Firm Foundation

As we jump into part 2 of our new series stand firm lets get a brief recap of last week so that we can better understand how to build a firm foundation.

I shared with you that in the last days perilous times will come. Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. There will be moral decline, not only spiritual waywardness but straight up wickedness, the spirit of offense, and the collapse of the family.

These are just a few of the signs of cultural drift, but I also shared with you that Shifting Culture doesn’t have to shift you. You and I have the potential to build a firm foundation that can withstand whatever life brings.

I also shared with you about the coming apostasy of the faith. I believe this has already begun to take place. This falling away is the result of people rejecting the truth of God’s word. People will not love the truth, they will not believe it, they will suppress it, and they will exchange it for a lie. They will walk according to their own ungodly lust not enduring sound doctrine, and will exalt self above God. 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

As we begin to understand these things where do we go from here? How do we build a foundation that is strong and reliable?

As we jump into the message lets once again look at our anchor verse.

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

Let’s Pray!

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Submit & Apply:

Last week I shared that the first and most important step to build a firm foundation begins with the ability to hear. Remember that hearing is not simply the sound in the ear, but it deals with the faculty of perceiving with the mind, the place of understanding and knowing.

How then do we develop the ability to hear?

Turn with me to Proverbs 1:1-7 “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

We develop the ability to hear (understanding, knowledge, wisdom- knowing how to use knowledge correctly) by first reading the word of God. Deuteronomy 4:10

Deuteronomy 4:10 “especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’”

Turn to Proverbs 8.

Proverbs 8:6 “Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, And from the opening of my lips will come right things;”

Proverbs 8:10-12 “Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold; For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion.”

Prudence- the sense of seeing beforehand, forethought, for-sight

Wisdom dwells with prudence. The word gives us the ability to see beforehand, gives for-sight.

Knowledge- perception, skill, discernment, understanding

Discretion- the ability to see intent (something mischievous)

Proverbs 8:13-14 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.”

Counsel: advice/purpose, sound wisdom: wisdom, sound knowledge, success, efficient wisdom, abiding success.

The result of wisdom Proverbs 8:15-21

Illustration: Think of it like this. The word gives you the blueprint, tools, and materials list to be able to build a strong foundation and also the rest of the house!

Pull out the tools needed. Pull out the Materials one by one (give each one a foundational verse)

4 Legs:

1) Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”

2) James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

3) Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

4) 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The second progression of hearing comes by doing what we have read. Proverbs 2:1-12

Proverbs 2:1-12 “My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,”

Lets begin to build: Take the 4 legs, and begin to attach them to the lower rectangle base, then the upper rectangle with screws.

What do the screws represent?

2 Peter 1:5-9 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”

So we see that a firm foundation begins the word of God.

The foundation is also strengthened by the word of God.

Psalm 119:23-24 - Joshua 1:7-8

Psalm 119:23-24 “Princes also sit and speak against me, But Your servant meditates on Your statutes. Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors.”

Joshua 1:7-8 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

So here we see two separate instances where God instructs to meditate on His word.

Meditate means to chew, until you get the nourishment out. (Think of a cow chewing the cud. It chews on it, swallows it, brings it back up and chews so more, until it receives the nourishment)

Memorizing scripture helps you to have something to chew on spiritually. Psalm 119:11

Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Did you notice that our way is cleansed by paying attention to what God has said? Also look at the heart posture of the person seeking in the scripture. With my whole heart I have sought You. If you want the best results in your life. You have to be all in.

So, as you study and memorize scripture. As you mediate on it. You will see wisdom come into your life. That wisdom gives the instruction on what to do with the building blocks. Understand this: The more of the word that is in you, the more “building materials” the Holy Spirit has to build your life.

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

When you put the word into your heart, the Holy Spirit sees that truth in you, and then He takes it to your mind and makes it wisdom. The Key is memorizing the word, meditating on it, and learning to speak the word.

Wisdom = Success! When we read the word, meditate on the word, The Holy Spirit will show us what to do and what decisions to make.

The Holy Spirit will show us things to come. His leading impacts our decisions and the way we behave. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t challenges, The Spirit will show you through the Word how to navigate the situation. John14:15-18, John 16:13

John 14:15–18 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

God gives us the Holy Spirit to help us.

John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

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Closing:

So this morning we have a choice to make. We can choose to build a firm foundation through the Word of God, or we can choose to build through our own wisdom.

Very quickly slap together another platform out of foam and duct tape.

Build a quick false system of beliefs.

I know Im living In sin, but God will forgive me because I am not under the law but under grace. I know I am supposed to walk in love but that person gets on my nerves. Im just in it for the blessings of God and what I can get out of him. Blessing, favor, and provision! Yes Lawd. You know what the bible says the Lord helps those who help themselves.

Invite a random person to come join you on the platform. Have them choose a platform to stand on top of. They will likely choose the one that is better built. Ask them why?

Most of us would choose the platform with the firm foundation. Why? Obviously we don’t trust the cheaply made platform.

Can I tell you today that there are many who are trusting their eternity to a cheaply made foundation of beliefs. Getting just enough of the word to feel saved, but not enough to have confidence in the day of judgment. Can I challenge you today.... Don’t be one of those people build a firm foundation.

Read the word, hear its wisdom, do what it says, and you will build a firm foundation to stand on.

A firm foundation begins with the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 9 10-11 ““The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.”

To reject truth leads to destruction.

Proverbs 9:13-18 “A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing. For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city, To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, “Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.”