Strengthen the Foundations

31 January 10

 

  1. Introduction:

1 Kings 5:17

“And the King commanded and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones to lay the foundation of the house”

·      Foundations  are unseen, hidden, but the weight of the whole building rests on them

·      If the foundations are weak, not aligned or missing, the building is unstable

·      Everything we build has foundations

Personal life, Marriage, Finances, Business, Church, Family

·      If we  want to enlarge the building, we must strengthen the foundations

·      The House of God has foundations that we build upon. The Church up to now was built on Pastoral Foundations. The Church now is changing to be more Apostolic

·      Believers cannot fulfill God given purpose unless foundations are laid  Heb 6:1-3

·      We are currently in a season of God strengthening our foundations for enlargement

 

  1. The Work of God is Built upon Revelation:

a)  Peter - Revelation

Matt 16:17-19

“Upon this rock I will build my church”

·      Peter had received revelation of who Jesus Christ is

·      That revelation of Jesus Christ was God given, inspired by the Holy Spirit

·      That revelation formed the foundation for a supernatural church

·      Revelation opens heaven’s resources to invade earth, to overcome the devil

·      We cannot build on someone else’s revelation or experiences = copying or borrowing

·      Be original, have your own revelation and experiences

·      Who are you in Christ? What is your identity in Christ? No one can answer these questions but you. If there is no answer = copy

·      Your foundation is in your heart of the revelation of who you are

 

b)  Jesus Teaching - Revelation

Matt 7:25

“Whoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who builds his house upon a rock”

·      Hearing and responding by faith and action forms a foundation

·      If revelation is the foundation in your heart, how recently did God speak to you? What did He say? When last did you have revelation? Did you act on it?

 

c)  Fresh Revelation Challenges Mindsets and Beliefs:

Acts 10:9:16

“Not so Lord, I have never eaten anything common or unclean”

·      Peter had an open vision and received revelation

·      Revelation of the bigness of God and His love for all people

·      Peters first response was from his old beliefs – traditions, old foundations

·      Peters concept of God was small and limited to the Jewish nation

·      He initially resisted the greatness of God’s grace that included non Jews

·      We can be hindered by:

Ø  Wrong emotional perceptions of God and people

Ø  Traditions ..wrong or inadequate foundations

Ø  Pressure to conforn to group beliefs

Ø  Pride..refusal to admit failure of error

·      New revelation confronts our thinking

It will challenge our beliefs and faith

·      God is a Global God…We must become bigger inside in belief and perspectives

 

3.      Paul’s Foundations were Strengthened:

Acts 9:1-9

·      Paul had an experience of God that challenged wrong beliefs, the foundations within him

·      Paul operated out of a mindset of the Law

·      If there is a spiritual blindness to God’s purposes it is a good time to fast

 

a)       Paul’s personal foundations Phil 3:1-7

·      Birthright privileges             - Israel, Descent of Jacob, tribe of Benjamin, both

  parents were Hebrew

·      Covenant relationships       - circumcised according to the law

·      Education                              - Pharisee/Gamaliel

·      Religious Activity                  - zealous for God

·      Religiously committed         - concerning the law  blameless

·      His life was built on the foundation of the Law, convinced he was right

·      He was passionate about people breaking the law - killing Christians

·      He was persuaded in his mind that he was fully committed to God

·      The whole foundation of his belief system was inadequate for the new season of God

·      The result for this was:

Lack of fruitfulness, resentment, frustration, controlling behavior, persecution of innocent believers, murder.

 

b)       Paul’s Encounter

·      He experienced the God of Grace and Glory v3

·      The consequences of a life based on the Law was exposed

Ø  Law?         Focus on right and wrong => focus on punishment

Ø  Paul acting out beliefs => v1 breathing threats and murder

·      ‘Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?’ v4,5

·      His foundations were challenged by one question

·      When Saul was attacking believers he was attacking Jesus

 

c)       How God dealt with Paul

                                       i.          Sovereign encounter – direct confrontation with the Glory of God

                                      ii.          No threats, accusations, or punishment – God treats him with honour

                                    iii.          “Saul, Saul” – when people are in a great transition God calls their name twice

Gen 22:11 Abraham;  Ex 3:4 Moses;  1 Sam 3:10 Samuel;  Lk 22:31 Simon

Lk 10:41 Martha;  Acts 9:4 Saul

                                   iv.          God asks questions – to bring internal pressure to examine inner beliefs

Gen 3:9,11  Adam;  Gen 9:4 Cain;  1 King 19:9 Elijah;  Matt 16:15 Peter

The question challenged Paul’s foundational beliefs

                                    v.          God reveals who He is and His total connection with His church

Act 9:4,5 “Why are you persecuting me?”

                                   vi.          God gives Paul a simple  assignment, the next step not the whole plan

Act 9:6  “Arise and go into the city” – revelation is progressive

                                 vii.          God required Paul to submit to the ministry of Ananias

Act 9:9-12  Prayer and fasting and yielding prepare Paul to receive VISION

                                viii.          God released healing and prophetic destiny over Paul through a “sent man”

Act 9:17  “The Lord has ‘sent’ me” = Apostello

 

d)       Paul’s Foundations were totally Re-laid

·      He changed from being aPharisee that focused on the Law to an Apostle of Grace  

1 Cor 15:10

“By the grace of God I am what I am”

2 Cor 12:9

“My grace is sufficient for you”

·      Paul applied himself to study and understand the significance of the foundational change. Paul’s foundations were relaid

·      Paul arose to confront Peter when he moved from grace to law(Gal.3:11-13)

·      Act 19:1-6  Paul  checked the spiritual foundations of believers

·      He strengthened the foundations of Ephesus’ believers

·      He upgraded them in theology and experience

 

e)       Our Foundations need to be strengthened

·      God wants to uproot any root of legalism in us. Many believers are rooted in a belief system that is  punishment based,

ie God is only good to us if we do good and when we do bad He will punish us. This is not true.

God is a Good God, a Gracious God…all the time

·      We all have access to grace through faith (Rom.5:2)

·      We are to come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb.4:15-16)

·      We need to be established in grace and grow in grace(2Pet.3:18)

Ø  God is a God of Grace and Truth (Jn.1:16-17)

Ø  Grace flows from a higher paradigm, a Kingdom way of thinking

Ø  Sometimes we see grace as “unfair” instead of rejoicing with the person who received by grace

Ø  Give grace to others especially when they don’t deserve it