Building On A Good Foundation

Raul Ries: You have to be born again, or you'll never see God. You can sit in this church or any other church that teaches the Bible. And if you never make that true commitment to be born again of the Holy Spirit and building a solid foundation in Jesus Christ, your foundation will collapse on the last day.
Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. It's good to have you with us today as we continue our series exploring the joy and discipline of absolute devotion to the Lord. Today Raul will urge us to establish our lives on the bedrock of God's word and anchor our hearts on the solid rock of Jesus. Trials and uncertainties can make the ground shift under our feet, but with a firm foundation like that, our faith won't be shaken. In Matthew chapter 7 beginning in verse 24, here's Raul Ries with our study building on a good foundation.
Raul Ries: Jesus here on the sermon on the Mount beginning with chapter 5, 6 and 7 has been teaching kingdom principles, kingdom living. But this morning we want to look at the parable of two builders. How should I build a good foundation? Now, if you're going to build a house, you surely want to make sure first of all that the property you have bought is clear from earthquake faults. You want to make sure you're not building upon a fault or sand because when the rains come, the winds blow, or maybe an earthquake comes, whatever happens, your house will not stand. It will fall. And I believe that in these last days there are a lot of people that are not building a good foundation. They're building a half foundation that is spiritually speaking. I believe that if you don't build a solid foundation, then what's going to happen to you in eternity? Eternity is a long time. It's forever. While we live in this life in this world, we are living here according to God's will for so many years, and then the end will come. Some will live over 70, 80, 90, maybe some 100 years old. But for sure one day you and I are going to die. And when we die, the foundation that we have built upon will stand or it will fall. That's why as a parent and as a young person or single person, I need to know in whom I believe. Not just because my parents believe in Christ, I believe that also. But search it out. Check it out. Surely you don't want to be put into some situation where maybe your parents do not believe in the same Jesus of the Bible. And then you're brought up believing in some weird Jesus that doesn't really exist. And there have been times where I have talked to people like the Jehovah Witnesses or the Mormons or the Unity Church or a Buddhists or a Muslim. And you talk to them and they sound like, hey, we got the right answer. We have the right foundation. But what is the right foundation? Is everybody wrong, but we're the only ones that are right? Cuz that's what a lot of people think. You mean to tell me that your religion is the only one that is right? Well, first of all, I have no religion. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And you see the way I came about that is that I had not only to search the scriptures, but divinely I gave my life to Christ and I was regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, nobody can come to Jesus Christ. Yet so many times people feel like they're being squeezed into the kingdom of God. I have seen in people that have are dying at the last moment where the loved ones are trying to force this person to accept Christ to go to heaven, and you cannot do that. You can share with them. But remember one thing that even though sometimes people pray a prayer, it might not be a real prayer. God is the only one that knows the heart of men and women and children. And when we come to that place of decision, the Bible says that if we truly have become born again of the Holy Spirit and we're building upon a good foundation, then there has to be a change of attitude and a change of character in the life of every individual person. And one thing that we all forget is that one day we're all going to stand in the presence of God. Everyone of us those that do not believe and have obeyed the word of God and build a good foundation, they're going to stand in the last day at the white throne judgment of Jesus Christ. And they're going to have to give an account. The Bible says that in that account there are two books that are open and everything that person has done from the day they were born until the day they died, everything has been kept in that book as a record. Nothing has been erased. The only ones that have that book erased are those that believe in Jesus Christ. You say, well, man, my grandmother, my grandfather or my mother, my father, they're good people. It doesn't matter how good people they may be. The Bible says you must be born again. You have to be born again, or you'll never see God. You can sit in this church or any other church that teaches the Bible. And if you never make that true commitment to be born again of the Holy Spirit in building a solid foundation in Jesus Christ, your foundation will collapse on the last day. You will stand before God in judgment. That's why it's so importance that we understand in who we have believed. And this is what Jesus is teaching here the disciples. Jesus on this sermon on the Mount in chapter 7 has spoken of the narrow way. And then he spoke about false prophets. And then in verse 21 he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Notice who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will come on to me on that day and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and then wonders in your name? And then I will declare unto them, I, Jesus, never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Notice that. They said in church, they saw miracles and wonders. They even had the gift of prophecy and the miracles and the wonders, and yet they never made it. You want to make sure you make it. Otherwise, once you die, it's over. There are no second chances. The only chances we get is right now while you're alive to serve God and to love God and to know God intimately in your own personal life. This is why in this sermon on the Mount, especially in verses right here 24 to 27, listen to the words of Jesus as he speaks on the importance of obeying the word of God. Beginning with verse 24, he says, therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to be a wise man who built his house on the rock. And then the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. Now, everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and here it is, and does not do them, will be like a man, foolish man, who built his house on the sand. And the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and it beat on that house and it fell and grade was the fall of that house. And so when we come to that place of building a foundation, we see that here in the parable it's talking about obedience to the word of God, obedience that is an evidence to what? To true faith, which I believe a lot of people do not have true faith. Because you look at their lives, they say they're Christians, but yet when it comes to conduct and to obedience, they're very disobedient to the word of God. That's why I'm so glad I'm not the judge, but the Jesus Christ one day is going to judge every one of us. Because God knows the heart. He sees through us. And so it is of importance that we build a good foundation, especially when you and I are dealing with eternity. Eternity is a long time. A long time. You don't want to make a mistake in your life and miss eternity because of your selfishness or your pride. You want to make sure that you do believe in Christ. This morning I was totally blown away by the Lord for service. There was a gentleman sitting here after service. I was back here talking to people and he came back to me. He says, hey, do you remember me? And I I I looked at him. He says, remember Bomb Park police? I said, oh, yeah. It was one of the old policemen that God saved and he's coming here. I didn't even know that. He's retired now. And it's so neat because you go back to 35 years ago, and when I came to the Lord 28 years ago and sharing with people how people, the word of God does not come back void. And when you think of the foundation that you and I are to build, surely that foundation has to be who? Jesus Christ. Period. Not Buddha, not Krishna, not Muhammad, not the Pope, not anybody else. The Lord Jesus Christ has to be my foundation. Everything that I believe has to be the word of God. Otherwise, I don't accept it. I don't even want to hear it. And the way to do that if you ever want to prove what the word of God says in the New Testament, what you do is you say, okay, did Jesus teach it in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Can we find it in the book of Acts? And is it also written in the Epistles? Then if it is, I accept it. But if it 's not, then I do not accept it as doctrine. You see? That's how I proved that doctrine concerning the word of God. Is it in the four Gospels? Is it in the book of Acts? Is it in Romans and Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, all the way through the Epistles? Can I find it there? And if I do find it and it is taught by Jesus, it is taught by the Acts and taught by the Epistles, then I accept it as the word of God. And if not, I don't accept it. You see? Very important building that foundation.
Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources to support and instruct you in a God-glorifying life. You can also join Raul for Straight Talk on the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel Tuesdays at 10 a.m. West Coast Time. Now, back to more with Raul Ries.
Raul Ries: In the scriptures, when we are building a foundation, first of all, our foundation must be built upon the rock. And all the way through the scriptures, the rock is Jesus Christ. Notice in chapter 7 here of Matthew verse 24, therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to be a wise man who built his house on the rock. And that rock is Jesus Christ. Secondly, our foundation must be built again on Christ according to Paul. 1 Corinthians 3:11, for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is who? Jesus Christ is the rock. Thirdly, our foundation must be built firm, firm foundation. In Luke 6:48 Luke said he, Jesus is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the floods arose and the streams beat be hemly against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock. You see? And then fourthly, our foundation must be brought on good works. Good works have to be there. According to Paul the Apostle in 1 Timothy 6:17 to 19 he said, command those who are rich in this present age not to be hearty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good that they may be rich in good works ready to give and willing to share, storing up for themselves, here it is, a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay a hole of eternal life. That's what God wants. And then fifthly, our foundation must be tested. The winds and the floods come and the earthquakes, whatever it may be, it speaks of what? Of our trials and temptations and things that every one of us go through in life. Are you able to stand when they tell you you have cancer and you're going to die? Do you have a strong foundation? Or some other disease that you you might come in contact with? Or the tragedy when they come to your door and they knock on your front door and the policeman says your son or your daughter has been killed. Can you handle because you've built a foundation on Jesus Christ? Every one of us hears about tragedy all the time. It doesn't matter if you're old or young. You can be a young person and get cancer tomorrow or leukemia or whatever it may be. You can die in a car accident. Don't matter where you go. That 's why it's so important as young or old to make sure that we're building a good foundation because your foundation one day will be tested. Whether you're young or old, you will be tested with the trials of life. According to Isaiah the Prophet 28:16 he said, therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone of for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. But we believe in Jesus Christ. And then six, our foundation must be totally in his son Jesus Christ according to Paul the Apostle Ephesians 2:20 having been built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone of our lives. And that's important. Peter also tells us this in 1 Peter 2:6 and 7. Therefore it is also contained in the scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect and precious. And he who believes on Jesus Christ will by no means be put to shame. Therefore to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Notice that. The foundation is built upon the obedience of the word of God. We have to obey God rather than man. And yet there are people that never obeyed the word of God. They're constantly defying the word of God, constantly disobedient to the word of God. Listen to James' exhortation. In James 1:22 to 28 he says this, but be you doers of the word of God, not hearers only deceiving yourselves. If anyone say a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself and then he goes away, but immediately forgets what kind of a person he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word of God, this one will be blessed in what he does. And if anyone among you thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and Father is this, to visit the orphans and the widows and knows and their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. And then again in James 2:14 he says, what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says, I have faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? No. You got to have faith in works. That's what Paul and James says, faith and works to be a child of God. If we don't obey the word of God, then we are building on sand, the wrong foundation in our lives. And yet we have to dig deep in order to build that foundation, and it takes a time of years. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes maturity in the Lord as you are in the Lord for 10, 15, 20, 30 years. You're building, you're digging, you're actually setting the foundation down so that nothing can remove you from Jesus Christ. There's no such thing in the church of Jesus Christ as a fruitless Christian. You have to have fruit in your life. And that fruit only comes by believing in Jesus Christ and his God through his Holy Spirit and his love and his mercies and his grace fills each one of us individually. That's what we got to look forward to as we come into the kingdom of God. Profession always and ultimately will be tested before God. Our profession one day will be tested as we stand in the presence of God, and there is no fear in our hearts to die today if we were to die. Because like John the Beloved in John 15:4 and 5 and 6 as Jesus said this, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it's abiding in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. Nothing. There's no foundation apart from Jesus Christ. If any one does not abide in me, he is cast out as the branch that is withered, and they gather them and they throw them into the fire and they are burned eternally. Eternally. You see? That's why it's so important that our house may be founded and built upon the rock which is Jesus Christ. He's the only one that we can stand. Isaiah 28:16 therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. And then Romans 9:33 as it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense. And whosoever believes on Jesus Christ will not be put to shame. And then 1 Corinthians 10:4 and they all drank from the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Jesus Christ. Isn't that neat? Christ is the rock. Christ is that foundation that we need to build upon this morning.
Guest (Male): Good works, possessions, prestige, all of these things are easy to establish as the cornerstone of our lives. But as we've heard today, the only unshakable foundation is the Lord Jesus. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to hear today's message building on a good foundation in its unedited form, we'll be happy to send a copy to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800 634 9165. To help spur you on in pursuing more in your relationship with Christ, we'd like to tell you about Raul's 10-part series called Chosen and Committed. It's available on CD and thumb drive. You'll be challenged to fully entrust your heart to your Savior as you devote yourself to obeying God's word and walking in his perfect plans. To order Raul's 10-lesson series titled Called, Chosen and Committed, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800 634 9165. We'll send you the CD set for $22 or the flash drive for just $13. The number again is 800 634 9165 or you can write to Somebody Loves You Radio PO Box 4440 Diamond Bar, California 91765. To help you grow in your faith, we'd like to tell you about our website somebodylovesyou.com. You'll find a library of print and audio resources on a variety of topics. Raul's sermon vault also allows you to explore the many ways God has spoken to us in his word. Also, you'll be able to listen to our current study, download the mobile app and link to our online store. It's all there for you at somebodylovesyou.com. Thank you for your partnership. Your generous donations help us keep sharing God's word, and every contribution is tax deductible. Be sure and join us next time as we grow in wisdom and faith as we study the word of God verse by verse. Now, here's Raul with the final thought.
Raul Ries: What kind of a foundation are you building here this morning in your own personal life? I hope that you're not building upon the works of the flesh because if you are, all that is going to what? Wash away. But if we put our trust in the Bible, in the word of God, it's our foundation. Even like Joshua said Joshua 1:8 this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, then that you may have search 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. I would pray this morning that your foundation will be built upon Jesus Christ and that he will be the only one that will rule over your life this morning.
Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.