A Firm Foundation - Part 1 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr. This is LeSaire Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. I want to express my appreciation to you who are faithful listeners of this broadcast, in particular those who regularly help to support it so that we can keep the message on the station to which you're listening. I ask for your prayers that the Lord will bless the effort and use the messages to His glory.

We'd appreciate hearing from you. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Also, I encourage you to go to our website.

You could make a donation there. You can also hear the Sunday and daily broadcasts and there find the Baptist Witness. That's at BaptistBibleHour.org. And now here is Timothy Guest to tell us about the current issue of the Baptist Witness.

In the newest edition of the Baptist Witness, the theme is one another. In sports, there are individual sports such as golf and tennis. And then there are team sports like basketball, soccer, baseball and more.

In team sports, every single member of the team is of vital importance and every member of the team needs the contribution and help of the other members of the team. Now, following Jesus is not a sport by any means, but it is what we could call a team activity. When you read the pages of the New Testament, you'll find repeated commands concerning one another.

So we've picked only three for this edition of the Baptist Witness. The first one, Dickey Hobbywalks, writes on forbearing and forgiving one another. Now, we know because we're still sinners that there will be opportunities for Christians to obey this command. Brother Dickey notes in his article that Jesus is our model and our motivation for forbearing and forgiving one another and that we can only obey this command as we abide in him and remember that he is in us and with us as we live out what he has made us to be. Mike Stewart writes on exhorting one another from Hebrews 3.13.

The danger is that we would be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, as that passage indicates, but God has provided a safeguard, one another. In talking about exhorting, Brother Mike writes these words, Do you know someone who is doubting? They need to hear of justifying grace. Do you know someone that is disappointed? They need to hear the grace of hope.

Do you know someone that is drifting or sinning? The grace of correction or admonition may be in order. Finally, Jeremiah Bass writes on receive one another from Romans 15.7, which says, Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. The context of these words were Christians disagreeing with each other on secondary issues. The danger, according to the context, is that there would be judging and despising of those whom we disagree with, the weak brother and the strong brother, as the passage indicates.

And this is a threat to unity. Brother Jeremiah writes in his article on the place of unity, the pattern of unity, and the purpose of unity. We hope that this edition of the Baptist Witness will be a blessing to you.

You can read all of this by visiting BaptistBibleHour.org and go to the upper right-hand corner and click on the Baptist Witness tab, where you can read this edition and past editions of the Baptist Witness. The message today is entitled, The Firm Foundation. In the first part of it, we're talking about the foundations that can be destroyed. And I make reference to the fact that there's a lot of turmoil in the world and conflict. But that message was preached about 20 years ago, and I have to say things are worse today than they were then. Yes, the foundations of this earth are crumbling, and we need to stand on the one firm foundation. In our series, Sermons from the Psalms, we last looked at Psalm 11.

I want to go back there and use verse 3 as our text. There's so much contained in this one expression that I wanted to spend an entire message dealing with it. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? First, we would consider the fact that there are foundations which may be destroyed. Now, a foundation is obviously an important part of a building. If the foundation crumbles, the building cannot stand. From a figurative standpoint, there are many parts of our life that we may think about as being upon a foundation. And if the foundation is shaken, there can be serious consequences. The foundation of earthly wealth may certainly be destroyed.

Jesus refers to that in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, verse 19. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Think about how much time and effort is put forth. Think about how much time and effort you put forth to lay up treasures on this earth. You're concerned about what you can purchase. You're concerned about the things you own, what you can save, what you can keep, all the things that you have. And yet, Jesus says, all of these things are perishable. Fire can consume them, floods can sweep them away, thieves can take them.

Rust, moth, all kinds of things can cause you to lose these earthly treasures. And yet that seems to be the focus in so many lives. Everything else is put in a secondary position as compared to this constant effort to get more. Now certainly the scriptures point out the responsibility of a man to provide for his own.

It says if he doesn't, he's worse than an infidel. So we're not talking about being slothful, careless, indifferent, neglecting responsibilities. But when it gets to the place that one of the prime concerns in life is how much money can I make? How many things can I own? What treasure do I have? Then obviously there's a problem, because Jesus specifically says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on this earth, but rather lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. There the things are not corrupted, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. How true that is from a practical standpoint, that if the things that you treasure are the things of heaven, the things on the other side, that inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled and fadeth not away, you're going to be thinking about heaven, you're going to be thinking about how to honor the God of heaven. But if your treasure is here on this earth, that's what you think about. That's what you plan for.

That's what your dreams consist of. You're thinking only about material gain. The foundations of earthly wealth can certainly be destroyed. We're living in a day of tremendous prosperity.

But some of you are old enough to remember the depression years, when people in America stood in bread lines, when multitudes were out of work and didn't know when the next meal was coming from. We have no guarantee that as a nation we'll always enjoy this level of prosperity. There are many parts of the world today where God's own people struggle in poverty day after day. If all of your interest, your attention, your affection is set upon material things, it can only lead to ultimate disappointment.

The foundation of worldly wisdom can certainly be destroyed. See, many put tremendous emphasis there. If a person has the best education, it's assumed they will have the best job, they will have the greatest success. I've known of parents to make tremendous sacrifices to see that their children got the best education.

They worked long hours, they did everything possible, because they thought it necessary for their children to have the proper status in life. One of the saddest stories I've heard along those lines was a young man with whom I counseled some years ago. And after some initial discussion, it became evident to me that he didn't believe in the God of the Bible.

He said, oh, I believe there's a force, there's a great power out there somewhere. He said, now, I wasn't brought up this way. I was brought up in a very fundamental Christian home. In fact, my parents were poor people. They really believed that the best thing for me was to have what they considered to be the best education.

They paid for it. They sent me to what was known as a Christian college. But at that college, several of the professors were unbelievers. And I sat under one of them, and he convinced me that the Bible is not inspired. He convinced me that the concept that my parents had about God was totally without foundation. My parents were greatly disappointed, because when I graduated, I turned my back on everything that they believed.

But I said, that's where I am today, and I don't know what to do about it. So many seem to think that the wisdom of this world is of such value, that receiving the recognition of the world as being one who has risen up in the ranks of the intellectual, and now can be one with them in this great knowledge, that it's so valuable. But in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 19, it says, It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Let me tell you, any professed wisdom that leaves God out is not wisdom at all. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Somebody says, well, this is just a situation where this teacher, this leader, this instructor is neutral.

You can't be neutral. When God is left out, God is being denied, God is being ignored. There is no absolute wisdom apart from the true and living God. Paul, in the Roman letter, talks about those who seek to suppress the truth about God, and says in chapter 1, verse 22, that all of these with their boasted wisdom really provide nothing of any value. In fact, he says, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Why is it in view of what the scriptures say about the wisdom of this world, the wisdom that leaves God out, the wisdom that denies the truth of the Bible as being of no value, that those who say, I love God, I love His Word, will put forth so much effort to become involved in this world's professed wisdom.

The foundation of worldly wisdom can be destroyed because God says, I'm in the process of destroying it now. And then we think about those things in life that seem to be secure, the things that give us some consolation and assurance that when there's turmoil out at a distance, there's at least something close at hand that we can rely upon and we find some comfort in it. We think about our family. I may have friends that forget me, I may have enemies that oppose me, but I've got my family. But I want to tell you that even that foundation, the foundation of family and friends can be destroyed. And how heartbreaking it is to see a marriage disrupted for a variety of reasons, to see people who had committed themselves to love each other and to stay together for a lifetime going their separate ways.

How heartbreaking when those who have been friends, those who have stood by us and encouraged us and meant something to us in times past may turn away from us. That foundation can be destroyed. We thank God for our families, we thank God for our friends. We want to labor to maintain Christian homes in which God's name will be honored. And we can find the assurance and strength that can only be found there.

But what happens when those foundations are destroyed? David said in Psalm 142 in the fourth verse, I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, refuge fail me, no man cared for my soul. What a dark place to feel that no man cared for my soul. The very foundations of the family shaken. David's father-in-law, King Saul, constantly was seeking his life. David's own son Absalom was seeking to take his throne. Some of David's closest advisors had deserted him and joined ranks with Absalom.

He says, I looked all around me and it appeared that no man cared for my soul. And then something terribly alarming is the fact that the foundation of civil government may be destroyed. We thank God for what we enjoy here in America. We can see many problems today. We see many flaws in our governmental systems.

We see men who occupy those offices often disappointing us. But when you compare what we have in America to what people are living under in many parts of the world, oh how thankful we ought to be. Can you imagine what it would be that civil government would basically collapse and you would call 911 but nobody answered. That there would be persecution against those who were true followers of Jesus Christ. Think about what Christians experienced in Hungary back in the 1950's. The Russians imposing themselves upon those people were saying that parents were not to teach their children about God. They were not to read the scripture.

They were not to pray. The child would go off to school. The school teacher would ask probing questions. Do your parents talk to you about God?

Do you pray at home? And the child would say yes, not realizing the dire consequences. The police would then come and take the children away from the parents. In many cases the parents never saw them again.

Sometimes the parents themselves were arrested. Oh we say we thank God for our freedom and surely that could never happen here, but it could. And we see the attitude of many in our country today that if they had their way it would already be happening.

Oh we think of the horrors of the collapse of civil government. We see that illustrated in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 22. David had asked a favor when he was running from Saul of Abimelech the priest, the high priest.

And that favor was granted. Saul then comes there to the city of Nob having heard about the fact that they had been kind to David. And he orders his men to kill the priest. Many said they couldn't do it. These men are the anointed of God.

We can't do it. One wicked man said I will do it and he killed 85 priests in one day. Now remember Saul is the king. Saul is the one who is supposed to be maintaining law and order. And because Saul is angry about the kindness that had been shown to David he says kill the priest. And he didn't stop there. He said now that you have killed 85 priests, kill their wives and kill their children and kill everybody in the city.

And the whole city of Nob was wiped out. The purpose of civil government is to defend the citizens. The book of Romans chapter 13 tells us that the powers that be are ordained of God. Civil government is established so that evil doers will be punished.

But certainly not to impose evil upon the citizens. David saw the government basically falling apart. Psalm 46, the sixth verse says the heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved, he uttered his voice, the earth melted. When the heathen rage, when those who do not believe in God vent their wrath and oh how much of it we've seen in our world in recent times. We find it to be incredible that cold hearted murderers are ready to blow themselves up in order to take the lives of many others.

And as you continue to read about it in the papers you say how long can that go on? How horrible to read about the headings and the tortures that have gone on in the world around us. The heathen rage, the heathen are raging today. Wicked and ungodly men desiring their own will to accomplish their own purpose and sometimes doing it in the name of their God. But I want to tell you the true and living God that Jehovah the Bible never ordered such conduct as we see in our world today. Not only can the foundation of earthly wealth be destroyed, not only the foundation of worldly wisdom, not only the foundation of family and friends, not only the foundation of civil government, but the foundation of false religion. And in this case it should be destroyed. If somebody is standing on a foundation feeling secure, but they are secure in that which is false, that which is contrary to God and His truth, that foundation needs to crumble.

And the fact is that those who stand upon such a foundation will find that it does not last. Look at the book of Isaiah chapter 29. Isaiah 29 verse 13, Wherefore the Lord saith, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.

Now look at the condition that's here described. Here are people who are drawing near to God with their mouth. They've got an outward form, and you know Jesus referred to this Himself when He was here on the earth. Talking about the Pharisees, they had a form of godliness, they drew nigh to God with their mouth, they said all the right things, but their heart was far from Him. And He says their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.

It wasn't a teaching of truth, it wasn't a teaching that had been accomplished by the blessing of the Holy Spirit, they'd been taught by men. Now verse 14, Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder. Now when you read that language, you think, oh what great thing is God going to do?

He's going to do something that's uplifting. You know, some of that language was used as the Lord was enlightening Habakkuk about the pending judgment. He was going to do a marvelous work. That marvelous work sometimes simply means you're going to marvel at it, not because it's so great, but because the punishment is so severe. And He says here is the marvelous work that I'm going to do, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

This is the work. I'm going to bring their empty religion to a dismal end. Yes, the wisdom of the wise men shall perish. All of the things that they have taught that were erroneous, all of the things that they have done to blind the people, I'm going to bring it all to an end. False religion. We live in a time that many people seem to think that any religion must be good. There's good in all religion. Let me tell you, the Scriptures make it perfectly clear there is a difference between true religion and false religion.

There's a difference between worshipping the true and living God and worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, and in worshipping false gods and in worshipping after the dictates of man's own thoughts and heart. Jesus refers to this in the seventh chapter of the book of Matthew, reading in the 24th verse. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it. He says those who hear these sayings of mine and do not do them, are as those building their house upon a sand and the crash is certain. Those who build their house on the sand rather than on the rock are due to fall. A sandy foundation cannot hold up.

So there are foundations which can be destroyed and will be destroyed in many cases. Now the question is asked by the psalmist, what can the righteous do? Now though the darkness seems to plague every land, our God is in command and every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall then confess, Jesus is Lord, yes Jesus is Lord, Christ Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. Today we've talked mostly about the foundations that are crumbling, but next week we'll be talking about that firm foundation upon which we all need to stand. I hope that you'll write us and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. Jesus is Lord, yes Jesus is Lord, Christ Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. Yes, Jesus is Lord, Christ Jesus is Lord to the glory of God. His voice shall split the skies and tear every grave for Christ alone can save and every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall then confess, Jesus is Lord, yes Jesus is Lord, Christ Jesus is Lord to the glory of God.