THE FIRM FOUNDATION OF GOD STANDS
[p. 116] THE FIRM FOUNDATION OF GOD STANDS
2 Timothy 2: 19; 1 Corinthians 3: 10, 11; Matthew 16: 15 - 18
From the scriptures I have read you will have observed that my thoughts are running on divine foundations — the foundation of God, as it is called in Timothy. The idea of foundation extends very far back, the earth itself being founded. “Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth”, Proverbs 3: 19. Its foundation is often alluded to in Scripture, and is particularly linked on with what I would bring before you. “He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he hath founded for ever”. Psalm 78: 69. So that the thought is very old, as old as the earth; and connected with it is joy, for the foundation indicated what the great structure was to be. “Whereupon were the foundations thereof sunken? or who laid its corner-stone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38: 6, 7. Intelligence was brought into it in God’s creatures, and it was discerned that great things were in view, so that it occasioned joy.
If it occasioned joy then, it would be right to expect that sympathy would be aroused in our hearts as the matter comes before us at this time; for we are the sons of God as christians, and we should not be wanting in sympathy in following up this thought of the foundation of God; the matter is so great and involves so much. Without it, there can be nothing permanent; with it, we have unshakable conditions; a kingdom that cannot be moved. I speak of it that we might be established in the apprehension of it, as Paul says, “Now he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God”, 2 Corinthians 1: 21. God loves to have us fixed and clearly apprehending the foundation upon which we rest, the [p. 117] immutability of it, for storms come and waves arise, and our hearts are apt to fail us. Hence God would establish us that our feet might be firmly set and that we might know they are on a firm foundation.
I would begin with the thought as it appears in view of our own times. It is said of our times that they are difficult, and it is in this very connection that we have this great thought introduced, for the difficulties that arise tend to baffle us. We say, Why should this be? Why has God allowed it? Why are there so few actually walking in the truth? How often do such questions arise in our minds — questions having their root in unbelief! And this is alluded to in the first passage read. Paul was concerned about his child Timothy that he should be able to carry on after he left, for Paul was about to suffer martyrdom and he knew difficult days were coming, in view of which he wanted to prepare one man at least to stem the tide. He was concerned that Timothy’s feet should be on the rock. In this connection he tells him to shun vain babblings (2 Timothy 2: 16). Christendom is full of them nowadays. They offer much, but they are just the effusions of the human mind, without the Spirit, but stimulated by the truth of christianity. Such vagaries find their votaries, and the word is not to look into them, not even to test them out, but to avoid them as poison is to be avoided. They make an effective appeal to the imaginative human mind. One meets with their votaries here and there, and one is impressed with the readiness with which certain minds become occupied with, and inflated under, these profane vain babblings. They lose themselves in occupation with them; they lose their balance, and are utterly inconsistent and illogical in the conclusions they reach. It is a matter of much consequence, for even christians may be affected as coming in contact with minds imbued with such thoughts, in persons carried away as with an evil spirit. Among these, Paul singles out one kind of evil; speaking of two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus, he says they are men who [p. 118] have missed the mark. They aimed too high and had gone beyond anything ever proposed or suggested in regard to Christian truth, asserting something that is utterly false on the face of it. Men, including Christians, are dying every day, and yet these have the temerity to say the resurrection is past already. Others will tell you that the Lord Jesus came back to earth in 1914, while another asserts publicly in a long speech that the Lord Jesus will come on a certain day which the speaker attempts to indicate, and people are taken with it. Certain minds are capable of being captured by such vagaries, such nonsense, such palpable falsehood. These are among the things that make this time difficult, and the apostle proceeds to tell Timothy to avoid this, saying, “profane, vain babblings shun, for they will advance to greater impiety, and their word will spread as a gangrene”, 2 Timothy 2: 16, 17. Do not touch these things, have nothing to do with them; they are terrible things, and one of the most vicious is Christian Science. That has captured thousands upon thousands. I take it no one here is exposed to it, but the tendency of the human mind is towards these vain babblings, unless through grace we are kept. “I stir up ... your pure mind”, writes Peter (2 Peter 3: 1). These vain things stir up impure minds, minds carried away by such fallacies. Christians should have pure minds, not “following cleverly imagined fables”, as Peter again writes, as having been an eyewitness of our Lord’s majesty, when He “received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being uttered to him by the excellent glory”. The voice said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight; and this voice we heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain”, 2 Peter 1: 16 - 18. Such a voice — that is Christianity, there is nothing vague about it, or extreme. It is all on accredited testimony, and God has called us back to it. Many have responded and come back from their vagaries, they have come back to a sure footing. Many here tonight have a [p. 119] sure footing, I know, but I speak of it that we may be on it more firmly than ever. “The firm foundation of God stands”. Whether it be rendered “the foundation of God standeth sure”, or “the firm foundation of God”, the force is the same. God’s foundation is immutable and has a seal upon it.
I want to occupy you with this, that your affections may be brought into the matter of this seal, “The Lord knows those that are his”. Do I know all that are His? I have to admit constantly that I do not. The Lord knows all. This aspect of the seal belonging to the foundation ought to appeal to us. It is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture. Paul does not refer to it in writing to the Corinthians, nor did the Lord Jesus allude to it in speaking to Peter of His building the assembly. The thought of the seal belongs peculiarly to the remnant, the bearing of it is on ourselves, on our times, when we do not know a tithe of our brethren, alas! Today, to attempt to compute how many Christians there are would be as the sin of David (2 Samuel 24: 10); but this seal is that the Lord knows all that are His. He can tell you at any given time how many there are. He is not telling us, for it is for us to find them; were we told, it might inflate us. The Lord reserves that knowledge, but He tells us that He knows, and that is a comfort to all of us. “The Lord knows those that are his”, that is on one side of the seal.
We read of the foundation in Ephesians: “the household of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone” (Ephesians 2: 20), and in type “Solomon’s foundation”, but nothing of this seal. It belongs to our times. It ought to humble us that we do not know our brethren, but, on the other hand, it comforts and encourages us that the Lord knows all. He knows where they are and He is at the door knocking. That is the Lord’s present wonderful service to His own — He is knocking. He is solicitous for them all, He wishes to [p. 120] come in and sup with them (Revelation 3: 20). Have you supped with Him? It may be there is one here who has not, someone who has never opened his door to Christ. The Lord knows all about you; He has a seat for you. He bears your name on His breastplate, He intercedes for you. It may be you have just turned in here that He may give you light; this meeting may be as the Lord’s knock. Perhaps He has been knocking at your door before, and you have not answered. He may have taken away some loved one, or your money, or you may have lost your position. The Lord uses these circumstances to knock at your door, and you have not opened to Him. He is knocking again, telling you that He knows you and that you are one of His, that He has a right to you. One of His — how precious! “Jesus, knowing that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end”, John 13: 1. You, among them, loved to the end, and yet you are not available to Him. He has to get along in the testimony without you. He will not be without you in heaven, but now, He is. I take it you are a believer, that you do love Him. He would touch you now and would say, will you not open the door that I may come in and sup with you? The truth is, if He sup but once, you will love Him more than ever. He is so considerate; He lets us constrain Him. Of some it is said that “they constrained him, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is declining. And he entered in to stay with them. And it came to pass as he was at table with them, having taken the bread, he blessed, and having broken it, gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And he disappeared from them”, Luke 24: 29 - 31. They were affected by it, they thought more of Him than ever! They went back to Jerusalem and related to the disciples what had happened on the way, and it was at that moment that the Lord stood in their midst. He would sup with them. “Have ye anything here to eat?” He [p. 121] inquires, and He took what they provided, and ate before them.
This part of the seal, that the Lord knoweth those that are His, is in the foundation. It is an integral part of the foundation reserved for remnant times. The other side of the seal is, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. These are the things that meet you if you want to get your foot on the foundation, firstly that the Lord knows those that are His; and secondly, that if you are linked up with what is contrary to Him, you must leave it. This is like a notice put up as you approach. You know, as you read it, that if you are associated with iniquity you must depart from it. It is written thus upon the seal and it is imperative. “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”.
Paul has indicated to us one feature of iniquity in the profane, vain babblings; but there are many others. It is for us to discover them and where we are ourselves, whether we are linked up with anything iniquitous, anything that affects Christ adversely. The seal is before our eyes with its imperative message, “Let every one ... withdraw from iniquity”. You must depart from it if you have anything to do with this matter of coming on to the firm foundation, for the foundation of God does not support iniquity. It is utterly foreign to it, and that is the foundation that stands in relation to remnant times, and we are in these times. The Spirit of God is operating throughout the world, making all this known. Many have answered to it, and God is appealing to you here tonight. Depart from iniquity! What the iniquity is, is for you to determine. Do not let this night pass without doing it.
Turning to 1 Corinthians 3, you will notice I am working backwards from the present day. It is an intelligible way to develop this thought. For if I move in the light of 2 Timothy, then I am ready to move in the light of 1 and 2 Corinthians; and that brings me to [p. 122] move in the light of Matthew 16. The subject intensifies as we go backwards, till we come to the supreme thought in Matthew 16. The foundation of God is the great general thought, but there are three definite points to note in 2 Timothy — that it is God’s foundation, that it stands firm, and that it has this seal of which we have spoken.
Now at Corinth the question was, what was laid there? What is laid here — for that matter, or in London, in Melbourne, or in New York? What has been laid? What testimony has been rendered? What have the saints come on to? What kind of a foundation is it? What are we standing on? If I were an Episcopalian, a Roman Catholic, or a Presbyterian, I should be bound to inquire what kind of foundation that is. What is it that is laid in any given place, as at Corinth, where it was a local matter, where the saints addressed resided; what was presented there? Paul says, “Ye are God’s husbandry”, it is a question of God’s rights in Corinth. He had property in Corinth. “Ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building”, 1 Corinthians 3: 9. Paul was about to speak to them of that building and its foundation, which he says he had laid. “According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it. But let each see how he builds upon it. For other foundation can no man lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”, 1 Corinthians 3: 10, 11. There is none other. The foundation is Jesus Christ. There were rivals of Paul there who would lead people on to other lines, but he says there is no other foundation, and it was laid there in Corinth. Now you may say, Why is it Jesus Christ here in 1 Corinthians? Why is it different from Matthew 16? The apostle is dealing with a locality here and it was that feature of the foundation they were needing; he wrote thus that the saints might be brought on to that feature of the truth needed to meet current proclivities; for the city of Corinth was proverbial for its wickedness; the natural man was cultured and rich in this world’s goods, and looseness of all kinds prevailed. It marked the place. So the foundation laid must be over against this to nullify it. “Jesus Christ, and him crucified”. You could not connect loose things with Jesus Christ. “For such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners”, Hebrews 7: 26. That is the kind of Man who is presented now in the city. If a wicked profligate comes in, he hears Paul present Jesus Christ and Him crucified. “For I did not judge it well to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified”, 1 Corinthians 2: 2. He would not preach more than that; it is the exact opposite of the Corinthians naturally, and he goes on, “that your faith might not stand in men’s wisdom, but in God’s power”, 1 Corinthians 2: 5. Many did believe and as believers they came on to that foundation of which Paul had written that there was no other. “As a wise architect, I have laid the foundation”. He knew the thing that was needed in the town and presented that; many were set up on that foundation, and that being so, Paul says, Ye are God’s building.
To Timothy, Paul speaks of the foundation being God’s; but here, to the Corinthians, he says, “I have laid the foundation”. All these things were requisite that they should see what they were standing upon. You may be a believer and standing on a certain testimony presented to you, and yet there may be other features not known to you. The testimony of Christ is to be confirmed in us, “according as the testimony of the Christ has been confirmed in you”, 1 Corinthians 1: 6. God confirmed Paul’s preaching, as he said, “Now he that establishes us with you in Christ ... is God”, 2 Corinthians 1: 21. They were set up on that foundation and the result expected was that they might indeed refuse all wickedness, all looseness, and all that is inconsistent with Christ. That is how it works out. “Let each see how he builds upon it”, 1 Corinthians 3: 10. You have here in this city of Cape Town a pure foundation, one is rejoiced to see it, but each one should be adding to it, taking heed how he [p. 124] builds, for he may damage others. There is a voice to us all in this verse, “Let each see how he builds upon it”. “I have laid the foundation, but another builds upon it”. Paul was not building there any more; each had to contribute and to build upon that which the wise architect had laid. The building is to grow, but take heed how you build, that it be according to the foundation. Let the test be Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and that shuts the door effectively against all that is contrary.
In Matthew 16 we come to a most exalted side of the truth; it is a challenge as to what people are saying about Jesus. They have arrived at a state of things in which all kinds of questionings were rife as to Himself. The Jews are great questioners, great wranglers, great disputants; they contended with John’s disciples about purification instead of listening to the truth. The Jews today are, of course, literal Jews, but there are those spoken of in the address to Philadelphia who are not literal, those “who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie”. Many things mark them, but the Lord says, “I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee”. What a distinction! Everyone is to know how great that is! — to be loved by Christ, and every one to know it! These Jews have many traits, but they are always militating against the truth in one way and another, and questioning marks them. So the Lord says, “Who do men say that I the Son of man am?” Matthew 16: 13. We are supposed to know what they are saying. You will understand I do not want to make you read the newspapers, yet the Lord intends us to know what is current that affects Him. Who do you say Jesus is? What is your own judgment? Well, you say, So-and-so says ... and I have just read ... but the Lord would ask, “who do ye say that I am?” The question implies, what have you come to in your own soul? The disciples knew what was being said — that he was Elias, Jeremias, John: all dignified persons; but men did not know the Person of Christ. Even a Unitarian might say [p. 125] this, or that He was greater then Elias. They did not know the Person of Christ, but that is the test for the moment; Who is He? The devil beclouds the truth by dropping his suggestions into the hearts of God’s people, so the Lord asks, “But ye, who do ye say that I am?” Matthew 16: 15. It is a very pertinent question. There is not one here but should be able to answer it for himself. He is my Saviour, you say, but who is He? What is your conclusion as to Christ? Well, each of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, gives an answer according to the point of view of his respective gospel. Matthew is concerned about the assembly and gives a full answer; he gives Peter’s answer in full; “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. What I am concerned about is to get you on to the line of knowing who your Saviour is. Scripture is full of inferences as to who He is, inferences as to the deity of Christ; inferences that work into your whole being as you read the Scriptures. If I think of the very names of Jesus, those contain the idea of His deity. Emmanuel means “God with us”; and Jesus, “Jehovah is Saviour”. So with every name of Christ, each impresses us with the thought of His deity, whether inferentially or by direct statement. If we cannot answer the Lord’s question as to who He is, we are not able to stand up against false teaching, and our footing will be weak as to the foundation. Simon Peter answering said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. What a moment that was, and what a moment in our soul’s history when we are able to say that, not because Scripture says it, but because we have our feet on that foundation, our salvation depends upon it. The knowledge of Christ as presented here is to be definitely in our souls. What a moment for Christ this was! It is the first time He had been addressed in this way, from the mouth of any creature of His, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens” (verse 17). Now this a blessing the Lord intends to rest on every christian. They are all blessed, of course, in the salvation of their souls, but this is a blessing beyond that; far exceeding the blessing Jacob came into. Isaac told Esau that that blessing was irrevocable, for the blessing he had given Jacob was fixed. Here we have a peculiar blessing. It is not that the Lord lifts up His hands and blesses Peter; the point is that he is blessed in having such light in his soul. See what a man he is, what any christian is! What light you have in your soul! — and that light in principle, is yourself, for God regards you in that way. Blessed art thou, He would say. There is not a christian here to whom the word does not apply, I mean a christian in the full sense of the word, one in whose soul there is light as to the Person of Christ.
I would refer you to Zacchaeus of Jericho, who is an excellent example of this. He was said to be the chief tax-gatherer to the Jews — a very odious kind of man; he would not be well thought of, and he was little of stature and rich. The Spirit of God gives us this description, but also says that “he sought to see Jesus who he was”. The Lord knew that, and it made him exceedingly interesting to Jesus. It may be that someone listening at this time is saying in his heart, I cannot understand what you are speaking of, I cannot say much as to the Person of Christ, I know what the Scripture says and I believe the current teaching — like Martha — yet I have not in my soul what you are speaking of. To any such I would say, Have you a desire to know? If you have not the desire to know Jesus, your christianity is very questionable, but if you have a desire to know who that glorious One is your christianity is assured. He will see to it that you do know. Zacchaeus ran forward and went up the sycamore tree to see Jesus who He was, and the Lord knew that. There was something in his way; he needed adjustment, and you do too. You have not as yet arrived at the knowledge of the Person of Christ, your eye is dim, and the Lord would adjust it;
[p. 127] He knows what is in your heart. He says, Zacchaeus, you are looking down on Me, you are in a wrong position. If I do not know Christ I am apt to despise Him. I despise Him practically in the way I despise His people. In speaking ill of christians we are speaking ill of Christ; as we despise christians, we despise Christ. They are identified with Christ, they are bearing His reproach, and the flesh does not like that, so they are despised. The Lord said to Saul, “why persecutest thou me?” He identified Himself with His own. So here, He says to Zacchaeus, You are in the wrong position, you are looking down on Me, “make haste and come down, for today I must remain in thy house”; as if to say, I will make myself known to you, I will come into your house, and you can look at Me from every point of view, and see Me as I am to be seen. The Person of Christ is infinite, but He has come into manhood, and we can see Him in all His perfections. How the bride in Canticles can describe her Beloved in His varied beauty! — she can name every feature that marked Him. So the Lord says here, I will be in your house today, I will abide there. He knew what was in his heart, and Zacchaeus came down and received Him gladly. What an honour it was for him to have this glorious Person in his house! The Lord says, “Today salvation is come to this house”. He needed that. The difficulty often is that we are in need of salvation; we are not free from ourselves, not free from the blur that the world causes in our eyes; we want to be saved from these things. Salvation is come, it is just what you need, and you need it in your house.
Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I return him fourfold”. He showed he was a righteous man. There are certain questions to be settled before we can arrive at this great question of the knowledge of the Person of Christ. This question of righteousness must be settled. Things are not just right with us; we are not [p. 128] clear about this matter. Zacchaeus showed he was; a righteous man, and the Lord says he is a son of Abraham, He links him up with Abraham. He is a true believer, he is of the true family of Abraham, and hence is able to enter into the knowledge of the Person of Christ. The knowledge of Christ extends right back to Abraham’s time; Isaac was a figure of it. The knowledge of Christ’s Person shone from Abraham onwards. Now here is a son of Abraham, and he is to come into all this. What a heritage is the knowledge of the Person of Christ! Peter acknowledged it fully, and the Lord said, You are blessed. Would that everyone were in the enjoyment of that blessing, the blessing which goes with the understanding and confessing of the Person of Christ! The Lord says, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”; he is veritably blessed in himself because of the acknowledgment. He has that light in his soul, and it is for every one of us here tonight. I would not go outside this room without this blessing, the blessing that attaches to the knowledge of Christ as the Son of God. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”. The Lord says, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona”. All the colleges in the world, religious or otherwise, could not reveal this to him. It is a spiritual matter. Christians are supposed to be spiritual, their minds are supposed to be renewed in knowledge, after the image of Him who created them, and hence they are able to take in this wonderful thought, the knowledge of the Son of the living God. The Lord says, “flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens”. It is a direct transaction between the Father and the believer’s soul. Can we afford to be without it? We cannot. It makes us stand up on a firm foundation, it is the most exalted feature of the truth before us, the Rock, as the Lord calls it. Peter is not only blessed, but he is part of the building. The Lord says to him, “thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly”. He is Peter — a stone, the same kind of material as the rock.
He himself writes later, “To whom coming, a living stone, ... yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house”. You see how great all this truth is, how spiritual it is, how attractive it is. Can christians do without it? — they cannot. To be without it is to be without the greatest heritage. To know Jesus, the Son of the living God, the Christ, the Man that does everything for God, the Man that delights His heart — the Son of His love — is incomparable blessing. It is not here His abstract deity, always an inscrutable fact, but what is before us refers to Him as incarnate. That is the Man we have to do with, the Man that has come within our view, who maintains everything for God, and builds up this wonderful structure which He calls “my assembly”. It is as become Man that He is the foundation of the assembly, so He says, “on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”. You will see, dear brethren, that as in the light of all this we are to be consciously in it, and consciously going through; we thus fear nothing, no power in heaven or on earth can overwhelm it.
May God bless His word. It embodies one of the most important things I can put before you; and God will give you understanding as to it as He gave understanding to Peter.