No other foundation is laid than Jesus Christ. Today I ask you if that foundation is in your heart. I’m not asking if your foundation is church membership or the preacher or your own beliefs. These are not the right foundation and won’t stand the test of time in eternity.
In Ezra’s time the first temple was destroyed down to the foundations. It’s a picture of the foundations of the world today. The people came back to Jerusalem, their Zion, and found the walls in heaps of stone. The house of God was gone. Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and the others came back from captivity and saw the shape of their capital. What had to be done then is what has to be done today. If there is any hope, the foundations must be laid.
Ezra 3: 8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
It was a day of ruin and emptiness. They were hardly a nation anymore. It didn’t look like a Promised Land. Many feel emptiness today. They say Jesus doesn’t save anymore. The plan of salvation doesn’t work. They ask “why doesn’t the Lord work like he used to?” Rest assured the weakness is in man. We tend to blame everything on society. It’s easy to “preach to” all those old sinners out there, but it’s hard for us to look at and admit our own failures. The world has been in worse shape than it is now. Evil dominated the Dark Ages to the point that there was one copy of the Bible in existence. The fault was not in God but in the people. The same is true today. Why do we blame God? The Bible is fine. God is alive and well. Jesus is still raised from the dead. The fault lies in us.
The reason the city of God was in ruins is that the people were taken captive, and their enemies destroyed it. They grew cold and indifferent toward God. They thought they could do whatever they wanted and God would go along. They paid the price with their captivity and the land and their temple being ruined. Their way of living brought the destruction. Our lack of praying and worship and living right is not God’s fault. The Bible is not out of date. If preaching is from the Word of God, like it or not we must receive it. Man must conform to God. He does not conform to us. The movement today is to conform to the world. People try to make Jesus fit into the mold they want. God will not mold into anything. If we’re not willing to fit into his mold, we’ll not be his. Do you think the good days are over? That’s what the devil wants you to think. There is still time to pray. There is still time to get your act together and get the foundation of your life as it should be.
It was a day of hopelessness; the people were being taunted not to rebuild the walls and the temple. They wouldn’t listen. We need to stop listening to the television and the computer and listen to the Bible. We need to get back to Jesus. Get the Lord in our daily lives like he ought to be. Lay the foundations. The people in Ezra’s day set forward to lay the foundation for the house of God. Our foundation is Jesus Christ and him in our heart and soul. If your spiritual life is messed up, quit blaming others and making excuses. If you’d like to see the nice things of God in your life, take care of your foundation. Begin to sing your song and cry out and shout like the people of Israel did.
In 1963 this church didn’t start with a roof. It began with a foundation. Digging had to go on. The loose stuff had to be removed. Holes had to be packed. We need to dig down and throw out what might cause our spiritual life to shift. Get rid of sin. If we don’t, anything we build will fall flat. The most important part of any building is the least noticed. You notice the steeple and windows of a church, but the most important part is the foundation. This is what Ezra did. They laid rock as ordered by God. “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
If we don’t appreciate the Word of God, church, and praying like we used to, it could be the foundation is breaking up. If we pull out the foundations, we are wasting our time. Our spiritual life must be built on God and Jesus Christ. When the children of Israel saw the foundation laid, they got excited. They shouted and cried; the noise was great. If you want to see things happen in your life like they used to, it’s time to check the foundation. If we want to see America come back to God, it won’t start in California or D.C. It will start with you and me at this altar. I’m proud to be a citizen of the USA. I have to build my life on God for America to be what it should be. You have to do the same. Each of us have to do it.
The success of our spiritual life and the success of our nation lie in what kind of foundation we have in our life individually. Check the foundation, and then do what needs to be done.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 