The giant bucket reached forward and tore a gapping hole in the ground. Like some primitive monster it struck again and again opening the earth to the air for the first time since creation. And when finally it had finished it’s job, it quit. A silence filled the quiet street and where once there had been grass now there was just a hole. Three metres deep, and twenty two metres square. Just a hole. And as night came the hole was cloaked in darkness.
The next day the men were back and the pit was filled with activity as the men erected a crude double wall of plywood along the outer parameter of the hole. The wall was lined with structural steel laced together to form an intricate web. And again the day ended and the hole was left alone for another night. The early morning quiet was broken as truck after truck of pre-mixed cement came and discharged their loads between the double walled box sitting in the hole until finally the plywood walls held 61 cubic metres of cement. Twenty five centimetres thick, three metres high, and twenty metres on four sides. And the trucks left and the men left and the wall sat in the hole for three days. First darkness fell, and then snow fell and gradually the semi liquid cement transformed and became solid.
On the fourth day the men came back, some removed the plywood skin from the cement walls, others climbed down into the hole and laid reinforced metal mesh on the ground, and the trucks came back to pour more cement, this time covering the mesh, and making a floor on the bottom of the cement box.
And the days passed as the men returned to place a sealing compound on the outside of the cement box, and insulation over the compound and then filled the outer part of the hole up until the soil touched the outside of the box. And with that final motion the most important part of the building was complete. Not the prettiest part, not the most obvious part but by far the most important part.
You guessed of course that what was happening was a basement, the foundation of the Wesleyan Church we built in Truro. When I moved to Australia I discovered that building techniques differed between Nova Scotia and Queensland. In Oz because you don’t have to worry about getting below the frost line with your foundation. And because you don’t need to dig four or five feet to do that it doesn’t make sense to put in basements. But they still need foundations, and the foundation of the home we built in Murrumba Downs was just as important to its structural integrity as was the foundation of the Church in Truro. Our new church home won’t have a basement because of the rock on the site but the frost walls go down to the bedrock and they aren’t going anywhere.
For thousands of years builders have acknowledged the necessity of a firm foundation. And it’s not just buildings that need a firm foundation, so do people. Let’s go back to the scripture that Jason read for us earlier.
Hebrews 6:1-2 So let us stop going over the basics of Christianity again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start all over again with the importance of turning away from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Now listen to how it reads in the New International Version
Heb 6:1-2 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from Acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Paul is telling us that there is a foundation each one of us needs in our life. He’s telling us that we shouldn’t rebuild the foundation over and over again. But in order not to rebuild it we first need to discover what that foundation is. Because if we don’t know what the foundation is supposed to be we will either not lay it the first time, or we will keep laying it when we should be finished laying it, understand?
But sometimes it’s good to make sure we are building on the right foundation and so this week we are going to look at the foundation we need to lay before we go.
This reference is found in the book of Hebrews which is the 19th book of the New Testament. The author of the book doesn’t identify himself and so we don’t know for sure who actually wrote the book. Some suggestion offered up have been Barnabas, Luke or Apollo. Most scholars feel that it was probably Paul because of the style of writing. The book was written between AD 60 -70 and the purpose was to warn Jewish believers against turning back to their old ways. As part of that process the Author, whom we will call Paul for simplicity, reminds the believers of the foundation of their faith. And the first thing he mentions is:
1) Repentance From Acts That Lead To Death. So the first thing that goes into the foundation is repentance. But the question is, what is repentance? Well it literally means “a reversal”. Peter defined it best in Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the lord, do you see it? Repent then, and turn to God. The changing of direction. You see all too often we confuse repentance with remorse, that is being sorry. And well remorse is a part of repentance it is certainly not all of repentance. Because we can be sorry that we did something but continue to do it, right. Repentance though is being so sorry that you’ve done something that we stop doing.
Friend of mine has a sister who had a son who liked to play in the toilet when he was about 18 months old. It was kind of neat, a bucket of water that was always full. And so on various occasions she would discover him elbow deep in the loo. Well you know the story she would slap his hand, tell him that he was naughty and he would say “sorry mommy”. End of story, not quite. Because he still liked playing in the toilet. So even though there was remorse, there wasn’t repentance because the next time he got a chance he was back doing it again.
It’s amazing how many toilets we as grown and supposedly mature adults can find to play in. And when we get caught we say, “I’m sorry” and we are, right up to the point that we can find another toilet to play in.
And so we need to repent. But what do we need to repent of; well the bible says we need to repent of Acts that lead to death. Ok what are they, things like jumping off tall buildings, stepping out in front of speeding trucks, teasing pit bulls. Nope because Paul’s not talking about a physical death as much as he’s talking about a spiritual death.
Paul tells us in Romans 6:16 that sin leads to death, and James tells us in James 1:15 that sin gives birth to death, and of course we can’t forget the scripture that everybody knows and that is Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death. And what is sin, well theologically speaking sin is a “transgression of the known law of God.” So basically sin is disobedience to God.
Well preacher I don’t have to worry about that because I’m not a sinner, oh yes you are, the bible, God’s word says in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all means all, so all means you. So we repent we turn away from sin, and we turn to God, and turning to God means that we seek to be obedient to those things that he wants us to do.
Well you say how do I know what God wants? Well sometimes God speaks to our heart and through the Holy Spirit convicts us of something in our life and we know that it is wrong. Those are areas that usually aren’t spoken directly to in the scriptures. But realize that there are many areas of our lives that the Holy Spirit doesn’t have to convict us personally because he’s already given us the book.
The Holy Spirit shouldn’t have to tell you that you shouldn’t kill somebody because the book says “thou shalt not kill.” You shouldn’t need personal convictions about witchcraft or astrology because the book says that those things are of the devil.
Shouldn’t need God tapping you on the shoulder about sexual sin because the book says that the beauty of the sexual act is reserved for members of the opposite sex who are married, to one another. Hatred discord, jealousy, drunkenness, idolatry, adultery, covetousness, lust. All of those things are covered in the book. When you repent of Acts that lead to death you are saying I am going to endeavour by the power given to me by God to no longer do those things that displease him. So instead of doing things which are contrary to the will of God we turn and seek to do things which are of the will of God.
Sometimes we think that the bible is a book of don’ts, but really when you look at it there are a lot more dos in the bible then don’ts and if we spend all our time doing the dos then we won’t have any time to do the don’ts, right.
So then we’ve repented the start of the foundation that God wants for our lives, what next? Well the next thing the book says in Faith in God,
It was 1978 and I was fishing with dad on the rally 2, a 132 foot fishing boat out of Québec city. We had put into Paspebeaq Québec for a few days to do some painting and general repairs on the boat and I was put in charge of repainting the name on the stern. Well we had finished one side of the boat and we let the lines go, went out in the middle of the harbour turned around and came back along side the wharf. We had left one of the fellows on the wharf to take the lines and make us secure when we came back and John ran from rope to rope making them secure to the bollards on the wharf.
After we had shut the engines down we all got back to our assigned tasks. I collected my small brushes and my tin of blue paint and sauntered on back to the stern. And as I had done countless other times I placed my can of paint and my brush on the rail, and then to get in a better position to perform my artistic endeavours I vaulted over the rail and landed on the rope which held the stern to the wharf. Do you remember I said that John went from rope to rope making sure that they were secure? Right, he missed one. It was like a road runner and coyote cartoon because I distinctly remember hearing the rope hit the water before I became aware of the fact that it was no longer under my feet. And so I dropped and caught the rail by my finger tips. There I hung, by my finger tips, the stern swept in low and so I had nothing to put my feet against to pull my self up and so there I hung.
I didn’t want to yell because I was afraid that if I yelled I would panic, and I knew that if I yelled and I panicked then I would let go. Now normally that’s not a problem, I can swim and it was only a four foot drop into the harbour, but I was wearing work boots, and coveralls, and the harbour was home to a fish processing plant which wasn’t all that environmentally sensitive. I knew that if I fell into that mess that dad would probably find it easier to let me drown then to clean me up and so there I hung. And very quietly and very calmly I said “help” and so there I hung.
It was then that I heard the conversation between my father and his twin brother “where’d Denn go?” Clint asked, “Oh he’s squatting down on the stern line” replied my father and very quietly and very calmly I said “help” and so there I hung.
Then I heard words that restored my faith in my blood relatives because my uncle said, “I wonder how he’s making out, let’s check” and they began walking to where I was. And I said “help” very calmly and very quietly and there I hung. It was only a fifty foot walk back to where I was but Clint and dad stopped every so often to look at and comment upon various pieces of equipment, and there I hung. Finally after several eternities they arrived and I can still hear my fathers voice as he leaned over, looked at me and asked, “what are you doing down there?” and without thinking I replied, :”oh, just hanging around.” And then dad & Clint reached over and took a wrist each and said very plainly “let go”. Right! But before they could help me I had to believe that they could hold me and lift me.
Before your repentance will do any good you have to believe that God truly has the power to forgive sin. Remember that scripture in the book of Acts when Peter was preaching, he said Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the lord, when you repent, God wipes out your sins but you have to be willing to believe that. You have to let go of everything else and place
Your faith in the forgiving grace of Jesus Christ. Paul says it best in Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Repentance is the first part of that foundation, but you will need to have faith in God to believe that repentance will actually work, and that your sins will be forgiven.
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- you catch that, it is by grace that you have been saved, the grace of God. But it is through faith that grace is able to save you. God can only save you when you are willing to pull your fingers away from the rail.
And so we have started laying the foundation, we have repented from our sins, we have had the faith to believe that with that repentance comes forgiveness and that is given by God’s grace. So what is the next step? What is the next component in this foundation we are laying.
Well. Paul tells us in this verse that the next step is Instructions About Baptism. We really don’t put enough emphasis on baptism, I am as guilty of that as anyone. But we have to remember that in the great commission we weren’t just supposed to tell people about Jesus. Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, after we had told them about Jesus and after they became Christians then we were supposed to baptise them.
Now I know that we can get into great long discussion about how a person is baptised. The Presbyterian pastor and the Baptist pastor were discussing that very thing. The Presbyterian pastor asked “is knee deep enough” and the Baptist said “no it has to be all the way” and so the Presbyterian said “well is waist deep enough” “no” said the Baptist “all the way” “well” said the Presbyterian, “how about just above the eyebrows.” “no, no, no it has to be all of them, all of them do you understand” yelled his exasperated companion. “see” said the Presbyterian “all that really matters is that little bit on top.”
Some times we waste so much time arguing over how we should baptise them when they get saved that we never get around to helping people get saved.
I come from a Baptist background and I believe in baptism by immersion. They were good and bad, they ought to get good and wet. But listen up, really when it comes right down to it, we can argue baptism day and night and I’m not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine. It’s kind of like golf, gives you something to do but really isn’t world changing right?
On the other hand I am unmovable on the issue of believer’s baptism. In the New Testament when somebody got saved they got baptised. And they didn’t get baptised before they believed. Baptism by itself won’t do anything but get you wet. You go down a sinner and come up a wet sinner.
There is no saving grace in baptism; baptism is simply an outward demonstration of an inward decision. And so even though baptism won’t save you, Jesus has said that once you are saved then you ought to be baptised.
And Paul goes go, after baptism he mentions The Laying On Of Hands. “I don’t know pastor sounds faintly charismatic to me.” In the context of the New Testament there were various reasons for the laying on of hands. 1) for healing 2) for bestowing the holy spirit 3) for ordaining for ministry and 4) the giving of gifts. “Boy that all sound faintly charismatic doesn’t it.” Well actually it’s biblical. You see the bible talks a lot about gifts, and not just gifts like tongues and healing and prophecy. Paul tells us in Romans 12 that there are the gifts of serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy.
And in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul tells us about some more gifts like, healings, prophecy, and yes tongues (although me might differ on what those tongues are with some you can’t deny that they are in the bible.) The gift of helps, administration and hospitality. Do you see where we are going, every one of us is gifted in some area for the good of the body. The concept of laying on hands is simply the fact that we need to acknowledge that every one of us needs to recognise their gift and be willing to use it for the good of the kingdom.
The last two things mentioned are the Resurrection Of The Dead, And Eternal Judgement. In the long term we are all going to die. Every one of us is eventually going to die, and the last part of the foundation of our faith is simply an acknowledgment of why we need the first parts.
From the very beginning Christianity has been a religion of immortality. Not only is there a life to be lived on this earth but there is another life when this one is through. People say “Praise God, I have been born again I’m going to live forever.” Got news for you, you are going to live forever whether you have been born again or not. The only difference will be the address.
It is your choice whether you will spend eternity with God, or without God. And that is the last point, eternal judgement. Regardless of what you hear about reincarnation there is only one trip around and then we face God. Hebrews 9:27 just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, die once, not twice, not three times, but once. And that judgment will be based on whether or not you have laid the foundation properly.
So where are you at this morning? Is your foundation secure?
Hope you enjoyed this message, PowerPoint is available contact me at denn@powerpoint4preaching.com
