NO OTHER FOUNDATION BUT JESUS
1 Cor. 3:11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Zig Ziglar writes: My brother, the late Judge Ziglar, loved to tell the story of the fellow who went next door to borrow his neighbor’s lawnmower. The neighbor explained that he could not let him use the mower because all the flights had been canceled from New York to Los Angeles.
2. The borrower asked him what canceled flights from New York to Los Angeles had to do with borrowing his lawnmower. "It doesn’t have anything to do with it, but if I don’t want to let you use my lawnmower, one excuse is as good as another."
B. TEXT
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:11.
C. FOUNDATIONS & CHRIST
1. Building is very important, but the most vital thing is the foundation. However cleverly a man may build, if the foundation is unsound, he is a faulty builder. There are many types of architecture that can be designed above ground, but foundations must all be laid with solid specifications.
2. ILLUS.
a. The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy was going to fall by 2007. The 179-foot tower was moving about 1/20 of an inch a year, and was 17 feet out of plumb. The problem? A bad foundation.
b. Significantly, the word “pisa” means “marshy land,” which gives some clue as to why the tower began to lean even before it was completed. Also–its foundation is only 10 feet deep!
c. Engineers dug sand & dirt from under the north/ stable side, and now the tower has started to lean back a little. Praise God, that’s NOT LIKE GOD’S FOUNDATION!
3. God says, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic [shaken]” Isa. 28:16.
4. God’s Foundation goes so deep that it reaches into eternity itself, since it was foreordained before the foundation of the world. Make no mistake: there aren’t 2 foundations, 2 redemptions, or 2 atonements. Only One could sustain the weight of all the sins in the world. He alone can deliver us from the wrath of God and lift us to eternal joys.
5. THESIS: There is... 1). No church but that built on Christ; 2). No Gospel but that is built on Christ; and 3). No hope of salvation except that built on Christ.
6. TITLE: “No Other Foundation But Jesus.”
I. THERE’S NO CHURCH BUT THAT ON CHRIST
A. CHURCHES OFF THE FOUNDATION
1. There are many churches in the world, so called, but only one church is built upon Jesus alone. It doesn’t matter how great their numbers, how ancient, how wealthy, or how educated they are – if they’re not built on Christ, they’re a sham!
2. Jesus is so fundamental to the Church, that anything not built on Him will fall. There’s no election outside of Christ. We’re “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,” but nothing without Him. We are “predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son,” not otherwise. We can’t be part of the Body of Christ if we’re not in connection with Christ, the Head.
3. Any group calling themselves a church who depend for eternal life on anything besides the merit of Jesus’ atoning blood, are not the church. He’s our salvation, “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
B. HOW TO IDENTIFY THE TRUE CHURCH
1. If we depend upon the arm of flesh, or on human knowledge, on education, or on our own efforts, we’re leaving the Rock, for sand. The Church isn’t a democracy, it’s a Kingdom! Parliaments and kings have no authority whatever in the church, but Christ alone rules there.
2. Preachers should carefully follow Christ’s guidelines. There shouldn’t be a sermon not centered on Christ, for Jesus is the Alpha and Omega—first and last—beginning and end.
3. Ministers shouldn’t be exalted, for “Who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed?” We’re not Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, non-denominationals, Assemblies of God, Presbyterians, etc. – WE ARE CHRISTIANS! We have one Lord, one faith, & one baptism.
II. NO GOSPEL BUT WHAT’S BUILT ON JESUS CHRIST
A. FALSE GOSPELS
1. There are many pretended gospels in the world. Paul spoke once of “another gospel,” but then corrected himself and said, “which is not another,” because strictly speaking, there’s only one Gospel - there can’t be two. There’s not 2 Savior’s or 2 redemptions, nor 2 atonements; only one.
2. Someone may say, “I have a revelation from heaven” but if they’re not lifting up Christ, don’t listen to them. And if a body of people – like a council, or church – say something that disagrees with what Jesus said, dust off your shoes. Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.
B. ILLUS.: MINISTERS LAYING A POOR FOUNDATION
1. An elderly master carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife.
2. Yes, He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor.
3. The carpenter said ‘yes,’ but over time, it was easy to see that his heart wasn’t in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
4. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the BUILDER handed the front-door key to the CARPENTER. “This is YOUR house,” he said, “my gift to you.” [Source Unknown] What he sowed, he reaped!
III. THERE’S NO HOPE OF SALVATION BUT THAT BUILT UPON CHRIST
A. WHERE THAT HOPE IS NOT
1. Your parents, if good Christians, won’t save you. You must be born again. Church memberships, ceremonies, and baptisms won’t save you – only repentance & faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Feelings and excitements don’t constitute salvation, but trusting in Christ alone. “He that believes in him has everlasting life.”
2. We have His promise that we will never perish, no one can pluck us out of His hand, nor can anyone be able to separate us from His love! You see, then, there’s no hope of salvation except in Christ. If your hope is anywhere besides Christ, get rid of it. Throw it on a trash heap. Do like the man did with the counterfeit money; burn it! “Nothing but Christ.” For “no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid.”
B. CHRIST WILL BE YOUR MODEL
1. Next, if you are to be a Christian, Christ must be your model. By the aid of His Holy Spirit, you must try to do what He would have done in your place, under your circumstances.
2. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will be like Him. That’s the substance of what the Jewish leaders observed; “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” Acts 4:13.
3. ILLUS.
a. “University of Michigan psychologist Robert Zajonc conducted an experiment to determine if people who spend a lot of time together begin to look like each other. He analyzed photographs of couples taken when they were newlyweds and photographs of the same couples taken 25 years later.
b. “The results showed that the couples had grown to look more like each other over time. And, the happier that the couple said they were, the more likely they were to have increased in their physical similarity.” [Excerpt from “Why Do Couples Start to Look Like Each Other?” by Amber Angelle].
4. Some people say, “Years ago I used to be a fundamentalist Christian, but now I have more education and I’ve got beyond that.” That’s a farce.
5. We never advance beyond Christ. The higher we grow, the more we’ll grow into Christ. The wiser we are, the more we’ll speak the mind of Christ. “He must increase and I must decrease.” The Building never gets away from the Foundation.
6. A true Christian considers their time wasted, if not used for Jesus, or in obedience to Jesus. We must never be a Christian who lives outside the presence of Christ. The most holy work gets to be mere routine, done mechanically, unless we focus on His sweet presence.
7. Sit at Jesus’ feet with Mary, as well as work for Him like Martha. May He be the foundation of everything -- your hope, your character, of everything you do. When you’re laying the first stone of a new enterprise, lay it upon Christ. Cement it with His precious blood. Perfume it with the oil of gratitude and lay it upon Him alone. So shall you build for eternity and glorify His precious name.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. British sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein was once visited in his studio by the eminent author and fellow Briton, George Bernard Shaw. Noticing a huge block of stone standing in one corner Shaw asked what it was for.
2. “I don’t know yet. I’m still making plans,” replied Epstein. Shaw was astounded. “You mean you plan your work. Why, I change my mind several times a day!” “That’s all very well with a four-ounce manuscript,” replied the sculptor, “but not with a four-ton block of stone.”
3. We are living stones that God is fashioning into exactly the right shape in the body of Christ. God, of course, is more like the sculptor, who meticulously plans what he shall carve in each piece of stone.
B. THE CALL
1. Q – Is Jesus your only foundation? Are you alive in Christ? Are you functioning in the body? Are you growing into the Image of Christ?
2. Prayer
[This is a rewrite of a message by Charles Spurgeon entitled “The One Foundation.”]
