You turn with me to Luke chapter
six. While you're turning there tonight,
I'm going to be speaking on alms, prayer, and fasting from Matthew
chapter six, alms, prayer, and fasting. Now let's begin reading
in verse 46 of Luke chapter six. I'm going to be reading the same
parable that our Lord gave in Matthew chapter seven. It's not
clear to me if these were spoken at the same time. I think that
he's giving the same thing at another time. And that gives
us some idea of the importance of this parable. Look in verse
46. And why call ye me Lord, Lord? and do not the things which I
say. Whosoever cometh to me and heareth
my sayings and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like.
He is like a man which built a house and digged deep and laid
the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose, the
stream bit vehemently upon that house and could not shake it for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth And doeth
not is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon
the earth against which the stream did beat vehemently and immediately
it fell. And the ruin of that house was
great. Verse 46, what a poignant question. Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and
do not the things which I say. Lord, Lord is good. You know,
the Lord said, you call me master and Lord, and you say, well,
For so I am, but calling him Lord when he's
not your Lord is wrong. It's offensive. It's even creepy
for someone to be calling him Lord when he in fact is not the
Lord of their life. Turn back for a moment to Matthew
chapter seven, that passage that we had just looked at and look
what he said before this statement. Verse 21, not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew
7 21, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven,
many Not just a few, but many will
say to me in that day, that day of judgment, Lord, Lord, have
we not preached in your name and in your name have cast out
devils and in your name done many wonderful works. And then while I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now saying, Lord, Lord, and not doing what he says makes
the words meaningless. Now the Lord gives us an illustration
of two different men. He talks about a foolish man
and a wise man. And you and I fall into one of
these two groups right now. We're in one of these two groups.
He that heareth and doeth, and he that heareth and doeth not. He that heareth and doeth, and
he that heareth and doeth not. Look in verse 47. Whosoever cometh to me and heareth
my sayings and doeth them. That's Luke 6 47. Whosoever cometh
to me and heareth my sayings and doeth them. Look in verse
49, but he that heareth and doeth not. The truth. is something you do. Let that sink in. The truth is
something you do. It's not just something you give
a scent to. It's not just something you give agreement. I agree with
that. I agree with that. Well, so what? The truth is something you do. The Lord said, he that doeth
the truth. He that doeth the truth. It's
something you put into practice. And to hear and do not just won't
work. Now, this man in verse 47 started
outright. Look the way the Lord says, whosoever
comes to me. This is salvation, isn't it?
It's coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever cometh to me. This man started outright, didn't
he? He came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is all by the grace
of God. This is what I want to do. And
this is what I want you to do right now in my heart to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's everything. Whosoever
cometh to me. He starts right. The other fellow
never really came to Christ. And notice it says he comes to
me and hears my sayings. Now this is very important. Don't
miss this. He hears my sayings. He hears the sayings as coming
from me, not just the preacher's opinion, not just the church
denominations, uh, doctrine, but he hears my sayings as the
very word of God. He hears my sayings. This other
fellow heard, but it doesn't say anything in verse 49 about
him hearing the sayings of Christ. But he that heareth and doeth
not. Now, if you ever hear the word
as the word of Christ, you will do. I guarantee you, you will. If you hear the word as the word
of Christ, his word, you will do. If you just hear it as somebody's
sayings, you will do it not. Now, they heard the same thing
and one did not. He heard what the one fella did,
but he did not. He didn't believe. He didn't
repent. He didn't love. He did not. One believed, heard, repented,
loved. The other did not. Now, you and
I either hear the truth and nothing more. or we hear the truth and
do it. I love that phrase, doing the
truth, doing the truth. Now the Lord gives us an illustration
to show us what these two men were like, the one who heard
and did, and the word who heard and did not. Matthew's account
says one was wise and one was foolish. Now let's read this
passage of scripture once again, verses 47 through 49. Luke chapter
six, verses 47 through 49. Whosoever cometh to me and heareth
my sayings and doeth them, I'll show you whom he's like. He's
like a man which built an house and digged deep. There was a lot of digging to
do and laid the foundation on a rock Bedrock. And when the flood arose, the
stream bit vehemently upon the house and it could not shake
it. For it was founded upon a rock. This one man built a house. Now
everybody in here knows, knows anything about building. Maybe
some of you children haven't ever thought about it, but what's
the most important thing about the building of a house? Everybody
knows the answer to that. The foundation. The foundation
is more important than anything else. If you don't have a good
foundation, you don't have a good house. I don't care how good
it looks. The superstructure might look wonderful. It might
even look better than the one with the foundation. But if it's
not built on a foundation, it's not going to stand. One fellow built his house without
a foundation. Two builders, two construction
projects, and two houses. One built with a foundation.
And it stood the test. One built without a foundation
and it did not stand the test. And the ruin of that house was
great. Now let's think about these two men. We read of two
builders. Both saw the need of a house. I need a house, don't you? I
need a place to live. I need a place to go home. I
need a place of safety. And I need a place of security.
Both of these men saw the need of a house. Both of these men,
I have no doubt, wanted their sins forgiven. Both of them did. It's not like one was religious
and one was an atheist. I don't believe that at all.
The house represents these men needing a house for their soul.
Both of these men wanted their sins forgiven. Everybody in here,
in this room, you want your sins forgiven, don't you? I want the
forgiveness of sins. And I dare say they both wanted
to feel peace. I don't want to be conflicted.
I don't want to feel stressed out. I want peace. Everybody
wants peace. Everybody wants to feel peace. And they both
claimed to want a relationship with God. That's what this house
is all about. They both wanted this relationship with God. They
were similar in many ways. What was the difference between
these two men? Well, One of these men was in a hurry. He was in
a hurry to get that house up. While he may have read the rules
regarding construction and the need of a foundation, I have
no doubt that this man was not doing what he did just ignorantly.
He knew you ought to have a foundation, but he was in a hurry. And he
put his building up. Obviously, he didn't think the
foundation was all that important. It was important, but it was
not all that important. He could do without it. It wasn't
necessary. And he obviously didn't think through the consequences.
I mean, if you build a house, you know it's gonna rain, you
know it's gonna flood, you know all these things are gonna happen.
I mean, these things are inevitable, but this man gave no thought
to the consequences of not having a foundation. He put up this
house, there it was, without a foundation. Now, the other
man wanted a house, and he wanted it built right, didn't he? He
got out his construction manual and found the first thing necessary
was a foundation. It's the most important part
of the house. And this man wanted to make sure
his house would stand through the storms and the rain. This
man wanted his house to be founded on a rock. Now, these are the
two men. One was in a hurry. One evidently
didn't see the infinite importance of a foundation. He knew he should
have one. There's never been anybody that built a house that
didn't know you ought to have something to build it on. but
he just didn't think it to be that important. Now, the building
of the house, I know this, the one without a foundation came
up a lot quicker. There wasn't as much work involved.
There wasn't as much digging involved. It came up quick, no
foundation work. And in the other one, the construction
process was a lot longer. He had to dig, and the scripture
says he had to dig deep. Dirt removal. Dirt removal. There's a lot of that going on
in there. Dirt removal. And he didn't stop until his
house hit, until he reached the bedrock. And if you looked at
the finished products, they probably look pretty much the same. As
a matter of fact, I'd say the fellow without a foundation had
a better looking house. He had more money to spend on the superstructure.
He had more money to spend on the way it looked because he
saved all that money, not wasting that time with foundation work.
And he had a beautiful house. At any rate, there probably wasn't
that much difference in what you saw when you saw these two
houses. What was the difference between
the two houses? It was something you couldn't
see. It was something you couldn't
see. The foundation. Yeah, you could
see everything there was to that one house that was built. Everything
that was there, you could see. It was all external. But you
know, there was much about the house with the foundation that
you couldn't see. Beloved, if you and I are not
built on the foundation, we're not going to pass the test. We're
just not going to do it. We will be tested and we won't
pass the test. Now, what is this foundation?
Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. What is your foundation? You've got to be stuck to the
foundation, too. Remember that. You don't just set something
loosely on a foundation. It can be washed away. No, this
is something that holds you, and you hold to, and you won't
let go. What is your foundation? Right
now, I'm asking you that question. I'm asking myself that question.
What is your foundation? What is the foundation of your
salvation? Well, it's either self or Christ. Look in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. Verse 10. According to the grace of God,
which is given to me as a wise master builder, the man who built
the house, I have laid the foundation. and another buildeth thereon,
but let every man take ye how he build thereon. For other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He is the foundation. Turn to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two, beginning
in verse 19. Now, therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. Christ Jesus himself is the foundation. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
16. I will stay here for a few moments. Beginning in 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 thou
art John the Baptist, some Elias and others, Jeremiah or one of
the prophets. They say good things, but they say contradictory things. They put you in some high cotton.
He sayeth unto them, but whom say ye that I am. And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood have not
revealed it to thee, but my father, which is in heaven. And I say
unto thee, thou art Peter and upon this rock. Now here's the
rock. Remember that we're to build
the house on the rock. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. You know, I want the Lord to
build my house, don't you? Upon this rock, I'll build my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Now, the Lord says, what have
you heard other people say about me? And then he says, what do
you say? What do you say? I want everybody,
children, young people, old people, I want everybody to consider
this. What do you say when God looks into your heart? What do
you say with regard to his son? It doesn't matter what you think
about any other issue. It really doesn't. What do you say regarding the
Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is determined
by this. What do you say? What does God see? What does
God hear when he hears what is in your heart right now with
regard to his son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Whom say ye that I am? And I love Peter's answer. Verse 16, and Simon Peter answered
and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, the Lord said that this
confession of him is the rock. This is the rock, this is the
foundation upon which he said, I'll build my church. This simple confession, thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. And do you believe
that? I'm not asking you if you know
that you're saved. I'm not asking you if you know
that Jesus Christ died for you. I'm not asking you if you know
positively that you're one of God's elect. Those are good questions,
no doubt, but that's not what I'm asking. Do you believe what
Peter did? Is this the rock of your salvation? That he is the Christ. He's God's Christ. He's sent of God as the Christ. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that He is the Son of the Living God? Do you believe He's the
uncreated, eternal Son of God, the Man Christ Jesus? Do you
believe He's God's Christ? Now, what's Christ? The Greek word for the Messiah,
the Old Testament, God's prophet. Now, when it comes to your foundation,
are you founding everything on what he has said, his word, your
foundation? Can you go to the scriptures,
his word, God's prophet, the word of God. Is your foundation
founded upon what he has said? Is your foundation rooted in
his priesthood? He's not only God's prophet,
he's God's priest. A priest is the one who brings
us to God. The priest is the one who represents
us before God. I can't come on my own. The only
way I can come is if I'm in him and he comes for me. He comes
to the Father, I do too. I'm totally dependent. This is
the rock, this is the foundation of my salvation. His priesthood,
that he represents me before the Father. That's my foundation. Here's what I'm relying on, that
His righteousness, He did it for me as my representative.
I'm relying on that. I'm relying on His precious blood. I'm relying on His sacrifice.
You know, I love that phrase in Romans 3, 24 or 25, I can't
remember which one it says, faith in His blood. I'm relying because of who He
is. I'm relying on His blood that's
washing away all my sins. I'm relying on His intercession.
I'm relying right now on Him to represent me. I'm relying on the Christ. And I know that He is God the
Son. The second person of the Holy
and Blessed Trinity. Therefore, as God's Christ, He
must be successful. Now, I'm relying on Him. Is this your foundation? Turn
with me for a moment to 2 Timothy chapter 2. Are you relying on
Him as God's Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, God's king? You
know, I'm relying on His kingship to rule and reign in me and cause
me to do His will. I'm relying on Him. Look in 2
Timothy chapter 2. We're going to look at what the
Bible says about foundations. Verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. And here's what I'm relying on.
I'm relying on his knowledge of me. What scares me to death
when I read that passage of scripture where he says to that one group,
I never knew you. I never, no, I'm relying on his
knowledge of me, not my knowledge of him, but his knowledge of
me. Turn to Hebrews chapter six.
What's your foundation? Hebrews chapter six, verse one, therefore leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into
perfection or maturity, not laying again, the foundation of repentance
from dead works and faith toward God of the doctrine of baptisms
and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and
of eternal judgment. Now here is the foundation of
the believer, these six things. And the writer of the Hebrew
says, we shouldn't have to be laying this foundation again
because this is the very foundation of a believer's salvation. This
is what we're grounded on. First, repentance, a change of
mind regarding dead works. Knowing that any works that come
from me are nothing more than dead works that can't possibly
please the living God. Now that's foundational. And
next he says, faith toward God. You know, we believe Jesus Christ
as God, don't we? When I have faith toward Jesus
Christ, I have faith toward God. As God, He's my Savior. I have
to have Him as God to save me. If He's not God, it won't do
me any good. Faith toward God, our foundation is the fact that
He's God and able to save because of who He is. That's the foundation
of my salvation. It ain't me, it's Him. He is God. And the next thing
he speaks of in verse two is of the doctrine of baptisms.
Now I know what the doctrine of baptisms is. The doctrine
of baptisms, whether you're talking about baptism by immersion with
water, whether you're talking about the baptism of Christ in
the wrath of God, if you're talking about the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, they still have the same meaning. And let's just talk
about baptism by water. What am I saying? When I'm baptized
in water, I'm saying, here's my hope. When Jesus Christ lived,
I was in Him, He lived for me. When Jesus Christ died, I was
in Him. When He was raised from the dead,
I was in Him. This is a confession of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is the foundation of my
salvation in Him, united to Him. So that here's all my hope of
being accepted, that when He lived, I did too. When he died,
I did too. And when he was raised from the
dead, I was raised in him. And I'm placing all the hopes
of the foundation of my salvation right there. Union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then he speaks of the doctrine
in verse two of the laying on of hands. Now that's not talking
about some preacher laying his hands on somebody else and all
of a sudden something happens. That's not talking about that
at all. What that's a reference to is the priest laying his hands
on the head of the sacrifice. It's talking about the transference
of guilt and the transference of righteousness. It's talking
about the imputation of sin and the imputation of righteousness.
Now here's the foundation. Here's what I'm laying on. Here's
my hope of salvation that God took my sin and imputed it to
his son. And he took the very righteousness
of his son and he imputed it to me. That's the foundation
of my salvation. Is that who you're hoping in? And then he speaks of the resurrection
of the dead. You know, all my hope, is that when Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead, I was justified. That's it. That's the very foundation
of my salvation. This is the foundation I'm building
my house on, that when Christ was raised from the dead, all
that God requires of me, I have. And then he speaks of eternal
judgment. Eternal, that word eternal. Eternal. What's the significance of that? Are you relying on everything
him doing as eternal? Turn to Hebrews chapter four,
you're there in Hebrews two, turn to Hebrews chapter four. You're in Hebrews six, Hebrews
four, verse three. For we, which have believed, do enter into
rest, as he said, as I've sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter
into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation
of the world. Now here's what I'm relying on.
Here's the foundation of my salvation, that all the works of salvation
that he did were finished before time began. And that's how secure
they are. They were finished before time
began. He's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, are you founded on that
rock? Is that the foundation of your salvation? You hold to
this and you won't let it go. And you won't, you won't let
go. You grounded on the foundation
and turn with me to first Timothy chapter six. I'm looking where the Bible uses
this word foundation. First Timothy chapter six, verse
17. Charge them that are rich in
this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain
riches. But in the living God who giveth
us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they
be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate,
laying up in store for themselves a good foundation. That's what
it says. A good foundation. Against the time to come that
they may lay hold upon eternal life. Now, does that mean these
people's works were the foundation of their salvation? No. Doesn't mean that at all, but
it does mean this. They demonstrate they're on the
foundation by their works. You see, faith without works
is what? Dead. Being alone. Now what was it
that proved that Abraham had faith? I'll tell you what proved
he had faith. When he laid his hand over his
head with a knife in it, getting ready to plunge it in the heart
of his son. He proved by those works that he really believed
what he said he did. Now, if he would have said no,
I'm not going to slay him because then the Messiah wouldn't come
through him. All he would prove by that is
he never really believed. He didn't believe the word of
God, but he believed that even if I kill him, God will raise
him from the dead because God said the Messiah is going to
come through this boy. His works proved what he really believed. And it is my works that will
prove whether or not I really have faith. He said, you have
this foundation laid up in store that will prove whether or not
you really believe. Now let's turn back to Luke chapter
six. Luke chapter six. Now here we have these two houses.
One on a foundation, on the rock, and the other house is built
on the sand, on the dirt. Now, what next? Verse 48, this man who built
his house on a rock and dig deep says, when the flood arose, The
stream beat vehemently upon the house. And look at these next
words. It could not shake it. You know,
anything that can be shaken will be shaken. This is the foundation
that cannot be shaken. Now in Matthew's account, this
is very interesting. It talks about the rains that
descended. It talks about the floods that arose and the winds
that blew. Those three different things.
They represent three different things. Here, the fact of the
matter is, you and I are going to be tested. God's going to
test you. He's going to test me. The rains
that descend are the trials God sends your way. God did tempt
Abraham. You're going to be tried. God's
going to send trials your way. The floods arose. This is the temptations that
come from the earth. The deceitfulness of riches. the lusts of other things entering
in. Choke the word, the scripture
says, the things that come up from earth that fell asleep,
but they choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. You're gonna
be tried by the things of this world. And the winds that blow
represent the temptation of Satan. You're gonna have all, you and
I are gonna be tested. God's gonna send trials our way.
We're going to be tested from the temptations of this earth. that come with it, and the temptation
of Satan. Now what took place? This man
was on a rock. When the flood arose, the stream
bit vehemently upon the house and could not shake it, for it
was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth and doeth
not is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon
the earth. against which the streams did
beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that
house was great." You know, this is a scary thought, but in the 30 years that I've
attempted to pastor of this church, I've seen more people leave than
stay. There's been more people that
have come in here and listened and left than people who have
stayed. I hope you and I cannot be shaken. In Isaiah chapter 28, verse 16,
let me quote this to you and be turning to 1st Peter chapter
2, but this is Peter's quotation of Isaiah 28, 16. God says, behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation. And he that believeth on him
shall not make haste. Now Peter quotes that in first
Peter chapter two, and he says, beginning in verse six, wherefore also it's contained
in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. There's my foundation. I'm believing
on him. Now go on reading. Unto you therefore
which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, they saw no need
for this foundation stone. The same is made a head of the
corner. Now he's a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense, even to them would stumble at the word,
being disobedient, wherein to also they were appointed. What's
that mean? Exactly what it says. I don't
know how else to say it, exactly what it says. But you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people
that you should show forth the praises of him who has called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time
past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 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. When darkness veils his
lovely face, I rest. on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is my only hope and stay. When he shall come
with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his
righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before God's holy throne,
On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. What's your foundation? Who's
your foundation? Is it you? Is it some doctrine
you believe? Or is it Christ himself and his
eternal person and work? Let's pray together.