The purpose of Scripture, as
I've said several times in recent weeks, is God announcing to his
people, his elect people, the salvation that he has accomplished
and the salvation that is certain and sure. The scripture, as you
know, Isaiah chapter 40, begins, comfort ye, speaking to preachers,
comfort my people, comfort them. This is meant to be a comfort.
The scripture is meant to be a comfort. We go through all
sorts of trials, and as we read in Psalm 89, when we fall as
the children of God, then it In chastisement he comes to us
and we feel the rod of chastisement and things can be uncomfortable
but he never ever takes his loving, gracious purpose away from his
people. And as you walk through this
life with all of its trials and difficulties, if you're in Christ,
You have this complete assurance from the Scriptures that your
salvation is certain, absolutely certain. Rest in it. It isn't
going to fail. There's no earthquake of eternity
is going to do anything to alter it. All of Scripture is to tell
us these things concerning that which Christ has accomplished
for his people, that which God purposed for his people. And
everything in the Scripture points to it. The temple, as we saw
last week, the temple is a picture of Christ's physical body in
which he came to redeem his people. And his spiritual body, that
which he redeemed by his precious blood. It's a picture. All of
these things in the Old Testament are pictures of what God is doing. How has God saved his people?
He saved them in Christ, by Christ coming into the world, by him
adopting the children's flesh. And in His church, He saves His
people by substitution, by being the substitute of His people,
by paying the ransom for their sins, by satisfying the justice
of God on their behalf, by making propitiation in His blood, turning
away the anger and just wrath of God through that which He
has accomplished. And all Scripture points to,
illustrates, explicitly states that unchangeable fact of God's
eternal purpose to save a multitude of hell-deserving sinners for
His glory. As we saw several months ago,
it contains the blueprint of salvation and the glorious construction
of it. You know, you go to a place where
some great engineering project is undertaken, and you will find
in the drawing offices, in the design rooms, you'll find the
blueprint of what is to be made, and then you go out, if it's
a shipyard, onto the slipways or where they're constructing
the vessel, and there you will see the glorious construction
of that which was there in blueprint. So it is with the scriptures.
The Old Testament gives us the blueprint and tells us how he
works it out. Believer, this is for us. Believer,
if you're like me, your belief is often faltering. That evil
heart of unbelief wells up in this weak and fallen flesh. Your
hopes are often faint. You're often anxious and uncertain
regarding death and beyond. But here is assurance and encouragement. And where does it come from?
It's not just the opinions of somebody, well I think it's like
this. No, this comes from the throne room of God, by his prophets,
in his word. The salvation of his believing
people is certain. This is the theme of scripture.
That's a glorious theme. That's a heart rejoicing theme. That gives you hope. Whatever
happens, whatever comes, whatever happens to the economy of this
western world which is crumbling around our ears, whatever happens,
God will save his people from their sins. God will take his
people to eternal bliss. This is but for a moment. This
is like the grass of the field that grows and buds and flourishes
and blooms and in no time it goes over and it withers and
it decays and that's this life. but the Word of God endures forever. The purposes of God endure forever. In the history of this temple,
what we're looking at is the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem
following the Babylonian exile, when they come back. Just look
back at the passage we were in last week, in Haggai, the prophet
Haggai, chapter 2, and verse 3, where the question is asked
of the people that came back to Jerusalem, you can read the
historical account in the book of Ezra, in the first six chapters
of Ezra, you read the historical account there, and in verse three
here, who is left among you that saw this house, this temple,
in her first glory, Solomon's temple, in its first glory, and
how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it as nothing? It's just a ruin. It's just a
wreck. It's destroyed. It was destroyed
by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces. It was absolutely destroyed. Now look in verse 6. For thus
saith the Lord of hosts, yet once it is a little while and
I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the
dry land and I will shake all nations and the desire of all
nations shall come. That's Christ. And I will fill
this house, this wreck, this ruin, A house on this site, I
will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The
silver is mine and the gold is mine. Nebuchadnezzar might have
taken it away to Babylon, but it all belongs to God, saith
the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine and the gold
is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory of this latter house
shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give
peace, saith the Lord of hosts." They come back to build the temple,
to re-establish the temple, Solomon's temple. Solomon built the temple
that his father David desired to build, but God said, no, your
son will build it. And it was a glorious building.
It had, by the providential hand of God, it had the very best
materials of the then world, the best stone, the best cedars
of Lebanon, the best gold, the best silver, all the glory of
that temple. It was a beautiful building.
It was a glorious place. It was constructed with amazing
ingenuity. And idolatry came, as it always
did. And God visited Israel, Judah,
with the just reward for their idolatry. And the Babylonians
came, the Chaldean Empire, Nebuchadnezzar, and they destroyed it. And they
left it a ruin. And they absolutely flattened
it. And they carried the Israelites away into captivity for 70 years,
as Jeremiah the prophet had said. And Daniel prophesied throughout
that time and at the end he saw the prophecy of Jeremiah and
he prayed. God raised up Cyrus, which he'd also said he would
do in the prophecy of Isaiah, 200 and odd years before. He'd
said, Cyrus, my servant, this great potentate, the most powerful
king in the world, destroyed the Babylonian empire and brought
in the Persian empire. And Cyrus, what does he do? End
of 2 Chronicles, the same words are used again at the start of
Ezra. Cyrus says, God's put a purpose in my heart to build him a temple
in Jerusalem. one who never knew God. The heart
of the king is in the hands of God, says the scripture. The
heart of the king is in the hands, do we need to fear anything?
The heart of the king is in the hands, Cyrus says, go and build
me a temple in Jerusalem and take all these vessels that Nebuchadnezzar
took from that temple, and restore it. And he sends them with letters
of commendation to go. And they go back there. And amongst
those that go back, and as I said you can read the historical account
in Ezra chapters 1 to 6, among them are two men, Zerubbabel
and Joshua. And Zerubbabel laid the foundation. Zerubbabel was the rightful king
of Judah he was descended from Jeconiah the king who had been
on the throne at the time of the Babylonian invasion and his
father Shealtiel had died in Babylon and Zerubbabel is the
rightful king of Judah and also Joshua not the one from the battle
of Jericho not that one but another one Joshua the high priest you
read about him in this prophecy of Zechariah which we have open
before us now and they laid the foundation of the temple when
they got back they built an altar they laid the foundation of the
temple they kept the feast of tabernacles those were the three
things that started they laid the foundation stone and then
opposition arose And the work stopped, pretty much. The work
ground to a halt for about 20 years. And then God raised up
these two prophets at the end of the Old Testament, Haggai
and Zechariah, the third last and the second last books of
the Old Testament. They were raised up to encourage
the work to continue. And that's why you read so much
about Zerubbabel must get on with it, do it. And Zerubbabel
did the work, and it progressed, and the walls were erected, and
the top stone was put in place, and the work was completed. We
read that in Ezra, chapter 6, verse 15. And the work of this
house was completed. And 400, 500 years later, Christ
came. It wasn't as glorious as Solomon's
temple. It never had the sort of quality
of materials that Solomon's temple had, but there it was, it was
restored. How was the glory of this latter
house more than the former house? The Lord of Glory walked its
corridors. He walked through its porches.
He cleared it of the money changers and the traders. He did that
wonderful miracle where the power of the world stepped back in
horror at his command and they got out of his temple. He walked
it. We beheld his glory, says John,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And he walked in that house,
the glory of this latter house. But you know, it wasn't just
talking about that physical pile of stones. Do you know why? Because
that physical pile of stones in A.D. 70 underwent Roman destruction
this time. In Matthew 24, Jesus said, I
tell you, with his disciples, before his crucifixion at the
temple, he said, look at this temple, look at these stones
built by Zerubbabel all those years before. He says, look at
it. He said, I tell you, not one stone will be left on top
of another because the Roman Empire will come and absolutely
flatten it. Why? Because the word of God
decreed it. In the book of Daniel, chapter 9, it was all going to
come to an end. God prophesied that when Christ
came, and went to the cross of Calvary and bore the sins of
his people that sacrifice and offering would end. He put an
end to sin, and he did, and the temple was destroyed. So that
temple couldn't possibly have been the ultimate fulfillment
of Haggai 2 verse 9, this latter house shall be more glorious.
Yes, it was in the respect that the Son of God walked in it,
but it's not talking about a pile of stones. It's talking about
the building of the living God. The temple that God built. The
temple that God built. I want to think about the foundation
this morning in the time we've got available. The foundation.
The foundation stone laid and look at some aspects of it. Look
at Zechariah chapter 4 with me. Zechariah chapter 4. As I said,
these two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, were raised up when
the work had stopped for the best part of 20 years. And they
were raised up to encourage the people, who were saying, as they
say in Haggai chapter 1 and verse 2, Thus speaketh the Lord of
hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time
that the Lord's house should be built. Then came the word
of the Lord by Haggai the prophet saying, is it time for you, O
ye, to dwell in your sealed houses, houses with nice ceilings, and
this house lie waste, this temple is still a ruin, now therefore
consider your ways. And he tells them, Haggai tells
them, get on with it, you've done nothing for 20 years, get
on with it, this must be built. So look at Zechariah chapter
four and verse six, I'm gonna read down to verse nine. Then
he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the
Lord unto Zerubbabel. Remember, he's the rightful king
of Judah. He's the grandson of the last
king of Judah, saying, Not by might. Oh, we haven't got the
might. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts. Who art thou? O great mountain,
before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain, and he shall
bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings. That's the completion
of it, the headstone, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house twenty years earlier. His hands also shall finish it,
and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto
you. That's what I want to consider.
The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house.
His hands also shall finish it, and thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. The foundation stone was laid.
What was the foundation stone? It was the datum from which everything
else was measured and everything else was put in place. It's not
the idea that it was the stone that supported the weight of
everything else, but it was the stone that basically everything
else was measured from. Everything else got its position
from that foundation stone. It was the datum on which everything
else was built. Now I want to consider the significance,
because the temple prefigures the church, and the church screams
out of Scripture that eternal redemption is accomplished. The
temple prefigures it, it's the pattern, it's the blueprint of
it. and it had a foundation stone that was laid. Zerubbabel, his
hands have laid the foundation of this house, his hands also
shall finish it. I want to think about the foundation
stone of the church of God, of the salvation of God, and I want
to consider it under four headings. The foundation stone laid in
eternity, The foundation stone laid in picture in time. The foundation stone laid in
reality in time. And the foundation stone laid
in individual experience. Individual experience. Okay,
first of all, the foundation stone laid in eternity. God's eternal decree purposed
the laying of the foundation stone of redemption. It was the
eternal decree of God that purposed the foundation stone of redemption,
of salvation of his people, before time began. It's pictured in
Cyrus. Who was the most powerful ruler
in the world in those days? It was Cyrus, the head of the
Persian Empire, which destroyed the mighty Babylonian Empire,
took it out of the way. He, Cyrus, gave a decree. A temple shall be built in Jerusalem.
The sovereign of the whole world, of the whole universe, in eternity,
said there will be a temple built, and it will be the temple of
his eternal salvation. It will be the church of the
living God. It was purposed in eternity.
The foundation stone of salvation, which is the church, which is
pictured by the temple, that foundation stone was laid in
eternity. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 3,
we read this, the works were finished from the foundation
of the world. The works were finished before
the works were started, is what that's saying. Do you hear that?
The works were finished before, why? Oh yes, they had to be finished,
but in the plan and purpose of God. If He says it, it's as good
as done. It still has to be done, but
it's as good as done. There is nothing that's going
to change it. So in Revelation 13 and verse 8, we read of our
Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb When was he slain? 2,000 years
ago on the cross of Calvary. From the foundation of the world,
says Revelation 13 verse 8. A lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Why? The salvation of David,
that sinner, with a heart after God's heart, the salvation of
David, he went straight into the presence of the Lord. He
went into paradise with his Lord when he died. On the strength
of this, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
because surely nothing, nothing could change or alter the fact
that that which was absolutely necessary, that Christ should
come and go to the cross of Calvary and bear the sins of David as
he bore the sins of all his people, that that would happen. It was
certain the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
We read in Romans 8.28 about God ordering all events for the good of those who are
the called according to his purpose. Those who love God who are the
called according to his purpose. God has an eternal purpose. God
chose his people in Christ before the foundation of the world.
He says in Ephesians 1 and verse 4, he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. I can't get my head around that.
It's just an amazing concept. But this is what God says to
his people. He chose them in Christ before the foundation
of the world, according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, before
there was any creation. The foundation stone of salvation
was laid by the eternal God in eternity before there ever was
a creation. We read in Psalm 89 a little
bit earlier, just turn back to it and let's just look again
at some of these verses. Psalm 89 and verses 19 and 20, Then thou spakest in vision to
thy Holy One, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty. This is God speaking in eternity,
speaking of his Son, the second person of the Trinity. I have
laid help upon one that is mighty, that's his Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found
David my servant, not meaning King David, the shepherd boy,
but meaning the one whom he prefigured, the Lord Jesus Christ. With my
holy oil have I anointed him. Then verse 28, look at verse
28. My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the
days of heaven. And then verse 34, my covenant
will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my
lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie
unto David, to Christ. His seed shall endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before me. This is God laying the foundation
stone of his temple, the church, the people that he would save,
the salvation that he would accomplish Our omnipotent God has decreed
and purposed eternal redemption of his people in Christ from
eternity. And this is what we read in the
scripture. And if God has decreed it, nobody dare contravene the
decree of a great ruler such as Cyrus and Much more, much more, nothing
can thwart the purposes of God, who has decreed the salvation
of his people. Everything in creation is made
for the purpose of glorifying God in salvation. We've got to
tread carefully, but I'm sure this is what the scriptures teach,
that Satan, the fall, the opposition of the world, even hell itself
are all made for the glory of God in gracious salvation. Oh, a lot of people don't like
that. The human heart hates that. It's what the scripture reveals.
What the scripture reveals, God is sovereign in everything. He's decreed it. He's done it.
If you worship a God who is not sovereign over everything, you
worship a figment of your own imagination, and you worship
an idol. and your idol is dumb and cannot
speak and cannot save. But the God of the universe,
who is sovereign over everything, is able to do all that he said.
You see, Christianity and the church is not God's second attempt
to get people to live as he wants them to, having failed with his
first attempt, which was the Old Testament and the Jews and
the temple and the Sabbath and all that sort of thing. You know,
he tried to get people to live how he wanted them to, through
the Old Testament, but they wouldn't do it! And so he gave up on that,
washed his hands of it, and said, right, I know what I'll do. I'll
send Christ, and Christ will come. And this is God's second
attempt to get people to live. How many people think like that
in what's called Christendom? In so-called Christian churches?
That's what they think. That's what they think. No, it's
not that. It's the unchanging outworking
of the foundation stone which God decreed before there ever
was a world that he would save a people for the glory of his
name. He would savor people, He would do all things for that
purpose. And it's His eternal purpose,
and it's certain. You can have confidence in it.
If God decreed it before there ever was a creation, He will
bring it to fulfillment. He will put the topstone on it,
the headstone as we read in verse 7 of Zechariah 4. He'll put the
headstone on it. It will be completed. There will
be that new heaven and new earth coming down out of heaven as
a bride adorned for her bridegroom. He will accomplish it, it will
be completed, absolutely. So God laid that foundation stone
in eternity. Now let's look at the foundation
stone laid in a picture, and it was laid in picture in the
temples of the Old Testament. Solomon's temple, and then again
in this temple. I've already told you that Zerubbabel
was the rightful king of Judah and Israel, and Joshua was the
descendant of the last high priest that there'd been in Jerusalem,
and together they picture Christ. Neither one of them on their
own pictures Christ fully, but they picture Christ together
as king and priest in Jerusalem, in Zion. King and priest in Zion. Zechariah chapter 6 and verse
13, you don't even have to turn the page if you've got the same
layout of Bible as me. Even he, talking about the branch
in verse 12, and you know about the branch from Isaiah chapter
11, it's speaking of Christ, the Messiah who would come. Even
he shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the
glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. Look at this,
he shall be a priest upon his throne. A man never, in the Old
Testament, was both priest and king. Saul tried to do the work
of the priest when he was king, and he was struck off for it.
God removed him for it. He wouldn't wait for Samuel,
the rightful priest, to come and offer sacrifice, and God
removed him. No one man fulfilled both offices,
but Christ is both king and priest. He sits as king and priest. Zechariah
chapter 4 and verse 9 says this of our great king and priest.
He has started the work because Zerubbabel is, in the kingly
aspect, a picture of Christ. He started the work, he's laid
the foundation His hands shall also finish it. He will come
and finish it, despite the opposition. Oh, there's opposition all around,
but he will finish it. Ezra 6.15, it was finished. God
ordered all things in spite of the opposition. He ordered all
things, and the work of the temple was completed. The frustrated
opposition, that there was. All around they were opposed
by the people that didn't want this temple to be rebuilt and
he frustrated it and they triumphed in the completion of it and they
rejoiced in the completion of it because Haggai chapter 2 verse
9 had to be fulfilled. The glory of this latter house
shall exceed that of the former house for the Son of God is coming
and he must walk in the temple. the physical temple, the picture
temple of the living God on earth, he must walk, he who displayed
the glory of God, he must walk in those corridors that the scripture
might be fulfilled. Which brings us to our third
point, the foundation stone laid in reality. Not just in the building
of temples, but in reality. God's eternal purpose was the
foundation stone of redemption. Christ's incarnation also was
the foundation stone of redemption. God purposed it in eternity and
it was as good as done. That didn't mean it didn't need
to be done. The lamb was slain from the foundation
of the world. That didn't mean that the lamb
didn't need to come as a man, clothed in the flesh and blood
of the children, and bear the sins of his people, and physically
go to the cross of Calvary, and suffer the agony of separation
from his father, that his people's ransom might be paid. in the
precious blood of the Lamb of God. It must be done in time
and space. It was purposed in eternity,
but the foundation stone must be laid in reality in time and
space. We read that a body must be prepared. The Son of God must come. A body
must be prepared. The children's flesh and blood
we read in Hebrews 2. Just as the children, His people,
have flesh and blood, He too, likewise, must adopt flesh and
blood. He must become a real man. He
must be the temple of Emmanuel, which is God with us. His name,
a virgin shall conceive. Call His name Emmanuel, which
is God with us. God with us. He must partake
the children's flesh and blood in space and time. He must come
that He might bear the sins of His people. in a physical human
body that the soul that sins it must die he must die he must
pay the price the life is in the blood and he must shed his
blood the precious lifeblood of the Son of God must be poured
out as the ransom price for his people and all hell sought his
destruction at his birth all hell sought his destruction Herod
killed all the children under two years of age Herod did that
cruel and wicked thing, Satan's attempt to kill the Son of God,
that this temple might not be built, that this foundation stone
might be frustrated, that it would remain in ruins, just like
just like Solomon's temple. It was Solomon's temple that
was there in ruins. But the walls of salvation must
be built. Isaiah 26 verse 1, salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Salvation is the walls. The walls of the temple of Christ's
church are his salvation. And his salvation is his redeeming
sacrifice on Calvary, where the justice of God was satisfied
for his elect, because he who knew no sin was made sin for
us, his people, his elect people, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. It says in Isaiah 42 verse 4,
What is it to set judgment in the earth? It's to establish
the justice of God for his people on earth. It's to set up the righteousness of God
without which no man shall see the Lord for his people on the
earth. He will not fail nor be discouraged. He will build the walls of salvation. Believer, your salvation is what
God will not fail to accomplish. And the actual, literal, historical
fact You know, lots of airy-fairy bishops say, well, you don't
need to believe in the literal reality of the virgin birth or
the literal reality of the resurrection. If you don't, you've got nothing.
You've got nothing at all. It's the literal, historical
fact of Christ's coming, of his living, of his walking this earth,
of his being a man of sorrows, of his dying and rising again.
All of these things are facts which built the walls of salvation
of the temple of the living God. He was delivered for our offenses,
says Romans 4.25, and raised for our justification. So the
foundation stone was laid in reality in time when Christ came
He came as the foundation stone of the temple of God's salvation. And then, finally, our fourth
point, the foundation stone laid in individual experience, because
there are three aspects to salvation, three aspects, three divine aspects. There's God's eternal purpose. God the Father, in love and grace,
chose a people in Christ before the foundation of the world.
God the Father chose in grace. Christ the Son, covenanted They
shook hands, as it were, in eternity. Christ covenanted to be the representative
of those the Father loved before the foundation of the world.
To come and stand in their place. To come and satisfy the justice
of God. And the Holy Spirit? The Holy
Spirit? He covenanted to come and quicken
everyone. Because God purposed it in eternity. You were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Christ redeemed at Calvary. When
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman, made under the law to redeem those who were
under the law. But so what for anybody outside
here that God purposed their salvation in eternity? So what
for anybody outside here that Christ the Lamb died and paid
their penalty on the cross of Calvary? So what for them if
they're still children of wrath, even as the others? So what for
them if they're dead in trespasses and sin? So what for them if
they're without God and without hope in this world? They remain
like the ruin Zerubbabel returned to in Jerusalem. The ruin of
Solomon's temple. And Solomon's ruined temple is
like the fallen state of man. Solomon's temple was glorious
in its creation. Man, Adam and Eve were glorious
in their creation. But oh how ruined they were by
the fall. And without the Holy Spirit's
work, That temple of each individual, because God says you are the
temple of the living God, it lies there in ruins. It lies
there in ruins. There needs to be a work to be
done. What did they do when they got back? What did Zerubbabel
do? They cleared the ground. They had to clear the ground.
It was overgrown with briars and thorns. It was overgrown
with rubbish, the rubbish of the ruins. The sand of the desert
had blown in and had filled in the cracks. The serpents, the
snakes, the scorpions, the vermin was living there in amongst the
ruins. It all had to be cleared out
of the way. and we need to clear the ground. There needs to be
a clearing of the ground for the foundation stone to be laid
in each individual for whom Christ has died. There needs to be rubbish
to be dug out. The vermin needs to be evicted.
This is a law work. This is the law coming to bring
conviction of sin. The rubbish that is in the natural
man by nature, the profanity that is there, the godlessness
that is there, the hypocrisy that is there in the flesh, the
self-righteousness, the religious delusions, all of this has to
be taken away, and the tools are the law of God coming, and
like the axe, chopping them away, and sweeping them out of the
way, and clearing the loose ground, to find somewhere solid on which
the foundation stone can be put. And what is the solid place?
A revelation of God's holiness, and of God's justice, and of
my own condition. and of knowing what I am truly
like. This is the work, this is the laying of the foundation
stone in the heart of each individual, of you and me, if we're believers. Woe is me, I am undone, cried
Isaiah in Isaiah chapter six. Woe is me, I am undone. Depart
from me, Lord, I am a sinful man, said Peter to the Lord Jesus
Christ. To see where we truly are abased,
you read the biographies of Saints of the past who have come under
conviction of sin and know something of it yourself, know something
of the conviction of sin, to know what we truly are, to know
the rubbish that is there that must be removed, that we must
see the solid footing of the justice and holiness of God,
because there, there is where the foundation stone can be laid.
Paul says in Romans 7 verse 9, I was alive without the law once,
I didn't care. But then the law came, the commandment
came. Sin revived, and I died. I saw what I was really like.
This is the foundation stone, no hope in myself. And what is
it? It's Christ. He is the foundation,
shown in mercy and love and grace to the repentant soul. This is
the foundation stone. The rubbish of self-righteousness
and sin is swept away. And we're shown what we really
are, and the foundation stone of salvation, which is Christ,
in his mercy and love and grace, is shown to the repentant soul.
And we have Holy Spirit conviction. in the conscience and ears that
are opened to hear the gospel preached for it's by the foolishness
of preaching that God is pleased to save those who believe. And
it's a divinely given willingness for he makes his people willing
in the day of his power to believe and trust and to build on this
foundation stone. What did Jesus say? The wise
man built his house upon a rock. And the storms came, and they
beat against it, and it stood firm. But the foolish man built
his house upon the sand. And the storms came, and great
was the fall of it. But the wise man built his house
of salvation on him, the chief cornerstone. I'll close with
this, the words that we know pretty well from 1 Peter chapter
two. Just turn with me there. 1 Peter
chapter two, and verses six to eight. Wherefore, also it is
contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. 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, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
where also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that
ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvelous light.