What Kind of Foundation Do I Have?

Well, I want to thank Pastor Don for this opportunity that I have today.

It is always an honor and a privilege to be able to speak from the pulpit and to administer! the Word of God to you guys. And so I do thank you for that and I do wish on hearing about your stories and your endeavors here in China and I think we all do as well and as we anticipate that.

But we're going to be in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 today. So if you'll turn your Bibles that direction and as you're doing that, I'm going to pray. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, we just thank you for this day that you've given to us, this time that we have to be alive and to know you and to hear your words, dear Heavenly Father.

I would pray that you'll just speak to us today. Speak through me, Lord God, and just let these words that I say be your words and not my own, dear Heavenly Father, and just open our ears and just help us to learn.

It's in your name I pray, amen. Amen. All right, today we're going to be talking about how is your foundation and what type of foundation we have. And ultimately we're going to be moving and going towards the direction of our service towards the Lord Jesus Christ.

But before we get into our text, I have a little story. Mary and I, when we first got married, we lived in a small house. I mean, it was 980 square feet.

It was a small house and it was on Southview here in town. Now, this house had a huge backyard. Okay, and so we loved this area here is what we could afford.

The price was right. And so we got this house and I knew the owner before. And so it was, we got it at a very good price. Now, we did not have any children at the time, nor were children even thought of at the time.

And so we decided to, that we needed a dog. Actually, she decided we needed a dog. So we got a dog. And so then we decided that since we both worked, that we needed to have a dog house in the backyard so we could, wouldn't have to keep the dog in the house all day while we were at work and clean up messes when we got home.

So, instead of going to Walmart or Atwoods and buying a dog house, we decided, I decided, that we would build a dog house.

And so we built this dog house. Now, we designed this dog house and the way we started designing it is I had a scrap piece of plywood that was in our garage.

Now, it was a partial piece, but it was three feet by four feet. Now, we got a dog and the dog we got was a miniature schnauzer.

Miniature schnauzer, okay. Now, this base that we got, this three foot by four foot, is going to be the dimensions of our dog house.

And so we got this piece and we got other lumber and we came and we started building this dog house. Now, the front of this dog house, the door was one foot wide, one foot tall.

Okay. And so this dog had no problem getting into this dog house that we built. We built it two feet high. Okay. And then after that, we put a 12-12 pitch on it, which basically means that the roof was at a 45 degree angle.

I kid you not, when we were done building this house, it stood this tall. It was a doggy mansion. Okay. And we could have put three or four levels inside of this house if we chose to do so.

But we didn't do that. And so we got this thing together and I'm like, wow, this thing is big. Okay. And so we put the plywood on.

We framed it all. We've got the plywood on. We roofed it. We had just finished roofing our house. And so we had some leftover shingles. So we shingled it and it matched our house.

So we thought it was kind of cool. And then we, it's tough trying to find a good painter to paint a dog house. And we couldn't find one anywhere, so I had to do it myself.

And so we painted this dog house. And then we go to lift this dog house. I can't move it.

I can pick one end up and that's it. I can't even scoot this thing. So Mary and I both, we get on this thing and we pick it up. And we slowly edge this dog house over to where we are going to put it.

And we had a nice big tree in the backyard and so we put it by the tree which was by our detached garage. Now, there's one thing that we didn't do with this dog house.

And that was a foundation. We did not put a foundation for our dog house. Later when, many years after we had been married, we found out we were with child.

And so we're like, we're going to have to move. We're cramped as it is, just the two of us in this small house. So we bought a bigger house and our neighbor says, hey, are you taking that dog house with you?

And we're like, no, we're going to leave it. And so he says, hey, do you mind if I have it? So we transported it from our yard to his yard. Okay, so it was able to move.

It didn't have a foundation. Now let's get into our text today. Verse 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, it says this. According to the grace of God, which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building on it.

Each man must be careful how he builds on it. All right, and so here, Paul is saying by the grace of God that he is like a wise master builder.

Now, we need to understand what a wise master builder or a master builder is. Okay, and back in the time of Paul's day and Jesus' time, it was different from where it is now.

The master builder was the architect, the designer, the mason, the carpenter, the framer. They did everything. They were there at the start of the job. They were there at the finish of the job.

It was their job. This is what a master builder would do today. Of course, we have architects. There's one group. We have contractors. Another group, framers, and so on.

We divided it all out. But back then, the same person did all the work. And so he says here, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation.

And of course, I was not wise when I built the doghouse. I didn't build a foundation. But Paul says, I built a foundation. I laid a foundation. The first thing that you're going to do if you're a wise master builder is you're going to have a foundation.

The foundation is important to us. We have to have that security. We need that strength for our house. If we don't have that strength, then our house is going to fall.

It's going to tumble down. It's going to fall apart. And so he says right there, according to the grace of God which is given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid the foundation, and another is building upon it.

So Paul is saying that I have laid the groundwork. I've done the groundwork, and another person is going to build upon it. Now, Paul, by the grace of God, was a missionary to the Gentiles.

And so his job there and what God has called him to do was to go out there. He went to the Gentile nations, and he preached the word of God.

He gathered a church. He always went to the synagogue first, but then they usually rejected him, and he gathered a church together. Now, he would raise up a person to disciple, and they would go and lead the church.

And he would go on and do the same thing. He would repeat himself over and over again. So he lays the foundation, and another person is building upon it. So other people are going to be preaching, and they're going to talk to them.

So they're the ones who are building upon this foundation. In verse 11, he says this. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So now he talks about this foundation that he has laid. Now, Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church, the church there in Corinth. Now, they were having some problems at the time.

If you go on to read this letter, you'll find, or starting in the beginning of the chapter, or beginning of the book, you'll find that these problems they're having, they're throwing aside the grace of God.

They're fighting. They're quarreling with one another. They're not acting like Christians at all. And so this is what is going on here at this point in time.

Now, what does it mean to have Jesus Christ as our foundation? He says right there, that no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So what does that mean? Does anybody, can anybody quote for me John 14, 6? What does it say? That's right.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. Guys, there's only one way to heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ. You see, we have chose to sin.

And because of our sin, we have rebelled against God. Okay, we've turned our back to him, gone the other way. The Bible says that we are born dead in our trespasses and sin.

Okay, and so we have chose to sin. We've chose to reject God himself, and he's the one who created us. Now, this didn't catch God off guard. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, it didn't surprise him in any way, shape, or form.

But he always had a plan, and that plan was Jesus Christ. From day one, that was his plan. Okay, and so Jesus Christ is fully God, fully man.

He comes to earth, and I love Hebrews 4, 15. Does anybody, just curious, anybody know that one? Hebrews 4, 15? He was tempted in every way as you and I are, yet is what?

Without sin. Okay, and so here Christ comes, and he lives the life that we live. He's tempted just as you and I are, in every way, shape, and form, yet Christ is without sin.

And because Christ is without sin, he is able to lay down his life, as he says. I lay it down freely. No one takes it from me. Okay, he lays down this life.

And by doing that, we are able to have this relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, Ephesians 1, 1 to 3, talks about our life before Christ. The way we used to be.

The way we used to walk. Okay, and how we followed after the prince of the power of the air, which is Satan himself. Okay, as we walked in this direction. But then we have that wonderful verse, in verse 4 of Ephesians 1.

It says, But God, who is rich in mercy, made you alive. You see, and so Christ makes us alive, and now we have this new life. No longer are we walking in this direction, in this way, serving ourselves, and living the life of sin.

But now we can walk in this direction where we can serve God. You see, it is all through the work of Jesus Christ that we are able to do that. And so he sends his son, Jesus Christ, to satisfy the wrath of God, to buy us back, to redeem us.

Okay, and this is the purpose there of Christ. And so Jesus Christ is the only foundation. Okay, and so this is what he means to have Christ as the only foundation.

Now, no other person has lived the holy and perfect life. Therefore, it is only Jesus Christ that we can have salvation.

I will be called many names. And you will too, if you believe that. But that is alright. The world says that there are many destinations to heaven. There are many different pathways in which we can receive everlasting life.

I'm here to tell you, it's not true. Which brings up another question. Absolute truth. Is there such thing as absolute truth? What is absolute truth?

Well, absolute truth is the same truth is true for everybody, male, female, young, old, everywhere. So what the truth for me in living in Oklahoma will be the same truth for a woman in Ukraine.

Okay, and that truth is that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. That is absolute truth. But we live in a world that says there is no such thing as absolute truth.

But I'm here to tell you, the Bible is right and they are not. They are wrong. There is such thing as absolute truth. And Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.

Jesus Christ is also the only foundation. If you'll turn with me to Matthew chapter 7. This is a very famous passage, verses 24 to 27. If you grew up in church, in Sunday school, you sung songs about this passage here.

Matthew 7, 24. Therefore, in this parable of the two builders, Jesus says this. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them, there's the key, may be compared to the wise man who built his house upon the rock.

Then the rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house. And yet it did not fall, for they had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like the foolish man who has built his house on the sand. The rains fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

The rock is Jesus Christ. And this is what Paul was laying. This is the foundation that he is laying. That foundation is Christ and Christ alone.

And so when he says there, no man can lay a foundation other than one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. He is the only way into salvation. There are not many ways. There's only one way, and that is Christ and Christ alone.

And so verse 12, he goes and says this. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw.

Okay, and so we have this verse right here, and he talks about building upon this foundation that is already laid. The wise master builder laid it, and now there are six building materials that are laid in front of us.

And this is where our service towards Jesus Christ comes in. Well, we're going to use it as a service, but it's also of we need to be careful of who we have as our preachers as well.

Okay, so the preachers are the ones who are preaching from the pulpits. Okay, they're the ones who are administering the word of God. We need to make sure we have godly preachers. But we also need to be able to feed ourselves, okay, and to build our spiritual houses to Christ.

And so we have these six building materials, and they're divided into two groups of three. We have gold, silver, and precious stones right here.

Okay, now these are high quality materials. They've been refined by fire. All the impurities have been burnt out of them. They are solid. They are strong. They are durable.

And then we have over here, we have wood, hay, and straw. And so we have these are the inferior materials. These are the ones that won't last. They're weak.

They're unstable. Okay, and so we have these two groups sitting in front of us here. The foundation is already laid, and that foundation is Jesus Christ himself.

And now each man, now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each man's work will become evident.

For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. Okay, and so we have these two groups, and we have these materials laid in front of us.

And it talks about this day, and so it's talking about in the future when the last day will happen, when we will meet Christ. This day is going to come upon us, and everything that we have done, our service towards God, is going to be tested.

And he's going to test it here with fire, is what he is saying. And so what has happened is what we do now, what we focus on right here and now, how we choose to serve God now, is going to affect what the future is.

Not, let me rephrase that, not in salvation wise, but in our reward wise, and he gets to that in just a second. And so he says here, you know, he talks about these for the day will, it will be revealed with fire, become evident.

You see, our service towards Christ matters now. Now, the purpose of the fire is this. He gives us that, it says it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.

Okay, and so then there's going to be two options. There's two options which can take place, and verse 14 is the first one. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

Okay, so if we are building out of gold, silver, and precious stones, okay, if this is where our focus is, our service towards God. You see, God doesn't make us serve him.

We get to choose how we serve God. Okay, and through our love towards him. How are we serving him? Now, if we serve him, and we're building out of gold, silver, and precious stones, God's fire comes, it remains, and it says that we will receive a reward.

Now, many people have asked, what is that reward? Well, I don't know what this reward is. I'm going to tell you what it's not, though. This reward is not salvation.

This is not referring to salvation, because if we have Jesus Christ already as the foundation laid, we are already saved. Okay, and so to say that this is salvation means that we would believe in a work salvation.

Okay, that we'd have to do A, B, and C in order for salvation to happen. Well, the Bible speaks against that. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. For it is by grace that you are saved through faith.

These not of yourselves, grace and faith, they're not of yourselves. They are the gift of God. Not by works, so that no man could boast. You see, if I could earn salvation on my own, if I could do this program right here for salvation, then I could boast about what I have done.

And I could just say, hey, just do what I have done. And you too could be saved. No, that would be a work salvation. And it speaks against that. So the reward is not salvation.

Okay, we do know that it is an eternal reward, but I don't know exactly what this reward is. But I do know it is not salvation. Romans 8, 1 also says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

You see, if we are in Christ Jesus, we have that not guilty written upon us. Okay, so again, it is not talking about salvation.

But the reward is eternal reward. Now look at verse 15. Here's the other side. If any man's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss.

But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Okay, and so here, listen to me. This, in my personal opinion, is where the majority of American Christians are at.

This is where we stand. We are right here. Now what happens if our service to the Lord Jesus Christ is built out of wood, hay, and straw?

And this fire comes upon it. What happens? It's burnt up, right? What does that mean? What happens then, once it is burnt up?

He says he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved. So again, this goes back to the other verse, the previous verse. The reward is not salvation.

For this guy right here, who everything is burnt up, still has salvation. And of course, John 10. If you'll turn with me to John chapter 10.

This is one of my favorite passages. John chapter 10, 27 through 30.

He says this. He says, My sheep, they hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them, and they will what?

Never perish. And no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.

I and the Father are one. So here we have Jesus Christ giving us eternal life, giving us everlasting life, and we will never perish.

Okay? But we have this eternal life given to us, and no one can snatch them out of our hand. You see, it is Christ who saves us, and it is Christ who keeps us. Okay? And so this is important to know.

This is good to know. This is encouraging to know that, man, I've been saved by God, and I am kept by God for eternity. But here, back in verse 15 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3, If any man's work is burnt up, he will suffer loss.

He himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. That last phrase, so as through fire, I have people say, well, if it really doesn't matter if I serve God or not, if I'm still going to be saved, I mean, do I really need to do anything?

Well, yes, you need to do anything. Yes, you need to do something. We need to serve God. Okay? We need to love God and to serve Him the way that He desires us to go.

We need to seek after His direction and follow after His callings. It is important, because this last phrase right here, so as through the fire, is this. When we receive, get to heaven, and everything that we have, we've worked for, we've toiled for, is burnt up, it's gone, this is like God saying this, is saying, you know, you're here by the grace of God.

I know you, but you really don't know me. Okay? That is what it would be like saying. Okay? And so, yes, we need to have this service towards Jesus Christ, because we want to serve God.

And you notice that there is no reward given to this person right here. It doesn't mention any reward that was given, as it did in verse 14, for those who had their service towards Him. They received this eternal reward.

But this person here in verse 15, does not. Verses 16 and 17, it says this. It says, Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?

If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. So again, He calls us to be holy. The temple of God is holy, and that's what you are.

We should strive for this holiness. Now, verses in 16 and 17, this is a warning against those who are trying to destroy the church. But we are to live these holy lives.

Now, now that we see these materials in front of us, this gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, and we know that we are building our service towards God, our spiritual service building towards God, how do we use these materials?

Okay, we need to understand this. Now that we have these materials, and know that they're laid before us, how do we use them? Earlier, we discussed absolute truth, and that is Jesus Christ, how He is the only way to salvation.

Also, we have God's Word, which is absolute truth. And so, what we're going to do is, I'm going to go through the Bible, and I'm going to have three things, three services towards God.

There are many more, several more out there. Okay, but we're going to look at three services that we can do, that God commands us to do. And if you'll turn with me to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. Verses 7 and 8. This is the service of sanctification, or godliness, and holiness.

It says this, in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 7, For God has not called us to the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. Okay, God has not called us to the purpose of impurity.

God has not called us to live a life of sin. Okay, this is not what, the purpose that God has called us, but instead, He calls us into sanctification.

Other translations say godliness or holiness. Okay, this is why God has called us. We're to leave that state that we were in, and we're to follow Him.

We're to grow in Christ. And that's what sanctification is. Our growth in Jesus Christ. So, He who rejects this. So, the person who rejects the sanctification, their growth in Christ, is not rejecting man.

They're not rejecting Paul who wrote 1 Thessalonians. Okay, they're not rejecting me who's speaking today, but they're rejecting God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. So, our growth in Christ.

Now, let me ask you, how do we grow in Christ? If we are called to grow in Christ, we're called to grow in sanctification or holiness and godliness, how do we do that?

The best way to have a relationship with someone is communication, correct? God has given us His holy work.

Reading our Bibles is the best way to get to know God. If I'm supposed to strive to be like Christ, if I'm supposed to strive to become more and more like Him every day, then I should be able to get to know Him, right?

And the way I do that is by reading the Bible for myself. It is good to hear pastors preach. No doubt about it. Okay, it is a called position.

Okay, but it is also even better to do this yourself, to read the Bible for yourself. And we are called to do this. So, how many of us have our daily devotions?

how many of us are putting forth the effort to grow in Christ? If we're not having our daily devotions, then our sanctification is being built out of wood, hay, and straw.

Now, if we're having our devotions, we're building out of gold, silver, and precious stones. So, what is your spiritual building looking like?

Let's go to another one real quick. Let's go to Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. I know you guys could, many of you could even quote those two verses.

Matthew 28, 19 and 20 is the Great Commission. He says this, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. Lo, I'm with you always to the end of the age. Now, it says a couple of things there, but we're going to focus on discipleship.

It says, go and make disciples of all nations. So, discipleship. This is important. We are called to disciple one another.

Now, the navigators have penned a Timothy principle. principle. Okay, and so what the Timothy principle is, is you had Paul who taught Timothy.

He trained him to be a leader and to go out and to duplicate, to do the same thing. All right, and so Timothy goes out and he teaches somebody.

So what they're saying is, who is your Paul? Who's your mentor? Paul is the mentor. Okay, so who is mentoring you and then who is your Timothy? Who are you going out and mentoring?

Okay, and so this is the discipleship and this is one of the reasons why I think the American church is in a decline is because we're not discipling like we should. Okay, and so who is your Paul?

Who is your Timothy? Okay, and so if we're being discipled or we're discipling, if you're doing those things, we're building out of gold, silver, and precious stones.

If we're not being discipled and we're not discipling, then we're building out of wood, hay, and straw. So what is your spiritual building looking like so far?

And the last one I'm going to turn to is Acts 1.8. Again, it's another very familiar verse. In fact, I've heard it from this pulpit not horribly long ago.

But Acts 1.8 says this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both to Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and even the remotest parts of the earth.

Okay, and so we know this verse. It's even right there on that go sign, right there, 1.8, Acts 1.8. We know this verse. Okay, and so we're to go out and we're to witness, we're to evangelize.

God has called us to do these things. So how many of us have told a lost person about Jesus Christ? I know it can be, we think it's scary, but actually it's not as scary as you think it is once you're out there doing it.

Okay, but you're out there and you can tell people about Christ. Guys, we have the cure to the disease. The disease is sending us straight to the pits of hell. And we have that cure which is Jesus Christ.

If we had the cure for cancer, if you came up with that cure for cancer, would you share that cure? Of course you would. Okay, you would want to go out of your way to share the cure for cancer.

Guys, we have the cure for eternal separation from God. God. That is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. So we should be sharing this great news.

This is another reason why the American church is in a decline. We don't evangelize the way we should. So how many people have told a lost person about Christ this year?

have you ever told a lost person about Christ? Have you ever shared your faith? I think I'm being generous.

If we're not sharing our faith at least once a month, come on. That's 31 days to share one time. I think that's being good.

So if we're not evangelizing, we are building out of wood, hay, and straw. If we are evangelizing, that is great. Then we are building out of gold, silver, and precious stones.

But what is your spiritual building looking like? Just in those three areas. There's many more, but those are only three areas we're going to cover. Now I have some encouraging news.

If your building is looking like wood, hay, and straw, I have some encouragement for us. one is a personal testimony.

The second is scripture. Personal testimony is my first 15 years as a Christian, as a believer, I did absolutely nothing.

I didn't serve Christ. I didn't read my Bible. I didn't do anything at all. Absolutely nothing. thing. And I heard this, I can't remember who said this now, but someone says, sitting on your blessed assurance.

That is what I did. And I sat on my blessed assurance. And so I did that for the first 15 years of my life. So everything in my Christian service towards God, every aspect was built out of wood, hay, and straw.

But you know what? We can choose to change anytime we want. We can choose to serve God any day, any time.

I also heard this statistic. If you do something for 21 times in a row, it becomes a habit. If you read your Bible for 21 days in a row, at the same time, guess what's going to happen?

It's going to become a habit. we can change. The second is Scripture. If you'll turn with me to Revelations chapter 2. This is the loveless church.

This is the church of Ephesus that the angel is writing to. Now, God, when he wrote this, excuse me, he had a couple of attaboys that he gave the church of Ephesus.

And so he says there in verse 1, the angel of the church in Ephesus write to the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands, say this, I know your deeds and your toils and your perseverance, and you cannot tolerate evil men.

And you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you find them to be false, and you have perseverance, and you have endured for my namesake, and have not grown weary.

They are doing some things that are correct. They are doing things that are right. Okay, and they are commended for doing these things. But then God says this in verse 4, but I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, repent and do these deeds that you did at first, or else I am coming and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent.

He is calling the church to repent and remember Christ. Okay, and so if we do the same thing, if we're building out of wood, hay, and straw, if we repent out of those things, and we choose to serve God, this is encouraging for us, because this church right here, he says, hey, you have to do these things that are great, you just lost your first love.

But if you repent of that, hey, everything's great. Everything is going to be good. Okay, and so we can, if we're building out of wood, hay, and straw, it's not the end, we're not doomed, in other words, is what I'm saying.

We can choose to serve God at any time, in any way, in any fashion. What would happen if, if, if everybody in Highland Park says, you know what, I'm going to seek after God's direction, I'm going to seek after his will, I'm going to be in my word daily, I'm going to be praying, and just let God direct my lives.

What do you think would happen? I don't know the answer to that question, but I think something great would happen. And I don't know about you, but I'm willing to find out.

Thank you.