Faith's Foundation: Enduring Truths Amid Life's Trials

"Ecclesiastes it's a most important book at the present time I'd almost make it compulsory reading if I had the power for everybody in the world the Book of Ecclesiastes here's a man again looking back you see a very wise man a very great man the king he says now I've tried to various views of life I wanted to enjoy my life I wanted to have satisfaction I wanted durable satisfactions so he goes on to tell us what he tried he tried well tried possessions tried pleasure tried wisdom couldn't find it so he comes to his conclusion that he States at the beginning as I say is their habit vanity of vanities all is Vanity in his youth in his optimism he believed he could do it he was going to do it he'd got the money he'd got the resources he'd got the power so he tried to put it all into practice but it all collapsed before him all the things he tried and then he comes to his final conclusion there's only one thing to do and that is H Know Thy Creator now in the days of thy Youth and to remain loyal and true to him and to his teaching as to come back to it." [00:19:29]

"Now then this old book I say keeps on impressing upon us the importance of the Practical test and that's what I want to do this evening I'm not disposed therefore to argue with you I'm not supposed to argue about these modern theories I could do so I'm not going to waste my time nor yours these theories which say that it can all be put right in by psychology that it can all be put right economically it can all be put right by means of your sociology it can all be put right by your International conferences and all the rest of them I'm not going to waste your time because I say there's only one ultimate test you won't be convinced you'll still go on holding on to it people have always done that it's the rain and the wind and the flood that's going to convince and I'm just asking you to try to look at what you're holding on to and to your theory and your view of life and to discover what it will do in the light of these tests which must come inevitably we are in a moving world and we ourselves we are pilgrims and strangers very well let's test what we believe and and we're holding on to by that test now then that's our first proposition." [00:20:56]

"Because the Bible you see and the gospel make this claim that the teaching which you have in this book alone can enable us to pass that practical test but let me show that by putting a second principle what is the nature of these practical tests that we must apply what is the Practical test of all tests or let me use this term what is the acid test which is to be applied to all possible views and theories well here it is in our text it is that it prevents us from ever being confounded what does he mean by that he that believeth on him shall not be confounded yes but if you believe in anything else you will be now then what does he mean by this what is this practical test this ultimate acid test the way to answer that question is quite simply we've simply got to take this word translated here in this authorized that is before me by the word confounded and consider other translations which are given of it which are equally good and equally accurate and equally correct because between them they put before us the various aspects of this matter now then what are they well here's the first you might translate this word like this he that believeth on him shall not be disappointed not be disappointed it's in this word it's here what does that mean well of course this is the first test obviously to to apply there's nothing so miserable as to be disappointed you've held your view of Life you've had your theory you've dismissed all this nonsense this religion that your fathers have believed you know better than that you've got a mind you've got a brain you're reasoning you set up your theory and you say this is going to work this is going to lead to where I I intent to arrive but unfortunately you find after you've gone on a little bit that it doesn't turn out as you've expected is there anybody in this congregation who hasn't had that experience it seems to me reading the newspapers that there are many having this experience with regard to marriage at the present time they've ignored all that's been told told them they've dismissed and derided the past and its moral views they are going on in their way got to be up to date all the past was all wrong but it seems to me that their theories don't seem to turn out as they'd expected they're disappointed all they fondly hoped hasn't come to pass all they were so certain of hasn't been fulfilled they're utterly disappointed that's the first thing but there's a second aspect to the meaning of this word disappointed and it's a more serious one it contains within itself this whole notion of something which lets you down just when you need it most of all disappointed You' been relying upon the thing you had reposed your faith in it and then you suddenly come to the tests and when you need it most of all and need its help and its Aid it lets you down completely it isn't what you thought it was and there you are left to yourself and to your own misery now the Bible is full of this kind of thing let me give you just one classic example of it which is found in the Old Testament in that great scene of Elijah you remember on the top of Mount carel there was one man standing against some 850 false prophets that's how it was in those days Elijah the prophet of the Lord but they were the prophets of baale and others and the king and the queen believed in them and they were going to finish Elijah so Elijah proposes a great test on the mount on Mount Carmel you remember he says now then you're 850 of human and I'm only one let's test our theories Let's test our teaching Let's test the god in whom we believe so he proposed that they set up a kind of Altar and put wood upon it and then he said you'll kill a bulock and you'll cut him in pieces and put him on top of the wood you do that I'll do the same and then he said let us call on our respective Gods to send down fire from heaven and to consume the offering and as he said you are 850 I'm only one you go first so the prophets of baale and others they did all this and they began to cry and to bail to hear them and to send down fire from heaven you remember the story nothing happened nothing happened at all and Elijah comes along and he tuns him he says you're not shouting enough your God is there but he must be asleep shout more wake him up and so he mocks them and rightly ridicules them and there are these poor 850 false prophets completely let down and disappointed by their no God in the moment of Crisis and of trial he lets them down disappoints them and then Elijah prayed and the fire fell and consumed the offering he wasn't disappointed God heard him and God answered him there then is our first test is your theory such that it's not going to disappoint you that it's not going to turn out as you'd expected and it's not going to let you down completely just when you need it when you're in your Agony and your crisis and you look to it there's nothing there and you're left disappointed what a terrible condition but oh how common in the world today but let me give you a second meaning take this very meaning that we've got suggested here by this authorized ation he that believeth in him shall not be confounded now this is another emphasis in other words it means this to be confounded means that you don't understand you haven't got an explanation you can't make out why this is happening or why you're in this you say I'm absolutely confounded I don't know where I am I don't understand what's happening to me confounded it's a it's a it's a legitimate meaning for this word it means confounded intellectually now then this is the one in a sense that I want to emphasize so much at this present time here is an age that boasts of its intellect and its understanding and yet if there has ever been an age of men which is utterly and completely confounded it is this present one why well for this reason that everything has gone in almost the exact opposite way which they expected what was their teaching I'm never tired of reminding you of this we need to be reminded of it until we give it up once and forever what am I talking about well I'm talking about all the prophecies which began say about 1860 and which went right on to the beginning of the first world war and which unfortunately and to my amazement still tends to continue the Prophecies of the philosophers especially those who were sort of scientific philosophers and the people who taught evolution what Darwin was supposed to have proved the advance and then of course it was taken up by the various branches of science it started on the biological level but it was taken up on other levels and everybody agreed that life was moving and advancing you no longer believed the Bible you no longer went to church you read Darwin or Herbert Spencer these men who had rediscovered the whole business of Life Who Knew What Men really was there was no God and th a actuallyy who popularize the teaching prep still more than either of them this kind of mixture of philosophy which claimed to be basing itself upon science and which was then taken up of course by the politicians and even by The Poets and they all virtually taught something like this that at last we' got at the secret and that all that was necessary was that we be educated that we be trained that we be taught and that given this there was no problem that could not be solved so your tennis begin to sing about the day that was coming the parliament of men the Federation of the world wonderful and then of course in the first world war they said it's coming League of Nations never another war war to end War as I say War to be outlawed and so on and a land fit for Heroes to live in and so there it is that's so typical of it all now there were the promises there were the prophecies and they were quite certain that this 20th century was to be the most glorious era in the whole history of the human race but look what's happened look what's taken place look at the two Wars look at the period in between look at the period since the last war look at the present position now I'm simply stating a fact when I say this that all the people who held on to that kind of theorizing are completely confounded they just don't know now many of them are honest enough to admit that there are many of you who know the title of HG wells's last book and he was the kind of high priest of that scientific philosophy this belief in man and in his Evolution here was his last book written during the last war it's not surprising mind at the end of its tether and there is no question that the greatest pessimist in the world this evening Bears the name of Bertrand Russell he is the most profound pessimist in this world at this moment all these men had rarely stood for and prophesied has come crashing to the ground now the point I'm emphasizing is that they therefore don't understand what's happening that's their problem they say what can be the matter how can men be such fools you read their speeches that's what he keeps on saying why will men not think why won't they apply what they know but they won't and he's confounded he doesn't understand why they behave like this and that is the position of all men who base their life and view of Life on anything except this message they're all confounded but then they got another meaning which is this that we are left desperate now there's this verse which we are dealing with behold I and Zion achieved conone elect prees he that believeth in him shall not be confounded is a quotation from the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 16 but if you turn it up in the authorized version you'll read it like this he that believeth in him shall not make haste or as somebody else has translated it he that believeth in him shall not hurry shall not be hurried in other words it means this here's a test to apply to your theory in the time of crisis when the wind and the flood and the rain come do you find in yourself in a desperate position frantically trying to get out through a window or rushing here or there trying to salvage something trying somewhere to find a way of Escape he that believeth in him shall not make haste but everybody else shall be making Hast everybody else shall be hurrying and scaring in all directions and half killing one another as they do so and trampling one another down perhaps because they don't know where they're going or what to do they just become frantic they lose possession of themselves they're making haste and they go round and round in circles flustered frantic desperate not knowing what to do nor where to turn that's how all the other theories leave you hrid flustered making haste or the last meaning is this he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame that's the more modern one it's all right it's all in the word he that believeth in him shall not be put as shame is there anything more tragic than that that at the end of your life you're just looking a fool put to shame you're own theories left let you down all you'd always lived for gives you nothing and all your boasting and all your pride in your teaching is absolutely ridiculed by events and by facts you're shown to be a false prophet you're shown to be a poor thinker you're utterly shamed unmasked exposed for the ridicule of the whole universe man the fool how often do the psalmist say that in some shape or form in their various writings put to shame ridiculed exposed shown for what it's worth well now then there I say is the Practical test which you can divide up into those four different ways examine test prove the thing you're holding on to your theory of Life at this moment by those four test but let me hurry on to the positive word the only way not to be confounded the only way not to be disappointed the only way not to be left bewildered the only way not to be left desperate the only way not to be left put to shame exposed ridiculed is what well is this way behold I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded what is this how can we come to this well here's the answer we need a sure Foundation we need a tried foundation not theories not building Castles in the Air they're of no value they must be firmly built upon rocks a sure Foundation here it is you can translate this word elect if you like by sure tribe test it what is this well here is the whole message of the Gospel this Tri sure safe solid durable Foundation is none other than a life which is based on the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel why is this sure why is this so different from all the others no I'm only going to give you some headings tonight I'm going to work this out in detail with you God willing but here's the first great statement why do I say that this is a sure Foundation that can never let us down well the first answer is it has been laid by God behold I lay in Zion it's God's being it's not men you see that's the great contr everything else is man but this is God I lay in Zion a Chief Cornerstone elect precious here's the first and the most essential thing of all the one great vital thing in life is our relationship to God if that isn't there in the first place do what you will your house will come crashing to the ground and you'll be confed you got to start with God why well because he's God because he is who he is and what he is because he is the maker and the creator of the whole universe in which we find ourselves he's our maker he is our creator not only that all things are in his hand yes even today people don't understand that they say if there is a God why this or that the answer is quite simple God gave the first men he made the thing man always want free will that's what men want isn't it they don't like this gospel they say I believe in Free Will I don't like a god who tell I want to live my own my free will when God made men and he gave him Free Will and man used his Free Will and what was the result life as it is tonight but you see the fact that God gave men free will and that men has brought all this chaos into being doesn't mean that God has abandoned everything or has handed it over to men no no God permits many things he permits many things in order to teach us and instruct Us in order to correct us I don't claim to understand them all but the Bible's got great teaching on Providence God has a permissive will as well as a directive and an active will and he permits a great deal he'll show us why at the end but he does it all ultimately in order to show us what we are and our relationship to him all things are still in his hand there is nothing so sure as this at this moment the Lord reth he's there and you can't escape him you can't get away from him so obviously the first thing is to be in a right relation ship with him very well says the Bible God himself has provided the way whereby that can be done he himself has laid a foundation not man it's God who's done it listen to this wonderful way in which he puts it in verse 9 you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation A peculiar people what for that you should for show forth his Praises better translation is that you should show forth his excellences his virtues his powers who has called you out of Darkness into His Marvelous Light God's done it this is God's way it's God who's laid this Foundation the almighty everlasting God that's why this is durable that's why this never lets us down it isn't man trying to put up a foundation it's God I lay in Zion the excellences the virtues and the powers of God himself in other words the Bible is but the record of God's great plan and purpose of Salvation it is the exposition of God's way of Salvation now then what is it well I'm only summarizing this evening look at it like this just look at these suggestions that we may rejoice in it in general before we become come to the particulars what has God done what is this Foundation well say this man it is particularly what he's done in his son his only begotten son son here is this chosen foundation stone this elect precious stone the Son of God God has sent his own son and it's all founded on him he that believeth on him shall not be confounded Christ Christ Jesus he's the beginning the end the alpha the Omega he's the first and the last he's everything there's no Foundation apart from him this is the whole teaching of the Bible what does it mean to be on this Foundation it means this that God makes us his own people who were not a people but are now the people of God you see here we are in this world with the Billows rolling and the wind howling the Gale coming the rain descending how can I know I'm safe there's only one answer if I'm one of God's people I'm safe and I am in Christ he makes us his people who are not a people but are now the people of God you are a people for his own peculiar position he says in verse 9 he takes a particular interest in you he takes particular care of you you are his people well what a thought what a comfort in this world tonight that whatever is happening to me the one who is sitting above the water floods is my God and my father and I'm his child I'm one of his people Nothing shall be allowed to harm me that's the message that's what it means to be on this Foundation yes but you see he gives us additional comfort and Assurance the way in which God has done it gives me absolute certainty here I'm told about this son of his whom he sent into the world that he was disallowed to the builders I'm told this that he was disallowed indeed of men the stone which the builders disallowed what am I talking about well this is the message isn't it the CL the way in which this rock has been established this immovable Foundation is what God has done in his son what's that well it's not only is coming into this world it includes his rejection of men which is his death you see upon the cross his body broken his Bloodshed that's a part of it rejected disallowed indeed of men that's a part of it not only that he's become the head of the corner yes though he was killed and buried he rose again conquered death in the grave it's all here This is Gospel rejection Rising but then we draw a very profound argument from that it's the argument of the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:10 for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son how much more shall we be saved through his life my friend God has loved you to this extent that he gave his son to death for you if he gave his son to death for you he'll never abandon you if he's done the greatest thing that even God could do he'll never refuse you anything less so the Apostle says it again in Romans 8:32 he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not also freely give us all things yes when the rain descends and the flood comes and the wind blows and beats Upon Our House this will stand why well the god who's given his only son to death for me is not going to abandon me in any hurricane or storm he's pledged himself to me there once and forever that's the thing I remind myself of when I come to the table and eat the bread and drink the wine not only that I know that God has done this for me for a great ultimate purpose having you a conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak evil against you as evil does they may glorify God they may by you a good works which they Shall Behold glorify God when in the day of visitation you see this is the thing here is a faith which sees through death here is a faith that enables me to see that this world and this life are not the ones that rarely matter it's what's coming the day of visitation a glory which awaits all the children of God all who put their faith in this Christ that's the sure shess of this foundation so I end on this note he says he that believeth on him shall not shall never be confounded I defy anything and everything I don't care what comes never what says somebody have you faced all the tests I have let's face them together every contingency has been catered For Life what about life am I ready for anything that may come in life certainly but what if certain events will come says somebody and things will go against you what if you lose your health what if you lose everything what if you're utterly bereft and left alone like many people have been during this last week husband destroyed by the hurricane or wife or children without father and left absolutely what if that comes to you are you still not confounded you still understand you still know where you are I say yes in Christ I do my view of life is this that I expect nothing from Life in this world it's an evil world it's a sinful world this is a veil of tears I don't expect perfect bliss and happiness in this life I don't expect everybody dear to me to live forever I don't expect never to be taken ill I don't expect such nonsense that's the Romance of the fools here's a book that teaches me that it's a mortal life that I'm nothing but a stranger and the pilgrim that it's an evil world with forces opposed to me in all directions I expect nothing from it so that when things do go wrong I am not surprised not a bit it's exactly what I've expected what amazes me is that things go as well as they do and that we all don't suffer much more than we are called upon to do what about Temptations they come how can you stand to somebody I can tell you on this rock believing in him I'm not left to myself his power his presence strong in the Lord and in the power of His might clothed with the whole armor of God we can stand against the Ws of the devil to withstand in the evil day and having done all things to stand what about the coming of old age you ready for it I find so many people breaking down when they tire and they don't know how to cater with old age they don't know what to do with themselves why because they're not on this rock on this Foundation my teaching here is this here have we no continuing City you've got to get old you've got to face the end you can't stop it so if you're on this teaching if you believe this you're never taken by surprise you're never disappointed you're never confounded you've got an understanding but what about death itself says someone wait a minute my friend it's all right death's a conquered enemy Resurrection string of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory in Christ oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy Victory it's gone a man who believes in this risen Christ has already conquered death it's just a little Ral to him that separates him from this evil world and the glory that awaits him in Christ Jesus listen to Paul for me to live as Christ and to die is gain to be with Christ Which is far better he's not confounded when he dies our people said John Wesley die well of course they did they believed in him and therefore were never confounded but what about the Judgment Beyond it says someone what about facing God in eternity it's all right listen to what he says which in time passed were not a people but are now the people of God which had not obtained Mercy but now have obtained Mercy the Christian is a man who had mercy he's already obtained it in this life in this world he's not afraid of judgment therefore he's not afraid of standing before God he's already obtained the mercy God has already said to him th my son thy sins have been forgiven thee I've blotted them out as a thick Cloud you you believed in my son you believed my message concerning him you believe that I punished you your sins in him you're absolutely forgiven there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus none at all who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yeah rather that is risen again who maketh intercession for us at the right hand of God there is nothing that can accuse a believer in Christ Christ Christ's blood and righteousness cover him completely and absolutely and always there is no contingency which can disappoint or confound put to shame or cause the believer in Christ to be hurried and flurried and to make haste he knows where he is he knows in whom he has believed he he knows that all is well between him and God he can say I know I am persuaded that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our lord let me put it as I close in the words of the psalmist I read it to you Psalm 61 here My Cry Oh God attend unto my prayer from the end of the Earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I I'm floundering in the ocean lead me to the rock that is higher than I and there I know that I'm safe a man once put that in the form of a hymn here it is oh safe to the rock that is higher than I my soul in its conflicts and Sorrows would fly so sinful so weary thine thine would I be thou blessed Rock of Ages I'm hiding in thee in the calm of the noon tide in Sorrows lone hour in times when Temptation casts on me it's in the tempests of Life on its wide heaving sea thou blessed Rock of Ages I'm hiding in thee how off in the conflict when pressed by the Fall I have fled to my refuge and breath out my world how of When Trials like sea billows Ro have i hidden in thee Oh thou Rock of my soul hiding in thee hiding in thee thou blessed Rock of Ages I'm hiding in thee and I shall never be confounded are you my dear friend on the Rock of Ages are you ready for the hurricane are you ready for the billers and the storm and the trials and the calamities they're bound to come there's only one piece of safety thou blessed Rock of Ages God's Rock I hiding in thee he that believeth on him shall never be confounded amen we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr Martin lyd Jones all of the sermons contained within the mlj trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that these sermons will not be edited in any way for length or to use as audio clips you can find our contact information on our website at mlj trust.org that's mlj t.org" [00:25:38]