THE BIBLE AS FOUNDATION

Having accepted Jesus as our Savior, we have laid the foundation for our Christian walk with God.

Mat 7:24-27 MKJV

(24) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.

(25) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock.

(26) And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

(27) And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall.

There was no difference in the testing of the houses that were built. Each one of the houses had to endure the storm consisting of the wind, rain and floods.

Being a Christian does not mean that I am not going to endure storms and hardship in my life.

Act 14:22 MKJV

(22) confirming the souls of the disciples, calling on them to continue in the faith and that through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God.

The Word is quite clear that we will enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations. We need to be building our houses upon a solid foundation that will be able to withstand the storms of life.

Now how do we build on such a foundation?

By spending time in the Word of God, we need to trust God to root out everything else that is not of Him and build His kingdom inside us:

1Sa 2:35 And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest (Priest), who shall do according to what is in My heart and mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed (Anointed) forever.

Psa 127:1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. EXCEPT THE Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.

Jer 1:10 See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

Zec 6:12 And say to him, Thus says the Lord of hosts: [You, Joshua] behold (look at, keep in sight, watch) the Man [the Messiah] whose name is the Branch, for He shall grow up in His place and He shall build the [true] temple of the Lord.

Zec 6:13 Yes, [you are building a temple of the Lord, but] it is He Who shall build the [true] temple of the Lord, and He shall bear the honor and glory [as of the only begotten of the Father] and shall sit and rule upon His throne. And He shall be a Priest upon His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between the two [offices--Priest and King].

Jesus gave His life so that you and I could become His temple and dwelling place to "tabernacle".

Isa 66:1 THUS SAYS the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place?

Joh 2:19) Jesus answered them, Destroy (undo) this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.

Joh 2:20 Then the Jews replied, It took forty-six years to build this temple (sanctuary), and will You raise it up in three days?

Rev 21:3 Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.

Mat 7:24 MKJV

(24) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.

To build upon the Rock implies that we hear and do the words of Jesus. Jesus has been laid in our lives as the foundation. We build on this foundation by hearing and doing the Word of God, diligently studying and applying the teaching of God's Word.

Act 20:32 MKJV

(32) And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

HEAR THE WORD

DO THE WORD

STUDY THE WORD

APPLY THE WORD

In doing the above we will be building a strong and secure edifice of faith

JESUS AND THE BIBLE VS THE BIBLE AND YOU

The BIBLE is the WORD of GOD.

Joh 1:1 MKJV

(1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:14 MKJV

(14) And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.

Rev 19:13 MKJV

(13) And He had been clothed in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Key Learning Point:

The Bible is the Word of God, and Christ is the Word of God. Each alike is a divine, authoritative, perfect revelation of God. Each agrees perfectly with the other. The Bible perfectly reveals Christ. Christ perfectly fulfills the Bible.

Jesus can be seen as the personal Word of God while the Bible can be seen as the written Word of God.

Your and my relationship to the Bible should then be the same as our relationship to Jesus.

Joh 14:23 MKJV

(23) Jesus answered and said to him, If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

Four Vital Facts to Remember:

1. The keeping of God's Word is the supreme distinguishing feature, which marks out the disciple of Jesus from the rest of the world.

2. The keeping of God's Word is the supreme test of the disciples love for God and of God's love for the disciple.

3. It is through the keeping and obeying of God's Word that Jesus manifests Himself to the disciple.

4. It is through the Word of God that the Father and Son together comes into the life of the disciple and establish their enduring home with him.

TEST OF LOVE:

1John 2:4-5 MKJV

(4) He who says, I have known Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

(5) But whoever keeps His Word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.

 The keeping of the Word of God in your life is the supreme distinguishing feature that marks you out from the world as a Disciple of Jesus.

 It is the test of your love for God.

 It is the cause of God's love and favor towards you.

 It is the way that God will manifest Himself to you.

YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE WORD OF GOD IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS GOD HIMSELF.......

THE BIBLE AS A MEANS OF REVELATION

Act 2:17 MKJV

(17) "And it shall be in the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."

The scriptures are the supreme and authoritative means by which, above all other things:

 God speaks to His people

 Reveals Himself to His people

 Guides and directs His people

All other revelations must be tested against the Scripture. It can only be accepted to the extent that it is in agreement with the Word of God.

1Th 5:19-21 MKJV

(19) Do not quench the Spirit.

(20) Do not despise prophesying.

(21) Prove all things, hold fast to the good.

Isa 8:20 MKJV

(20) To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because no light is in them.

The Word of God is the supreme standard by which all else must be judged and tested. No doctrine, practice, prophecy or revelations is to be accepted if it is not in full accordance with the Word of God.

Mat 24:23-25 MKJV

(23) Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ! Or, There! Do not believe it.

(24) For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.

(25) Behold, I have told you beforehand.

1Ti 4:1-3 MKJV

(1) But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons,

(2) speaking lies in hypocrisy, being seared in their own conscience,

(3) forbidding to marry, saying to abstain from foods which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

The safeguard against deception is to believe and know the TRUTH, the WORD of GOD. By using this standard of truth we are able to detect and discern all forms of satanic error and deceptions. Those who hold on to religion, without true faith and knowledge of the Word are in great danger of being deceived.

Key Learning Point:

God's Word and God's Spirit always work together in perfect unity and harmony. Never divorce the Word from the Spirit or the Spirit from the Word. It is not in God's plan that they should ever function separately.

Psa 33:6 MKJV

(6) By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

The Hebrew word used here is RUACH - Root meaning is SPIRIT. What we see here is the following:

"As the Word of God goes out of His mouth, so His Spirit which is His breath goes with it.

To seek the manifestations of the Spirit apart from the Word of God will always end in foolishness, fanaticism and error. To profess the Word without the quickening of the Spirit results only in dead, powerless orthodoxy and religious formalism