Resting on a False Foundation That Will Crumble to Hell — E.A. Johnston

I feel sorry for this generation of church members. For some of you came into the church on false pretenses. You were victimized, and you didn't even know it. Some of the ministers that welcomed you into the church and slapped you on the back just needed more numbers to fill their sanctuary.

So they broadened the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did. They grinned and said, only believe and walk this aisle and you'll be saved. And you did what they told you to do, and you thought that was salvation.

You've been in the church for years, never realizing that all is not well within. You've never heard the real gospel before. You've never had an encounter with God or experiential knowledge of his son Jesus.

You're a stranger to grace. You're religious and lost because a false gospel will result in a false faith. And a false faith results in a false profession. And a false profession rests upon a false foundation that will one day crumble beneath you into a devil's hell.

Jesus' Warnings About True and False Conversion

The title of my message this evening, friends, is Resting on a False Foundation That Will Crumble to Hell. Turn in your Bibles, friends, to Matthew's gospel. We will be in chapter 7. Chapter 7 of Matthew's gospel is full of alarming statements of Jesus concerning true conversion versus false conversion.

Jesus says that few are saved, that the way is narrow, the gate is straight. Many are on the broad road, climbing over each other's backs on a mad dash to hell. Jesus states that behavior and belief are connected.

And he compares saving faith to a good tree that produces good fruit and a false faith that is corrupt that only produces bad fruit. He says many profess believers, meaning many church members will claim they know him and even call him Lord, Lord.

Even list their long track record of service to him saying, Lord, Lord, didn't I do this for you? And didn't I do that for you? But the trouble is Jesus never knew them. They were never given him by the Father in the covenant of grace.

They're strangers to a work of grace upon the heart, strangers to regeneration and repentance for they've never, ever been born from above and washed in the blood. And Jesus ends his long discourse with the parable of two foundations to clarify his points.

The Wise Builder on the Rock

Here now is the word of God from Matthew chapter 7 and in verses 24 through 29. May the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word. This is Jesus speaking. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock.

Let me pause here, friends, to say over in Luke's gospel of the same parable Jesus states that the wise man digged deep until he hid solid ground, solid rock. Then he built upon that, of course, which is Christ, the solid rock.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house. And it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Well, let me pause again, friends, to say notice the increased severity of the storm.

The Foolish Builder and the Coming Storm

First rain descends, floods rise up, winds begin to blow and beat violently upon it. But through it all, the house stands strong, for it had the right foundation. I live in Florida, and we endured not one but two hurricanes this year.

Their devastation was awful. Some folks lost everything. What the wind didn't blow down, the storm surge destroyed. Everyone that had anything left was stacked out on the curb. You could see all their belongings out there ready for the trash man to come pick them up.

A lot of people learned the real danger of living in a flood zone. Now, listen to how Jesus describes the foolish man who built his house upon shifting sand. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.

And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of it and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings that people were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them as one have an authority and not as the scribes.

I will stop there, friends. As Jesus finished his sermon, he had preached it with such authority that they could actually see that house crumble before them in that raging sea. They could hear the creaking and the breaking of the rotten timbers as they pulled apart.

They could hear the crash of the violent sea against that shore. These hearers went home with a vivid picture of that terrible destructive scene in their mind. And the ruin and crash of that house still ringing in their ears.

The Eternal Danger of a False Religious Profession

And it alarmed them to the reality of eternity and the God of that eternity. Maybe you've been a good church member for years. Maybe you've served in some capacity at church faithfully. Maybe you're a deacon or an elder or a pastor and you are just now finding out that you've been resting on a false foundation for years.

And you are alarmed of your danger, of your peril, of dying in your sins and being dragged down to the regions of hell. You swallowed a watered-down, easy-believed gospel and now you're sunk. No wonder your life's had no consistency in it.

Christ never has been your master. You've maintained an outward profession of religion and fooled many people. But you can't fool God, friends. You know nothing of the reality of Christ in your life. If you are brutally honest with yourself right now, you have to admit you know nothing of an experiential knowledge of Christ Jesus.

Nor do you have at present the life of God in your soul. And if a terrible, unforeseen event removed you suddenly out of this world, you'd be like the lost soul described in the book of Job. Speaking of the wicked, they are as double before the wind and its chaff that the storm carryeth away.

Listen, friend. To rest upon a false religious profession is to sit stupidly in a flood zone while the waters rise against you. Soon, your immortal soul will be swept away into a devil's hell for all eternity where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Weeping speaks of great grief and loss and gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret. Hell is a place of misery filled with regret. Don't go there, friend. Don't let that be you, friend. Get to Christ and cast yourself on Him, the solid rock.

Christ's Call to Repentance and Faith

Look at that man on the cross, friend. Look at that blessed man on the cross. See Him there with His arms outstretched beckoning you to come to Him and believe on Him. Look at that blood-stained Savior for sin, He says.

Look unto Me and be ye saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Listen to His pleas, friend. Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they should be white as snow.

Though they be red as crimson, they should be as wool. The cross is the place where men sought to get rid of Him, but by His death it becomes the place where His saving power flows out to all who come in repentance, confessing they are sinners and own Him as their Savior and Lord.

Come. Come to Jesus. Come. Oh, what are you waiting for, mister? Don't wait until you're better. Come. Bring to Him your heartache. Bring to Him your fears. Come. I've got this sermon. While many of you were still asleep, don't stay asleep in your sins.

Dig into the Word of God. Seek the way of salvation, which is Christ the Lord who came into this world to save His people from their sins. If you've not trusted this blessed Savior, receive Him now before it's too late.

Christ the Solid Rock and Final Judgment

Soon He will come in judgment on this world when His anger shall burn as an oven, and then you shall meet Him as your judge. Come to Jesus, friend. Come. Bring to Him your sins and lay Him down that sin burden.

Lay it down at His nail-pierced feet. Christ is the only remedy for sin. Christ is the solid rock. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.