SOLID FOUNDATION

1 Corinthians 3

There are all kinds of foundations built upon by men and each foundation is tested to ascertain its strength and durability. What are you building on? If your foundation is tested, will it stand or crumble? Paul said in Vs 10-11 that he laid a foundation as a skilled builder only by grace and he did not build upon someone else’s, how about you? Are you laying your foundation on the word of God or upon other’s foundation? There is no “I” in TEAM, and if our foundation must stand the test of life and time, it must be laid with the right materials and people. The church’s one foundation. Is Jesus Christ her Lord. These are the first two lines to a hymn that I think absolutely describes what every believer’s foundation should be built upon. Jesu Christ. Essentially, a solid spiritual foundation should be the ground on which other parts of our lives rest or are overlaid with other parts of the Christian walk without which we couldn’t withstand the storms that various seasons of life brings. The only spiritual foundation we should build on is Jesus because it is He who paid for it. Obeying God’s word gives us the materials to keep building upon that foundation. What Paul is basically saying is that when anyone tries to build a false gospel on the foundation of Jesus Christ… it’s going to fail! You cannot build up others in Christ by teaching a false gospel… it just won’t work! Vs 5-6 says: “I planted; Apollos watered.” “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed.” Do we not all do the same? We find denominational competition and superiority play a major role in our foundation building. We identify with certain servants of God and question the calling of others, we advocate certain doctrines and condemn others, just as we approve of some churches and ignore others. Why? We’ve aligned our beliefs in man rather than the authority of the gospel. Paul warns us all in Vs 7 to align with God and not His servants, God ultimately is the one who gives the growth. In other words, readjust the way you think about your favorite teacher, pastor, church, and denomination. What are they? Servants. Earthquakes don’t necessarily kill people, buildings kill people. It’s how the structures in which people live, work and congregate react to those shock waves that kill them. Such destruction also occurs on a spiritual level as well, especially when unexpected events change our spiritual landscape. If our foundation is not rightly aligned on Christ, this shift in the spiritual landscape will cause our foundation to begin to crumble. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. Have you built a solid foundation? Will your foundation stand in times of Testing? Matthew 7:24-27 In a world of uncertainty and Peril on every side how will we know if we will stand? God expects us to build up our faith and mature spiritually! However, we must use the right building materials and do things the right way! Are you building on sand, or on man’s philosophy, on your friends’ advice, or the teachings of this world? Or more appropriately on the solid foundation that is Christ Jesus?