Verse 10 of first Corinthians
chapter three. Let's begin with verse nine. For we are laborers together
with God. You are God's husbandry. You
are God's building. According to the grace of God,
which is given unto me as a wise master builder or architect,
I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, but
let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon for other
foundation can no man lay, then that is laid which is Jesus Christ. I've entitled this message, Jesus
Christ the Foundation. I don't believe I would get an
argument from anyone if I said that there's not a more significant
verse of scripture in all the Bible than this verse that I've
just read. Jesus Christ, the foundation. Paul was not being arrogant to
call himself the wise master builder. You see, he said, according
to the grace given to me. You see, Paul was taken up into
the third heavens and taught the gospel directly by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he makes no claim of arrogance
when he calls himself this wise master builder. And here's the
foundation that he laid Jesus Christ. I love the simplicity of that.
Jesus Christ. He is the foundation. Jesus. I love his name. I love
his name. I love the verse of scripture,
Matthew chapter one, verse 21. The angel announced to Joseph,
thou shalt call his name Jesus. Four. He shall save His people
from their sins. That's what I need. I need to
be saved from my sins. And here we have this promise. He shall save His people. The elect. from their sins, Jesus. Don't you love his name? I love
the way his name sounds. I cringe when someone uses his
name in a reverent manner. I suppose that every time we use
his name, there is a sense in which we take it in vain because
we don't use the proper reverence, but how we love his name, Jesus. And I love his name, Christ. That's not his given name. That
means he is the Messiah. He is God's anointed. He's God's anointed prophet. He's God's anointed priest. And he's God's anointed king.
That's what the Christ means. He's the prophet. He's the priest. He's the king. And don't let
this pass you by. He, what's a prophet? He brings
the word of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
like no other prophet because not one, because not one time
did he ever say, thus saith the Lord. He said, I say unto you,
there is the word of absolute authority. I say unto you, he's
God's priest. He's the priest after the order
of Melchizedek. He's like no other priest. Every other priest brings a sacrificial
animal. He brings his own blood into the very presence of God.
Not only is he the priest, he is the sacrifice. Not only is
he the sacrifice, he's the altar upon which his humanity is the
altar upon which the sacrifice was slain. What a priest. He's God's King. And he's like
no earthly King. All earthly Kings have borrowed
power. delegated power. In reality,
they have no power at all. He has all power because of who
he is. He is King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. He's like no other king. I love
it when Pilate said to him, don't you know I have power to crucify
you and I have power to release you? And he said, you could have
no power at all over me. You're in my hands. I'm not in
your hands. When they came to arrest him,
Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth. I am. They
fell backwards. Forced back by divine power. He's the king. He's no victim. He controls everything. Jesus Christ. What a name. Jesus the Christ. He is the foundation. Now when Paul said he laid this
foundation, he didn't mean that he laid it. He meant he was used
by God to tell us this is the foundation that God laid. He
said in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, the household of God was
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself. I like saying that. Jesus Christ
himself. He is the foundation that the
writers of the scripture have spoken of. The apostles. and the prophets, Jesus Christ
himself, the same one who by himself purged our sins. No help from me and you, no help
from any creature. He did this by himself and thank
God he got the job done. Everybody he died for, their
sins are purged away. Jesus Christ himself is the foundation,
is the chief cornerstone. God the Father laid this foundation. Now, what's the most important
part of a building? Everybody in here knows the answer
to that, if you know anything, the foundation. What will happen
if you don't have a good foundation? The house is gonna go down. That
which can't be seen. This is so significant that which
can't be seen is the most important part of the building. Turn with
me to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah chapter 28, beginning in verse. 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men that rule the people, which is in Jerusalem,
because you have said, we've made a covenant with death, and
with hell we're at agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come nigh unto us. We're
okay. We've made this covenant. Now, any covenant you've made,
you're in trouble. My only hope is the covenant
he made. Not some covenant I make, the covenant that he made. And
look what the prophet says about these men who had such confidence. For we have made lies our refuge
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion. The church. For a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. Now let's think about what the
prophet tells us with regard to this foundation that God has
laid. It's laid in Zion, the church. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion city of our God. This is the foundation of the
church. This is the foundation of every believer. God calls
him a stone, a tried stone. Now I love to think about the
Lord being a tried stone, tested stone. If you're on this foundation,
the law is gonna test you. And if you're on this foundation,
God's holy law will say with regard to you, I find no fault
in him. This is how powerful this foundation
is. If you're on this foundation,
you stand before the law of God without sin. Think about that
for just a moment. A precious cornerstone tried. Not only was this stone tried
by the law, this stone was tried by Satan. And you know what he
said? The Lord said, the Prince of
this world has come and he's found nothing in me. How much could he find in you
right now? But with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, he found
nothing. Remember when he tried to tempt
him? If you're the son of God, oh, he was the son of God, but
the devil was trying to call that into question. If you're
the son of God, command these stones that then he made bread. Prove it. I love his reply. It is written. That's the best
reply, isn't it? It is written, man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God. So the devil takes him to the
pinnacle and says, if you're the son of God, prove it. Throw
yourself off. The scripture says, and he quotes
a scripture. That's what the devil uses. He
quotes a scripture. The scripture says he'll give
his angels charge over thee lest you dash your foot against the
stone. Prove it. It is written, thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God. This is not up for debate. He
is the son of God. Well, if you're the son of God,
bow down to me, all these kingdoms I'll give you. Get thee behind
me, Satan. Thou shalt worship the Lord God,
and Him only shalt thou serve. Oh, he was tried by Satan. He
said, the prince of this world has come. He found nothing in
me. He was tried by men. He could say, which of you can
convince me of sin? He's tried by his people. And
they have found him an absolutely trustworthy savior. He was tried by his father. The
scripture says, yet learned he obedience by the things that
he suffered. And he became the author of eternal
salvation. Though he were a son, the son
of the father, Yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered."
He's a tried stone, tried in every respect and found to be
perfect. And I love what is said next
with regard to him and the 16th verse of Isaiah. He's a precious
corner stone. Precious. You know, we read in the scriptures
of the precious promises of God. This is a, you know, when we,
when we talk about that, that's precious. Well, let's be, let's
go with what the scripture says is precious right now. I know
when you see a little baby and I understand it all, how precious
and so on, and that's normal. I realize that, but he is precious. He is precious. The precious promises of him,
all the promises of God in him are yay and amen. Is that precious? Precious blood. It's precious
because of whose it is. It's precious because what His
blood accomplished, His blood accomplished the full glorification
of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, the death of Christ. I love saying
this, it's the most God-like thing God ever did. What He accomplished
in the shedding of His blood, the full manifestation of the
character of God, every attribute of God displayed, His justice,
His holiness, His righteousness, God's glorified, and he completely
saved his people. And he said, it is finished.
The salvation of every one of his people were accomplished.
We read of like precious faith. I've loved that, don't you? You
know, everybody's faith is alike. It's like. Believers have the
same faith. They look to Christ only. Don't believers believe
differently? No. Every single one of them. And
it's precious. It's the gift of God. It's precious
in its object. Its object is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Like precious faith. And I love
the scripture in 1 Peter 2, verse 7 says, unto you that believe,
he is precious. To you that believe, he is precious. Precious. A precious cornerstone. And he says next, a sure foundation. Oh, this foundation is so utterly
and completely sure. And I think the best scripture
that would demonstrate what he means by sure foundation is David,
his dying words. These be the last words of David.
He says, although my house be not so with God, yet hath he
made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and know
the next word. Sure. This is that sure foundation. David went on to say, this is
all my salvation and all my desire. Now this is the foundation that
God has laid, the stone, a precious stone, a tried stone, a sure
foundation. And look at this last statement
in verse 16. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Now, several other versions give
this, he that believeth shall not panic. I kind of like that. He that believeth shall not panic.
But don't you love those scriptures? Paul combines several scriptures
from Isaiah for this whosoever believeth shall not be ashamed
and be put to shame. It comes out of here. But I want
you to think about this. If you believe the gospel, Number one, you're not going
to be ashamed of the gospel you believe. Matter of fact, you're going
to be proud of it. It's a gospel that glorifies
God. It's a gospel that gives him all the glory. It's a gospel
that gives you peace and assurance. You know that you don't need
anything other than Christ. You're not ashamed of that. I
am proud of the gospel we believe. I'm not proud of myself. I'm
ashamed of myself every second of my life. There's not a time
when I'm not, where I don't do, everything I do is a letdown.
But I'm not ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not
only am I not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, here's the
promise, whosoever believeth in him shall not be put to shame. When I stand before God on judgment
day, I'm gonna hold my head high and I'm gonna hear those words,
well done, thou good and faithful servant. Because if Jesus Christ
did well, I did too. I'm in Him. He is my righteousness. And I won't be put to shame.
You know, when people talk about... I saw recently where somebody
was speaking of what they call the beam of judgment, where all
the believers works will be judged and you'll be rewarded according
to how obedient you've been on earth or you'll lose things,
but according to how disobedient you've been on earth. And I heard
a preacher saying this, he said, now, he said, I know that sounds
bad and you might think of things that you'll be ashamed of, but
then you won't be ashamed of them. I said, I would. I don't
believe that for a second, but I'm going to stand before God
without guilt, with nothing to be ashamed of. No skeletons in my closet if
Jesus Christ died for me. I stand before God not ashamed
and not put to shame. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now, Jesus Christ is The foundation,
Jesus Christ himself is the foundation. Now, would you turn with me for
a moment to Hebrews chapter six? Here's what that means. Hebrews chapter six. I would say most religious people
would say, amen, I believe Jesus Christ is the foundation until
they find out what it means. Now, let's look at Hebrews chapter
six, verse one. Therefore, leaving the principles,
the ABCs, the fundamentals of the doctrine of Christ, let us
go on unto perfection. maturity, not laying again the
foundation. Now what happens if you have
to lay the foundation again? The superstructure never goes
up, does it? And here's what the writer to the Hebrews is
warning of, laying the foundation again. Now, he's talking about
the ABCs, the fundamental truths of the gospel. Now, Jesus Christ
is the foundation. We don't want to lay this foundation
again, and he named six things. Now, here is the foundation that
must not be laid over and over again. Number one, repentance
from dead works. Number two, faith toward God.
Number three, the doctrine of baptisms. Number four, the laying
on of hands. Number five, the resurrection
of the dead. And number six, of eternal judgment. Now this is what you are grounded
in if you ever, and if I ever understand that Jesus Christ
is the foundation. Now remember, this is not theological. This is the ABCs. This is the
basic truth of the gospel. This foundation can't be laid
again, it has to be laid on. Number one, repentance from dead
works. If you believe Jesus Christ is
the foundation, You repent of any work that was contrary to
that and see it as nothing more than a dead work, no salvation
in it. Have you ever repented of dead
works? Now, Jesus Christ is your foundation. You repent of everything
that's contrary to him being the only foundation. Now, the
next thing he mentions is faith toward God. Now that's faith,
yes, faith toward God. It's faith toward Jesus Christ
as God. You know, everybody believes
he's a man. He's God, the God-man. You trust him as the God-man
or you don't trust him at all. Faith toward God. And thirdly,
he mentions the doctrine of baptisms. The doctrine of baptisms. Now,
baptism. What's the doctrine? I know what
the act is. The act is going under the water
and coming back up. The word means immerse. You go
under the water, you come back up. What is the doctrine of that?
It's not just a meaningless religious ritual. The doctrine of baptisms
is this. Jesus Christ is salvation. When he lived, I was in him. When He kept the law, I kept
the law. When He died, I was in Him. When He made sin payment, I was
in Him. When He was raised from the dead,
I was in Him. And that is all my salvation. He is the very foundation of
my salvation. Being in Him, that's what the
doctrine of baptism is. That's why baptism is so important. We see the gospel in this. This
is Jesus Christ, the foundation. My foundation being saved is
being in him. And then he speaks of the doctrine
of the laying on of hands. Now, what is that? Is that some
preacher laying hands on somebody and then they fall backwards
and whatever the foolish things people do with that? Or is that
even men laying hands on another man and now he's ordained and
we, no. In Leviticus chapter 16, we read
of the high priest laying his hands on the head of the scapegoat. And the sins of Israel were transferred
to that scapegoat. And the doctrine of the laying
on of hands is the doctrine of the transference of sin and the
transference of righteousness. My sin was transferred to him. He bore it in his own body on
the tree and put it away and his righteousness is given to
me. That's the doctrine of the laying
on of hands. And then he speaks of the Resurrection
of the dead. This is part of Christ being
the foundation. You see, in His death and bodily
resurrection, He was delivered for our offenses. He was raised
again for our justification. The spiritual resurrection in
the new birth. And you hath He quickened, given
life to, who were dead in trespasses and sins. And then that final
resurrection, It's gonna happen one of these days, even so come
Lord Jesus. We look forward to that, don't
we? And then the last thing he mentions is eternal judgment.
And that word eternal is so important. Everything God does is eternal. He's not bound by space or time. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He's the lamb raised from the
foundation of the world. Everything God does is eternal. He saved us, he called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now this is the foundation. If
Jesus Christ is my foundation, I know something about repentance
from dead works. A change of mind, that's what
repentance means, a change of mind. I've changed my mind about
those works. I formerly thought they were
good, now I see they're dead. Faith toward God. Jesus Christ
is God. That's the foundation. The doctrine
of baptisms, union with Christ, laying on of hands, him taking
my sin, Him giving me His righteousness, resurrection, and eternal judgment. Now, the sureness of this foundation
is founded in God's knowledge. Now, let me give you a scripture
for that. 2 Timothy 2.19 says, The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. As a matter of fact, turn there
so you can read this for yourself. 2 Timothy 2. Sometimes it's better to read
it with our eyeballs than to just hear it quoted. 2 Timothy
2. Verse 19, nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure. No cracks in this foundation.
It can't be moved. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. Let everyone that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. Doesn't say the Lord knows who
we are. It says the Lord knoweth. them
that are his. Now, the foundation of my salvation
is not my knowledge of him, it's his knowledge of me. Did Paul
say anything less in Galatians chapter 4 verse 9 when he said,
now that you've known God or rather are known of God, how
turn you again to these weak and beggarly elements? Here's
what I'm relying on, his knowledge of me. The Lord Jesus Christ
said, I know my sheep and am known of mine. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring. And there shall be one
fold and one shepherd. The foundation of his knowledge
of me. He knows me. So that when I use his name,
I'm not name dropping. He knows me. Now turn with me to Luke chapter
six. This is also in Matthew chapter
seven, but this is such an important passage of scripture. Luke chapter
six. beginning in verse 46. Why call ye me Lord, Lord? You know, the repetition of the name
speaks of intimacy. Lord, Lord, you know me. You know me. As a matter of fact,
hold your finger there and turn to Matthew chapter seven. Verse 21, not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many, not just a few, many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, you know us. I mean, remember, have we not
prophesied in your name? In your name, have we not cast
out devils? And in your name, have we not done many wonderful
works? Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. Remember, our hope is his, him
knowing us. He said, I never knew you. He knew who they were.
He knew their names, but he never knew them. not in the sense of
this intimate love that he has to his people. I never knew you
depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now back to Luke chapter
six. Whosoever, verse 47, he said,
why call you me Lord, Lord, and try to impress people with your
intimacy with me and do not the things which I say. And whosoever cometh to me, and
heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is
like." Now, let me pause for just a moment. Remember where
he said, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. What is this doing of his will? That's the important question.
Our Lord said in John chapter 6 verse 29, this is the work
of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. You can talk about doing the
will of God all you want. This is doing the will of God,
trusting Christ only. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing
else. Trusting Christ only. That's the person who does the
will of God. Now, like we read in that other
passage of scripture, those people thought they'd done the will
of God. What are you talking about? I preached in your name.
I've cast out demons in your name, many works of power. In your name, I've done many
wonderful works. What do you mean I didn't do your will? Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity." You never did the one work of
believing on me. That's what he's saying. Now let's go on
reading back in Luke chapter 6. Here's the man that hears my
sayings and doeth them. Here's what he's like. I will
show you to whom he's like. Aren't you thankful the Lord
said that? I'll show you who this man is. I'll show you exactly
what he's like. He's like a man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock, the
bedrock, the unmovable rock, Jesus Christ himself, the foundation
that God laid, the foundation that no man could lay. God laid
this foundation. Are you on the rock? I want you to ponder that. Can you say my hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness? I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. Are you on the rock? You're looking
nowhere but Christ only. You know the hardest thing in
the world to do As a matter of fact, this is impossible unless
God gives you the grace to look to Christ only. Look nowhere
else. Don't look to your experience.
Don't look to your works. Don't look to your doctoral understanding.
Look to Christ only. Well. He built his house on a rock,
and when the flood arose and the stream beat vividly upon
the house. You're going to have stuff that's
going to happen, difficult things. The winds are going to blow.
The rain is going to come down. The floods are going to come
up. You're going to have trials come down from heaven that you
don't have any idea right now about. You're going to have trouble
from within, your own evil heart. Life's hard. Life's hard, life's
difficult, there's just difficult stuff. But if you're founded
on the rock, all this stuff's gonna come down on you, and the
house is gonna stand. It's gonna stand. On judgment
day, it's gonna stand. Verse 49, but he that heareth
and doeth not, is like a man that without a
foundation built a house upon the earth against which the streams
did beat vehemently and immediately it fell and the ruin of that
house was great. The wise man looks to Christ
alone, but what about this foolish man? He did a very foolish thing. a house without a foundation. I'm sure it went up quicker.
He didn't have to go through the foundation work. Perhaps
it was a beautiful building. He had more money to spend on
it since he didn't spend on the foundation. And it looked good. And he was very happy in this
house. And he thought, look at my fine house. Then the storms
come and the winds blow and it's not on a foundation and it falls
and great was the fall of that house. Everybody in that house. And I hope I say this with a
broken heart, but everybody in that house went to hell. Everybody
in the house with foundation. They're in glory, perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. Everybody on the house without
this foundation, Jesus Christ himself went to hell. Now I want to ask you, I want
to ask myself, is my house on the foundation? The foundation
that God laid didn't have anything to do with me doing this. It's
the foundation God laid and all of my hope of salvation is in
Jesus Christ alone. Now, if that is the foundation
that you have, everything that's going to come your way in this
life is all good. No matter how bad it is, it's still under the
umbrella of all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. And you're going
to be brought into heaven. And if you're not on this foundation,
Nothing is good, no matter how good it may appear, and you will
not be in heaven. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you've
laid thy son as the very foundation of our salvation. And Lord, by
your spirit, cause each one of us to find no other foundation,
but him. Give us the grace by faith to
rely on him as our salvation and look nowhere else. And Lord,
we know that that is above the strength and energy of the flesh.
We'll walk out of this room not doing this unless you give us
the grace to do this. Lord, we ask that you do it for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray.