How to study the Bible Week 4 - Our Foundation

Intro

This morning we are closing out a series that has been full of application as we have taken the past few weeks to learn what it really looks like to study the Bible.

We learned that There is no greater way to get to know God, His character, His nature, His goodness, and the life that He has for you than reading his living word.

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And that

If you want to know the living Word (Jesus) you have to be in the written Word. (The Bible)

And then last week we talked about the fact that the Bible is mean to transform us, not just inform us, and we looked at James 1:19-24 and we saw that we are not to be simply hearers or listeners to the Word of God but that we are called to be doers of the Word of God.

We learned that the Bible should give us a bigger heart, and not a bigger head.

On Tuesday this week I received a phone call from the world’s greatest mom and she said “hey babe, it’s spring break…how ‘bout you come meet me and the kids down at young arena? It’s spring break and we weren’t able to go on vacation or do anything big for the kids so I’m going to take them ice-skating.”

Now when my bride said that I didn’t really think that she would be ice-skating. I thought she would sit like I did last time and just watch from the stands as they skate around falling and fall on their butts.

I figured I could bring my laptop and get some work done and hang out with my wife a bit. I walked in…and this is what I saw.

VIDEO CLIP

Did you catch what i said at the end of the clip… “Oh to be that young again.” I no sooner sat down and opened my laptop when I saw my beautiful bride skating past me and she turned and her feet flew out from underneath and I saw her fall backwards and the back of her head slammed against the ice.

I kind of sat there for a split second to see if she was okay…and it only took a split second to see that she was not. Addison and Easton were right there, and as Jenn sat up on the ice Addie came over, got down and looked at the back of her head and mouthed the words “her head’s bleeding!”

I immediately dropped everything and climbed over the chairs and then climbed through the plexi-glass and down to the ice to help her and sure enough she had gashed the back of her head open.

She was dizzy, and we sat her down, the people at young arena rushed over and brought some gauze bandages to apply to her head. I slipped her skates off, slid her shoes on, told the kids to go get take their shoes off and then we wheeled her out to the front door and I pulled her car up on the sidewalk so we could put her in and we went straight to the ER.

We flew into the Emergency Room and although there were people sitting there waiting we bypassed the line and they took her back.

They put her in a neck collar and shortly had her off to scan her head, neck and back. It was scary, for her. Her right side was week, and her mind was reliving what she went through the night of her grand mall seizure and the trip to the hospital which resulted in finding out she had brain cancer. Shoot it was scary for me, and I know it was scary for the kids. g

They were blaming themselves for wanting her to ice-skate with them.

When I went to Young Arena that afternoon I was wrestling about where the Lord wanted to take us this weekend and sitting in the trauma room 4 I looked at Jenn and said “I know what I’m supposed to speak on this weekend as we wrap our series on studying the Bible.

And I so I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7, and we are going to be looking at the parable Jesus tells about the two foundations you have to choose from in life.

But before we read let’s ask the Lord to speak to us in remaining time we have together.

PRAYER

Before we read from Matthew I want you to read where we left off with last weekend from James 1:22

James 1:22 (CSB)

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

What does that mean? If we are not doers, and we are just hearers…Scripture says here that we are deceiving yourself.

Let’s put a pin in that for a few minutes because Jesus has a few things to say in Matthew 7 that will clear that up for us.

In the second half of chapter 7 we find Jesus talking to people about entering the kingdom. We hear Jesus say things like enter through the narrow gate…he says that there are many that go through the wide gate, but it leads to destruction and he says the narrow way is a difficult path and that few people find it.

And then Jesus talks about the fact that false prophets will come and go, but that we will know Christians because of the fruit that is produced in our lives. We aren’t supposed to judge people but the Bible definitely should inspect and expect fruit from those that claim the name of Jesus. And now in verse 24 Jesus says…

Matthew 7:24–27 (CSB)

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

Here we see Jesus specifically addressing the fact that

More people profess Christ than follow Christ.

Isn’t it true that a lot of people profess that they are Christians but don’t actually follow Him?

That’s why Jesus makes an incredibly bold prediction in verse Matthew 1:21-22

Matthew 7:21–23 (CSB)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (THAT IS THOSE WHO HEAR & OBEY .)22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

Listen, I’m not here to scare anyone or terrify anyone, but if here Jesus says that one day when we are standing before Him many so called Christians, Church goers, preachers, and teachers, who have preached in His name and even driven out demons in His name and done miracles in His name…Jesus will turn to and say “I NEVER KNEW YOU!!! Depart from me, you lawbreakers…other translations say workers of iniquity.

In his book The Gospel according to Matthew Leon Morris, writes this

When the kingdom of heaven comes in all its fulness, it will not be people’s profession that counts, but their profession as shown in the way they live.

Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), 178.

Let’s go back to James…remember he said

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

A true profession of faith results in changed life.

This is what Jesus is saying! The world and even churches are full of people who claim the name of Christ but their lives do not match up to their claims and they have not truly built their foundation on Christ. And so this morning I want to make sure that you are not deceived.

I want to encourage you to constantly evaluate what you are building your life upon.

Because

Just as a building needs a solid base to support its weight, our lives also require a firm foundation.

This morning I simply want to encourage you to make Jesus the Foundation of your life. How do we do that? Practically in our every day lives? You see , It would be easy for me to just say obey scripture in every area of your life, and yes that’s true….but would does it mean for Jesus to be my foundation?

According to 1 Peter 2:5, our lives are likened to spiritual houses being built. Just as there are different types of foundations for buildings, we also have various options for building our lives, marriages, families, businesses, and ministries. However, it is crucial to choose the right foundation.

I simply want to give you 5 Building Blocks of a Firm Foundation. In other words this is what a life looks like that has made Jesus the foundation of their lives. Jesus is now your

Source of Identity.

Our identity in Christ is first and foremost one of newness. We are new creations in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

Believers see their identity rooted in their relationship with Jesus. He provides a sense of purpose and direction in life. Identity is defined as “the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known,” so our new identity in Christ should be recognizable both to ourselves and to others. If we are “in Christ,” that should be evident, just as being “in the world” is equally evident. A further definition of identity is “the quality or condition of being the same as something else.” In the case of our identity in Christ, our lives should indicate that we are the same as Christ.

We understand that we are no longer citizens of the world but apart from it. We understand that we are a part of a heavenly, God-ruled kingdom. Things of the earth no longer draw us. You and I should not be drawn to the sinful things of this world.

So number 1 Jesus is our Source of Identity. Number 2 Jesus is now our

2. Spiritual Stability

Jesus Christ is the only foundation that possesses the characteristics of being unshakable, immovable, and unshifting.

Isaiah 28:16 (CSB)

16 …“Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.

Before we have Christ in our lives we panic at everything that happens. But now when the storms come and the winds of life hit hard against us we can boldly stand up and say “I will not be shaken!” God is with me! He is my provider, He is my shelter, He is my healer, He is my Rock, He is my foundation. You may be able to steal from me, you may be able to even kill me but

This was the strength of the first Christians, that they lived not in one world only, but in two, and found in consequence not tension alone, but power, the vision of a world unshaken and unshakable.

Harry Emerson Fosdick

Those Christians understood and lived in the reality that we have one foot in the world and one foot in heaven and they could take their lives but they can never take their eternal destination. Oh that you and I would live knowing that in Christ we have spiritual stability.

number 3 Jesus now determines our

3. Morality and values

Jesus now determines our morality and values

If we have a new identity in Christ and we have died to ourselves then we have decided to allow the Word of God to serve as our moral compass.

Scripture has a lot to say on our morality and our values. And what scripture calls sin, we now call sin regardless of what changes are happening in our culture.

We build our families and marriages and relationships and businesses upon the morality and values of scripture and not whatever we want to do.

The Bible becomes our source of morality because the Bible is the very Word of God in written form. If you want to know God’s will regarding your morality, turn to the Bible.

Without using the Bible for our morality and values, morality is shaped and changed by the culture around us. It’s what happened in Judges 17:6

Judges 17:6 (CSB)

6 …everyone did whatever seemed right to him.

And that is right where we are today as a country and as a society. Nothing is wrong everything is preference and if you tell me I’m wrong your a biggot and you’re a hater. People do whatever they deem is okay for themselves and the boundaries of what is sin continues to move more and more by the day.

Fourthly Jesus is now our complete source of

4. Hope & Salvation

As Believers we completely trust in the completed work of Jesus on the cross. We recognize that He alone is our Savior. We understand that through his sacrifice on the cross we are reconciled to God and we are given eternal life.

For those who have not yet trusted in Christ as their Lord and Savior they live out there lives hoping one day that when they die that their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds and that God will let them into heaven. We can live knowing the truth found in

Romans 8:3–4 (CSB)

3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. (Say God did)He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The work of salvation was completed on the cross for us!

And because of the finished work of the cross I can live with Christ as my source of hope and salvation. My salvation is secure! It has been completed, I don’t have to worry about will I go to heaven one day? I can live in complete confidence of my salvation. It is this hope and confidence in Jesus that sustains us through difficult times and gives us assurance for the future.

Lastly when you you make Jesus your cornerstone your life now is built upon

5. Community and Fellowship

Now we rely on each other for support and for encouragement. There should be no better place for a person to find community and support in in their lives than the body of Christ! I cant imagine walking through some of the painful times of our lives without the support found in the body of Christ! Many of you have felt that as well! We find encouragement from each other. We find empathy and support. We find a helping hand.

Fellowship and Community provides the atmosphere we need for spiritual growth as we learn how to worship together and pray together and for each other. We come together in groups and study the Bible together and we hold each other accountable.

People outside the body of Christ won’t hold you accountable. That’s the job of those are do life together in community!

The people in this room are going to stand by your side and help you along and do life with you if you will let them. We can accomplish more for Christ when we stand arm in arm together as a unified front than we could ever on our own! We need each other..

As we close out this morning, and as we close out this series on how to study the Bible I want us to take one last look at Matthew 7:24–27 (CSB)

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

Friends, I beg you to get into the Word! To fall in love with it. To consume it! To memorize it. To obey it. To allow it to establish your morals, your values, your identity, your purpose, and your foundation. My greatest desire for you is to get you to be men and women, boys and girls who stand on Christ the Word of God as your foundation.

Because the rains will come, the rivers of life will rise, and the winds will blow and pound in your life. But if your foundation is built on Jesus Christ, you will not be shaken, you will not be moved. You will be safe, you will be secure, and your life will not collapse no matter what storms may come.

Joshua 1:8 CSB

This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.