160: James Diliberto - Foundations: Solid Rock in a World of Sand

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

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   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. This week, we're listening to a talk that was recommended to us that was given at the International CYC this past year, given by Brother James DiLiberto on the subject of foundations. Now, unfortunately, when I was originally listening to this class, the audio and Zoom is a little rough, both because of just Zoom and also the microphone that was being used by Brother James was a little rough.

3. 1:13

   But fortunately, when James was helping out during the month of July as our guest host, he noticed that we had this class and had a different recording that was given at the Melbourne School of the Prophets weekend back in May of 2020. So this class was given right at the start of when all the pandemic and lockdown stuff was happening in Australia and is pretty much the same class as the one that he gave at the International CYC.

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   It's a fantastic class. Brother James does a really good job pulling in some personal stories from his history, as well as just a good reminder of how life events can serve to remind us of where we're setting our foundations. So this was an excellent class. I really enjoyed it. Thanks, Brother James, for providing a slightly better audio copy that we can share with everyone on the podcast.

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   So as always, thank you for the recommendations and suggestions that everyone sends in and the encouragement we get. We hope everyone is enjoying the classes that are being posted and also the social media content that's being put out there to remind you of the classes that are out there. So with that, I'll turn it over to Brother James DiLiberto for his class Foundations, Solid Rock in a World of Sand.

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   Some of you guys won't know this, but I grew up in New York City. And growing up as a kid, I got to see a lot of foundations built. I remember as a child standing over large digs where my grandfather and his team of helpers used to lay cinder blocks. I don't know if they call it that in Australia, but cinder blocks cementing.

7. 2:42

   And years earlier, he and the rest of his nine-person Italian family actually built our ecclesial hall, much like this one that we're in tonight. The North Jersey Ecclesia, that was just before World War II. And like most of the old world Italians in that era, he was a tradesman or a tradie. And as a stonemasonry company, the DiLiberto Construction Company ran for generations.

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   I actually don't have a shirt from that era, but I actually wore one of them today. It's still sort of going in our family. And the family, like it does today, employed many brothers and they all got together. And behind me here is actually an old photo of their masonry truck at an ecclesial outing in the park.

9. 3:28

   And I remember this carried on for years. And I remember as a kid them using these skills in ecclesial life. And I remember a story of my Uncle Tony, who one time had a cabin porch at our ecclesial camp. And it was sort of sagging on one side. And he recognized it because every Sunday afternoon they have pasta.

10. 3:49

    And his spaghetti was sliding off the plate. So he said, I got to do something about this. And he went outside, got in his Cadillac, tied a rope to his back bumper, and tied it around the foundation's cinder block underneath his porch. And of course, then he pulled it into place to save his spaghetti maranade.

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    And many things could have gone wrong there, of course, but it worked. Now, why did that work? Well, it worked because the issue was the foundation was out. And when the foundation is out, it could no longer support the weight of the cabin. How did you get the foundation back in place? Now, you got to remember, this is the same guy whose brother, Uncle Louie, he used to keep his car bumper on with 10 rolls of duct tape.

12. 4:40

    So it gives you an idea. It's true. This is how those guys were. But they did what they could. They did what they needed to do. And in that moment, they really had to rescue that foundation and their spaghetti. Now, tell that as a story, but that's not just a World War II story or a story from when I was a kid.

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    But even last year, many of you guys might remember the story. It was all over the news in Australia. I don't know if it made it overseas. The Sydney Opal Tower. The structural foundation was questionable. There was some issues, some cracks. And therefore, it threatened the whole building. And yes, cracks in a foundation can be much worse than sliding pasta.

14. 5:18

    Cracks in a foundation, guys, can be a matter of life and death. Last winter in my own house here in Australia, we actually had an issue. Our old house had terracotta tiles on the roof. Some of you guys might have that at your own house. And some of the tiles began to slide off of the edge of the house, very close to actually where Charlotte puts the kids into the car.

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    I mean, this could be a life-threatening situation. When I got it out, I looked at it, got the insurance people out, and they looked at it. And instead of being a problem with the roof, it was actually a problem with the foundation. You see, what had happened was when they re-stumped the house, they had to re-prop up the house at the foundation.

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    But because that was out, it actually affected the roof. Why is that important? Why is that important? Foolish builders. Now, often when you read to kids, you kind of have to distill it down. They don't want word studies and strongs and Bible connections. They just say, hey, what does this mean? What does this story mean?

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    And I love when my children ask me that. Well, they asked me this question, what does this story mean? And I had to really think about that. Again, having done this study, I had a lot of thoughts in my head. But I had to explain, what was it about this foundation that mattered in the story that Jesus told?

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    Why was the one wise and the one was foolish? Well, remember that for John's study tomorrow morning. But you had to really break it down and ask yourself, why did Jesus talk about this in the parable? Well, he's using a common biblical illustration. The Bible actually has a lot to say about foundations.

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    I'm just going to give you a few examples. Of creation, the psalmist says, God has set the earth on its foundations. Why? So that it will never be moved. Isn't that the purpose of a foundation? You set something on a foundation so that it would not be moved. God did that with the earth at creation.

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    Yet in another psalm, the writer says, if the foundations are destroyed, going a bit deeper now, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Well, that's the whole purpose of a foundation. The concept here is, if a foundation is destroyed, not even the righteous can redeem the building. The foundations are everything.

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    Why? Well, a foundation requires investment in quality of material and quality of construction. Now, I'm not a construction guy. I've got to go to Luke for that. So he'll talk about that maybe on Sunday afternoon. But I know for a fact that when I've seen it in a cabin or in my house, if something's wrong with the foundation, there's almost nothing that can be done.

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    Whole houses, whole buildings get condemned if the foundation is wrong. Well, think about David's son. David's son had a job to build a great and mighty house, God's house. And it says of that, at the king's command, they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with dressed stones.

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    Guys, remember that. Remember that. Jesus is going to use that. Paul is going to use that. But this is how they built the temple. Great, costly stones to lay the foundation. These couldn't just be any stones. And in Ezra, when they laid the foundation the second time after the exile, it says, And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the Lord's house had been laid.

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    Guys, does God in his word really care about stones and buildings? Romans 15, verse 4. You probably had it in your memory verses. It says, Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. I believe that. And I believe that God left us a powerful message in these stories.

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    So much more than how to build an impressive temple. This weekend, at this school of the prophets, this weekend is all about our journey to the day when the Lord will appear for us. And we will have to ask ourselves the question, were we ready? Was our foundation ready? I've entitled this opening talk, Foundations.

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    Solid rock in a world of sand. And as many of us are feeling right now, the incredible instability, you probably have done it. You stand on sand. It's unstable. You can't get a good footing. This world right now is more unstable than it's ever been. And a little bit closer to home, guys, for many of you and for all of us really here, I mean, look at us.

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    We're in an empty hall right now. Our ecclesial life has been completely turned upside down. This pandemic has really disrupted and shaken the feet of so many. I hope, guys, that by the end of this study, when we go into our discussion groups, that we will be as wise. And as it is in that famous hymn, that we will be reminded that we will have been built on a rock that never can move.

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    In fact, there's actually a few hymns in our hymn book that mention this theme, including a very famous older hymn, which we'll mention sort of at the end. Hymn 204. Think about this. Hymn 204 says, Dear name, the rock on which I build, my shield, my hiding place, my never failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace.

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    In another classic old hymn, which some of you might actually know, it's not in our hymn book. Rock of ages. Rock of ages. Cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. These are all in line with how David felt about his stability, his personal stability, not the building. How he felt. This is what David says.

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    He says it twice in Psalm 62. He says, He, guys, only. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress, and I shall not be shaken like the earth. Remember? That's why God set the earth on its foundations. That it may never move. And David's saying, that could be me. That's what God wants to do for me.

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    He says, I'm going to read it one more time. He says, He only is my rock and my salvation. I shall not be shaken. Is that how you want to feel? That's what we're calling you guys toward this weekend. We want you to feel like you've evaluated your foundation. Shore up what might be out of place and cracked.

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    And really feel like we can stand and not be shaken. Not by this pandemic. Not by death. Not by the loss of your job. Not by the loss of your house. Nothing can shake us when we stand on God's foundation. You know, it's notable that David wrote this in this time. You know what's ironic about that?

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    Because at that time, the house of God was a tent. And the tabernacle actually had no foundation at all. Why? Because, young people, God was the foundation. And he knew that. And even Solomon, in building this beautiful temple, even Solomon knew that. He penned of his own life. Psalm 127, verse 1. Unless the Lord builds the house, those labor in vain who build it.

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    Those who build it labor in vain. He wasn't talking about his house. He was talking about the house of his life. And we need to go where God goes in building his house. Let me ask you this. What kind of foundation would the Lord God, our Heavenly Father, use for his projects? Including you and I.

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    Well, thankfully, the Bible provides a clear answer. Let's go to the beginning, the manifesto of the kingdom of God. Jesus Christ's speech when he opens his ministry to those people. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. And we're just going to read the first verse just to try to picture the scene.

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    Sometimes we can break down the Sermon on the Mount into all these fine details and forget to take it as a composite whole. So let's do that. Let's picture ourselves there. It says, Can you picture this scene? Got to remember at this time, when it says his disciples came to him, he actually only had four official disciples at this time.

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    Peter, James, John, and Andrew. That's it. Everybody else was like a grassroots following, trying to figure out who this guy was. We've got to listen to his teaching. He's got a lot to say. A lot of the Jews, some of the teachers of the law. Jesus in this Sermon on the Mount, the manifesto of the kingdom, he came here primarily to differentiate himself from the teachers of the law at this time.

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    As we're going to see in a second, they had their foundation somewhere else. And Jesus is going to do what Uncle Tony did with the Cadillac. He's going to back up the Cadillac, hook it onto the foundations, and he's going to put them back into place. That's what he's going to do in this Sermon on the Mount.

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    This was a paradigm shift. People never heard anything like this before. How do I know that? Let's look at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Let's look at chapter 7, right after this parable we're talking about tonight. Let's look at verses 28 and 29. It says, And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.

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    See the paradigm shift? Not as their scribes. He's going to use anecdotes that they can understand. He's going to use stories that they can relate to. And we're going to be talking all this weekend about parables that you and I can relate to. And that's no different from what it was for them.

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    The Lord, the master teacher. Now let's back up a few verses. He gives a lot of these anecdotes. And if you flick through the Sermon on the Mount, you know a lot of them. Loving your neighbor, the Beatitudes, making sure that your righteousness is better than the teachers of the law. Make sure you keep your oaths.

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    Make sure you don't retaliate. Give to those who are in need. Everybody's kind of going, you got to picture it, guys. They're all going like this, going, yeah, I get that. Yeah, I could do that. That sounds good. That's a pretty good platitude. And then he turns up the heat. Right before this parable, he's turning up the heat.

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    Look what happens in verse 12. He says, look, whatever you wish to do that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many.

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    For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Those who find it are few. People start going, oh, really? Only a few. Well, he raises the bar actually again in verses 21 to 23. And people are saying here, he's the Lord, he's the Lord.

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    It's so clear. Ah, verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out many demons in your name, do many mighty works in your name?

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    And I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Man, let's think about that. Were you ready? These people thought they were ready. That's the question we're trying to beg this whole weekend. Were you ready? And sometimes it takes a big shakeup like this for us to really honestly look ourselves in the mirror and ask that question.

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    So what was the major paradigm shift? Well, you might have missed it in those verses. The paradigm shift is, it was all about the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I know that? Well, let's think about it for one minute. First of all, he says, not everyone who says to me. On that day, many will say to me.

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    Depart from me. You see, they would have been expecting him to say God. Of course, in a way, he would have been correct. But the Lord has been exalted. He is in the place of judgment. God has committed all judgment to the Son, that all might honor him. And they were realizing that that teacher, that meek teacher standing before them, he was the way, the truth, and the life.

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    And it had to be through him. And that's why the master begins this most famous parable like this. So let's read the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Now, don't start singing, everybody. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does then, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

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    And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house. But it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

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    And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat against the house. And it fell, and great was the fall of it. Great was the fall of it. Were you ready?

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    I'm sure that he thought he was ready. But it wasn't until the rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, that it was manifest that he was ready. And guys, when the little pitter-patter of the trials come in our life, that's not going to reveal our foundations. Many unstable cabins and houses have made it through a pitter-patter of the rain.

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    But when a real shaking storm comes, that's when you know how strong the foundation is. And this is a kid's song, but it's a lesson for us. One of the things that kids don't appreciate is because they don't sort of know what it's like to live through a major storm or a hurricane.

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    Guys, look at the Bible closely here. This was not just any storm. And maybe it's how you're feeling right now. It says the rain fell, so that's from the top. The floods came from the bottom. And maybe it's because the kids' song rains came down and the floods came up. Well, they came up.

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    And then the winds come from the sides. Guys, this house is getting beaten on every side. And maybe that's how you feel right now. Maybe you feel like this whole thing is just hitting you from every side. Well, that's the time when your foundation is going to be revealed. And I think we can thank God for it.

56. 21:10

    We'll see that in a moment. So I want to ask you, how are you going in this pandemic? Are you feeling shaken? Are you feeling like you're getting hit on every side? Well, I know many of us have been. I want to ask you a question. This is the famous parable. This is one where the kid's song comes from.

57. 21:29

    This is the one that ends up in the kid's book. But do you know where else the Lord used this? Well, over time, as you know, Jesus actually developed his parables over time. And he used it again a second time. Not in the Sermon on the Mount, but the Sermon on the... Got a few people in the room.

58. 21:48

    Plane. That's right. You can only get it wrong. It's either on the mountain or the plain. So it's binary. If it's not here, it's going to be the plain. So Sermon on the Plane. He uses it again. Same structure. He finishes it. It's his capstone of his message when he's given this Sermon on the Plane.

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    But this time, he adds additional insight. Let's go to Luke chapter 6, verses 46 to 49. And this will be the compliment. And in your notes, this is where we've wanted you to do some Bible markings. Get some extra notes in here. Make the cross-references to Matthew. Because this part actually adds a whole lot more detail that we could use.

60. 22:26

    So Luke 6, 46 to 49. I'll read this version. Again, he's calling them to task. He's saying, you think this is easy? Let me tell you. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like.

61. 22:42

    He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose and the stream broke out against the house, it could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

62. 23:03

    When the stream broke out against it, immediately it fell. And again, the refrain and the ruin of that house was great. I'd like to call out a few additional details that come here. First of all, guys, did you notice in verse 48 that the man dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock?

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    That's missing from Matthew's account. The wise one who digs deep and lays the foundation on the rock, his house lasts. But, you know, did you notice that the rock was not on the surface? The rock was not obvious. The rock was not on the surface. They had to dig deep. There was distractions.

64. 23:43

    There was sand. He had to do some work to find the foundation. He had to dig deep. I think you can imagine they were both in the same location. Now, you imagine this. There's the one. They both start building at the same time. They're actually both on sand. Except one guy begins building immediately.

65. 24:02

    And the other guy says, hey, this is actually not good for building. I'm actually going to start digging deep. And I can't start building my life until I found the rock. Now, for you, young people, I don't know if you've begun to build your life now. And you haven't taken the time to dig deep and find the foundation.

66. 24:20

    Maybe that's why you're feeling shaken. Or are you like the other who says, I'm going to wait and I'm going to establish my foundations early. Time-wise, the other guy would have been way ahead of the first guy. He would have said, this guy hasn't even put his first block down. I'm already through to the first story.

67. 24:40

    Maybe he got some ridicule for that. Maybe he got laughed at while he's digging and he's digging. And it wasn't just digging a little. He had to dig deep. He's probably digging day after day after day. And he finally goes, boom, got it. Rock. Now I can start building. That's the wise man.

68. 24:58

    The foolish man got too hasty. In verse 48, it says about that storm that it could not shake it. Why? Because it had been well built. As for being built on a house, it was built on the ground without a foundation. Again, that's missing from Matthew's account. And when the stream broke out against it, so there's a hurricane, it broke out against it.

69. 25:26

    That means it happened suddenly. Guys, this pandemic, as Glenn said, this happened suddenly. That's sometimes how these storms come. It immediately broke out against the house. And immediately it fell. And how fast can our faith fall when we are not ready for it? And the ruin of our house could be great as well.

70. 25:45

    What a huge disappointment. So I want to ask you this question. Where did Jesus get this illustration? Well, I don't think he just made it up. He spent years and years meditating on the word of God from his father, whispered in his ear, morning by morning, and I believe he got this illustration from a passage about himself.

71. 26:06

    Isaiah chapter 28. Let's look at Isaiah 28 and let's look at verse 2. Now, there's a very important thing because we think about these storms. Well, we might say and describe them to the world or to work or to time and chance. You know, young guys, sometimes the storms that come actually come from God to reveal what you need to see.

72. 26:28

    Here's the testing of faith. Isaiah 28 verse 2, it says, Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong. Now watch this. Like a storm of hail, like a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters. There's Matthew, there's Luke. And he casts down to the earth with his hand. Now, how does God use that?

73. 26:54

    Well, look at verse 14. God doesn't bring a storm and not provide for a way to get through it. Look at verse 14. It starts with the word, therefore. Of course, the rest of this chapter describes what Israel was like at that time. But in verse 14, it says, Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem.

74. 27:15

    There's the teachers of the law. Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death. And with a shield, we have made agreement. And here's the storm again. And when an overwhelming whip passes through, they said, it will not come to us. For we have made lies our refuge. And in falsehood, we have taken shelter.

75. 27:34

    God knew that that was happening with the teachers of the law at the time of Christ. And that's why, again, an operative word in verse 16 says, therefore. Here's the Lord Jesus. Therefore, says the Lord God, behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.

76. 28:04

    And whoever believes will not be in haste. Did you notice that God provided? He laid the foundation. And do you notice the echoes to Solomon's temple? Tested, precious, and sure. That's what God has laid for you and for me. It reminds me of Psalm 118, verses 22 to 27, where this same image is borne out.

77. 28:34

    Psalm 118, verses 22 to 27. It says, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, O Lord. O Lord, we pray, give us success.

78. 29:01

    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and we will bless you from the house of the Lord. For the Lord is our God, and he has made us light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords. Tie it to the horns of the altar. They're ready to go.

79. 29:15

    God has given them a cornerstone, and we rejoice for the same reason. Israel didn't realize that they had not built on God's foundation, which was the Messiah. They had built on their own law, their own traditions. They had mixed it with worldly principles, the love of money, the love of praise of men.

80. 29:38

    And that was all sand that covered up what God had given to them. Unfortunately, that happened. And so the storm that God sends, he sends to reveal to them that this was what they had done. Young people, in this world of sinking sand and constant distractions, I want to ask you, will you with me dig deep to find the stone that God laid to build your life on the rock that only he can give?

81. 30:10

    What kind of sand is covering the Lord Jesus? What kind of sand is in your life that's keeping you from hearing those words he wants us to obey and live? Are you just wanting to get on with your life, grow up? Do you want to take the time to dig deep to find in your own soul what God has in store for you through these gospels?

82. 30:34

    Have you ever heard of the phrase house of cards? I'm going to put a picture up here. It's easy to understand what that means if you ever tried to build one. Well, this past Christmas, we did this activity with our kids. I don't know if you've ever tried to do it. It's like building a gingerbread house.

83. 30:49

    Now, first of all, I want to just, it never looks like the box. So just get that out of your mind. It never looks like the box. It ain't going to look like that. But let's say you're successful when you build one that stands up and that looks all fine. Well, it was quite funny.

84. 31:03

    I was really proud that we had reached like a half decent achievement. And then as soon as one of my children applied a little bit of pressure, the entire thing just came crashing down. Now, we ate the thing. It was fine. It doesn't really matter once you get it in your stomach. But it was so, it looked so good.

85. 31:21

    And the tiny little motion without the foundation, they give you those little plastic things that stand up. It never works. And down it comes. You know, in our Instagram snapped lives where we look perfect for everybody, we post it on Facebook and Instagram. We only post the best pictures. And you know, some of us have perfect looking Instagrams and lives that are absolutely falling apart.

86. 31:47

    When it comes time under strain and stress, how solid is your foundation? Will you be ready? Again, these trials are a pretest for us and they come from God because, guys, the big test is about to come. Are you ready for the big test? These little pandemics, this is nothing compared to the test of the judgment that's going to come.

87. 32:10

    When the real pressure is going to be applied and we're going to find out whether or not we have actually lived with a foundation of God's rock. Now, I didn't say that. Paul did. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 3, verses 9 to 15.

88. 32:28

    Paul knew the parable of the wise and foolish builders and he also knew Isaiah 28. And I think this is where he constructs this teaching. And this is the teaching that we all need here to begin this weekend. Verse 9 says this. Now, here's how Paul illustrates this. He says, According to the grace of God given me, like a master skilled builder, that's like Luke, I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it.

89. 33:08

    Let each take care how he builds upon it. Now, here's the lesson. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which has been laid, Isaiah 28, by God, which is Christ Jesus. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold or silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become manifest.

90. 33:36

    For the day will disclose it because it will be revealed, this time not by water, but by fire. By fire. By fire. And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. And here's the lesson. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.

91. 33:56

    And if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, even though through fire. So whether it's fire or water, young people, God wants us in the kingdom. He wants us to be there. And he's letting these trials come through now. So when the final test comes, we will be saved together as God's building.

92. 34:20

    So I want to just ask you some hard questions. And some of you guys that are listening are married. Some of you are single. Some of you are in school. I want to ask you a question. Maybe this will come out in the discussion groups with Robbie. We were talking about this earlier this week.

93. 34:37

    We want to ask, is there anything that you think maybe, just maybe, could be your foundation other than Christ Jesus today? That you might be standing on and hope for stability? Maybe it's your spouse. You know, Charlotte sometimes says, James, you're my rock. No, I'm not. I mean, I'm stable. I'm not a rock.

94. 35:00

    Don't call me that. He is. Your spouse is not your rock. He is. What about your career, your ambition, your reliance on getting a stable job? How's that looking for you right now? How about your psychologist or your counselor or your guidance counselor for those in the U.S. at school? Themselves, they're losing the plot.

95. 35:22

    They can't even figure it out right now. What about our religion? It's teachers. It's traditions. What about the divisions that are happening in our community? Is that going to shake you right now? We've got some major challenges right now. What about your ecclesia and the regular weekly activities? How's that going right now?

96. 35:37

    The rug, guys, has been completely pulled out from under our feet. Are we still standing? He hasn't gone anywhere. What about our Bible and its interpretations? Someone gives you a zinger and all of a sudden we think, oh, maybe I got, maybe it got that interpretation wrong. And then all of a sudden you start questioning your whole faith.

97. 35:55

    Guys, this is not the foundation. This is a tool to dig deep to get to him. This is a tool to dig deep and get to a person. Listen, all these things could be a false foundation and all of a sudden something shakes it and all of a sudden our life becomes unstable.

98. 36:13

    Or maybe it's people. I mean, you thought, oh, come on. Really, it's kind of the ecclesia and people. You think about the time when in Galatians 2 verse 9. You should have a picture on the screen here. I can only see green, but you should be able to see a picture. Okay, that's good.

99. 36:26

    So we think about this. When James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars. Yes, they're pillars, but they're not the foundation. Or you might be thinking about the ecclesia even itself. You think about in 1 Timothy 3 verse 15 in the King James Version. It says, the house of God, which is the ecclesia of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

100. 36:49

     You say, ah, see there? The ecclesia is the ground. Well, every other translation that's not the King James that takes that actually says buttress. So it's a pillar and buttress. You know what a buttress is? You should see it on the screen. It's the thing that holds up the roof. The pillar and buttress of the truth, but it's not the foundation.

101. 37:09

     This is strong or a support. It's not the same. Now, in fact, sometimes guys, the wall and the pillar can be confused with the foundation. Or the buttress can be confused with the foundation. And we start building on people. Well, what do we do when all of a sudden a brother falls from grace?

102. 37:27

     We hear it and we find out this brother fell from grace. Oh, our faith is all shaken. We used to love his talks. Well, that's okay. He's not the foundation. He was just a pillar. We got to prop him back up and get him back into place. But our faith is not shaken.

103. 37:43

     Or the ecclesia starts to get shaken. Our roof, like my roof, starts to get shaken. Stuff starts to fall apart. That's okay. He's still there. Let's restump it and get the roof back into place. Not the foundation. Christ, his words, and living his words in our life. That is our solid rock that God put there for us.

104. 38:07

     I want to tell you a story again. My father used to say, when you have a house, and Glenn builds houses and stuff, he understands this kind of stuff. Do you build houses? He does that. Glenn builds houses. I wasn't really sure. He builds buildings. He builds houses. We got builders in the room here.

105. 38:23

     I don't build nothing. I do coding. That's it. But let's just imagine this for a second. If you get the foundation wrong at the bottom by one centimeter, by the time you get to the roof 10 stories up, it's one meter wide. Guys, sometimes if we get the basis wrong, it only becomes manifest after years and years and years of building.

106. 38:45

     All of a sudden, our life is all out of kilter, and we start to wonder, what happened? Well, we got to go back to basics, and that's what we want to do first here in this study. So let's start to kind of wrap up our thoughts here. The concept here of God's foundation should be clear, and this is all through the Bible.

107. 39:03

     Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. Psalm 89, verse 14. Psalm 97, verse 2. And of our Lord Jesus, we think about it. Psalm 87, verse 1. His foundation is in the holy mountain. Remember Isaiah 28? It's forged in the fire of Zion. Before the foundation of the world, 1 Peter 1, verse 20, and nine other places.

108. 39:28

     Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock. He naught can move. God says, is there any God but me? No. There is no other rock. No, not any. In your own time, turn up Psalm 71, verses 1 through 6. There's a beautiful passage there about God being the rock.

109. 39:52

     So guys, let's just be clear. I'm thankful for our marriages, our ecclesias, our Bible schools, our MSOPs, our conferences. I'm thankful for these things. They are all there to support and buttress and hold us together. They are, in fact, important. They are the things that deposited, like this weekend for you. They deposited the nutrition and stability in my heart, which I needed later in life when things got rocky.

110. 40:21

     Guys, life is going to get hard, and this is where we derive our stuff. It's not that we don't need them, but the center needs to be Jesus Christ, our Lord, the rock that God paid the highest price to lay. Costly stones. Do you know what God paid to lay that foundation so we could build on it?

111. 40:40

     Are we going to walk away from what the price that God paid so we had the firmest foundation possible? Guys, maybe you're holding it all together right now. Maybe you guys are relying on other areas of your life to try to stay stable. One day, the feet's going to get kicked out from under you.

112. 40:57

     Guys, it happened to me. Maybe when my parents started to get a divorce, all of a sudden, the reliance on the stability of my parents, their teaching, their example. Thankfully, they had told me that they weren't the foundation, and I made it through. I don't know if it's a divorce or loss of a job or whatever it is that you're facing in your family.

113. 41:17

     Finally, I'm standing here telling you that we can make it through the storm. That great and mighty storm, you get hit on every side. When we're standing on him, we can make it instead of the fundamentally flawed structures. Now, what we need to do sometimes is we need to move those foundations, but we got to go slow because I don't want to be like that gingerbread house that fell.

114. 41:40

     You got to go slow. You got to be careful. You might need to prop it up in other ways while we reshift the foundation. It's very important. We can't use brute force. We need to be delicate because if we already have a person that's been built, there's a person there. We're not starting from scratch.

115. 41:57

     This calls for the wisdom of God. We need to move slowly sometimes. So let's wrap up with a couple of things that are just going to tie all these things together. This is precisely. Now, you thought we were only going to get one parable. I snuck one in, committee. Two for one here.

116. 42:15

     Parable of the sower. Can you believe that we didn't get that one? I snuck it in here, guys. Look at these echoes. These Bible echoes. Same lesson. Jesus is just repeating it in another story. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil.

117. 42:38

     Didn't dig deep. He has no root in himself. There's Christ. And immediately he falls away. Immediately the house fell. Same lesson. Different parable. This lines up precisely with Luke's take on the parable, who obviously includes the foolish builders. And the ones on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear the word, they receive it with joy.

118. 43:02

     But watch this. Because they have no root, they believe for a while. And in a time of testing, like right now, fire, the water, whatever it is, in a time of testing, they fall away. Same lesson. So let's think about that root. It's the same thing. It's got to be deep. It's got to be wide.

119. 43:23

     And the beautiful thing about a root, like a foundation, it's connected. I want you to try to imagine a city. All the buildings on the city street share the same foundation. Can you picture it in your mind? Imagine a foundation as far as you can see. And all these buildings are all built up on the street.

120. 43:38

     And they're all on the same foundation. That's us. We're all on the same foundation. Built up a building for God. There's only two things that can happen for us if we don't build on the rock, the cornerstone. Two things. It's either going to fall on us or we're going to trip on it.

121. 43:58

     It's going to crush us. Jesus said exactly that in Matthew 21. God laid the foundation and that stone is there for us to build on. But guys, if we're not ready and we don't build on that stone, pretty soon one day it's going to come back. And Jesus says in Matthew 21 verses 42 to 44 exactly what will happen.

122. 44:20

     Jesus said to them, have you never heard the scriptures? This is the one we just read in Isaiah 28. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people producing its fruits.

123. 44:40

     And the one on whom this stone, the foundation stone, falls on. Imagine a foundation falling on you. You'd be toast. It'd be broken into pieces. And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. Now you understand why he said Jesus was not talking about a cornerstone this big. He's talking about a foundation stone.

124. 45:00

     We either build on it. And if we're ready, we can. Otherwise, it will come crush us. We will either become a pillar in God's temple founded on the rock, or it will break us into pieces and crush us into powder like Nebuchadnezzar's image. Remember Solomon's great costly stones? It's the Lord Jesus who was at great cost laid for us to be built up and to become a nourishing part of his body.

125. 45:28

     Let's look at something that he said to Peter, who is called rock. Matthew 16. So ironic that he says this to Peter. Matthew 16, verses 16 to 18. You thought it was a heavy storm. You thought it was a hurricane or a fire. Well, there's something worse than that that we're facing right now and the whole world is facing right now.

126. 45:51

     Matthew 16, verses 16 to 18. Jesus talking to Peter. We know this passage. He says, this is Simon Peter. He says, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered him and said, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

127. 46:19

     And I tell you, Peter, you are Peter. But it's not him that's the rock. On this rock, this fact that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. I will build my ecclesia. And guys, the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. This is not a storm prevailing or a fire.

128. 46:45

     Even death itself will not prevail. Nothing can shake the one who is built on that foundation. That is the rock on which Christ built his ecclesia. Are we going to build on something else? If we build upon God's son, not even death can prevail against us. This may not be apparent to you now, but it will be revealed in that final storm of judgment.

129. 47:11

     Are you ready? I'm going to quote from that old hymn I mentioned in my intro. I hope this is what you feel. And this is certainly what I feel. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

130. 47:31

     What will you do with God's solid rock? If you turn to 1 Peter 2, verses 2 to 8, read it in your own time. It's him. He built the solid rock. He's there. Go read it. We're there as being built up on him, through him, and for him. Christ is our founder. Who, guys, he himself in his life dug deep, found Zion's roots, and grafted himself in and became the root of David.

131. 48:02

     He laid the foundation at the cost of his own life. Hebrews 2, verse 10, 12, verse 2. I hope this will now come full circle for you. It says, he is the founder of our salvation. Not the author. The word means founder of our salvation. And in verse 12, verse 2, it says, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

132. 48:25

     We need a strong foundation. It's on the screen. We need a strong foundation, deep roots. Those are the two things we need. A strong foundation, deep roots. Lives intimately known and patterned on the life of God's son. Because one day soon it's going to come that the wicked will be overthrown and no more.

133. 48:46

     But the house of the righteous will stand. So young people, young brothers, we love you. And we are imparting this message to you because we want to be there in that day with you. We want to be ready with you. Built on that foundation.

134. 49:06

     Weep no more. Because the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered. Those old Italians and DiLiberto masonry. They didn't know much. They didn't have much. But they knew during their trial of their pandemic. Of 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in New York City. They didn't know much, but they knew this.

135. 49:37

     They turned up their hymn, 161, in their old hymn book. And they said the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is his new creation by water and the word. In love he came and sought her to be his holy bride. And with his own blood he bought her. And for her life he died.

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     If you haven't received that truth or perhaps need to receive it again. May we all find in him a root, a foundation. A solid rock in a world of sand.

137. 50:29

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138. 50:47

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139. 51:04

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     Or message us on any of our social media accounts. Thank you for listening. God bless. And talk to you next week.