The Foundation
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Today we are in the second message of a series of messages entitled "You are the Church".
On the day of Pentecost we are told in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples. God baptized them into the body of Christ and the church came in to being. The church was formed and immediately they began to preach the gospel as Christ had instructed them to do.
The preaching of the Word of God (The Holy Bible) today is so important. For it is the foundation of the church.
The foundation of the church is the Word of God as we are going to see today from the scripture text found in 2 Tim. 4:1-5. You can go ahead and turn there and will read that together in here in just a few moments.
We talked about the cornerstone last week, Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church, He is the founder of the church.
Now it says we are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20).
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Now the apostles and prophets are those to whom God spoke to give us this Book, the Holy Word of God.
God used these men through who to speak His Word and to write it down so we would have exactly what God wanted us to have in the inspired, inerrant Word of God.
And the inspired, inerrant Word of God is the foundation upon which every church should be built.
Now Paul emphasizes this in II Timothy 4 as he charges young Timothy. Now it should be noted that 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are known as Pastoral epistles and they are God’s instruction on how a pastor is to pastor His (Christ’s) church.
Read II Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
The preaching of God’s holy word is the very foundation of Christ’s Church.
Paul says "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;"v.2
Why is the Preaching the Word of God to be the foundation of His church? There are at least five ways to answer that question from our text this morning.
I. BECAUSE OF THE SEASON SURROUNDING US
I. BECAUSE OF THE SEASON SURROUNDING US
First off, We need to preach the word today because of the season that surrounds us.
In II Timothy 3:1 Paul begins by saying,
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
And then in verse 13 he says,
But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
So regarding to the season in which we are living, what Paul is saying to Timothy is that there will be in the last days a season of false teaching will take place as the end of the age approaches.
Now we need to understand that the last days began when Jesus ascended to heaven. And the last days have continued until now. And the last days will not be consummated until the end of the age, at the end of the tribulation period and the glorious appearing of Christ and His establishment of His Kingdom on earth. All of this period is the last days.
Again notice he says, "Things will get worse and worse".
There will be more and more of the power and influence of Satan. There will be demons that will be let loose upon the earth, seducing spirits. Doctrines of demons are going to invade the church so he says in light of the season that surrounds us, preach the word.
Never had we needed the preaching of the word more than we do in this season. We see prophecy being fulfilled on every level.
Now from the very beginning of the church there was an invasion of false prophecy, an invasion of false teaching, those who infiltrated the church with their doctrines of demons.
Listen to what Paul says would happen as we get closer to the last days.
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
Strong’s Greek #646. ἀποστασία apŏstasia, ap-os-tas-ee´-ah; fem. of the same as 647; defection from truth (prop. the state) [“apostasy”]:—falling away, forsake.
And this is why it is so important that we preach the word, not human reasoning but the word, not human ideas but the word, not human marketing techniques but the word.
Preach the word. It is the word that is going to have the power to convict, to convert, to conserve, and to cleanse. So the word of God must be preached.
General Heresies
General Heresies
Positive Thinking The belief that your thoughts have the God-like ability to create your reality
Prosperity Gospel The belief that the promises of the Gospel include good physical health and Earthly wealth
Second Chance Theology The belief that the unsaved will be permitted to repent and trust in Christ after they die
Universalism The belief that everyone will go to Heaven
Vinism The belief that homosexuality is not a sin
Word of Faith The belief that human words have the God-like power to create or destroy
Works Righteousness The belief that we are saved by works or a combination of faith and works rather than by faith alone
That is just a few of the "isms" that are in our world today.
But they are just not in the world they are camping out in the church. They are there because of this...Look at what Paul says again in II Timothy 4:2-5,
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
In other words, the people will want to hear things that will be pleasing to them.
So you go to a church growth conference and they say don't call people sinners.
One very popular TV evangelist who has a big smile on his face every Sunday morning, has been on TV a long time, said the greatest harm ever done to the Kingdom of God was the preaching that all men are sinners!
Now that is just a doctrine that will tickle itching ears, don't preach on sin, and don't mention hell.
If you did a survey of the preachers of Southern Baptists on the amount of times they preached on hell in 2018-2019, you would not get a very big amount of preachers who preached on that Bible doctrine in a whole year's time.
I was working in a retreat of sorts a few years back and spoke briefly about Hell in fact I didn't really get into the doctrine of hell all that much all I said was, “When I was 16 years old I got into a car accident and at the time I didn't know Jesus as my Lord and Savior and if I would have died that day I would have woke up in a devils hell.” Later on I had a gentlemen come to me and say that I shouldn't be telling people that they would end up in hell if they died without knowing Christ. Of course I said, “WHAT?”
So preach the Word because of the season surrounding us. It is a perilous time. It is an urgent time. It is a special time. Jesus is coming. We have not much time. Time is brief. Time is short.
II. BECAUSE OF THE SERVANTS WHO ARE BEFORE US
II. BECAUSE OF THE SERVANTS WHO ARE BEFORE US
Secondly we need to preach the Word because of the servants who are before us, those who were faithful to preach the Word of God who came before us. And we are here today because they preached the word. They were faithful to preach the doctrine of salvation. They were faithful to preach the doctrine of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what he tells Timothy here. He says in II Timothy 3:10, 14,
But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
One of the big reasons to preach the Word is because of the servants who have gone before us.
We need to preach the word because C.H. Spurgeon preached the word. We need to preach the word because R.C. Sprouls preached the word. We need to preach the word because Adrian Rogers preached the word. We need to preach the word because Peter preached it, James preached it, Paul preached it and they passed it down to others who were faithful to preach it.
And God has called us to be faithful. Now we are living in this generation, in this time, in this season and we need to preach the word.
Not what people want to hear,
not what people would like to hear,
not what people would tell us to preach,
not practicing psychology from the pulpit,
but preach the Word of God.
III. BECAUSE OF THE SCRIPTURE GIVEN TO US
III. BECAUSE OF THE SCRIPTURE GIVEN TO US
We need to preach the word because of the Scripture given to us.
God has given us the Word of God. He said, preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season, why?
Because God has given us the Scriptures to preach. What else can we preach but the Word of God?
Only the Word of God has the power unto salvation to those who believe.
The Word of God has the power to convict.
People are convicted of their sins by the word of God.
The Word of God converts.
How do people become saved? How do people become believers? The Bible says that they become believers, by....
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
The Word of God not only convicts and not only does it convert, but...
The Word of God conserves.
How do we disciple people? We get them in the Word of God. We get them to read the Scripture. We get them in a practice of daily Bible reading and daily Bible study and prayer. We get them in a Bible Study Group where they can see how the Word of God is applied to their life. It is the Word of God that conserves.
IV. BECAUSE OF SATAN WHO HAS INVADED US
IV. BECAUSE OF SATAN WHO HAS INVADED US
We need to preach the Word because of the Scripture given to us, because of the servants who have gone before us, who preached it. We need to preach it because of the season that is around us.
And number four, we need to preach the Word of God because of Satan who has invaded us.
The Scripture says here that in the last days they will not endure sound doctrine. It says in the last days there are going to be those who will want teachers to scratch their ears that are itching for something besides the truth of the Word of God.
And you know when he gives the charge here in II Timothy 4:1, he said,
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
"I charge thee therefore..." That word charge there means I charge you earnestly, I charge you before the Lord Jesus Christ who is going to judge the living and the dead. I charge you before Him, before whom you will stand one day. Preach the Word!
We need to preach God’s Word with great responsibility.
What a earnest responsibility it is for the church to have in the pulpit a man who believes the Word.
You cannot preach the Word unless you believe the Word of God. And you can't preach it with conviction unless you are in the Word of God, unless you study the Word of God, unless you have poured your self into the Word of God.
We need to preach the Word with great reverence
with all seriousness. It is a very serious thing this matter of preaching the Word, a thing that God will hold us accountable for.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
We preach the Word because Satan has invaded us. And he has invaded us with false doctrine.
Lets look again at 2 Tim. 4:3 it says,
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
You know the words Sound doctrine....
sound doctrine here means healthy, whole, uncorrupt, that which will make a believer completely whole in soul, in body, and in spirit.
People today are not interested in that. They are not interested in the cognitive; they are interested in the sensual, what pleases the flesh, what the flesh wants to hear.
We want to hear how good we are,
we want to hear how right we are,
we want to hear how wonderful we are.
We want to hear about the love of God through the exclusion of the judgment of God.
He said a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.
We need to as American Christians stand up for what we believe. We need to be sold in taking a stand against the social immorality of our day, against same sex marriage, against the homosexual movement in high places, against abortion that is a cancer upon this land. Against all sin, for there is not a sin in listed in the Bible that should be taken lightly. In God’s eyes it all sinful and rebellious against His holy nature. Romans 3:23 needs to be preached “For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory”
But I want to tell you that the greatest evil that you will find in this land is the perversion of God's truth by persons who are influenced by Doctrines of demons by Satan. That is the greatest evil. More and more people are being deceived by false teachers than ever before. And those teachings are not teachings that lead to life everlasting they are teachings unto death and eternal separation.
You can turn on your television or your radio and you can hear it perverted every day. Perverted and twisted. God pronounces a great judgment on those who twist the truth and those who pervert the truth and those who fail to preach the truth and support the truth.
To distinguish between what is false and what is true is absolutely critical for a believer. Many times today, we don't want to confront people with sin; we don't want to confront people with error because we don't want to hurt their feelings. We want to be a seeker sensitive church. We want a crowd at any price. We want the building to be full no matter what.
Listen to me, I will not compromise the truth of the Word of God. I will not twist the truth of the Word of God. I will not avoid the truth of the Word of God to please men!
The Bible says "all Scripture is inspired by God and it is given for doctrine, reproof, correction, training in righteousness that the man of God may be whole, may be complete, equipped for every good work."
V. BECAUSE OF A SAVIOR WHO IS ABOVE US
V. BECAUSE OF A SAVIOR WHO IS ABOVE US
And last of all, we ought to preach the Word of God because of a Savior who is above us. He gave us the commission to preach the Word of God. He gave us the commission at least five times in the Bible. He said at the end of the Book of Matthew, "go ye therefore and preach the gospel to all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe all things, whatever I have commanded you."
At the end of Mark he said, "Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. And he that believeth not shall be damned."
He said in the Book of Luke "that repentance of sin and belief in His name should be preached among all the nations of the world."
He said in John, "even as the Father hath sent me, so send I you."
He said in Acts 1:8, "you will receive the power, after this the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth."
The Savior whom is above us, before whom we will stand, will hold us accountable for the preaching of His Word.
We are to guard the word,
we are to defend the word,
we are to speak out for the word, but most of all we are to preach the word.
Jesus said, heaven and earth will pass away but my word shall never pass away.
God help us to hold forth the unchanging truth of His Word.
God help us to teach it and to preach it and to live it as the apostle Paul did.
God help us to be able to say to those who come after us, follow me and do what I do and do what I did.
Let me conclude this message by asking each of you a all important question.
If you was to die today, where would you spend eternity? The word of God reveals to us that no one is good no not one. And that all people because of their sin deserves God’s wrath and punishment of hell.
However, God poured out His grace upon all who will come to Him in faith, repentance and cry for mercy. God will save, He is the only one that can save. For he provided His son Jesus Christ to be our redeemer. He became the atoning sacrifice for sins.
Now the only way to benefit from this sacrifice that was given is to receive the gift that was offered.
This morning is your opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your life and heart and receive the gift of salvation, so how does one do that...His Word says
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
All you have to do is be willing for Christ to come in, forgive your sin, change your life and confess Him as Savior and He will do it.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Give your life over to Christ. Respond in faith to His life giving Words. Jesus saves, Jesus saves. And it is only Him who can save you.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
It is Jesus who is the Founder of the Church, It is God’s Word that is the true Foundation of the Church. Build your life upon the Founder and the Foundation and be apart of the true living Church of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray.
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