Finding Your Spiritual Base
1 COR. 3:10-11
Finding Your Spiritual Base
IX. Intro:
A. On Oct. 17, 1989 a massive earthquake struck t/San Francisco area & t/people there gave a lot of thought to t/foundation they were built on. Buildings built on solid ground sustained much less damage than those built on "filled in" areas. T/south pier of t/Golden Gate Bridge sits directly on top of t/San &reas fault! Yet it was undamaged in that quake because t/weight of t/bridge rests on t/two towers deeply embedded into t/rock beneath t/sea. Remember that double-decker freeway in Oakl& that collapsed? It was built on l& that had been filled in. It all looked t/same until t/time of testing!
B. Don’t have to live long to know life will shake U. Is your foundation up to it? Is that important? How can U make sure? GOT 2 FIND YOUR SPIRITUAL BASE
X. Scripture: 1Co 3:10-11 <<READ>>
· Alaska quakes required additional strength in t/building we built. Know where? Why?
XI. T/foundation for what?
· T/foundation of what?! Yall believers as God’s building.
· Temple in which God’s Spirit lives. Jesus’ physical body as a temple (John 2:19-22). Christ’s spiritual body, t/universal church (Eph. 2:21). T/body of each individual Christian a temple (1 Cor. 6:19). In this passage, t/local church a temple (3:16).
· Primary ref. may be to t/local church, but as each 1 is also a temple of HS, & all Kingdom work is based on using gifts to edify t/church, then this is about BOTH local church & t/individual.
· Just as individual success in sports that undermines team success is not real success.
· Context before & after refer to extending t/work after t/foundation is laid. What it means to build a spiritual life. But here in t/middle, in vs.10-11, it refers to t/foundation that must first be laid.
· So today we talk of “Finding Your Spiritual Base”
XII. What is t/foundation?
· Why does t/Leaning Tower of Pisa lean? Bad foundation. & nothing could fix it.
A. Paul’s
· Who laid t/foundation? Paul, not t/individuals themselves. But he is not t/foundation, he did not create t/foundation either. He just laid it. (lay, lay down, put, place) He did not “build” it, using t/word he does choose in t/rest of t/passage.
· What foundation? Jesus Christ.
· No one made t/foundation. It is eternal. Jn1:1
· Jesus Christ alone was t/foundation, t/basis of salvation (Acts 4:12).
· & this is not Jesus as described, or Jesus as a cultic figure head of t/Christian religion, nor t/teaching about him, but Jesus Christ t/living Lord, crucified & resurrected!
· T/Wise & Foolish Builders Matthew 7:24-27
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine & puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on t/rock. 25 T/rain came down, t/streams rose, & t/winds blew & beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on t/rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine & does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on s&. 27 T/rain came down, t/streams rose, & t/winds blew & beat against that house, & it fell with a great crash.”
B. Others
· In truth, there is only one real foundation. All others are false pretenders. Choosing them as foundations, does not actually make them secure foundations. I can smooth out & level t/dirt on my lot exquisitely, raise on t/perfectly level foundation a beautiful home, but when it rains, t/false foundation will wash away.
· Not religion, not good works, not law, not social justice, not even love for others. Jesus Christ. T/solid rock.
XIII. choosing your foundation
A. Foundation First
· If my foundation is 20x20, what is my building going to look like? How many stories of 20x20 high can I build it? Why?
· T/foundation must come first or all building is foolish.
· T/building will never be stronger than t/foundation in t/long run.
o Foundation Choosing
· We don’t make our foundation, we choose it. & while our choice is individual & free, & seem best to us at t/time, not all choices are equally right & true.
· Foundation choosing questions: is there a god (yes – nature), is he personal (yes – revelation & salvation history), how is he known (revelation).
· Now, t/man who built his house on t/s& did a lot of things right. For instance, he was evidently diligent, energetic, a hard worker. It’s no easy thing to put up a house, & especially not in those days, with no power tools or Home Depot. He had to carry stone, & cut wood, & form bricks out of clay. It probably took him weeks & months of backbreaking labor. He didn’t quit; he persevered until t/structure was complete. Yet in t/end, all his hard work was for nothing.
o I point that out because we often confuse activity with godliness. We assume that if someone is hard-working & energetic, they must be a sincere Christian.
· How did this man differ from t/foolish man? Did he work harder? No. Did he use better materials? Not necessarily. T/only difference was in t/foundation he chose to build on. But that made all t/difference
· Taking organized religion as your foundation, rather than Jesus is s&. Don’t build on that. People have tried & pull up empty every time.
· Having Jesus as foundation, is following Him in obedience, not just to make him t/figurehead of your homegrown religion.