“The Case for Christ - The Sure Foundation”

2 Peter 1:10-11 ‘...give diligence to make your calling and election sure...for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’

I am using this text tonight as the ground for our consideration of Christ in regard to the ‘last days’.

According to Jesus, in the parable of the wheat and the tares that we saw last week, both the weed seed and the wheat seed grew and flourished together. But the day would come when there was to be a separation of the two plants. At the time of harvest, one would be bundled up to be burned; the other would be gathered into the master’s barn.

The question that comes to the fore, especially during these end times, is: ‘How can we be sure of being the wheat seed?’ or ‘how is our calling and election made sure?’

To help in answering this, I would like to examine, in the light of the wheat and the tares, the teaching Jesus gave in 
Mt 7, starting with verse 13.

During this discourse of His Sermon on the Mt, He forewarned His hearers with two specific alerts: to ‘enter in’ and to ‘beware’. For, in verse 21, He indicated that not all who call out ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Thus we are made aware that the condition for entering is
determined by a certain standard. With these two commands, of entering in and of being cautious, He closed with an illustration about those who would take His words to heart as opposed to those who would not. 

Starting with verse 24, He told of two men who each built themselves houses. They had the same objective in mind: to construct places of shelter and havens of safety.

However, the wise man did some foreplanning about his foundation. He wanted the house to stand during the storms - to be firm, solid, substantial, sincere - so he built it on a foundation of rock.

Digging foundations in rock is work - hard, tedious, laborious, fatiguing, exhausting work! It is work that can discourage anyone when he starts out. It can cause him to give up, to go elsewhere, to go to other fields that are easier and more pleasant. And, this is especially so, since the foundation is the hidden part of the structure anyway. Digging in the rock is the kind of work that cannot be appreciated by just looking at the finished product so why be so diligent, why bother to make the foundation so sure?   

But - and this is all-important - it is that hidden part of the structure that determines its worth, its staying power, so the wise builder makes his foundation sure.

And, thus, Jesus, knowing the deep need of men for a spiritual refuge of life, and for a haven of spiritual life right down to the very moment of harvest-time, encouraged his hearers to ‘Enter in’, to be like the wise man who ‘digged deep and laid his foundation upon a rock’. 

‘Many will persist in seeking the kingdom of God until they imagine that they have found it,’ He implied in the illustration. The foolish builder - in his work and character - missed by not taking heed to build on the right foundation.

So, His message was: ‘Enter in’ by building right - take the time and make the earnest, honest effort to lay a good, certain foundation.’ 

In verses 13-14 of this same chapter, Jesus had already implied that entrance into the kingdom of God is both inviting, yet not so inviting, after all.

That is, the entering in is attended with circumstances that are favorable but, yet, not favorable.

They are favorable in that there is comfort in it, there is full satisfaction, there are untold and innumerable benefits in His kingdom.

It is unfavorable in that there are hard times and difficulties in moving onward. There are demands made that clash with our natural tendencies - insults that must be taken graciously, persecutions that can be faced only under the grace of God, and so many other such demands.

But the two unfavorable circumstances Jesus specifically identified in our passage tonight include the hindrances by the enemies of the kingdom of God and the false professions made about the kingdom of God.

Yes - to enter His kingdom has its difficulties and obstacles that are hard. The rock does not always give in easily to the sledge hammer. But building on that foundation is the sure way to go. 

But how were they to enter in? Did Jesus give them the building blueprint to the sure foundation even before His earthly mission had been completed?

Oh - yes, He did!

Notice how He identified Himself: He spoke of ‘My Father’ and of ‘say to Me, Lord, Lord’, in verses 21-22 in the Mt 7 passage. 

In other words, He indirectly established His imminent Lordship over all. He was telling them that He was the One to Whom the entire universe, believing and unbelieving, would be answerable, by saying, ‘I am the Revelator of the will of God Who is My Father. Many will call on Me but will miss knowing Me. Enter in by seeing Me. See Me, the Son of God - know Me, the Son of God - and you will be building your spiritual house on sure ground.’

For, ‘...everyone who sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day’, Jesus said later in Jn 6:40.

‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus’, Paul wrote of Him.

Thus Jesus encouraged His hearers to take to heart the message He gave them that day. ‘Believe its testimony concerning Me,’ He said. ‘Build the house right - be wise - start with a sure foundation.’ That is, ‘give all diligence to make your election and calling sure.’ ‘Enter in aright!’ 

‘Then, at the last day, the destroying angels must pass you by while the tares are being bundled together for the fire.’ 

Yes - we are to be as the wise man who built his house upon a rock, so that when the rains, and the floods, and the winds did their threatening work, the house stood firm. 

Why did it stand? because ‘it was founded upon a rock.’    

But what could happen if the house is not on a sure foundation?

And, here, we can go on to the second alert Jesus gave His hearers when He said: ‘Beware...’!

To this, He applied the illustration of the foolish builder who was not concerned about his foundation.

This was a man who did not consider a sure foundation as absolutely needful for his structure. Poor fellow! what a fatal mistake that was!

The man would not, and could not, enter in. 

And why not?

He took no heed to the ‘rightness’ of his building! And, here is where our gracious Lord issued a first-hand invitation to ‘enter in’ aright. He said: ‘Beware...!’ 

Beware of what? And, He went on to give two red-light signals that do not make a sure substructure. 

First, there are many, shrewd enemies of the Kingdom of God who are influencing factors against it. 

They are false teachers, pseudo-prophets, pseudo-witnesses, pseudo-brothers, even pseudo-Christs! They may look and sound right on the outside but on the inside they are like ‘ravenous wolves’ who lead astray.   

They present a real hindrance against ‘entering in’. Their inward characters are corrupt and, therefore, although some may be well-meaning in their intent, their very inward nature easily perverts the foolish builder whose thinking is not settled and established firmly.

Listen carefully, and let me say this deliberately and slowly: no one can be right in his spiritual life if the foundation he lays is not right in reference to the Person of Christ. We cannot be right in the rest of our structure unless we first think right of Christ Jesus.

2 John 7-9 warns: ‘Many imposters have left us who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is come in our human nature. Such a one is a deceiver and an antichrist. Take care, be on guard, that you do not throw away all the labor that has been spent on you, but that ye, instead, reap the benefit of it in a full reward. Whoever goes on and does not stand by the doctrine of Christ does not have hold of God. He who remains true to that teaching keeps hold of both the Father and the Son.’

Pseudo-Christs, as I mentioned earlier, are counted among those who are part of the enemies of the kingdom of God. This is especially apparent in these end-time days, as you may well have noticed by now.

Please be aware - and I may have mentioned this any number of times in the past, but I must say it again - be aware that the day is coming when the revelation of the indwelling Christ will also be taken out of its proper place and be proclaimed falsely. 

Jesus warned this would happen - ‘Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in My Name, saying, ‘I am Christ’; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.’ And, He also warned, ‘...if any man shall say to you, ‘Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, there is Christ, believe him not...false Christs and false prophets...shall rise to seduce you.’    

My message to each of us is: stay away from such. They lead astray - they delude. They offer a salvation that does not save. 

Beware of all such teachings that lead away from the one Savior - the one Lord of all mankind - the only Lord of the harvest - Jesus Christ!

Remember, Paul received this great and wonderful revelation of Christ in us that he passed on to the church.

But he - nor any of the other New Testament writers - never once claimed themselves to be ‘Christ’ or even a ‘little Christ’. There is only one Christ. ‘The Lord our God is one Lord.’ - only one Christ!  

So - do not be as the foolish builder and build according to the foundation the enemies of the kingdom of God seek to lay down. Beware - lest they become a stumbling block from entering in!

That is the first red-light signal Jesus gave that stands against entering in. 

And, then, He went on to give the second warning signal, by saying: ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter...’. (v 21) The natural tendencies of behavior clash head-on with the kingdom of God - they build on the wrong foundation. 

In other words, the profession made of Christ must match the foundation the house is built on.  

The foolish builder represents that which is not. He is content  only with the outward, only with the superficial, only with saying ’Lord, Lord’ without Christ in the inward parts.  

Yes - we have reached that space of time when people are cloaked in a proud self-sufficient ego built on the foundation of sand.  

Someone called such people ‘styled externalists’ for they are the ones who have the idea that ‘godliness’ is just a religious form. Jesus spoke of such in terms of the cup washed on the outside but dirty on the inside.

There are many examples that can be given of such: I have chosen three that only scarcely expose man’s corrupt nature.

The first is like the Pharisee who performed his religious
duty to gain the respect and honor of men. To be seen in public, to speak in public, is preferable to being behind the scenes where all the dull, menial work is done - so we foolishly think!

To just keep plodding on, day after day, year after year, without any particular recognition or token - perhaps as a teacher of a small group of children, or as visiting an inmate and encouraging him in the Lord, or some other inconspicious task - that is not according to our taste, is it?

Now - what I am about to say may seem harsh, yet, nevertheless it is true: it is painfully so that many serve themselves under the pretence of serving Christ. Many do these things just to push themselves forward, to gain for themselves fame, prestige, or a noble reputation before men’s eyes. 

If any of us do anything for God where the bottom line is really for the sake of praise, we can be assured it is not being done under the unction and power of the Holy Spirit. We are doing it only in, of, and for ourselves! 

It is a false declaration of calling Him ‘Lord’. If we cry out to Him, ‘Lord, Lord’, then we must mean ‘Lord, Lord’ without the pretenses nor the false professions!

Such false professions are building on sand. For the Christian, the purifying fires of the Holy Spirit need to burn so base a motive away. Saying ‘Lord, Lord’ in such a distasteful way today will not stand the ingathering on the last day.

That is the first example of false professions.

Then, there are those who say ‘Lord, Lord’ only on Sundays. The rest of the week, they live in the fires of hell. Sadly, Christ is too troublesome to bother with the whole week through.

They may sing and shout praises to God on Sundays but they do not let those praises ring in their hearts at home on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and all the rest of the week.

That is wearing the cloak of ‘Christian’, calling out ‘Lord, Lord’ only on Sundays. There may be the pretense of professing to enjoy hearing His words on Sundays, yet, that is a disgrace to Christ the rest of the week. I pray this is not so of any of us!

The third example is like the second, except that there is an even greater delusion connected with it. 

For there are those who use their mouths to praise God in prayer, praise, or song, and then assume, when they have finished, that they have touched His heart. They suppose that alone makes up worship to God the Most High. It never occurs to them that the heart never once truly entered into actual worship - it was only a show of religious duty! 

And, yes, it is just that - a performance! It is only a form of godliness. This is saying, ‘Lord, Lord’ while being complete strangers to the power of God working in the heart during the time set aside for the supposed worship of Him!

Beware of all such professions and any others! They do not guarantee an entering in! In fact, Jesus condemned all such false professions in Mk 7:6: ‘...this people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.’

God hates the sacrifice where the heart is not in it. Jesus minced no words about these false professions as He said: ‘...a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit...it is cut down to be burned.’ (Mt 7:17-19)

Yes - ‘enter in’, the Lord counsels. But beware of the teachings that lead you away from the one Savior and Lord of all. They delude - they lead falsely!

And - beware of making false professions yourself, of crying out loudly ‘Lord, Lord’ when there is not that true and real foundation having been laid by His Spirit in the inward parts.

Those are foundations built on sand. It is not a safe haven!

But, be a wise builder, who - when he hears about going through the strait gate, prods on to enter in, and lays the foundation of his house aright.

Oh - I pray we all ‘give diligence to make His calling and election sure...for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.’ 

Amen! So be it! 

Let us pray.