Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 16. Isaiah chapter
28 and verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tridestone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. I lay in Zion for a foundation. Isaiah lived an awful religious
time, but it was religious pride through the priesthood, through
the prophets, religious boasting, vain confidence. Drunk on religion. They were absolutely drunk on
religion. And when they heard the truth,
they scorned it. Look here what he says to them
in verse 1 of 28. He confronts them with their
sin. Woe unto the crown of pride. They had gotten so proud it was
like a crown on their heads. To the drunkards of Ephraim.
I doubt seriously if they were drinking that much strong drink,
but it was religion. drunk on religion, whose glorious
beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys
of them that are overcome with wine." And here in verse 2, he
tells them what is going to be the outcome of their sins. In verse 2, he says this. Well,
look in verse 3 first. The crown of pride. There is
the drunkenness. There is the pride. of Ephraim
shall be trodden underfoot." And now verse 2, he's going to
tell them how this is going to happen. Look at it. Behold the
Lord, hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hell. I think most of us have seen,
probably witnessed some of this in our lifetime. Destroying hell. We haven't seen it with eyewitness. and documentaries and on the
news where a hailstorm will come through and absolutely beat down
all the crops. Beat limbs off the trees, siding
off the houses, rooftops. Destroys, beats things down.
The Lord said, that's what I'm going to do to you. My judgment
is going to be like a hailstorm coming upon you and a devouring
storm We've all seen tornadoes happen. If you live in the South
or some places in the Midwest, all of us have saw tornadoes
come through and dislevel houses, pull trees up with the roots,
and in their wake, there's nothing there left. It's devastating,
isn't it? Hail storms and tornadoes, and
look at this, and floods of mighty waters overflowing and shall
cast down to the earth with a hand. We've seen the floods. We've
seen it wash houses away, huge buildings away. And this is a
metaphor the Lord was telling them of His coming judgment. And here in verse 15, they were
so presumptuous. Look how presumptuous these people
were. Because you have said, we have
made a covenant with death. And with hell we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come upon us. But we have
made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves."
Now, I don't know where they literally said that if the Lord
was saying, this is what you're thinking, and I'm going to say
what you're thinking. It's sort of a sarcastic way
of speaking to these people. Here's what you're saying. We
know judgment's coming, but He's not going to touch us. We know
death is coming. We know the grave is coming.
But we're in agreement with these things. They're not going to
touch us. And He said, here's your refuge. It's lies. It's
just lies. And then here in verse 17 and
verse 18, He reminds them again of His coming judgment. Judgment
will I lay to the lion and righteousness to the plummet. And the hell
shall sweep away the refuge of your lives. And the waters shall
overflow the hiding place, and your covenant with death shall
be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When
the overflow and scourge shall pass through, then you shall
be trodden down with it." In other words, my judgment is going
to come irresistible. It's going to be unavoidable.
And all the lies that you made for your refuge and your agreement
with hell, I'm going to sweep it all away. I'm going to beat
it down like a hailstorm. I'm going to flatten it like
a tornado, and I'm going to wash it all away like a flood. You
cannot stand, you will not stand in that day. And that's why He
comes here now in verse 16 to my text, and He starts this text
here with, Therefore, And here the Lord's going to
tell them what He's going to do, and He's going to tell them
that His work, what He's going to be, what He's going to do
Himself, is the only hope of their escape in the storm. I'm going to lay in Zion for
a foundation. And if you're not built upon
this foundation, it's going to sweep all your religion away.
It's going to beat all your hope down. This is the only foundation. one can build upon and escape
the coming storm. Well, it's that way today, isn't
it? It's that way today, isn't it?
We've got religion running out our ears everywhere, church almost
every corner, religious pride, religious drunkenness in our
day. And someday God soon is going
to sweep it all away. It will not stand. The only foundation
that you and I can stand upon when this storm of God's judgment
comes is this foundation that God Himself has laid. You and
I know what it is, don't we? This foundation, this cornerstone,
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that Savior. Peter says
it like this when he's speaking of Christ. This is the stone
which was set at naught of you builders. which is become the
head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved." They were still bragging about the
religion in Christ's day, and Peter says he is that same foundation
that God laid, and we must build upon Him if we are to be saved. And notice where he laid this
foundation. He described this location that
was laid. This foundation, he said, I will
lay in Zion. And that's where it was laid,
isn't it? Christ was born a Jew of the seed of David. He came
out of the tribe of Judah. There in Jerusalem, in the land
of Israel, is where this salvation was laid. There in old Zion. What is the foundation? That's
the first thing we lay before we build a house, isn't it? That's
the first thing you do. Boy, you dig down and you lay
your foundation, and then you put your house upon that foundation. If you build your house on dirt,
if you build it on sand, what happens to it? You hold that
right there and look, and look what happens to it. Look in Matthew
chapter 7 right quickly. Our Lord tells us what happens
to the house. that is not built upon a foundation. Look in Matthew chapter 7 and
look in verse 22. Look in verse 21. Matthew chapter
7 verse 21. Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in your name? Boy, I tell you, the judgment's
going to take that away. Flood's going to sweep that away.
In your name, we've cast out devils. The wind's going to take
that and break it all to pieces and lay it down as rubbish. In
thy name, we've done many wonderful works. That's what we're trusting
in. That's our hope of heaven. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man which built his house upon the rock." That's what that
word says. Every version I've looked in
and in the Greek it says, the rock. He built his house upon
the rock, and the rains descended. And the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not. Why? Because it was founded upon
the rock. I tell you, built upon Christ.
You may move around a little bit, somebody says, on this foundation,
but the foundation will never move. But look here at the man
that built his house upon the sand. Everyone that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which buildeth his house upon the sand. The rains
descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." What is
this foundation? It is Jesus Christ, and by that
I mean Jesus Christ as a representative. We need a representative, don't
we? Somebody to live in our stead. Somebody to obey God on our behalf. Jesus Christ as the substitute
presenter. Endear Him the judgment that
belongs to us because of our sins. He's the representative. He's the substitute. And Christ's
intercession in heaven on our behalf. Pleading and maintaining
our cause. We need a foundation to build
upon. And this is the foundation. The
Lord Jesus Christ. And what a foundation He is to
rest our faith and our hope upon. And He's the only thing that's
going to stand. Everybody's going to be tried, aren't they? The
rains descended on the just as well as the unjust. And the floods
came. But the only ones that stood
was the ones that was built upon the rock. And what does he say
about this rock, this foundation that God has laid? Well, the
first thing he says about it here is that it's a tried stone. It's a tried stone. We pour foundations
and we build houses on them, but sometimes they crack. Sometimes
they sink. And the house begins to fall.
That ain't going to happen with this foundation, with this footer,
because it's already tried. Who tries this? I tell you, everybody
concerned tries this. First of all, the saints try
this foundation. The saints have tried this foundation. The saints in the Old Testament
tried it. Listen to what David said. The Lord is my rock and
my salvation. I will not be greatly moved. David tried him, didn't he? I
was in this miry pit, he said, and God lifted me up and set
me upon this rock and established my goings. You know where David
is today? He's in heaven. His body's still
over there somewhere in Palestine. It's rotted and dust at the best. But you know where David is?
He's in glory. You know how he got there? This foundation. He
tried this foundation. Jonah tried this foundation,
did he not? And boy, how he tried. He was
at the bottom of the sea with weeds wrapped around his head.
He was in the dark belly of a fish. And yet he said, I will look
again towards thy holy temple. Salvation is of the Lord. And it wasn't long until he was
on dry land. Those men in the Old Testament
tried this foundation. Those in the New Testament tried
it too, didn't they? That woman with an issue of blood
came to the Lord Jesus. And I'm telling you, she tried
all other foundations that she could build on, and every one
of them failed her, didn't they? She had gone to all her positions,
and she only grew worse. And she said, if I can just touch
the hem of this garment, I know I shall be made whole. And she
touched him and she was made whole. Now that's trying the
foundation act. She tried it and she said, I
found him to be true. That poor beggar, blind Bartimaeus,
tried him. He was blind and he was a beggar. And yet he cried out, Jesus,
thou son of David. And you know something he got
on this foundation? He was given new eyes and eternal
riches. He tried this foundation. The
Apostle Paul tried him. He said, I've suffered many things
as a Christian, but I'm not ashamed. But listen to this. I know whom
I have believed and I am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. What's he saying? He's
a sure foundation. He is a sure foundation. He's a tried foundation. Here's
what Thomas Kelly said. Here we have a firm foundation.
Hear the refuge of the lost. Christ the rock of our salvation. He is the name of which we boast. Lamb of God for sinners wounded. Sacrifice to counsel sin. None shall ever be confounded
who on Him their hope hath built. Now, he's tried. He's a tried
foundation. I'll tell you somebody else tried
it. Boy, Satan tried him, didn't he? Yeah, Satan tried him. Can you imagine fasting for 40
days and not eating any meat, not eating any bread, not drinking
any water? Forty days. Most of us would
have probably been dead, wouldn't we? The Lord Jesus spent 40 days
in the wilderness with animals, with beasts. And then Satan come
to him and the first thing he said, Are you hungry? I know
you've got the power to turn those stones to bread and eat
them. Boy, that's a trial, ain't it?
You talk about a trial now. And what did the Master say?
Man shall not live by bread alone. Go cast yourself down off of
this pinnacle over you, and He'll give His angels charge over you.
You talk about glory, you'll see them sweep down and pick
you up. And He said, You shall not worship. You shall not bow
down to worship. You shall not tempt. That's what
he said. You shall not tempt the Lord your God. And then Satan
said something else to him. Look at all the kingdoms of the
world. You're a poor man. Here's what I'll give you. I'll
give you all these kingdoms if you'll fall down and worship
me. It's written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. That
foundation never moved, did it? You talk about a sure foundation.
It never moved. God the Father tried him, didn't
He? I have laid help upon one that is mighty. That's what the
Father said. He entrusted him with the salvation
of all His elect people, the responsibility for restoring
to them everything that they lost in Adam and exceedingly
more. What did Adam lose for us? He
lost our life, didn't he? We had life until we sinned and
lost it in Adam. We had a righteousness. It was
a created righteousness, but we had one. We lost it. We had
communion and fellowship with God. We had unity. We lost all
of that. We became sinners. We died. And we became enemies of God.
That's all that we lost in Adam. But the Lord Jesus said, I come
to restore that which I took not away. Look here in Psalm
chapter 69, just back over to your left just a little bit.
Psalm chapter 69 is about the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole
psalm is just full of him. Psalm chapter 69, look at this. You see so many references, verse
four, Psalm 69 and four, they that hate me without a cause. are more than the hairs of my
head." That's a reference in the New Testament to Christ.
In verse 7, "...because for thy sake I have borne reproach, I
am become a stranger." In verse 8, "...to my brethren." In verse
9, "...the zeal of thine house has eaten me up." Look in verse
20, "...reproach hath broken my heart, I am full of heaviness."
Verse 21, "...they gave me gall for my meat, in my thirst they
gave me vinegar to drink." All of this is concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. And now look what he says in
verse 4. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hearse of my head. They that would destroy
me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away. What did he restore? He restored
life. Did he not? I am come that they
might have life, and have it more abundantly." He restored
righteousness, and a righteousness better than we had in Adam. He
lost his, because it was dependent upon his own obedience. We have
an obedience in Christ that is dependent upon his obedience.
And that obedience is finished, and he is in heaven. How can
we stand before God and be justified? We must have a righteousness.
And Christ restored it, didn't He? Unity with God. Now we're united to God. Our
fatherhood, we lost it in Adam. Now it's been restored in Christ.
He's even sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. Christ,
Father, Father. And here's the amazing thing
about this Psalm. Look in verse 5. Psalm 69. Boy, this is something. You talk
about trying Him. O God, Thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from Thee. Now, ain't that an amazing
thing for the Son of God to say? He's called the wisdom of God.
How can He say, Thou hast known my foolishness? My sins are not
hid from Thee. Well, these weren't His, not
by His nature. These were ours. He became what
we were. He took to Himself what we are. He took our sins. That's what
was bothering Him there in the garden. When He said, Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. You know what He
was talking about. He knew that the Father was getting
ready to put the sins of every elect soul upon Him. God hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Can you imagine that? You and
I can hardly imagine that, can we? Because we're so unholy anyway. We're so used to sin, but here
the Lord Jesus Christ was holy from His mother's womb, had no
sin, could not sin. And then He was staring our sins
right in His face. And he was saying, I've got to
take all of these sins, all of their foolishness, their foolish
thoughts, and they must become mine. And he got under such a
load about that that he began to sweat drops of blood. You talk about a trial. He goes
back to his disciples three times, and they're sleeping. They're
sleeping. Could you not watch with me?
and pray with me, this is the greatest trial, and I'm as weak
now as I've ever been. And he goes back and falls on
his face, and finally he says, Father, Father, if it be your
will, I'll take the cup. If there's no other way, if it's
not possible, I'll take the cup. You talk about a trial. And upon
the cross He took our sins, and He took the judgment of God that
was put in that one cup and stirred up the sins of damnation, and
He drunk it dry and didn't leave one drag. Oh, what a trial! He's a tried foundation. He's a tried stone. And He says
here in our text in verse 16, not only is He a tried stone,
but He's a precious cornerstone. Brother Larry mentioned this.
this morning. He's precious. He's precious. And he's a cornerstone. What does the cornerstone do?
Well, the cornerstone determines the starting point, doesn't it? You don't just go out in the
field and dig a footer and pour it and pour the foundation. It
won't make any sense. It'll be all out square. You
start with one stone, with one location. Put the stone down
right there. And everything else is measured
off of that one stone. He's the starting point, isn't
He? The Lord Jesus Christ is the starting point. Remember
Pilgrim's Progress? When Christian was going to the
Celestial City and they saw these fellows climbing over the wall
and getting in the world? They said, hey guys, there's
a gate back there. You've got to get in. Oh, it's alright for
us to come over. No, it ain't. You've got to get
through the gate. That's the starting point. We
must begin with Christ. Everything we do before we come
to Him and are in Him is useless. It's vain. He's the door, isn't
it? He's the chief cornerstone. We start with Him. Christ is
the starting point. The cornerstone, secondly, does
this. It determines how large the building
will be, doesn't it? You set your corners. You set
this first corner, then you go to your next corner, and you
set your corner. And those corners determine how big the buildings
are going to be. How big is the church going to
be? It's already been determined that. There'll be no more or
no less than what He set the foundation to build His church
upon. No more, but thank God, no less.
It's just big enough to hold every elect soul. That's how
big it is. The corners have already been
set. In Christ, our foundation, the
church and heaven, and the church are one. That's this about this
cornerstone. The cornerstones, what does it
do? It ties everything together, doesn't it? When they came out,
we built on the addition a few years ago, and they came out,
the first thing they did, put those corner blocks up. Put your
corner blocks up, the four corner blocks up, and they tie everything
else into those corners. That ties everything together. It binds, it unites everything
together. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone
that binds and unites and ties everything together in heaven
and in this earth. Listen to this. In Ephesians
1.10, in the fullness of time, God will gather together all
things in one. He will gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in
this earth. In Jesus Christ, heaven and earth
have become united. Isn't that amazing? There is
a church in heaven and there is a church on earth, but we
are just like this. You can't separate them. There's
elect angels and there's elect men, and in one, they've been
bound in Christ. God the Father, the eternal God,
He's one with His people in Christ. He's bound everything together.
That's what the cornerstone does. Listen to Ephesians 2.20. You
are builded upon the foundations of the prophets and apostles,
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom All
the building fitly framed together. See how He binds us together?
You and I are bound together in Christ's love. If you take Christ out, we've
got nothing in common. We wouldn't even be here. We
wouldn't have much to do with each other, would we? But in
Christ, we are one in Him. We're fitly framed together. And He says something else here.
He says, foundation, a sure foundation. You know, without this, the rest
of what I've said means nothing. It means absolutely nothing.
If it's not sure, then forget about everything else. I don't
see how free will preaches the gospel. How do you be a free
willer and preach the gospel? You just cry up all these wonderful
things. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. But now that's not sure. Everything I've said about this
foundation, now he comes here and he puts the top stone on
it. It's a sure foundation. If God's decrees can fall, then
nothing's sure. If God's purposes can fail, nothing's
sure. If Christ's work upon the cross
is not effectual, forget everything. If His Word and promises fall
to the ground, then nothing is sure. If anything is conditioned
upon man and his will, then we've got nothing for sure. But you
know what He said here? This is something I'm doing.
I'm laying this foundation. I've tried this foundation. I've
set the bounds of this cornerstone. This is my Word. And it's marvelous
in our eyes. Therefore, you can come here
and say, it's sure. It's sure. This foundation isn't sure. It
won't hold my weight. Will it hold yours? When the
judgment comes, it will beat us down. It will tear us down
and it will sweep us away if this foundation is not sure.
We have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us. which we have as an anchor of our soul, both sure and steadfast. It's sure. I think, I think I
have an existence. I think I'm breathing. I look
at you and I think you're there. I think you're moving about.
I think we live in this world. I think we're going to die. I
think about all these things, but I'm sure about this. This
foundation that God has laid, Jesus Christ our Lord and our
Savior, He'll do to lay your faith and build your hopes upon. He'll do. He'll do now in life's
troubles. He'll do at death, and He'll
do at the judgment, and He'll do for all eternity. He is a
sure foundation. And notice what He says here
in my text, the last thing He says about it, and He that believeth
Shall not make haste. He ain't going to be moved, is
he? Ain't nothing going to move him. He won't make haste. But
the storm is coming. Just stand right still. You ain't
going to make haste. The Word means also we'll never be confused. Well, Bruce, you see, I get confused
about a lot of things. You ain't confused about the
foundation, are you? You ain't confused about your Savior. The
word means confounded or disappointed. He shall not make haste. When Peter quotes this in 1 Peter
2, he is very careful that he leaves this last portion in.
Listen to how he quotes it. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect and precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. He doesn't leave that out. Why
does he put this in? He that believeth on him. Brother
Larry brought it out this morning. I didn't think he was going to
stop it until he stole my whole text, whole message for the evening. Why did he add this? Why did
Peter and Isaiah both add this? He that believeth. Because he's
telling us here is the foundation for our faith. Now, Larry quoted
this some more, and I want you to turn over there and read it.
Look over here in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 2. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 2. This
is the foundation that God is laying. Look here in 1 Corinthians, Chapter
2. And look in Verse 1. Look in Verse 1 of 1 Corinthians,
Chapter 2. And brethren, when I came to
you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declared
unto you the testimony of God. What is that? He tells us in
verse 2. For I determined not to know anything among you, save
except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. That's that foundation. Isn't that what we've been talking
about? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now look on what he says in verse
3. of God. What is the power of
God? Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And Paul said, when I came to you, every one of you were lost. He said you were idolaters, you
were drunkards, you were liars, you were effeminate, you were
a mess, you were dead in your trespasses and sins, and here's
all that I preached to you. The person of Christ, His glorious
person, the Son of God coming down from heaven and Him crucified. Crucified for our sins. Crucified
to bring in this righteousness to clothe the shame of our nakedness.
Christ and Him crucified. Brothers and sisters, you and
I love the doctrine and the teachings of predestination in the Bible,
don't we? We have no hope. Nobody has any
hope if God doesn't have a purpose of predestination. We were predestinated
to be conformed to the image of God's Son. We love that. That
purpose is firm, isn't it? But when we go preaching to lost
men, do we go preaching the doctrine of predestination? My goodness, if we do, do you
understand my stuff? I've often said myself, I thank
God that the man and the men who came to me preaching did
not come and set before me God's purpose and predestination. We
printed a little tract Brother Larry Chris wrote in his bulletin
a few weeks ago, and it's talking about a straight answer. Remember
that? The Philippian jailer said, What
must I do to be saved? That man desired a straight answer.
And did he tell him, Believe in God's predestination? Believe
in the sovereignty of God in predestination? Would that have
saved that man? It would have confused him to
death, wouldn't it? What did Paul tell him? The same thing
he told these people. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved. And now Paul goes right on. Larry
quoted just this morning. Look what he said in chapter
3. And look in verse 5. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Who then is Paul? Who is Apollos? You have been boasting on us.
Who are we? But ministers by whom you believe, even as the
Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered,
but God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planted
anything, neither he that watered, but God that gave the increase.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man
shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. We
are laborers together with God. You are God's husbandry, ye are
God's building, according to the grace of God which is given
unto me as a wise master builder." Now look at this. have laid the
foundation. Now, did God say, I lay in Zion? God laid it in reality. Paul
laid it in his ministry. And look what he says in verse
11. For another foundation can no man lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. What is the foundation? What
do we preach to lost people? For them to build their faith
and hope upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is the foundation. What is the foundation? Christ
and Him crucified. I tell you, these other things
are going to come. You learn these things. But I tell you,
they come a lot of times through listening to preachers and reading
and coming to understand these things for ourselves. And some
of them are difficult, aren't they? They're very difficult.
But boy, here's something we need to know from the very beginning.
Christ and Him crucified. One more passage and we'll close.
Look in Luke chapter 20. I had a Calvinist friend of mine
And I'm a Calvinist myself, I'm not ashamed of that, but I have
a Calvinist friend of mine that was raised, his dad was a Calvinistic
preacher. And he was a teenager. And the Lord called him, called
him, broke him, boy, and just made him see he was a sinner.
And he said, you know, everything that my dad had taught me about
Calvinism, I lost it. He said, I had to just throw
it down. I had to come as a poor sinner in Christ without anything
and cast myself upon Christ. It didn't mean that he denied
the doctrine of election, he denied predestination, the effectual
atonement. It didn't mean he denied any
of that. But he said, all that knowledge in my head never helped
me. I had to come myself and cast
myself upon this foundation to be saved by him. That is what
Christ said for us to do. Look in verse 17 of Luke chapter
20. And He beheld them, and said,
What is this then which is written? The stone which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. Whosoever
shall fall upon that stone shall be broken. Just come and leave
everything, or bring everything with you, and just cast yourself,
all your sin, all your utter helplessness, all your inability,
and cast yourself upon this stone, and be broken. And find a resting
place right there upon Christ, and be crucified. And look at
this, those who won't do it, But upon whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder." We are going to be saved by Christ,
by His grace, by falling upon Him as our foundation. Or you
know something, we are going to be damned by Him because of
our sins. Salvation by Christ and His grace. fall upon Him. If not, He will
fall upon us. And that's a whole other thing
to think about, isn't it? This foundation I have laid in
Zion. And here's why I've laid it for
a foundation. God bless His Word.