Okay, let's take our Bible now
and find Luke chapter 6 and also put a marker in Matthew chapter
7. And I hope I don't get myself
confused between Luke 6 and Matthew chapter 7. Sometimes it doesn't
take much to get me confused. I'm taking the title for the
message from the most important subject The Lord Jesus Christ
preaches upon as He gives His closing statement in this sermon
called the Sermon on the Plain, and it's the same closing statement
that He gives when He closes that Sermon on the Mount. What
foundation are you building upon? That is, the Lord Jesus Christ
makes application to what He has just said as He addresses
that crowd. Now, here's what I want us to
think upon today. What foundation are you building
your hope of salvation upon? Everyone's building it upon something.
Everyone I have ever talked to has some sort of refuge one way
or the other. I remember one of my co-workers
one day, I was trying to tell him about the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. and salvation by his free grace. And he pulled out his keychain.
And on that keychain was a golden, small, little emblem of a cross. And then also on that keychain
was a rabbit's foot. And he said he rubbed that cross
and rubbed that rabbit's foot and hoped everything would be
okay. That's the truth now. As Brother Henry would say, I'm
not preaching now, I'm telling the truth. But that's what he
did. Isn't that a flimsy hope? A rabbit's
foot? A small emblem of the cross carried
around in your pocket? What foundation are you building
upon? Now in the companion parallel
scripture found in Matthew 7, the Lord called the man who built
his house upon the rock, and we know that foundation, that
rock is Christ. I'll show you that in the scripture
in just a moment. He called that man who digged
down deep and built his foundation upon the bedrock, he called that
man a wise man. When the storms of life came,
and the trials of life came, and it beat upon that house,
the house stood. You know why the house stood?
Because the foundation stood. You see, Christ is that foundation. To move the believer, you've
got to move the rock. That's not going to happen. The
believer is fastened and fixed to that rock. Likewise, the Lord
calls the man who built his house upon the sand or upon the earth
with no foundation, the Lord called that man a foolish man. When the trials came, and they're
coming, man that's born of woman, few days and full of trouble.
When the trials came, when the floods came, the house crumbled. Immediately, it says there, immediately
it fell. And the ruin of the house, it
was great. The house crumbled under the
weight of the water, under the weight of the storm. You see,
it had no foundation. Now, many of you remember the
floods that we went through in this valley in May of 2009, and
again the following year in July of 2010, and that flood water
came through. and every house that wasn't securely
fastened to a proper and solid foundation was soon consumed
by the floodwaters. I remember down here in this
bottom where all these mobile homes were. Clark, do you remember
how they were just stacked together like a bunch of books? No foundation. Some of them went
right on down the creek. No foundation. Now our house
that we used to have back here and even this building upon which
you are seated, even though flooded by the water and the stream beat
against this house and that house, it was not washed away because
it was fixed to a foundation. I know by experience exactly
what the Lord is saying here. Now here's the subject I want
every one of us to think about. What foundation are you building
your hope of salvation upon? It's built upon something or
it's built upon someone. Every one of us here. Every one
of us here. Are you building upon Christ
the solid rock He's called in Isaiah 26, 4, the everlasting
foundation or the rock of ages. The Lord Jesus Christ alone is
that only foundation. It's upon His blood and His righteousness
that is the only foundation The Lord has laid upon which this
sinner or any other sinner can find refuge. We read a moment
ago, Isaiah 28, 16, God said, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a tridestone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, he that believeth
and rests on that foundation will never be forced out, will
never be ashamed, will never be confounded. Are you building
upon that foundation? Are you resting upon that foundation? One or the other, are you building
upon Christ or are you building your hope of salvation upon something
you have constructed, something you have done, some righteousness
you have performed or some good work you have done or some experience
or some emotion that you have. You see, it's either one or the
other. Your hope is either a good and glorious hope through the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified that we'll endure to the praise
of the glory of His grace The Apostle Paul called it a good
hope through grace. We have our everlasting consolation,
a good hope through grace, all to the praise of the glory of
His grace. It's a good hope or your hope
is a sorry hope. It's either a good hope. What's
the opposite of a good hope? A bad one. A bad one. A condemning hope. through your
works, your tradition, your ceremonies of religion. You see, one is
saving to the soul, that is the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
The other is damning to your soul. One is a true refuge of
salvation that the Lord has provided. The other is nothing but a refuge
of lies that the Lord said will be swept away. Isaiah 28, 17. The line and the plummet. The line and the plummet, this
way, get my construction right. You have to have a line and a
plummet. It doesn't vary. God's judgment does not vary. It's either plumb or it's not. It's either straight or it's
not. Now, let's go back to verse 21 in Matthew 7. Turn over there
first of all. Matthew 21, verse 7. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now isn't
that what every one of us are seeking? We are seeking an eternal
salvation in Christ. The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual
kingdom. The kingdom of heaven... is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It's not everyone that saith,
Lord, Lord, is going to enter into that eternal kingdom, but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Now, what is involved in doing
the will of the Father? I'm not going to give you my
opinion. Turn to John chapter 6. I'll give you his truth. John chapter 6. What is involved
in this sinner doing the will of the Father? John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out, For I came down from heaven not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which has sent me, of all which He hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And this
is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth
the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. Thy people shall be willing
in the day of God's power, willing to trust Him, willing to believe
in Him, willing to rest in Christ alone for all of salvation. He that sees the Son with the
eyes of faith. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Without faith it is
impossible to please God. He that sees the Son, believes
upon Him, looks to Him, ventures wholly upon Him, commits himself
to Him, trusts the Lord Jesus Christ for all righteousness,
all salvation, relies upon Him, believes upon Him for righteousness,
that justifies, for salvation that's eternal, he that does
the will of the Father, true faith honors Christ." That's
what he's saying. That's what it is to do the will
of the Father, it's to believe on Christ. Listen to this scripture,
John 5, 24, "...he that honors not the Son honoreth not the
Father. All men should honor the Son
even as they honor the Father." Now, turn back to Luke chapter
6. What is involved in doing the
will of the Father? Now, what is involved? Verse
46, 47 of Luke 6. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord,
and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth
my saying, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he's like. He's
like that wise man who built his house upon the rock. Now,
what is involved in doing the things which the Lord says? Not just hearing the Word, but
being a doer of the Word, believing the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I was reading ahead this
morning, and I found these two scriptures, find Luke chapter
8, Luke chapter 8, verse 19. Luke 8, 19. Then came to him
his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for
the press, because of the crowd. And it was told him by a certain
which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring
to see thee, that is Mary and those other children that Mary
had and Joseph had. And he answered and said unto
them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word
of God and do it." That's my family. They are of the household
of faith. I found one of those scriptures
over here in Luke. Luke 11, 28. Luke 11, 28. This
is interesting. Look at verse 27. Luke. This is Luke 11. Luke
11, 28. And it came to pass, verse 27,
He spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up
her voice and said, Blessed is the womb that bare thee. That
is, she sang Hail Mary. Blessed is Mary and the paps
which thou hast sucked. But He said, Yea rather, blessed
are they that hear the word of God and keep it. Now, what is
involved in keeping it? It's receiving it. It's believing
it. It is loving it into your heart. It is to live by faith, walking
by faith, always looking to and coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. Find, if you will, Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11. I quoted this a moment ago. Hebrews 11 verse 1, Now faith
is the substance, the ground, the confidence of things hoped
for. It is the evidence of things not seen. Now look at Hebrews
11 verse 6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him.
For he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that
He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Now, turn
one page, Hebrews 12, verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we are encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us. Let us run
with patience the race that is set before us, looking. looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before Him endured the cross, despising His shame,
and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God." Saving
faith is always looking to Him. Now turn a couple of pages to
1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. It's always looking to Him, trusting
Him, always coming to Him. 1 Peter 2, verse 2, "...as newborn babe,
desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.
If so be you tasted, the Lord is gracious. To whom coming,
as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious..." There's that living stone, there's that
foundation. "...you also are lively stones,
or build up a spiritual house." Verse 4, "...to whom coming,
looking..." You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual
house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also it's contained
in the Scriptures, and here's what we read just a moment ago,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious unto them which be disobedient. The stone which
the builder disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
it's a stone of stumbling. You're either resting upon Christ
or you're stumbling over Him. A stone of stumblings, a rock
that's offensive, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed, verse 9, that
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. What is involved in hearing the
Word of the Lord and doing the Word of the Lord? It's receiving
it, believing Christ, and resting upon Him. Now, our Lord described
two types of hearers, two kinds of religious people. Those who
were saved and justified in Christ, resting upon the foundation of
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Or those who think
they are saved, who say, Lord, Lord, look what we have done.
who are religious but lost, resting on the shifting sand of their
works." Both of these hearers of the Word built a house, which
is a type and picture of a refuge or a hope of salvation. They
both heard the Word, both were concerned with having a refuge,
both saw their need of a refuge, but only one was saved. The other
was lost. Now look at Luke Chapter 6, verse
47 and 48. Whosoever cometh to me, cometh
to me, to whom coming, and hears my word, the power of God unto
salvation, and doeth them, that is, receiveth them, and believeth
them, I will show you whom he is like. Verse 48. He is like a man which buildeth
a house, he dig deep down to the bedrock, And then he laid
the foundation on a rock. And when, it's not if now, when
the flood arose, when the stream beat vehemently, strongly upon
the house, could not shake it. Could not shake it. For it was
founded and fixed and fastened to the rock. This man digged
deep, laid his house upon a solid rock, He was given grace. He was given wisdom. He was given
knowledge to see the importance of a sure foundation to build
upon. True faith is rooted and runs
deep. It's rooted and grounded upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as I said earlier in the
message, the only foundation upon which a sinner can find
true refuge and true hope He is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in His person. In His person. Now what do I
mean by that? I mean who He is. He is God Almighty. He is God our Savior. It's who He is that gives value
to what He accomplished for us, putting away our sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. He is God our Savior. Without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. So, our hope of salvation is
built upon His person. Not only His person, but His
priestly work. What He did for us as the substitute,
as the federal head, as the representative man, as the priest of God who
represents us before God. Now, if you would find something
out about the priesthood work of Christ or the priestly work
of Christ, what book would you look at? The book of Hebrews,
right? So turn there. The book of Hebrews. Upon his priestly work. The book
of Hebrews, verse 17. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation or atonement for the sins of the people. Now that's our hope. That's our
hope. Hebrews 2, 17. For in that he
himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that
are tempted. A couple more references. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4, page 306 if
you have the New Cambridge. Verse 14, Hebrews 4, 14, seeing
then that we have a great high priest. Hebrews 4, 14. Do you
have a great high priest? Do you have someone to represent
you before God? Who is he? Well, he is God our
Savior. Seeing then we have a great high
priest, the one Son of God that is passed into the heavens. He
ever lives to intercede for us. Jesus, the Son of God, let us
hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity,
but was in all point tempted like as we are, yet without sin. You see, He's the Lord our righteousness. He personally made to me my righteousness
before God. He had no sin, knew no sin, did
no sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. that we may obtain mercy, find
grace to help in time of need. You see, our hope is built upon
His person, who He is. God bought the church with His
own blood and then His priestly work. Again in the book of Hebrews
9, Hebrews 9 verse 11. But Christ being come a high
priest of good things to come, The law made nothing perfect,
but bringing in of a better hope did. But Christ, being come a
high priest, did good things to come by greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hand, that is to say, none of this
building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. See, we are redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ. That's our foundation. It's the
foundation of forgiveness. It's the foundation of righteousness.
It's the foundation of pardon. What is the foundation or the
cause of your salvation? Well, I did this. Stop right there. He did this. Salvation is all
of the Lord, who He is. Now turn back to Matthew 16.
I'm reminded of a story I just read recently and I might get
myself in trouble here. because I don't know if I can
completely recall it, but it comes to my mind, so I'm going
to give it to you the best I can. There was an evangelist, a preacher
of the gospel, this is years ago, over in England, was preaching
a message, an outdoor meeting, in a tent meeting. And he preached
there for a week or two weeks, and the meeting was over, and
they took down the tent and took everything down, and the young
man came up and said, are you going to leave town? He said,
yep. I'm going to leave town." He
said, well, what am I going to do to be saved? And the old preacher
said, it's too late. Too late. Well, I've got to do
something to be saved. The old preacher looked at him.
It's too late. It's too late. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ said 2,000 years ago, it's done. It's finished. You see, look to Him. Look to
Him. Now, Matthew 16. Getting back
to the person of Christ. The person of Christ is our hope.
He is salvation. He that hath the Son hath life.
Matthew 16, 13, When Jesus came to 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 Elijah or Elias, others Jeremiah or
one of the prophets, and he saith unto them, But whom say ye that
I am? Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ. That's our hope. He's the Christ.
Christ crucified. He's the Messiah. He's the one
that sent up God, the Son of the living God. He is the living
God. And the Lord said, Blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also
unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock. Now he's not
saying he's building a church upon Peter, but upon that Christ
of God. Upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Now, I want you to find a couple of other scriptures. Find 1 Corinthians
13. The Lord Jesus Christ, His person
and His work, that is our only foundation. Neither is there
salvation in any other. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 11. Page 235. 1 Corinthians chapter
3 verse 11. For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now that's as clear as language
can be. The Lord is that only foundation. Now turn to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
chapter 2, page 272, Ephesians chapter 2, 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, the foundation, of the apostles and the prophets.
What is the foundation of the apostles and the prophets? Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord
in whom also you are built together for habitation of God through
the Spirit. You see the church the body of
Christ, resting upon the Lord Jesus. 2 Timothy 2.19, let me
just see if I can quote that for you. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. Now, a couple more scriptures
here. Turn to Psalm 40, first of all. Psalm 40, trying to make
good and show you in the Word of God that Christ is the only
foundation upon which any sinner can rest and be justified and
win Christ and be found in Him. Psalm 40 verse 1, I waited patiently
for the Lord. He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of
the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon
a rock, Establish my goings." He brought me up. Where was I
at? In a horrible pit. He set my
feet upon the rock. He brought me up. He set me up.
He established my goings, verse 3, and then He put a new song
in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it and fear
and shall trust in the Lord. Now, turn to the only psalm.
The only psalm. You know which psalm that is?
The only psalm, Psalm 62. He's the only psalm. And the reason I say that is
because this word only is repeated over and over again, and the
old timers called this psalm the only psalm. Psalm 62, verse
6, He only is my rock and my salvation, He is my defense,
I shall not be moved. And God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times. Pour
out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. He is a refuge for us. He is our refuge alone. Cast not burden upon the Lord.
He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. You see, the believer resting
upon the Lord Jesus Christ is fixed and fastened. To move Him,
you've got to move the foundation. And that's not going to happen.
This is the foundation that God has laid in Christ and Him crucified. Now, back to Luke 6, verse 49. "...He that heareth, and doeth
not..." Oh, they heard, but they didn't believe. They didn't receive. They didn't trust Christ. He's
like a man without a foundation. He's a man without a foundation.
He's a man without Christ, without hope, and without God. He's without.
He's a man without, without. Without a foundation built a
house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently
Immediately it fell and the ruin was great. The foolish man who
built his house upon the sand foundation, he too saw a need
for a house. a refuge for the coming storm,
but he was not taught of God. All those who have heard and
learned of the Father, they come to Christ. This foolish man who
had no foundation, had no grace in his soul, no wisdom given
to his heart, no life of salvation was imparted, no righteousness
imputed. He quickly built a house upon
the sand of his works. Oh, it looked pretty good. Went
up fast. but the storm of life and the
wrath of God. Beat upon it and immediately
fell. Quickly it was swept away. Be
sure you get this. Every refuge of lies will be
swept away by the righteous judgment and wrath of God. Every hope
of salvation built on any other foundation but the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified As Edward Mote said in his song, on Christ
the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. There is just one way, one hope,
one Lord, one faith, one gospel, one hope. It's the doctrine of
one. There's one foundation. That
foundation is Christ. Christ. Look to Him. Rest upon Him. 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. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only foundation that God has laid. You'll either be blessed
to build upon Him, to rest in Him, or you will stumble over
him and reject him one to the other. May God give us grace
and wisdom in our heart and faith in our soul to rest upon Christ. Now, who is your foundation? Who is your hope? Upon whom are
you resting? Now you answer that in your heart
before God.