Last night, as I was preparing
and thinking about the day and praying that God would be pleased
to meet with us once again, I heard it begin to thunder outside.
So I went out. I like to see this demonstration
of the power of our great God. And every time I do that, every
time I witness a storm and the wind blowing and the lightning
and so forth, I think of that old hymn, How Great Thou Art. One verse of it says, I see the
stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe
displayed. Then sings my soul, my savior
God to thee, how great thou art. not how great Mother Nature is,
oh no, but how great our great God is. But you know, if that
wind had been strong enough to blow down a wall of the house,
it could have been replaced. If the roof, some tiles had blown
off of it, it had been damaged, it could have been repaired.
But if it had been powerful enough To destroy the foundation, the
whole house had come down with it. The foundation is the most
important part. The house stands or falls upon
that foundation. David makes mention of this in
verse 3, foundations. He asked this question in Psalm
11 verse 3. If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? David was experiencing a terribly
severe trial. Perhaps he was being chased by
Saul, and his friends, companions, suggested that he flee away in
verse 1. Flee away from this trouble,
at least for the time being. Perhaps it was due to the rebellion
of his son that David was experiencing this trial. Whatever it was,
it seemed to cause him to fear for his people and his nation. It seemed to him that the very
foundations of the kingdom were being broken up. Therefore, he
asked the question of verse 3. The title of my message is Foundations. Foundations that are movable,
that can be destroyed, and foundations, this is what I want to spend
most of my time on, those foundations that are immovable, that can
never be destroyed. The writer of the Hebrew epistle
makes mention of both of these. Let me read it to you. In Hebrews
chapter 12 we read, and this word, Yet once more, signifying
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made, movable things, man-made things, that those things
which cannot be shaken, those things that are of God that cannot
be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we, we, every believer,
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, destruction
cannot be destroyed. This foundation cannot be broken
up. We receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve god Fear, for our God is a consuming
fire. David asked the question, and
we'll consider briefly those things where the foundations
can be destroyed, but only briefly. David asked, if the foundations
be destroyed, what can the righteous do? We can apply that question
to our day. We look around and it seems on
a daily basis, our society, the foundation of it, everything
decent, everything moral, is being destroyed. Paul wrote to
Timothy and said, Know this also, Timothy, that in the last days
perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God. In our day, our very leaders,
leaders, people we're supposed to look up to, they call good
evil and they call evil good. And if you disagree, we're told
that something must be wrong with us if we don't accept the
perversion. The problem is not with them,
but with you and I. Every foundation of every government,
Doesn't make any difference whether it's a democracy or communism.
It won't last forever. It will be destroyed. And America
is no exception. It's no exception. Economic foundations. Oh, how soon they can disappear. How soon they can take wings
and simply fly away. I remember learning in school
that just before the Great Depression, when Wall Street fell, crashed,
people killed themselves because they lost their fortunes in the
crash of Wall Street. That's all they lived for. Isn't
that sad? And sadly, sadly, we've seen
family foundations that are destroyed. by a rebellious son, or a rebellious
daughter, or by death itself. Because as the prophet said,
all flesh No matter how dear to us, no matter how loved by
us, yet all flesh is grass. It soon withers. The flower,
the glory of it soon fades away. Everything in this world will
pass away. The reason being this. It's built
on a foundation of sand. A foundation of sand. All those
things I mentioned, and I could mention so many more. and being
built on such a foundation as that, it's unstable, it's uncertain. One old preacher said, don't
build your house in this forest because every tree in it is marked
to be cut down. Oh, may God give you and I, his
children, grace to view and value everything in the light of eternity. How will this appear to me? How
will I value these things when I'm ready to cross over and stand
before God? What will be most important then? In that hour, when I rise, the
world's unknown, to stand before God upon his throne, what will
be of value? What will be the true riches
then? May God give me grace to realize
it now, to live that way now with those things in view. In
Matthew chapter 6, in our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, he makes
mention of this. In verse 19 of Matthew 6, he
says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.
But rather do this, he says in verse 20, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. Treasures in heaven. Oh, they're
secure there, are they not? Where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Oh, that's the true treasure,
is it not? Christ and his rich grace. to experience the riches of his
grace and his great salvation and himself. Himself. He's the chief cornerstone. He's the one thing needful. The
one thing needful. The one thing that I cannot do
without. Only He can bring me before God,
accepted and to be loved. Only He can present me before
God, reconciled, justified in His glorious name, treasured
in heaven. That's where Christ is. That's
where Christ is. All the riches of having Him.
Oh, the blessedness of that man who knows God and knows God's
Son. Blessed art thou. Blessed art
thou among men. Behold, you're greater than all
this world can ever give, or this world has, never compares,
cannot be compared to the riches of having Christ. A child of
the King. That's better. That's better,
Lord, than being named a Rockefeller. That's better. Oh, a child of
the king. A child of the king. With Jesus
my savior. An heir. A joint heir with him. He being my elder brother. Having
the same heavenly father. My god and his god and my father
and his father. Indeed, a child of the king. King of kings and lord of lords. Notice David says, if, if the foundations
be destroyed, although there are many that can be and will
be, there are some that cannot. And let's speak about those.
There are foundations that cannot be destroyed. Look what he says
in verse 4, the Lord is in his holy temple. Always, always. The Lord, the Lord's throne is
in the heaven. Always. He never ceases the rule. He's always in command. He's
always upon his throne ruling everything. One foundation that
cannot ever be destroyed is God's word. Remember what our Lord
said in Matthew 24? Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall never pass away. Prior to that, he said
men shall Hearts will be failing them for fear, for looking after
the things that are coming upon the earth. But the promise of
our God, it can never be destroyed. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40. God's word, God's promises to
his own rest upon a solid foundation, a solid rock. Isaiah chapter
40. Verse 6, the voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. All flesh
is grass. And all the goodliness thereof
is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth. Pamper it. Do what you will. The grass still withereth, and
the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon
it. Surely the people is grass."
Look what it says, or rather verse 8, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, but, but the word of our God shall stand forever. The word of our God shall stand
forever. Turn over to chapter 43 here
in Isaiah. Look what we read here. Here's
God's word to you and I. Verse 1 of Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. And
he doesn't mean that nation. He means the true Israel of God. Jew, Gentile believer, all his
elect, all of his chosen, all of his redeemed. He says to you,
fear not. Fear not. Why? For I have redeemed
thee. I have redeemed thee. Peter said
we were redeemed with not silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. He will not lose one for whom
he shed his precious blood for. This is the basis of his exhortation. Fear not. Why? Because I have
redeemed thee. You mean something to me. I've
paid the price for your redemption. I've made eternal atonement for
your sins. You belong to me. I won't lose
you. Don't fear. Fear not. I have
redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. Isn't that sweet? Thou art mine. I am his and he is mine. When thou passest through the
waters, You're on your own. No, my soul, God would never
prove unfaithful as that. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. While thou walkest through the
fire, When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned,
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord
thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for
thy ransom, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Since thou wast precious
in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. The foundation
of God standeth sure. Paul again, writing to Timothy,
said, nevertheless, nevertheless, despite everything else, nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, remains firm and steadfast
regardless of what may happen or may not happen. This is always
true. The foundation of God The foundation
of their everlasting God is sure, firm, steadfast. We sang it a
moment ago. Do we believe it? On Christ the
solid rock I stand. The foundation of God. Why would
it not be sure? Why would it not be secure? Another sure foundation for God's
people. Are you still in Isaiah? Turn
to chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28. Here's another sure and certain
foundation for God's redeemed ones. In verse 16 of chapter
28 we read, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in
Zion, This is not man's doing. This is the Lord's doing. Behold,
this is God speaking. I lay in Zion for a foundation. What's he talking about? The
Lord Jesus Christ. This foundation that he laid,
I lay in Zion for a foundation. foundation for his church, a
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. A sure precious foundation. None who are upon the foundation
of Jesus Christ Other foundations, Paul wrote, can no man lay than
that which is laid, Jesus Christ the Lord. And none that are on
that foundation shall ever be swept off. It's not possible. It's not possible. Because that
foundation is the everlasting, the eternal rock of ages himself. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. This
is exactly what he told Peter. And this is what he says to you
and I. To everyone up on this rock, this solid rock. Matthew chapter 16 verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do
men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist. Some Elias and others Jeremiah's
are one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? Whom say ye that I am? Now, I know I've pointed this
out before, but if you can say with Peter, Our Lord's words to him are to
you as well. Peter answers in verse 16 and
said, Thou art the Christ. What others say doesn't matter. Others' opinion are irrelevant. I know that you're the Christ. You're the Son of the living
God. And look what our Lord says to
him in verse 17. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. You are a blessed
man. You are a blessed man. My Father's
done something for you that he's not done for everybody. He's
opened your eyes. He's revealed to you who I am. You're blessed. You're blessed.
Blessed art thou for flesh and blood have not revealed this
unto thee but my father which is in heaven. No man knoweth
the son. He said in Matthew eleven except
he to whomsoever the father will reveal him. Verse And upon this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. You know why? Why the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it? Because of the foundation
on which it's built. It can never be destroyed. This
is the church's one foundation. This is why none built upon this
rock, our Lord said, shall ever perish, shall ever be lost because
of that which they rest on. is none other. That one that
we trust, that one who holds us in his hand is none other,
none less than the mighty God. The everlasting Father. That's
who He is. He's the Prince of Peace. The
government is up on His shoulders. He'll rule His people. He'll
bring in an everlasting righteousness. My soul. Who shall pluck them
out of His hand? Who's able to do that? None. We rest upon Him. Turn, if you
will, to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 4 of 1 Peter 2. To whom coming? To whom coming? Always coming. Always coming. I read A message of Mr. Spurgeon's the other evening
in which he said he always finds the safest place for him to be
is where he was when he first came to Christ, a needy, helpless
sinner. Don't get beyond that. Don't
get beyond that, you'll be safe. Verse 4, to whom coming as unto
a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, we'll not have this man
rule over us. Crucify him. Caesars are king. Did that make void the purpose
of God? Did that disannoy the purpose
of God? Of course not. Of course not. But chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also
it is contained in the Scripture, behold, we read this a moment
ago in Isaiah 28. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded, shall not be put to shame. Christ will ever be faithful
to his own, unto you therefore which believe, He is precious. Oh, is he not? Is he not? But
unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, now Peter here is referring to the 118th Psalm,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made
the headstone of the corner anyway. That despite all all the efforts
of men, all the plotting of the religious hierarchy of our Lord's
day, He still made the head of the corner and the psalmist said,
this is the Lord's doing. This is God's doing. God has
highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name. This is the will and purpose
of God that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall confess things in heaven, things in earth, and things under
the earth. Unto you therefore which believe
He is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, the same as made
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stubble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people. The
word peculiar means people. A special people. God's own people. That you should show forth the
praises of him who has called you out of darkness. Into his
marvelous light. Which in times past were not
a people but are now, now, Compare your present difficulties
to this but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
Oh yes, that's a foundation. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot
be destroyed right now. God give us grace just to rest
on Him. fall down upon him, roll all
the weight of your soul's eternal salvation on him and see if he
can't bear you up. And all that do so find this,
all that are enabled by the grace of God just to fall upon Christ,
this sure and certain precious elect chief cornerstone will
find that he is able He is able, oh that's sweet, isn't it? He
is able, thank God, to save, to save to the uttermost, the
uttermost of sin's penalty, of sin's power, and one day by that
omnipotent grace of our great God and Savior, save us from
the very presence of sin. Won't that be something? Won't
that be something? He's able to save to the uttermost
all, not most of them, but all that come unto God by him. No man cometh unto the Father,
he said, but by me. But all that do find a fullness
of grace, an abundance of mercy, power without limit to save them,
to keep them, and to bring them all to glory. Anything less than
that would be a reflection a bad reflection upon our God and Savior. And that shall never happen.
He said, none that trust me shall ever perish. I'll lose none.
And here's another foundation that can never be shaken, that
can't be destroyed. Turn, if you will, back to Isaiah
chapter 54. Here we read of God's everlasting
covenant of grace. Yes, there is such a thing. God's everlasting covenant of
grace. Isaiah chapter 54, verse 5. For thy maker is thine husband,
the Lord of hosts to his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. The God of the whole earth shall
he be called. For the Lord hath called thee
as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth. When thou wast refused, saith
thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken
thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of
Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should
no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not
be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall
depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that had mercy upon thee. Let's look at an example
of what we just read there. Turn, if you will, to 2 Samuel.
2 Samuel, chapter 23. This is a familiar passage of
Scripture. David. David, the man after God's
own heart. He's going the way of all flesh. This is David before he leaves
this world. on his deathbed, as we call it. Look at verse 1 of chapter 23
here in 2 Samuel. Now these be the last words of
David. David, the son of Jesse, said,
And the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God
of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to me. The rock, the solid
rock. He that ruleth over men must
be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light
of the morning. when the sun riseth even in morning
without clouds as the tender grass springing out of the earth
by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with
God." Did David have regrets? Yes. Was David without sorrow? Of course not. He led a checkered
life. Rebellion in this own house?
The faithful prophet came to David one time and said, you're
the man, you've sinned against God. And David confessed his
sin. But look what he says here, yet.
Yes, I have regrets. Yes, I've experienced sorrow.
Yes, I've failed. Yes, I've sinned. Yet, yet, what
he speaks of here, what follows this little word, yet, is something
that nothing can change. Nothing can affect. This is what
David looks to for his comfort in his dying hour. It's God's
everlasting covenant of grace made between the persons of the
Trinity of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the salvation
of his people. God entered into a covenant to
do that before the world ever was. This is what David looks
at. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. Here's the foundation that can't
be destroyed. Ordered in all things and sure. As sure as God himself is. For this is all my salvation. and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. Yet, the covenant of God's grace
in Christ Jesus is steadfast. He will accomplish his purpose
of grace. He will save his people and glorify
his son. Here's another. The foundation
of Christ's finished work shall never be destroyed. Christ did not die. For a maybe. for a hope so or a might be. His blood can never have been
shed in vain. His righteousness cannot ever
lose its merit. Do you hear that? The righteousness
of Jesus Christ is as fresh, is as satisfying to God now as
it was the day he shed his blood for all of his own upon the cross
and cried, finished. It's done. Bless god. The transaction
is done. He made full atonement for all
of his people and his that all of his own are wrapped
up in can never lose its merit, can never lose its value, can
never lose its worth. It's ever fresh. And his grace
will never prove to be useless or in vain. His salvation cannot
be destroyed, it cannot be lost, and it can never be taken away.
We may lose friends, we may lose loved ones, we may lose earthly
possessions, but we can never lose. We can never lose that
which is most precious and most valuable to us, and that is Jesus
Christ himself. That's why we love to sing of
Christ our King, because he obtained eternal redemption for us. If Christ put away my sins, they
stay put away. They stay put away. He will never
unjustify what he's justified. No such thing. He'll never unaccept
those he's accepted in to be loved. Why would God do that?
we're accepted in to be loved. God would have to reject his
son to reject all those that are in his son and he said concerning
his son, I'm well pleased in him, my beloved son, and we are
in him. Oh, first he sees Jesus and then
he sees me. When he tells me my sins are
forgiven, what blessed, blessed words. Thy sins, which are many,
are all forgiven thee. When God tells me that, may he
give me grace not to doubt it, not to doubt his word, not to
doubt the blood of his son that bore my sins away forever. And God's saving grace can never
be destroyed. He that's begun a good work in
you will perform it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the foundation of a saved
sinner's hope can never be destroyed. Christ our hope. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. What an anchor. What an anchor. Jesus Christ himself. What more? No wonder Paul said, Christ is
all. And if you're in Him, how can
you be anything other than complete? If you're in Christ who is all,
all righteousness, all redemption, all wisdom, all sanctification,
and you're in Him, how can you lack anything? How can you like
anything? What more can there be for a
needy sinner than Jesus Christ himself? What more can a sinner
need than this? Jesus Christ himself. Turn, if
you will, to Hebrews chapter 6, and Paul speaks of this sure
and steadfast anchor of the soul here in Revelation, or I'm sorry,
Hebrews chapter 6. He speaks of where our great
high priest is now. representing you and I, we're
well represented. Here in Hebrews 6 verse 18, that
by speaking of God, that by two immutable things in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us. Which hope? we have as an anchor
of the soul. You know that old hymn we sometimes
sing. When the storms of life are raging, I've got an anchor
for my soul mate. When the storms of life are raging,
he stands by me. He stands by me. He who is God
in flesh. He who is the very embodiment
of truth. I am truth, he told Pilate. He
who cannot lie has promised this sinner that he will never ever
leave me nor forsake me. Oh, what a comforting, comforting
pillow to lay my weary head on, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within
the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered. Even Jesus
made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. With such an anchor we can sing,
it is well, it is well with my soul. We have a sure hope of
eternal life in heaven. We have hope for Christ's return
and we have hope for Jesus Christ himself. Let me read you a verse
from Zephaniah chapter 3. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in His love. Imagine
that. He will sing over thee. God will. God will. He'll sing over us. He will rejoice over us. He will
joy over thee with singing. The blood of Jesus Christ will
so thoroughly cleanse us from all sin. and present us before
our God without a spot or a wrinkle or any such thing that God himself
with an eye of omniscience will look and say, I find no fault
in them at all. He will joy over thee with singing. I read a comment that Robert
Hawker made on this passage that is read to you from Zephaniah
3 concerning that he will, that is God will joy over thee with
singing. He said many an evening he had
watched a meadowlark as it would fly above the nest of its young
ones and then just look down and just sing, it seems like,
with delight, looking upon its little ones in the nest and then
fly down and hover over them again. He said that is the picture
he has here, that our God will joy over thee with singing. God delights delights in his
own. Blessed be his name. These are
foundations that can never be destroyed because they rest upon
Christ, the chief cornerstone, elect and precious. God bless
you. God bless you.