Jesus Christ is the sure foundation laid by God that we should build our lives upon, as He provides righteousness, is the cornerstone of the church, and enables us to live well; we must fully accept and obey Jesus as Lord and Christ to truly build upon this foundation; everyone will eventually deal with Christ, either submitting and being broken to follow Him, or rejecting Him and being destroyed when judgment comes.

Transcript

Good evening. I thank you for your presence this evening. If you're visiting, we want you to know that we appreciate your being here. And if you're joining us online, we appreciate your presence as well. I thank you for the opportunity of standing before you and talking to you about Jesus. And that's really what we're going to talk about.

We're going to talk about Jesus Christ. Probably most of us are familiar with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This is a standalone bell tower that is part of the Cathedral of Pisa, and it stands 186 feet tall. But what it's famous for, is what its name says, is that it leans. If you were to just draw a perpendicular line at the base of that and Then draw one to where the tower actually is, you'd see that it leans about 12 feet and 10 inches off center.

And I think they've done some work to keep it from leaning more or collapsing. But the reason that it leans, we're told, is because foundation, although intended for it to stand vertically. The tower began leaning to the southeast soon after the onset of its construction in 1173. It was due to a poorly laid foundation and loose substrate that has allowed the foundation to shift directions.

I don't know. Much better how you can show the importance of a good foundation than that. If we don't have a good foundation, then the building that we're trying to build is in danger. We talked this morning about Psalms 11 and verse 3. If the foundation are destroyed, what are the righteous to do? And I think we look about us and our morals and see the decline of the morals that we have.

And we look at families and how they are oftentimes breaking up and dissolving. And we even look at religious leaders and how they're catering to the changes that we see in the world and embracing some of the moral or lack of morals that are taught and, and not really standing against the home breaking up and so much.

And I think we look at that and we think, yes, maybe there's a foundation problem. And there is one if all those things are happening. But, as Reagan pointed out this morning, there's things that we as righteous people can do and should do. And he had a very good lesson on that. My job this evening is to talk to you about Jesus Christ, the sure foundation.

I want you to know that Jesus Christ is the foundation that we should be building. And I want you to know that it is a sure foundation. And all of the problems that we see, it's not because Jesus is not a good foundation. It happens because people are not building on Jesus, or they're disobeying Jesus, or they're changing Jesus words, and thus corrupting the foundation.

I want you to know that the foundation can be rejected, but the foundation of Jesus will never, listen, it will never be destroyed. And that's the reason we should build on that foundation. I want to start with you this evening by getting you to turn to the book of Isaiah in the 28th chapter, or either just watch the the screen.

We're going to have it up there. But in Isaiah the 28th chapter in verse 16, Isaiah said, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tribestone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whosoever believes will not act hastily. I want you to notice that in this passage that Isaiah is prophesying about Jesus and it's about Jesus that he's talking about when he says that God's going to lay in Zion a stone for foundation.

a pride stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. That's Jesus that he's talking about. And so right off the start, we can see that the scriptures teach that Jesus is indeed the foundation. Paul referenced this in the book of Ephesians in the second chapter in verse 19 and 20. He, of course, was writing to the church at Ephesus, and they had Jews and Gentiles, and they were both becoming a part of this one body, the church, and he wanted them to know what kind of foundation they were building on.

And so he writes and says, Now, therefore. You are no longer strangers and foreigners, particularly talking about the Gentiles. You're no longer a stranger and foreigner, but fellow citizens with the saints and with the members of the household of God. That's the church that he's talking about. The church is the house of God.

So he says, you're now a part of that household of God. Then he says, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. I want you to look again. Here is a passage that tells us plainly that Jesus is the foundation. He's the chief cornerstone.

Now, I think we tend to think about foundation. We tend to think about that that runs around the perimeter of the building. But that's not the image that Isaiah and Paul are using. The cornerstone is the foundation. And when Paul said you're built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, he's not saying you're built upon the Apostles and Prophets.

He's saying you're built upon Jesus Christ that was preached and taught by the apostles and the prophets. And Jesus himself is that chief cornerstone. And so it's important that we realize that the foundation of the cornerstone is one and the same. And that one and the same is talking about Jesus Christ.

I was talking with Brent Bonnell the other day. He likes building. He was excited about the idea of Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone and, and that being the foundation and saying, that's it. That's, that's the thing that's most important, that cornerstone and how everything has to line up with that cornerstone vertically and horizontally.

And that's what he's talking about. You're built upon the foundation, the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. And I want to suggest to you that this is not something that's not easily seen. Just go back for a moment, if you would, to the book of Isaiah and the 28th chapter and just watch closely what Isaiah says.

He says, Therefore says the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation. Amen. I'm laying a stone for the foundation. And then he says, a tribe stone, that stone that I'm laying, he says, that's a tribe stone. And then thirdly, he would say, that stone that I'm laying for the foundation is a precious cornerstone.

You see that? Here's the stone, and he says, that stone is a precious cornerstone, and then he goes on to say, that cornerstone, that stone that I've laid, it is a sure foundation. And so there should not be any question in our mind that the foundation that we're talking about is the cornerstone, and that cornerstone is Jesus Christ.

And I suggest to you that that's not the only passage that tells us that Jesus is the foundation. First of all, let me go and mention that Ephesians 2 in verse 20. I, I learned this about the foundation just reading the text. But I found in this study when I was studying for the lesson that if Vines in his Expository Dictionary in Ephesians 2.

20 says where where the of is not subjective, that is not consisting of the apostles and prophets, but objective, that is laid by the apostles and prophets. And that's what we said. You're built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. You're built upon the foundation not consisting of the apostles and prophets, but that that was preached by the apostles.

And that is the chief cornerstone. But again, other passages tell us that Jesus is that foundation. 1 Corinthians 3, in verse 11, Paul's talking about how he preached Jesus Christ. And then in chapter 3, in verse 11, he would say that we have to lay this foundation, for no other foundation can be laid other than that that is laid, which is Christ Jesus.

And that's how I came to understand that Ephesians 2 isn't talking about the apostles, the foundation of the apostles, one thing and the chief cornerstone another. There's one foundation and that foundation, he said, is Jesus Christ. You look at Matthew the 16th chapter in verse 18, and, and this is the occasion where they were asking, or Jesus asked, Who do men say that I am?

And his apostles answered and said, Well, some say you're Elijah, and some say you're Jeremiah, or some say you're some of the other prophets. And he said, but Who do you say that I am? And it was Peter that spoke up and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now notice what he's saying.

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jordan, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father which is in heaven, and upon this rock, I will build my church. This rock, this idea that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

That's what the church was going to be built upon. That's the foundation he's talking about. Then I want you to look over, if you would, to the book of Acts in the fourth chapter. Most of us are familiar with Acts 4 and verse 12 that talks about no other name whereby we might be saved other than the name of Jesus.

But look at the context of that passage, if you would, for a moment. Look back to beginning in verse 9, and if you look back into chapter 3, Peter and John have healed a man that couldn't walk. And so all of Jerusalem was in a stir because of that miracle. They wanted to take the apostles and throw them in jail and so forth.

And so Peter is answering that, or in talking about that, he said, let it be known to you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him. This man stands here before you hold. So that's the first thing you say. You see this man that can now walk, who was lame, he was healed by Jesus.

Now talking about Jesus, he says, This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. And so here's another pastor saying, Jesus is this chief cornerstone. He's the one that Jesus, or that God has laid as the foundation. And we might take time to read it right now, but I suggest to you that 1 Peter 2, verses 6 and 7 will refer to this same prophecy that Acts 4 is about the stone that's rejected by some, but made the chief cornerstone by God.

And so again, another passage that's telling us Jesus is the foundation. If you're wanting to know what you need to be building on, Jesus is the one that we need to be building on. That's all it is to it. But go back again, if you would, to the idea that Isaiah talks about in Isaiah, the 28th chapter. And just look a little closer at this stone that he's talking about.

First of all, I want you to realize, he says, it is laid by God. I just ask you, do you know of anything that God's not done perfect? Whatever God does, he does well. And the very fact that it's telling us that God laid this foundation tells you that it is a strong, sure foundation, I think. When I was studying this, it occurred to me that a number of times the scriptures talk about God laying the foundation of the earth.

PSalms 102 in verse 25, Isaiah 48 in verse 13, Zechariah 12 in verse 1. Hebrews 1 and verse 10, all of them talk about how that God laid the foundation of the earth. You'll find a lot more that talk about the foundation of the world. But my point being, here God laid the foundation of the world and the earth, and it still stands.

And it's not going to get off its foundation until God calls it to end. And we don't get up, not many of us get up and worry about the fact that this earth is not built on a sure foundation. We know God laid that foundation and we know that that world's going to stand until God calls it to end. And that should tell us that this foundation that God has laid and telling us that it's the sure foundation of Zion, it is a good foundation.

And that we're not going to find one better than this sure foundation that God laid. Who do you want to build on? Some foundation that men have thought about and put down there? Or do you want to build on the foundation laid by God? That's Jesus Christ. But second, look again. He said it is a tribe stone.

One of the things when I was talking with Bryn, he said, You know, they go out and gather these stones to build on and they're huge. He said, but they, they had to make sure they would be lasting. They were going to build a temple on them or something else. He wanted to make sure that that stone wasn't going to crumble under the weight.

They wanted to know that it would stand the years and still hold the weight and all of that. Well, we want a tridestone. And Isaiah said that's the kind that God laid in Zion. A tridestone. I thought about that in two ways that came to my mind. That God tried Jesus or Jesus was a tridestone. One, He was tempted to sin.

And yet without sin. Hebrews the fourth chapter in verse fifteen says which tempted, like as we are in all manners, yet without sin. We have a sure foundation, one that was above sin. It wasn't going to crack because of temptation and sin. And the second thing I think about is the idea of death. That death could not destroy this foundation that God was laid.

We mentioned the passage in Matthew the 16th chapter in verse 18, where Peter said, or Jesus said after Peter had said, Thou art the Lord in Christ. He answered by saying, Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Hades is where every soul goes when it dies.

And what Jesus was saying, I think, is, Death will not stop me from being what God has intended me to be. And that's what happened. They killed him, but God raised him from the dead. And so he serves as a foundation, a sure foundation, one that even the gates of Hades could not destroy. And I'll just tell you that they can't destroy our hope, that his foundation is such that we can die and we can still know that we'll receive the promises and be strong because the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it.

Look again. He says, it is a precious cornerstone.

Young's analytical concordance gives the definitions to these words and. It said precious, it used the word rare and valuable.

He's a precious cornerstone because there's none like him. God didn't lay another foundation for us to build on like he did Jesus. He's rare in that this is the only begotten son of God that we're building upon. And there's only one, only begotten Son of Jesus, or of God. And you remember the passage we talked about in Acts, the fourth chapter, and we talked about how the, he was healed by this stone that some said it not, but was made by God, the chief cornerstone.

And then the next passage says, And there's no other name whereby man can be saved. Jesus is the only name in which we can be saved. How precious is He? The only Son of God, the only name whereby we can be saved, that is a precious cornerstone. And finally, he says, a sure foundation. This word, sure, one of the writers Saul, talked about how that it meant that it was reliable, that it was not shakable, that it's firm, that it's trustworthy.

Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 19, saying, Nevertheless, the solid foundation. of God's stand. We sung some songs this morning, and one of the lines was, It shall stand, it shall stand, it shall stand forever and ever, it shall stand. That, my friend, is a sure foundation. One that will stand and stand and forever stand.

And that's what Jesus said, or what Isaiah said, and Paul said, that God had laid for us. He has laid for us a sure foundation. If you see a foundation that's faltering, and like what we see maybe in the world today with morals and homes and even religion, It's not because the sure foundation has cracked.

It's because they didn't build on the sure foundation. Or because they haven't kept it as God gave it. And they changed things that they should not change. We can understand and know that we have a sure foundation in Jesus Christ. But I want to test your thinking a little more. We say we have a sure foundation.

What does that mean to you? What is a sure foundation? What are we doing with it? I want to suggest to you three things that you might think about. A foundation, of course, is And I want to suggest to you that one thing is Jesus is the foundation of our righteousness. Proverbs the 10th chapter in verse 25, I don't have that on the chart, but Proverbs 10 in verse 25 talks about the wicked and then it says, but the righteous have a forever foundation or everlasting foundation.

The righteous have an everlasting foundation. May I tell you that Jesus is what our righteousness is built on? Look over, if you would, to Isaiah, the 53rd chapter. Most of us are familiar with this passage. It's, again, a prophecy of Isaiah that is telling us about Jesus Christ. But look at Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, in verse 5.

And he's talking about Jesus. He says, But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was laid upon, was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Notice that, by his stripes we are healed. That's how we get righteous. We've talked about Romans 3 and 24 and 25 numerous times, 23.

And this proclaims we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But he says, I will justify you, I will pronounce you right by grace. Then he says, through redemption. And that means through the forgiveness of sin. And then he says, on because Jesus is a propitiation by his blood. And that just means we are forgiven of our sins based on the blood of Jesus Christ because of our faith.

And so Jesus is the very reason and the only reason on the only way that we can ever be righteous. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. But how are we going to be righteous? Well, through Jesus Christ. And you can't find anybody else that can make you right. It is His blood that makes us righteous.

That's the starting point of righteousness. And 1 John, the first chapter in verse 8, through chapter 2 in verse 2, would continue and talk about even those of us that are Christians. We can't say that we have not sinned. If we say that we have not sinned, we lie and the truth is not in us. But he goes on to say, but if we'll take our sins to Jesus and confess them, That he's faithful and, and will forgive us of our sin.

And so we build upon that blood that Jesus shed and, and continue to be righteous because of him. He is the foundation of our righteousness. If you ever want to be righteous, it'll be because of Jesus. It's the only way that you'll ever be righteous. But you can stand on Jesus and know if you comply with his word.

that you will be righteous, and that righteousness will never fail because of a lack of a Savior. Jesus is that sure of a Savior. But the second thing, Jesus is the foundation of the Church. I told you when we, we looked at Ephesians the second chapter in verse 19 and 20, that, that he's really talking about the Church there.

And how that the Gentiles were now being brought in alongside of the Jews, and now they're all a part of the, the household of God. And he says you're built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Jesus is the chief cornerstone or the chief foundation of the Church.

And there are none others that can stand like that. Think about Acts the second chapter. And you see Peter preaching on that occasion. The truth that Jesus is Lord and Christ and those people heard it and they understood it and they cried out what shall we do? And Peter said you need to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

There's your remission of sins again. You can be made righteous through him. And when they did that, it tells us the Lord added to the church daily such as should be seen. No one gets into the church, or becomes a part of the church really, it's not a building you get into, it's a building you are, you're lively stones if you're a part of it.

But you're made a part of it because you're made righteous. And that church is made of righteous people, people that have been cleansed of their sins. But that church would never stand, and could not stand, if it was not for Jesus Christ, our sheer foundation. We'd never be righteous, and could never be added to the church.

There wouldn't even be a church, if it wasn't for Jesus Christ. Because we've all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Well, let me suggest to you also, that Jesus is the foundation of a very well lived life. Look over, if you would, for a moment, to the book of Luke, and the sixth chapter. And this is, is Jesus talking.

And verse 46, he says, But why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he's like. He's 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 vehemently against the house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.

But he who heard and did not, did, did nothing, is like a man who built his house on the earth, without a foundation, against which the streams beat vehemently, and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great. Very similar to what Jesus said at the close of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, about if you hear these words, you'll build it and the storms will come and you'll last.

If not, then you'll fall.

A well lived life is based on the word of Jesus Christ. And that's how we live and stand. Proverbs, the 23rd chapter, beginning in about verse 29, you remember the writer says Woe those that look not, or who look on the wine, and so forth, because evil days come, and they're bad things that happen. People that are Christians and people who are building their life on Jesus Christ, they don't have that problem.

And even if we have it, we can get forgiveness of it, and overcome it. But just think of how many things the world offers and it gives danger and it leads to hurt. And we don't have to suffer that because we're building on the rock. We're doing his sayings and his sayings are like a rock. They keep us safe.

They keep us from being destroyed. And even when there's storms, if we call them or Things that, that's just part of life. That it's, it's not a matter of, of keeping God's Word and you're, you're going to be exempt from it. But I'm talking about just sickness and death and a whole bunch of other things that come everybody's way.

But if you're building on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, those things are not going to destroy you. You know that you live afterwards, and that you have help in all of these things. Jesus is foundation of a very well lived life.

Talk to some people that are older sometime, who've put their trust in Jesus, and they'll tell you, they wouldn't swap it for the world. Because the storms come, but they still stand. Because they're built upon true foundation. So the question becomes, what are you going to do with this foundation? And let me suggest to you that what some people will do is that they will reject the stone and they'll set it at naught.

In fact, over and over in the Scriptures, you read that the stone the builders rejected. Psalms 118th chapter and verse 22. And then Matthew the 21st chapter and verse 42. Acts the 4th chapter and verse 11. First Peter the 2nd chapter and verse 6 and 7. All those passages talk about this stone that some have rejected, but that God made as the cornerstone, he says.

And the way they rejected, Either by disbelief or by disobedience. You remember, I, I talked about Jesus as Lord in Christ, there's some people that don't accept Jesus as Lord in Christ, and so they're not going to be righteous and they're not going to be a part of the church and they're probably not gonna have a well lived life.

And certainly it's not going to end well and Eternity's not going to be well for 'em because they don't believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of living God. And then disobedience, even some who say they believe, don't obey. Oh, Matthew 7, Jesus said, Not everyone that sayeth my name, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.

You don't have to just say, I just will not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of living God, and utter those words to, to reject that foundation. Here he is saying, here's what you need to do to be righteous. And if you, yeah, I'm not going to do that. I still think he's Lord. But I'm not going to repent of my sins and be baptized.

I'm not going to do that. Or you have just rejected the foundation. You're not going to be a part of the church because you're not going to be righteous and you're not going to be added to the church by the Lord. And if you don't follow His Word, you're not going to have that well lived life that we talked about.

And you're not going to have the hope when storms do come to cling to. If you don't accept it. What we should do and what we can do is we can count it precious and build upon it. And we do that through belief. Listen to 1 Peter 2 and verse 7. It's one of those passages I mentioned that talks about Jesus being that foundation.

But he says, Therefore, to you who believe, he is precious. And then he says, But to those who are disobedient, that's the stone that set it not. So he tells us, we have to believe. And I want to tell you this truth that we've mentioned several times, Jesus is Lord and Christ, and you've heard me say this before, but if I was given an audience to talk to just one time, and the surety that I could get across one point, and that people would know what I'm saying and what I mean, and accept that point, I'd choose to get across Jesus is Lord and Christ, because there is nothing that will influence us more The Knowing Jesus is Lord, and Jesus is Christ, and Believing that.

We talk about Jesus is Lord, we're talking about He's the Master. He said, why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? If I can get somebody to believe that He is Lord, and know what that means, and they're willing to say, I don't care what God tells me to do, I'm going to do it. That's the attitude.

If that attitude exists, it'll be no problem to get them to submit to the command of baptism. It'll get them, no problem to get them to, to forsake not the assembling. They want to do what God wants them to do if they truly understand that Jesus is Lord and Christ is the Savior. And so if you believe that He is Lord, and you accept Him as Lord, and you accept Him as Christ, that's how we're saved.

And I remind you that that's the point that Peter was getting across in Acts, the second chapter. First gospel sermon, and he preaches that Jesus was a man approved of God by the miracles that He worked. He was crucified and he was raised by the dead, and in verse 36 he said, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know that this Jesus whom you crucified is both Lord and Christ.

And that's when they cried out, What shall we do? And Peter said, You need to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sin. Three thousand of them did it, and they were added to the church. Lord and Christ. And I want to tell you, however strong your faith is in Lord and Christ, That's how strong your foundation really is in Jesus.

And if your faith is strong, and you really believe Him to be Lord, and you really believe Him to be Christ, and you're willing to do anything He tells you to do, and keep on doing it. And you likely will be one of the saved because you're built on a solid foundation. We count it precious and we build.

And we show that we count it precious that we build on that foundation through obedience. Remember the passage we read? They didn't obey and therefore they rejected that stone. And this is not partial obedience. This is just total obedience. Where we've confessed that He's Lord and Christ. And so whatever it is He tells me to do, That's what I'm going to do.

And that's the foundation we need. And we don't change His word. That's when we get in trouble. And that's when... Our foundation, not him, but our foundation crumbles because we're no longer building on that foundation any longer. Let me give you three quick points in the lesson of years.

I want to suggest you make Jesus your Lord, your foundation. He's not just Lord. He needs to be our Lord. He needs to be not just a foundation. He needs to be our foundation. Back in the book of 2 Samuel in the 22nd chapter in verse 2, David is talking and he speaks of God as a rock. If you go back and look and you'll see he doesn't just say, God is a rock.

He says, God is my rock. He's more than just a foundation to David. He was his foundation. And then you remember the story in John 20 in verse 28 when Jesus had been raised from the dead and The apostles had met with him and saw him, and Thomas wasn't there, and they told Thomas about it, and Thomas said, I'll not believe unless I can touch him and, and see the nail prints in his hand and see where the spear went in his side.

And then one week later, all of the apostles were together and Thomas was there, and Jesus appeared. And Jesus said, Thomas, reach forth your hand and touch the nail prints. Put your hand in the side. And I don't know if Thomas did it or not, but I know what he said. He said, my Lord and my God, not just Jesus, your Lord and God, but Jesus, you're my Lord, my God.

And I don't want you to leave in here thinking, yes, Jesus is a sure foundation. I want you to leave saying, Jesus is my sure foundation. I'm building my life on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. So I can be righteous and I can be a part of the church and I can have a well ordered life. And so I can get to heaven.

The second thing, remember to count the cost. In the book of Luke, in the 14th chapter, verse 28 29, Jesus is talking about discipleship,

and he tells them, he said, you can't be my disciple unless you take father, and mother, and brother, and sister, and wife, and children, yea, in your own life also. And you can't be my disciple unless you'll bear the cross.

I've said before, I've heard people talk about. Taking care of the sick. And they'll say, that's just my cross to bear. They do it well, but that's not the cross he's talking about. Jesus was talking to disciples saying, you can't be my disciple unless you bear the cross, everybody, even those that are not Christians have sick people that they take care of.

But what's in the life of a Christian that's not in the life of others is the cross, where they crucify the old man and let the new man come alive. And Jesus is saying, you can't be my disciple unless you hate father, and mother, and brother, and sister, and wife, and children, and your own wife also. And he doesn't mean you have to hate with ill will, but he means you've got to love them less than you do me.

If there's a choice between what they say and what Christ says, I'm going to follow Christ. I'm building on the sure foundation. They're not the sure foundation. And I'm going to die to sin and I'm going to stay dead. And then Jesus said, count the cost. Because if you start and you start building on and lay the foundation and then you don't follow up.

He said, people are going to come by and mock because you don't have enough wherewith to finish the building. You need to think about it. And if you're serious about it, if you really believe with all your heart that Jesus is Lord and Christ and you're willing to pay the price, then claim Him as your foundation, your cornerstone.

And then I want you to know that everybody is going to have to deal with this stone. Turn, if you would, for a moment to the book of Luke in the 20th chapter.

In Luke, the 20th chapter, in verse 17 and 18, Jesus said, Then He looked at them and said, What then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. That's the idea. In verse 18, Whosoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls it will grind to powder.

Everybody comes in contact with that stone. Eventually. We can come to it and let it break us, where we give up our will and make our will His will. And say, whatever it is that you require of me, that's what I'm going to do. No longer I that liveth, but Christ liveth in me. I'm through. I'm, I'm broken. Or he said, we can let the stone fall on us.

And if somebody rejects it, then the stone will eventually fall on them. He said, it just grinds you to powder.

And what he's talking about is, you lose your soul. Everybody will come in contact with you. In the book of Philippians, in the second chapter, We're talking about Jesus all was and he talks about how he humbled himself and became obedient to God. Therefore, he's given a high, a name above every name and he talks about the fact that all of us stand before God in judgment and how the, those that don't accept him will have judgment against them.

You have a choice this evening. You can start no matter where you've been or what you've done. You can start now. and claim Jesus as your sure foundation and start building on it, or you can keep living like you want to live, and that stone will fall on you and crush you. But you will stand, and someday, as Philippians talks about, admit that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of living God.

It'll just be too late if you don't do it now, or before this life ends, it'll be too late. You're subject to the invitation in any way and want to claim Jesus as your foundation. Why don't you do it now as together we stand and sing.