One Foundation

BUILD ON JESUS’S FOUNDATION

What does this mean to you? Think about it for a second, “Build on Jesus”. Everything is being held up by Him and the foundation that he lays with His Word.

The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright was given the challenge of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, one of the most earthquake-prone cities in the world. Wright's investigation showed that a solid foundation could be "floated" on a sixty-foot layer of soft mud underlying the hotel, which would provide a shock-absorbing but solid support for the immense building. Shortly after the hotel was completed it withstood the worst earthquake in fifty-two years, while lesser buildings fell in ruins around it.
Today in the Word, March 1989, p. 6.

Key Verses:
Mat 7:24¶ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.Mat 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: Mat 7:27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

A. We can not do it in our own power

Jhn 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

How many times have we tried to build our own life? How many times did we fail? Fallen flat on our faces, and laid there wallowing in our own failures? WE are not able to build anything, we need to BUILD ON JESUS!

B. The LORD must be the builder

Psa 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:

Isa 28:16¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

God promises us a sure foundation, but that foundation must be built on the corner stone. If the foundation is not strong, then the whole building will collapse.

C. We are the building

1Cr 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

2Cr 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Why would I try and build a building on someone else’s land? A building I know will fail? Why would I spend all that time and effort to put together a failure, when if done correctly, with the proper corner stone, the building can be built up higher than anyone can imagine. God wants us to succeed, with him holding us up and on His time. God will not rush the process, but will build us up with the proper tools and materials. Good craftsmanship takes time and effort.

D. Where to find the materials

Eph 2:19¶ Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.The Bible is where the materials are.

The Bible is where the materials are. You must be willing to search God's Word in order to find the proper materials to be built up.

A Builder Or a Wrecker
As I watched them tear a building down A gang of men in a busy town With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell They swung a beam and the side wall fell
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled, And the men you'd hire if you wanted to build?" He gave a laugh and said, "No, indeed, Just common labor is all I need."
"I can easily wreck in a day or two, What builders have taken years to do." And I thought to myself, as I went my way Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by rule and square? Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks to town Content with the labor of tearing down? "O Lord let my life and my labors be That which will build for eternity!"
Author Unknown, The Increase, 35th Anniversary Issue, 1993, p. 9

Our building is not physical but spiritual. God promises us a “sure foundation”, if we use the “chief corner stone”. You can continually try on your own, but until you let Jesus build you up, you will never be able to stand against the wind, floods and rain of this world.