Build on the One Foundation

The sermon will begin soon. Well, good afternoon to everyone. It's good to see that so many of us made it out. I called around after getting home yesterday from Cincinnati, talked to a number of people, and I know several of our elderly people that they couldn't make it for various reasons, mainly being snowed in. Couldn't get out their driveways, but glad to see that so many of us are here. Stan and Penny Martin today are down in Rome. He's taking services there. Bill Cowan called me right before services and said he was coming down with a cold and did sound very stopped up and congested, so he decided to stay home. So that leaves us with Alan and myself. So here we are. If you'll take a look at the announcements today, first of all, you'll see an announcement that we had put in from yesterday that Mr. Victor Kubik had a bad fall while in Zambia. He and Melvin Rhodes have gone over to Africa, to Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa on visits, and he fell. He broke two ribs, and he had an air pocket between his lungs and his ribs. He's been in a considerable amount of pain. Now, I sent all of you an update this morning. You may not have seen it. Let me write or read this to you. This is from Beverly Kubik, Victor's wife. While getting ready to leave Zambia on January the 14th, Victor Kubik slipped and fell, cracking two ribs. He did not want to get stuck in Zambia, so he took his flight to Johannesburg, went to the hospital there, was x-rayed, and initially he was expected to return to the United States on January the 16th. But today, he had to be taken back to the hospital, and he is an ICU at this point. An air pocket between the lungs and ribs was filling with blood, and expanding. One lung has partially collapsed. They are draining blood away and pumping up the lung, and so he's doing as well as could be expected. Mr. Kubik will be in the hospital for a couple of days and go stay with a member family. It's not safe for him to return home for 10 days, so he will be there for a period of about 10 days. And so that means he won't be able to fly out until somewhere around, you know, probably the 25th, 26th of this month. So please remember him in your prayers. I know that he would deeply appreciate that. I sent an email out yesterday also and mentioned about Joe Mink. David had called concerning his wife and himself. But Joe has been going through a lot of problems. Many of you realize that she has chronic fatigue syndrome, and as a result, whenever she's under a lot of stress, things flare up. Well, the bad weather, the stress, the fact that David has also had problems with his arthritis and difficulties. Well, her chronic fatigue syndrome has sprung up again very severely, and so she's asking all of us to remember her in her prayers. Belle Douglas was taken to the hospital also yesterday, and she has bronchitis. She was examined and was supposed to be home. I talked to her son, and he said that she would call but did not call last night, so I assumed she got home probably, went to bed, and is trying to rest. So please remember all of them in your prayers.

Now, if you'll look at the next announcement, I took a survey last week, and I asked all of you to contact me throughout the week concerning the use of this hall as opposed to going back to the Unitarian Hall. And the vast majority of you, well, all of you, basically said that you would prefer going back to the Unitarian Hall, or it didn't matter one way or the other. Several things came to light, and the emails that came from you, one of them, which I wasn't fully aware of, was the slanted floors that we have here. For a number of the ladies, it's difficult to walk up and down to stand on the slanted floors, and so therefore, many tend to gravitate towards the back where it's a little level, and that's been a problem.

The Unitarian Church is overall closer for most members, as we see here. We would be able to have more socials, potlucks, that type of thing there. We would also be able to bring into the auditorium, which you're not able to do here, snacks. And you also have an overhang to get out of and walk right into the building, which offers protection when it's raining or snowing, sleeting, hailing, whatever. And it's a more cohesive environment. So, in looking at all of that, we decided that we would go ahead and return. We can, and we will be going back on the first Sabbath in February, February the 5th. So, we'll give you a little more information on that next Sabbath, but just wanted to bring that to your attention. Reminder that this next Sabbath, though, the 22nd, we're going to be having our annual church variety show next Saturday evening. And Rick Cloudus needs to see, or you need to see, Rick Cloudus and let him know exactly what you're doing. A number of people have signed up and said, yes, I will participate. And I'm going to sing, I'm going to dance, I'm going to do whatever, but he hasn't heard yet exactly from all of you what you're singing, what you're doing, what your needs are. So, before leaving today, make sure that you see him, and that'll make him a happy camper, and he'll be able to put the program together.

As a reminder, we will also be ordering pizza. We will be able to use one of the cafeterias here on campus. We will have pizza, and there are order forms out on the table for you to order the type of pizzas, as many as you want. Five dollars for a 14-inch pizza. Three vegetables on your pizza. Remember, this is a meatless campus, so therefore we don't have meat. We're asking everyone to bring a salad bar item, as well as cookies or brownies for dessert and a drink. Just what happens that the cafeteria, there are two of them on campus, one we'll be using, does have a kitchen, so we'll be able to use that and have access to that. So, all that's next week, so you need to come and plan. We'll have services at the regular time, and by the time we end around 4.30, everybody gathers up their belongings. We'll have a map for you to where to go to on campus to eat, and we'll come back here then for the variety show. Tomorrow, beyond today's program, we'll be solving the Israel-Nirb conflict, so you will want to be sure to watch that tomorrow at 8.30.

We have three Bible tips here on reconciliation, and then ending with the flooding that's been going on in Toowoomba and Brisbane and Queensland, Australia. Norm and I happened to visit Toowoomba three years ago, and we went to Australia for the feast. Toowoomba is one of the most beautiful cities you'll go to. It's got a park called Queen's Park. It's a fabulous park with flowers, just different floral designs and beds all over the place. Just gorgeous! And it seems like most of that city has been severely flooded. Many of you may have seen the pictures of the rising river there sweeping cars down the stream, and I know that's been on Facebook. It's had several millions of hits on it, as well as on public television. Bill Bradford gives an update here, mentions that the problems we're experiencing now began back in December with extensive rains in central Queensland. They've had a severe drought in that area of the world, so the rain was something that they really appreciated. The problem is it's just kept on raining. It says Toowoomba, one of the largest cities in Australia, as far as Ninland City, had a flash flood. The waters float on down to the valley, destroyed one town completely, and damaged several others. Apparently, we had four families that were flooded, and three of them with the water up to the roof lines. So obviously, they've had some fairly extensive flooding take place. Also, the flooding has hit downtown Brisbane, and that's flooded that area. I know where our son lives, as well as where the rappers live, are out of the floodplain. There have been a few people in Brisbane who've been affected by this, but the majority, thankfully, have not. So we know that they would, again, appreciate your prayers because they're going to have to all pull together over there to see what they can do to help one another. Then finally, I copied this, all of you on the email list, but for those who did not receive a copy, there's a new letter out from Dennis Luker, the President, and he gives some of the who will just encouragement some of the latest statistics. Income right now is about 12 percent below last year. And we did a quick survey and study of the number of elders who have left and those who are with us. Out of 491 elders worldwide, 341, this was as of Thursday, are still with United. That means that about 160 have left. Approximately one-third have left. So that means that the majority worldwide have remained with the Church. We have whole areas like Australia, the Philippines, Canada, many of the nations. Actually, it's interesting, the four nations, French nations, and Africa have remained intact, and so many of the nations there have stayed with us. So we've been very encouraged by that. So I thought you might want to hear some of those statistics.

Okay, that's all of the announcements I have at this point. I'll ask Jacob to come back. I know he's anxious to lead a song with with some low bass baritone singing in it. So I'll turn the song service over to him again. Back in the book of Job, God had a very interesting discussion with Job. It's recorded in Job chapter 38, so let's turn to Job the 38th chapter.

Up to this point, Job had argued back and forth with his three friends about his righteousness, their accusations against him, which we know were not accurate because they were accusing him of all kinds of things that he was not guilty of.

But yet, beginning in Job chapter 38 verse 1, it says, Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this who darkens counsel?

By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man, and I will question you, and you shall answer me. So God's going to ask him a series of questions here and demand some answers. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?

Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements, surely you know, or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? And then God goes ahead answering a number or asking a number of questions.

But I want you to notice something here that maybe you haven't stopped to think about.

We discover that the earth has a foundation, that it's built upon a foundation just like any building, any structure, would have a foundation, so does the earth. And I think God established a principle very early on, very clearly in creation, that any structure that is built will have a foundation. The word in the Hebrew simply means to be established or fixed, that God fixed the earth on something and he established it on something. Now you and I, we could bore a hole through the earth and try to say, well, we're going to come to the foundation.

How do you even define the foundation of the earth? Because it's a globe.

I can go out here and look at a building. This building is an example. It's got a foundation. You go outside and kick it or look at it and you know that it was built on something.

And the Bible clearly shows that the earth has a foundation. And that foundation has been so good that if the earth is millions of years old, which is a possibility, thousands at least, we know, the foundation still stands firm, still stands fast. The foundation hasn't crumbled, hasn't fallen apart, hasn't disintegrated. It's still there. However, there's another principle that the Bible also reveals and clearly teaches, and that is that the physical, anything physical, will not endure. Will not endure forever. Will not last. Buildings constructed by men eventually crumble and fall. Now, people could point to the Great Pyramid and say, well, it's still standing. If the earth went on the way it is now for another 10,000 years, 100,000 years, it won't be standing. It will have fallen apart eventually. You find that anything that man builds eventually will crumble. Your house, unless you maintain it, degenerates and it begins to crumble and it begins to fall. Even though God laid the foundation of the physical world and it was something that he did, it will not endure forever. It will not last forever. 2 Peter 3. Let's go over to 2 Peter 3 in verse 10 in the Bible. And let's notice a clear principle that's delineated here. 2 Peter 3 beginning in verse 10, For the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat.

Both the earth and the works that are in it shall be burnt up. So both the earth and the works, anything that's been constructed and made by the hand of man, all of that will be burnt up.

And it goes on to say, Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, not only burnt up but dissolved, what manner a person ought you to be in holy conduct and Godliness. So the teaching of the Scripture is the physical is not going to be permanent. It will eventually dissolve. It will eventually be burnt up. Therefore, what will last is what?

Your holy conduct and Godliness. And then it says, Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to the promise, look for the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. So what will we take over into the future?

Not your bank account, not anything you've made, not a car, not a house, not anything physical.

New heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell. And rather than less we are righteous, unless we are doing the right thing and unless we have developed that type of character that God is looking for, we won't be there. Now we read in Revelation 21 and 22 about the new heaven and the new earth. That's the permanent arrangement that God is going to make for his family. There's going to be a new Jerusalem come down out of heaven. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And that's where we will dwell for all eternity. The Bible clearly reveals that the physical is not permanent. There's nothing permanent about our physical bodies. We all know that.

Just look at us. We all know that we get old, we lose our hair, we lose our sight, we lose our hearing, we begin to lose it. And we get old, we eventually die. But let's notice in Hebrews 12 and verse 25, Hebrews 12.25, the Bible also talks about this. It says, So if this earth can be shaken, it will be removed. And as the things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. So there are some things that can be shaken that will not remain. And that's the physical, the creation. But that which cannot be shaken will remain. That's the holy righteous character that you and I develop. That's the righteousness, the godliness that we have. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom, and notice that it's the kingdom of God which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. So the kingdom of God is something that cannot be shaken.

For God, our God, is a consuming fire, the Bible states. The kingdom of God is a spiritual family that God is developing. We're going to become a part of that kingdom, that ruling government here on this earth. And eventually, throughout the whole universe, God wants us to be born into his divine family. So rather than what we discover is that the spiritual lasts, the physical does not. Now there is a spiritual foundation that you and I must build. A proper foundation, when you look at it, gives certain things. It gives stability.

It gives longevity. When I say longevity, the building will only last as long as the foundation remains and stands there. It gives stability to the structure that's on it when it's built.

It's a platform from which one can commence building and growing. And only in the future will the spiritual continue to grow. Our spiritual foundation that we are in the process of developing is important for our spiritual stability.

Our spiritual foundation also for the longevity that we have. In other words, we have to do, as the Bible says, endure to the end. We have to remain faithful. If we're going to be in God's kingdom, serve him for eternity, we have to prove to God that we can last, that we will remain faithful to him. You find also the proper spiritual foundation is a platform from which we grow, we develop, we mature, we change, we become like God. Why is it over the years we have seen so many not remain faithful to the calling that God has given to us? We have seen over the years, and you don't have to go backward about 15 years ago, when we see so many who at one time were with us and for some reason didn't endure. Is it possible that their foundation, or many of them, was not solidified, was not solid? It was not the structure that it should be. It was not built on the proper foundation. You and I, brethren, must build on the proper foundation, our spiritual life. So the question is, what is that foundation on which we build? Going back to 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, beginning in verse 5, we find clearly articulated for us by the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of God's Spirit. What is the proper foundation that we build? 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, and verse 5, Who then, Paul asks, is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers, through whom you believed? As the Lord gave to each one, I planted Apollos water, but God gave the increase. So Paul came through and started the church. Apollos was there as a local pastor, watering, planting, visiting, counseling, helping them. So then neither he who plants is anything or he who waters, but God who gives the increase. You and I can go out and put a seed in the ground, is the illustration here. It can rain, we can hoe it, we can pull the weeds, we can fertilize it. It will grow, but what do we do? Well, we have our part, but who causes that seed to grow? Who put a spark of life in that seed so that it would germinate and begin to grow? It was God who gives the increase. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his labor. Now, you find here the Apostle Paul back in chapter one. I'll just refer back to chapter one. Many of them were saying, I'm of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am, even some of them said I'm of Christ. And what you discover is that too many people looked to a man, and they were doing that back at this time. Paul was their champion, Peter was their champion, Apollos was their champion, some human being was their champion, a minister or a friend, and they were not looking to Jesus Christ in the way that they should.

As we see beginning in verses 10 and 11, there's another foundation. Your foundation is not a human being. Your trust is not in a human being. But as we see here, according to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I've laid the foundation, another builds on it, let each one take heed how he builds on it. So what foundation did the Apostle Paul lay? When Paul would come into an area, raise up a church, what would he do? Would he draw attention to himself? Would he say, follow me? Well, he did. In one sense, he said, follow me how? As I follow Christ.

You follow me only as you see me following Jesus Christ. In verse 11, he says, no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So brethren, the foundation on which all of us build our lives is Jesus Christ. What you discover is that many have not laid the proper foundation.

They followed a man, or they've laid a foundation just based upon knowledge and understanding. And somehow, when that knowledge or that understanding begins to be challenged, they begin to be shaken, and they don't know which way to go. When you were baptized, we all acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves. The very reason you were baptized, we all acknowledge, when we went under that water, that we needed a Savior, that we could not forgive our own sins, that Jesus Christ died so that our sins could be forgiven.

And then we came up out of that water, realizing that all of our past sins had been buried. We come up to live a new way of life, to be a new creature. We had hands laid on us, and through the laying on of hands, we were given the Holy Spirit of God. That's when God passes it on to you. And that's Jesus Christ living in us. That's the foundation. What He taught, His living within us, developing His character, His holiness, His righteousness within us, that is what we have to build on.

He lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now let's go on in verse 12. Verse 12 says, Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, and precious stone, wood, hay, and stubble, everyone's works will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is.

So now we see our part in the process. If we have built on the proper foundation, we're going to take a look at that as we go along, how you do that, then the building that is built will last. Now if it's wood, hay, and stubble, fire comes along, wood will burn, hay will burn, stubble will burn, but gold, silver, and precious stones do not. They become purified. They become more pure. The dross is melted away. And so he goes on in verse 14, If anyone's works which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. He will have to go through fire again. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? The temple in ancient Israel was built so that the very glory of God would dwell within it. You and I today are the temple of God individually and collectively.

We are God's temple. And the glory of God, the Spirit of God, the power of God resides within that temple so that we can glorify God. And he says, if anyone defiles the temple talking here about the church of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy.

Which temple you are. So God warns all of us. So we have to be very careful with the temple, the church, that God has given to us. He is building that temple. So you and I need to make sure, number one, that we've laid the right foundation, and secondarily, that we build the right character on that foundation. Now Ephesians, the second chapter, Ephesians 2 and verse 19, may immediately leap the mind when you start talking about foundation.

Beginning in verse 19, Ephesians 2 and 19, Paul basically addressing the gentiles here, Now therefore you who are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. So now we find something addition here, that the apostles and prophets are part of that foundation. That's talking about this, the Word of God, that they are the ones who wrote the Old the New Testament.

That's part of the foundation, the Word of God, that we build upon. But notice, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. He's the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together. Why? Well, for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Where does God dwell on earth?

He dwells in his temple. And where is his temple? You and I are that temple that God himself dwells in. Christ is the chief cornerstone, so he's the chief one that we build upon. The Bible shows us how to build upon him. So how is Jesus Christ the true foundation of the church? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that? How is he the true foundation? Turn over to chapter 5, chapter 5, beginning in verse 22. We find how Christ is the true foundation. There are many things revealed in the Bible about Jesus Christ, his role in the church. And one of them you find is that he is the head of the church. As we read here, wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church.

So Jesus Christ is the head. Not a man, not another human being, but Jesus Christ.

So he's the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Not only is he the head to give directions, to guide, to lead, but he is also the savior. He's the one who has eventually been given the responsibility of bringing us into the family of God, working with the Father.

Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. So Jesus Christ directs the church, guides the church. He is the sure foundation of the church. If someone goes off and leaves the church, it's not Christ's fault.

It is not a faulty building process on his part. The fault lies with us, but not building properly. One of the things that we need to always ask ourselves is, am I building the right character? Am I building the right type of holy, righteous character that God wants me to? Am I building on the right foundation?

Jesus Christ constructs the church. You see, it's his job to build and to develop the membership in the church. In Matthew 16, 18, let's turn back to Matthew 16 and verse 18, and you'll notice here what Jesus Christ states.

He says, I also say to you that you're Peter, and on this rock, we know that Peter's name means rock, but it's Petros, a little small pebble, a little rock. But on this rock, on this Petra, this Craig of the Rock, I will build my church. Who is that rock, that Petra, that big huge rock that the church is built on? Well, it's Jesus Christ. He's the foundation. He's the head. He's the one on which the church is built. And notice what he says. If that church is built on that rock, then the gates of Hades, the gates of hell or the grave, shall not prevail against it. That church will endure. That church will last.

That church will remain. And not only will it remain, it will continue to grow.

But again, the whole key is that it's got to be built on the rock.

Not on our own ideas. I've seen people come into the church, and they come in with certain ideas, certain philosophies, certain approaches. In many cases, they never give those up.

They keep pushing, promulgating their own ideas or their own thoughts or their own philosophies.

In the past, we've called those babies. They have a baby, and they want everybody to look at the baby and claim it's beautiful. When it's not, and they're trying to sell people on their own ideas.

The only rock that we can build on is Christ, and He is the rock.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, beginning in verse 1, I want you to notice here what the Bible clearly reveals about if we build on the proper foundation, what will eventually take place. Verse 1 says, where we know that if our earthly house, this tent, talking about this human body, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, a spiritual body that God is going to give to us. For in this, we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven. We desire to have that spiritual body. Do not all of us wish that the resurrection would come quickly, resurrection would take place, that we'd no longer have to contend with this flesh, this body, and all the pools that we have with it. He goes on to say in verse 3, if indeed, having been clothed, you shall not be found naked.

For we who are in this tent groan, as in this human body, we groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, not just because we want to get rid of this body, but further clothed. We want a new body that mortality may be swallowed up by life, that this mortal body might put on immortality, as 1 Corinthians 15 says. Now, he who has prepared us for this very thing is God. So God is in the process of preparing us. Rather than you are a work in motion, in action, you are being prepared for this very thing. And it's God who is doing this. He's the one who is working with us, developing his character, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So the Spirit of God has been given to us as the earnest.

The fact that you have God's Spirit dwelling within you is the earnest. It's a guarantee that you will have a spirit body eventually. And so, therefore, we go on to see. So we are always confident, knowing that while we're at home in the body, in this physical flesh, we're absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Now, when you tie in verse 7 with what we read before, we quote verse 7 all the time, but we walk by faith. We have faith that what God has promised, what he said he would do, that he would give us the Spirit body, and that one day we will be clothed with it. And we have an absolute guarantee from him. We look forward to that time when we will have that Spirit body. But God is in the process right now of preparing us.

You feel like you're being prepared, that you're being gotten ready. Well, that's what God is doing, and that's what we should be doing as far as developing God's character. In Hebrews 12 and verse 2, we find that again Jesus Christ, one of his major duties, is fulfilling this.

Hebrews 12. Well, let's begin in verse 1.

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author, that means the originator, and the finisher of our faith. So he's the author, he's the finisher, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. So one of the things that shows that Jesus Christ is the foundation is the fact that he is the one who has begun this process in us, he is the one who will finish this process.

So if you've received the Holy Spirit, God has begun the process. If you haven't been baptized yet, well, you're over here at the beginning stage where God is beginning this. He's starting to write in your life, so to speak, and he will complete it, finish it, he will perfect you. So he begins the process, he will end the process, and the process will end with our being born into the family of God. Now I want you to notice some prophecies in the Old Testament, and we'll come back to the New Testament because these are quoted quite extensively, actually, in the New Testament back in Genesis 49 and verse 24. If you remember the story, chapter 49 talks about what's going to happen to the sons of Jacob in the last days. In verse 24, talking about Joseph here, his bowl remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. So we find that today our ascending to the greatest nation on the earth, with the power, the wealth, the might that we've had, is not our doing. It's because of the mighty God of Jacob. And then it goes on to say, from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.

And what does that mean? From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Well, in the NIV 1984 translation, I want you to notice how it translates this verse 24. It says, his bowl remained steady, and his arm stayed limber because of the hand of the mighty one of Jacob, because of the shepherd, the rock of Israel. So we find that God, the rock of Israel, is the one who has given us, here in the end time, our preeminence. He is the one who has helped us. He's called also the mighty one of Jacob. And of course, that's God. The modern descendants of Israel remained in power because of the help and the assistance that the rock of Israel has given.

The U.S. started it as a nation by acknowledging God as our provider and our blesser.

The early leaders of this nation fully comprehended and realized and acknowledged God as a source of strength and help. Notice how far we've degenerated today. Notice how far we've come today. Or, I should say, not come. How far astray we have gone. Many of you may have a copy of this book mentioned a couple years ago at the Feast of Tabernacles in Panama City, titled A Miracle That Changed the World, The Five Thousand Year Leap. And I'd like to quote the book on page 75. There are 28 basic principles outlined here that this nation was founded upon.

The fourth principle had to do with religion. And I'll just quote a little bit of this. But it says, the Americans of the 20th century often fail to realize the supreme importance which the Founding Fathers originally attached to the role of religion in the structure of the unique civilization that they hoped would emerge as the first free people in the modern times. Many Americans also fail to realize that the founders felt the role of religion would be as important in our own day as it was in theirs. In 1787, the very year the Constitution was written and approved by Congress, I've seen Congress pass the famous Northwest Ordinance.

In it, they emphasize the essential need to teach religion and morality in the schools.

Now today, you can't teach religion. Well, I'll back up. You can't teach Christianity.

You can teach Buddhism. You can teach Islam. You can teach Hinduism. You can teach almost anything, not Christianity. It says, here is what they said, quoting Article 3, out of this, religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools, in the means of education, shall forever be encouraged.

Whereas the original schools in this country were established, basically as a religious institution, to teach morality, to teach spiritual knowledge, to teach religion. George Washington says, the position set forth in the Northwest Ordinance was re-emphasized by President George Washington in his farewell address when he stated, of all of the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports, and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.

There are those today who want to tell us you can be a moral people without religion.

He didn't use these words, but Balderdash, you know, I mean, that's in essence what he's saying Reason and experience both forbid us to expect the national morality can prevail to the exclusion of religious principles. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is necessarily a spring of popular government. The government without religion, without morality, in essence, he was saying is doomed to fail. And even Benjamin Franklin, who many would say was very non-religious, mentioned five fundamental points concerning religion. This is a letter that he wrote to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University, when he said, here is my creed, Benjamin Franklin. I believe in one God, the creator of the universe, that he governs it by Providence, that he ought to be worshiped, that the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to other children, or is to love your neighbors yourself, that the soul of man is immortal. Now, we would argue with him over that.

And we'll be treated with justice and another life with respecting its conduct in this. So he expected to live into the future. These, I take to be the fundamental points of all sound religion. So he had his foibles, but he also had some very strong opinions about religion. You find all of the early leaders of this nation felt this way. And, brethren, we have deviated so far from it that religion, when this nation was first founded, that the religion, you'll be what they called natural law, which was the law of God, that they felt that that law was a foundation on which everything should be built. And we have gotten so far away from that. And in so doing, our nation we see begin to crumble economically, militarily, morally. Any way you want to look at it, we're beginning to fall apart, and we're beginning to lose our dominance and the preeminence that we have had. And it's because we are no longer looking to the rock of Israel to lead us and to guide us, as we read here in verse 24. We're not looking to the hand of the mighty God to guide us. But you and I within God's church, if we look to God, if we are building on that rock, then we will endure, no matter what comes in the future, no matter what trial we might be faced with, what crisis might occur. We will stand solid. In 2 Samuel 23, verse 1, David acknowledged this when he hears some of his final words. He says, Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David, the son of Jesse. Thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. Verse 2, The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The rock of Israel spoke to me.

So the God of Israel and the rock of Israel are the same. He who rules over man must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like a light of the morning when the sun rises.

And then he goes on to talk about the covenant that God had established.

We have survived as a nation because of God's protection and God's blessing. And the history of ancient Israel, which occurs over and over again, is like a broken record. They obeyed God, he blessed them. That generation died, a new generation comes along. They forgot God, they went back into captivity. And God would have to raise up a new leader to bring them back out. And it just happened over and over and over again.

Brethren, you and I must learn a very valuable lesson from history, from the Bible, from our own experiences. And that is, anybody who relies upon his own ability, his own talent, his own skills, his own mind, his own thinking, his own reasoning, however you want to express that, will fail, will not endure, because that's not the right foundation. The foundation is Jesus Christ. He's the rock. He's the one we build on. And as the Bible says, no other foundation can be laid.

He is the true foundation. In the Rock of Israel, we today are spiritual Israel. And just like ancient Israel was built on the rock, so we must today, as the spiritual Israel of God, the people of God be built on that same rock. Isaiah chapter 8. Two or three of these scriptures are put together and quoted quite extensively in the New Testament. In Isaiah chapter 8, beginning in verse 11, you find what the leaders of ancient Israel did, what the leaders in the New Testament did. The Lord spoke thus to me, verse 11, chapter 8, with a strong hand and instructed me that I should walk in the way, I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, do not say a conspiracy concerning all that the people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.

The Lord of hosts him you shall hallow, let him be your fear, let him be your dread.

He will be a sanctuary, God says. He's the one, you know, the temple, the sanctuary, the building that we can go to and rely upon, but also a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the house of Israel and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken. But what does God say? Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples, and I will wait on the Lord who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. So, brethren, this testimony, this Bible, is what we build upon, and there are those, the leaders of Israel, who stumble over the rock of Israel. In Psalm 118, verse 22, you find both of these scriptures quoted in the New Testament. Sometimes they're put together and quoted. In Psalm 118, verse 22, let's notice.

It says, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. So there is a stone that people stumble over. They fall over.

Now, we realize that too often in the world when people are exposed to God's way of life, they stumble over it, don't they? They stumble over the Sabbath day. They stumble over the fact that they have to pay a tithe, and they learn about a festival tithe. They stumble over whether they should eat clean, unclean meats. They stumble over a lot of things. But those who know God's way stumble and fall. They rejected Jesus Christ, the leader of Israel in the Old Testament. He was called the rock, you know, God of the Old Testament, and they rejected Jesus Christ when he came in the flesh when he was here on the earth. And yet he is the chief cornerstone on which we build our lives. In Matthew 21, verse 33, Matthew chapter 21, and you can read this in most of the Gospel accounts. In chapter 21, verse 33, we have here the parable of the wicked vine dressers.

It says, now here another parable. There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower. He leased it to vine dressers and went to a far country. Now when the vine, when the vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the vine dresser that they might receive its fruit. And the vine dressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, stoned another. Now this is what happened to the prophets. God sent the prophets, his leaders to them, and they killed them, stoned them. And again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then last of all, he sent his son, sent Jesus Christ to them, saying, They will respect my son. But when the vine dresser saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and seize the inheritance.

So they took him, cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vine comes, what will he do to those vine dressers? They said to him, While he will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vine dressers who will render to him the fruit of their seasons. And Jesus said to them, Have you not read in the scripture the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you. In other words, you had the first shot here. You've been the ones, Israel, Judah, that God's worked with, that will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruit of it.

Now, that's a very important scripture. What is God looking for in Israel? Well, among us today, spiritual Israel, God says, The kingdom will be given to those who are bearing the fruits of it, who are bearing the proper fruits, and whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whom it falls, it will grind him the powder. And so God Almighty is looking for those who will bear fruit. You and I must be converted, and we must build our lives on that stone. But for those who are defiant, those who are not willing to do so and want their own way, they will be crushed and ground by them. Now, you'll notice here when the chief priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they proceeded with speaking about them. They got really upset over that because he was always speaking about them. And when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a profit. So they didn't do anything, but they began to plan, hatch schemes to have him killed. Now, in 1 Peter 2 and verse 4, 1 Peter 2 and verse 4, we find how this applies to us today. In chapter 2, beginning in verse 4, coming to him as to a living stone. So you and I come to Jesus Christ. He is a living stone.

He's the head of the church. He's not dead. He's active. He's our high priest. He's the one who has made it possible for us to be here. So coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. So Jesus Christ is precious. Who also, and you also as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. So we are spiritual stones that we're being added to this temple. We are a holy priesthood. Why? To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable through God, or to God, through Jesus Christ. So you and I are part of this temple. We're a holy priesthood, and the job of the priesthood was to offer up sacrifices. So God has called us today to offer up spiritual sacrifices. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. You and I believe. We have faith. We have confidence. So therefore, we won't be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble over Christ and his way. They stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation.

So notice how the Church is described. Chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who have not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Verse 10. You can go back and read the whole book of Hosea. God rejected Israel and he said, lo, Ruthamah, not my people. Lo am I, not having mercy. And then later on at the end of the book he said, you are my people.

I have extended mercy to you. Whole book could be summarized under that. That is quoted here, or referred to here, that in the past we had not obtained mercy but now we have obtained mercy. And eventually that will pertain to the whole world. So Jesus Christ is that foundation. You and I are living stones. We're not dead stones. We're living stones. We're alive. We have a purpose. God has called us. We're a holy priesthood. We are to be offering up spiritual sacrifices. Back up here just a couple of pages. Chapter 13 of the book of Hebrews, beginning in verse 8. Hebrews 13 verse 8. We find the spiritual sacrifices that we are to offer up.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrine, for it is good that the heart be established. So God wants us to be established by grace, not by foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat, talking about the physical priesthood. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also might sanctify people, in other words, set us apart with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. So you and I may bear the reproach of Christ. We may be persecuted for what we believe. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

Therefore, by him, let us continually offer up, number one, the sacrifice of praise to God.

So that's a sacrifice we offer up to God. We should do it daily in our prayers.

That is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name, honoring God and praising God. But do not forget to do good and to share to give. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

Now, it would be interesting if you want to do a good Bible study. Just go through the New Testament and look up wherever it talks about sacrifices and the spiritual sacrifices that you and I are to offer up. So we have been called to offer up those spiritual sacrifices. Now, in Matthew 7 in verse 24, we find vividly illustrated for us here in Matthew 7, 24, why it is absolutely important for us to build on that rock. It says, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, so you hear, you read, you do.

And the emphasis is on the doing. I will liken him to a wise man to build his house on the rock.

The rains descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Brethren, if we expect to stand and not fall, what is the key? We have to do what we hear, what we read. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is the doers who will be justified, not the hearers we have to obey. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who builds his house on the sand.

Luke says, build his house on the earth. The rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

So you and I can fall. We can fail. We have to constantly be building on the rock.

We can never give up Christ as the foundation. We build on a strong foundation through the word of God and through prayer. So the word of God is part of what we're building upon.

We're built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Remember Ephesians 2, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 4, I won't read that, but Ephesians 4 talks, people can be blown about the wind of darkness. So I've seen people, body columns, something new. Oh, is that right? And they believe that, and somebody else comes along. Oh, you don't say so. They don't know what they believe. They don't have roots that go down. They don't have pilings that have been driven into the ground to where they're not going to be moved. You know, that they're there. They're solid. Can somebody come along and move you from the Sabbath day, the Holy Days, God's law, tell you it's okay? You might remember back in 95, a tape came out into 94, played for a couple hours. We had people walk out of church who had been there for 20, 30 years, keeping the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and immediately went out and started eating unclean foods and stopped keeping the Sabbath. You ask yourself why? Something was wrong. Didn't they believe what they had professed to be practicing all of their lives? How many of us have heard the expression, the Word of God is the foundation of all knowledge? It used to be etched into the stone at Ambassador Hall. Word of God, the foundation of all knowledge. We have the same thing in front of the building. I think they're in Cincinnati. Our values and our principles must sink down deep, and they must be more than skin deep. They must be etched in stone. They must be written in our hearts, as the Bible says back in the book of Hebrews, that these things are written in our minds, in our hearts. Not just on tablets, not just because we memorize them. They become a part of us. They are what we are. They are part of us, and we are built upon that.

Why is it some people can have their faith shaken almost immediately? When Herbert Armstrong died, there was terrible. He left the church. Why? Well, they thought, God's not going to let this man die before Christ comes back. They had a false premise that we're building on a wrong foundation, or they were looking to the man.

We have members who leave the church and say, I'll never trust a man again. What does that tell me? Well, it tells me they were looking to a man.

They were not looking to God. They were looking to a man.

What a man does has nothing to do with what God says. That's why this Bible is so important.

And, brethren, we can't look to a man. I've had people say, well, you know, I have so much faith, so much confidence, so much trust. And you can put a man's name in there. Peter, Paul, Cephas, Barnabas, Matthew, whoever it might be. And so, therefore, they leave where they say, this person is a friend. I draw a line right down where God's law is. You keep God's law fine. You don't. I'm not going to follow you one step. My wife told me that on so many occasions. I can almost dream it. She said, don't you dare go off. Don't you think that I'm going to follow you?

Buddy, you've got another thing coming. She wouldn't follow me one inch going off in the wrong direction because it's not her following me. It's her following Christ. It's not me following another man. It's me following Christ. He is the foundation on which everything is built.

We're not looking to a man. The Bible says, don't trust any man. If a man follows Christ, certainly you can look to them in confidence as long as they do that.

Where is our foundation, brethren? Where is our roots? Let's go back to 2 Timothy 2 Timothy 2 and verse 14. 2 Timothy 2.14 It says, Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord, not to strive about words to no prophet, to the ruin of the hearers.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, so you and I have to rightly divide God's word, the shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

And their message will spread like cancer. So back at this time, there was Hymenus and Phylatus, who were spreading in the church, just like a cancer, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already passed and they have overthrown the faith of the Son. Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands. So here's the solid foundation, having this seal that the Lord knows those who are His.

God isn't doubting who are His, so He says, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So we can have total faith and confidence that God knows that we are His, that we are His children. Our God is in charge. He's still alive. He still rules the universe. He lives in us. He lives in His church. We look to Him to lead us and guide us. We must be grounded in that knowledge. We must be grounded in His word. We must bear fruit. We must bring forth spiritual sacrifices and have our fundamental values and everything that we believe, based here, and etched in our lives, etched in our minds, so that they cannot be taken from us.

Because, believe me, all of us will be tried before the end, one way or the other, if we will give up, if we will quit, if we will throw in the towel, whether it's by martyrdom or trial tests, whatever it is. So there's only one foundation for us to build on, to stand on, to rely upon, and that is Jesus Christ.