor, and they were to teach where the Lord was not on the throne.

Like the solemn case and the story of that minister that ran to the A&E department when one of his congregation had a car accident and said to them, it was not the Lord, it was not the law, don't worry, the Lord is not in it. How could that be any reassurance to anyone? To think that at that moment God was not in control, that some chance or man's mistake Well, the devil was in control.

What if we were in a church and that was being taught that God was not in control? One of those foundations being destroyed in that church. What if in that church they said, well, the Lord wasn't really divine? We believe like the Jehovah's Witnesses or we believe like has been set forth in some of our churches that his soul was taken by his divine nature and he wasn't really a man and the rejection of the term human. What if that was the teaching of the church or the congregation that you were in? What if the covenant of grace was ridiculed?

And it said, well, actually, Christ died for all mankind. And we have enough will that is left that we can freely just accept or reject. And if many are saved, or less are saved, the Lord has no power over that, because it's up to us. The gospel is offered, and we just have to accept it. and there's no certainty, there's no election, there's no predestination, there's no appointment at all. What if that was being taught, the Arminian position, a free will position in a church? What if it was that the word of God was undermined?

If it was taught, well, The first chapters in Genesis, that's just a fictional story. It's not really a literal six days. It's millions of years can fit in here. What if it was said that Paul's writings, they're just Paul? That's not inspired. That's his own thoughts. That's his own way.

What if you say, well, Actually your Bibles are not based upon the right manuscripts, they've found a lot more since. These older ones are unreliable, you can't rely on them. And one thing after another, what they call the higher criticism or lower criticism, that constantly tears pages out of the Bible and cuts it up. What if we're in a church like that, and the foundation of the Scriptures of truth is being undermined, is being destroyed, really, in that church. In our text, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? What can they do?

The first thing, really, is to pray. Take it to the Lord. Bring it to the Lord. Lord, look upon this situation, look upon this that's happening in this church, and to lay it before Him. The next thing is to hold fast to the truth ourselves. Don't get caught up in those errors, but like the psalmist here, hold fast to them. When others are saying flee, he's trusting in the Lord. And he's looking at those foundations as what they are, real, vital foundations. Another thing that the righteous can do is to uphold the truth and encourage others, speak to others about it. The Lord has said that there must needs be heresies among you, that they that are approved be made manifest. What does he mean? A heresy is error that is hitting at absolutely vital, non-negotiable truths.

These foundations here are non-negotiable. We don't part with any of them. They're foundations. A foundation often, well, the whole building rests upon it. Sometimes it's not seen. It's laid there first. And these foundations are before time. But what does he mean? That they that are approved be made manifest.

Because in a church will come errors like this. And it may be the church members, the deacons, the elders, they don't see it. And they keep silent. But someone who's just been insignificant, maybe not even made a profession, the back of the church, they see it. They say, that's not right. And they make it known. And that person that Beforehand is not even noticed, now is made manifest.

Think of when our Lord was crucified. Who was it came to take him down and to bury him? Secret disciples. Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, who came to the Lord by night, and there they are in that time of need. Sometimes it is those that are despised, or the simplest souls that have the clearest view of the truth. And it's at times like that that the Word of God says, these troubles come, these errors come, just for that time, that that person might speak, might be manifest. My mind goes to the book of Job, and when Job had his trials, when Satan was permitted to Try Job.

First the three friends came. And they sought to convince Job that he was wrong. Elihu, he just sits and he waits and he listens till they'd all had their say. And then he spoke up. And sometimes it's like that in the Church of God, too. There's a waiting and thinking, well, is someone going to speak? Is someone going to identify this error? But when there's not, then we have to speak.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Well, if they do speak out, if they do make it known, and do expose the error, but nothing is done, it's continued in the same way, what can they do? but leave that congregation and leave that church, not be where the very foundations of the faith are being destroyed. We need to be careful to identify what is the foundations and what is not. What is a vital truth, a truth that is undermining the very hope and a child of God and their very trust for eternity. And where that is the case, where is help going to come from? But from those who know those truths, had them burned into their heart. So you can't take away that truth because that is what my soul rests upon.

You take that away. You take away God in control. You take away anything from the Lord Jesus Christ. You take away anything from the covenant of grace or from the holy inspired word of God. You are taking away all my hope and all my comfort, but you can't, that cannot be destroyed.

But in a church situation, congregation situation, at times that the righteous may have to act in some way or another. But blessed be God, those foundations can never be destroyed. And what a blessed thing to be on them, to be dependent on them, to be built on them and trusting on them. If ever, says the hymn writer, my poor soul be saved, his Christ must be the way. May the Lord bless this word, grant us to be amongst the righteous, give us discernment, and to know upon what our hopes for heaven are built upon, and value and hold fast to that foundation. Other foundation can no man lay than that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. and him crucified. The Lord add his blessing. Amen.
Rowland Wheatley
About Rowland Wheatley
Pastor Rowland Wheatley was called to the Gospel Ministry in Melbourne, Australia in 1993. He returned to his native England and has been Pastor of The Strict Baptist Chapel, St David’s Bridge Cranbrook, England since 1998. He and his wife Hilary are blessed with two children, Esther and Tom. Esther and her husband Jacob are members of the Berean Bible Church Queensland, Australia. Tom is an elder at Emmanuel Church Salisbury, England. He and his wife Pauline have 4 children, Savannah, Flynn, Willow and Gus.

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