Sunday Sermons
Foundations
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).
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Everyone Has a Foundation
The foundation, faith, and world-view the Christian has is based on the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the “rock” upon which Christianity rests (Matthew 16:16-18; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Ephesians 2:20). This foundation includes the fact that there is a God, Jesus is His Son, Jesus is the only way to the Father (Acts 4:12), Jesus will judge all men at the last day (2 Corinthians 5:11), and heaven or hell will be determined solely on the basis of whether or not we obeyed His teachings (Matthew 7:21; John 12:48; 2 John 9). Yet this is not the only “faith”, foundation or world-view that exists. Some build their own foundation; others simply accept the foundation that the culture may give them (Romans 12:1-2; Acts 19:35-36). Young people need to realize that the culture, including the schools, places of employment, television, music, or the Internet will all attempt to give them a different foundation than the one Jesus recommends. Jesus emphasizes in Matthew 7:24-27 that the decision to hear but not obey His word is the decision to select a foundation of sand. It does not matter what you choose to obey instead because all other foundations, no matter what they consist of, are sand. False religious foundations are sand, but so are secular or even scientific foundations that leave Jesus out of the picture. Any foundation that is missing the ingredient of submission to the teachings of Christ is one that is made of sand.
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Everyone Will be Tested
At times it may seem like the Christian is the only one being tested in this life, yet Scripture is clear that all men are tested (1 Corinthians 10:13 “as is common to man”; Ecclesiastes 9:11 “Time and chance overtake them all”). In the story in Matthew 7:24-27, both men face a storm of the same intensity. This storm certainly would include trials and hardships of living in this world, yet it may not be limited to just trials. There are non-Christians who face trials and still survive, or seem to have held up fairly well even without the true God. The storm of this verse may also include the final judgment. At the judgment, the only foundation that is going to pass the test of the cosmic building inspector is Christ. We even see this demonstrated in the immediate context, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not…and then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:22-23). This reveals that people who had foundations of pure sand, were convinced they had a foundation of pure rock. Yet they could have avoided this rude awakening if only they had been reading the spiritual building code. It is easy to convince ourselves that we are upon the rock because we are busy with “religious things”, yet we may end up lost because we were not busy with following closely the teachings of Jesus.
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Do Not Skimp on the Foundation
Often people make the mistake of being “penny-wise and pound-foolish”, that is, putting a lot of effort into things that do not matter, and completely overlooking things that are of eternal consequence. The Pharisees fell into this trap (Matthew 23:25-28). A modern and very common example would include being very environmentally conscious and yet being a fornicator (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). We do not want to end up at the judgment saying, “Lord, Lord, did we not recycle, contribute to a charity, attend candle-light vigils, go to religious concerts, support the arts, volunteer in the community, vote ‘yes’ for the library bond-measure, play a part in the Christmas play?” and yet have overlooked obeying the teachings of Christ. What this will demand of us is that we must continually resist the temptation to ridicule or downplay the importance of teaching the right doctrine (Jesus’) and obeying it to the letter (John 14:15). Therefore, I need to make sure that I have the following “foundational” principles or subjects down pat. In other words, do not just borrow this foundation from someone else; build it yourself using God’s high quality materials. Subjects that one needs to have a firm grasp of, and subjects that should not just be overlooked, would include:
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The existence of God
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The inspiration and reliability of the Scriptures
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Bible Authority, How to Study, Hermeneutics
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The Plan of Salvation
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The Lord’s Church: Its work, worship and mission
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Test Your Foundation
When building homes or other things that require a good foundation, men will often drill into the earth to make sure the ground beneath is stable and will support such a structure. Instead of resenting the storms that test the quality of our foundation, view such times of trial and temptation with appreciation (Romans 5:3-5), for we are being given the chance to see if our foundation will hold, and if Christianity really works. Do not then run from trials and do not just give into a temptation---hold out and wait. Does your faith and the teachings and promises of Christ sustain you? Paul had learned this; he had allowed his foundation to be tested and he discovered, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). In addition, you learn all sorts of valuable lessons when you determine to endure faithfully during trials and temptations, “Those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good” (Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, p. 142).
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A Common Mistake
One common mistake that even Christians make when being tested is that they do not let Christ and His foundation assume the full load and weight of the trial or temptation. Instead, we sometimes try to shift some of the load to another foundation. For example, when being tempted, instead of enduring with Christ and looking for the non-sinful way of escape, we might opt for a “less sinful” way of escape. When facing a trial, instead of thinking about how much God loves us and the hope we have of heaven, we might think more about some event happening on the weekend, some meaningful assignment at work, a sinful fantasy, or what we want to do when we retire. If you are tempted to handle the hardships of life by saying something like, “Well at least I have my health”, what are you going to do when that fails? While you are young and healthy, develop the habit of placing all the emphasis upon what you have in Christ, because all earthly “consolation prizes” are going to fail as well (Matthew 6:19-20). The truth of the matter is that God is more than able to bear the entire weight of your life, “The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). God is equally called our “refuge” (Psalm 46:7; 57:1; 62:7), in fact, that is the meaning of the phrase “dwelling place” in the previous verse. A refuge is much like a solid foundation, for both are images of safety, stability, security and protection. Once again, where do we typically flee “mentally” when times are tough? Do we flee to the refuge of a relationship (marriage, children), do we flee to a material refuge (house, car, money in the bank), do we flee to the future (retirement places, dream home, travel), do we flee to the past (happy memories, the good old days, when all was right with the world), or do we flee to God? Again, there is nothing inherently wrong about finding pleasure in relationships or happy memories, but eventually all those things are going to collapse. That is why God wants us to start practicing now on coming to Him first.
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Do Not Avoid Challenges from People
Part of testing your foundation includes having discussions with people that disagree with the teachings of Christ. These opportunities allow you to see how the teachings of Christ hold up under examination, and how such teachings deal with the tough questions of living in this world. In addition, remember when you have a Bible discussion with someone or are called upon to defend your faith (Philippians 1:16), your foundation is not the only one being tested. If your faith is being challenged, then automatically such a discussion will test the foundation of the person who is testing your faith. If you find yourself at times doubting the truth of Christianity, remember that the purely secular thinker equally finds himself having moods in which it looks like Christianity is the truth. I find many people today very hesitant to have their religious or secular foundations tested. This is seen in the fact that very few groups are willing to debate points of doctrine as they were willing to do in the past and the number of people who claim that their spiritually is a very personal and private thing and resent attempts by us to engage them in a spiritual discussion. “I don’t discuss religion or politics” is a classic American example of not wanting to really look at the quality of one’s foundation. I find that such an attitude is not based in confidence or the facts, because anyone with the facts or the truth does not mind having their foundation examined, in fact, they welcome such examinations. God is the supreme example of one who earnestly desires people to examine His revelation (Acts 17:11; Isaiah 1:18). We should have the confidence that the gospel message cannot be silenced or stopped (2 Timothy 2:9). “You never know where the gospel will break out, who will be its next ‘victim’! Perhaps some of you understand now why some of your family have gotten so very nervous after you told them you had bowed the knee to Jesus. They’re secretly alarmed that they might be next” (2 Kings, Dale Ralph Davis, p. 173). The foundation of the Christian is so secure that unbelievers have to put forth much effort to continue resisting it.