Message 4 - By Keith Surface
The
Stone the Builders Rejected
In this message,
Brother Keith Surface deals with some of the more established, erroneous, theories in the church concerning the
gospel foundation. The apostle Paul, as well as other apostles who “...were eyewitnesses
of His majesty” (II Peter 1:16), all received the
gospel by revelation of God. If you are at all interested in what the true gospel foundation IS,
and what it IS NOT, you should read this message. JDG
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreword
I surrendered my
life to Jesus Christ in January, 1984. Being so overwhelmed with the mercy,
love, and grace He so freely gave, I wanted everything in my life to be about
Him. I was in every service, every prayer-meeting, and every revival as I
sought the Lord continuously for the fullness of His Spirit and to know Him in
every way that I could. The word of God began to roll in my spirit until I
began first to teach and later preach the things I would see in His word. In
that day, as in this day, there were many ministers of great renown that
appeared to me to be doing so much for God. I would see the preacher on the TV
and was moved by what they were doing, but at the same time I was often checked
in my spirit. Whenever a man of God feels that “check” in his spirit it is a
warning he should take seriously. But who was I to question these who had every
appearance of doing much for the name of the Lord. In the spring of 1987 the
Lord visited me with a vision in the night hours. This is what I saw:
I had purchased a
piece of land upon which I was planning to build my house. The property was a
large acreage tract filled with beautiful, century old, oak trees. I looked
forward with anticipation to the day that I would occupy my new home, but I was
troubled in the vision and unsure about what course to take. What troubled me
was the feeling that instead of hiring a builder, I should build this house
myself. I was just a young man and my only construction experience was as a
helper for others. Yet in the vision I could not help but feel that if I would
use a level and a framing square I would be able to build this house. But
doubts flooded my mind and I began to inquire of other builders to build this
house for me. I looked at the houses they had constructed and was overwhelmed
at the size and beauty of the buildings. Every time I started to choose a
builder I would be troubled about it and feel as though I should take up my
level and square and build the house myself. Finally I convinced myself that
hiring the builder was the right course to take, so I put my future home into
the hands of an experienced builder.
The vision moved
forward to a day that my house was near completion. I invited two pastors and
their wives to come with me and take a look at the house. As we drove up the
driveway lined with the beautiful oak trees and caught our first glimpse of
this new home my heart was ready to burst with pride. The massive columns that
supported the roof at the entrance of the home looked to be twenty feet tall
and a huge porch wrapped around the front of the home. The front door was fine
handcrafted wood embedded with etched glass. As we walked through the entry I
began to point out the imported tiles, the fine woodwork and wall coverings
such as I had never seen before. Before me stood a beautiful spiral stairway,
which we walked up admiring the craftsmanship of the railings and banister. We
proceeded down a hallway that seemed to go on forever and I began to open doors
and show off the various different rooms. As my guest toured one room, I
stepped out onto a balcony and happened to notice that the banister was leaning
a bit. Not to worry, I would speak to my builder and have it corrected. The
next room we entered I saw a small hairline crack in the wall and quickly moved
my guests out of the room, hoping they did not see it. As I began to go from
room to room the flaws became larger and more evident. I saw leaning floors,
gaping cracks in the ceiling, and floors that were buckled. Panic took hold of
me and I began to run down the hallway, room to room, only to find each room
worse than the one before. The floor started to move under my feet in such a
way that I realized there was no foundation supporting the structure and the entire
building was in danger of falling upon us. In panic I raced towards the
stairway only to find the railings were now just sticks tied together with
twine. The steps had turned into rotten planks with broken places where one
could easily fall to his death. Amazingly, I was able to reach the bottom of
the stairway. There the once beautiful wall coverings were now old strips of
cheesecloth that were peeling off the wall and the air was filled with the
musty stench of decay. I stood in the entryway that I had once been so proud
of, and being aware that my house might at any second fall upon me, I looked up
and cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, I knew I should have built this
house myself!”
I awoke the next
morning troubled, knowing that God had spoken to me, but not understanding what
the message was. I was led to the passage of scripture that both Jesus and
Peter quoted from Psalm 118. “The stone which the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner” (I Peter 2:7). I knew then that this was
instruction from the Lord not to turn to the religious builders of that day.
Not because they might not be good men, even sincere, but just as it had been
in the days of Jesus, the builders were rejecting the foundation. At the time I
did not even understand what the foundation was, but I knew I would not find it
in the houses of the great religious builders. Still, even as in the vision, I
was unsure that I could build a house that would stand? Again the Lord took me
to the scriptures. “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I
lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a
sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I
lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And
your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall
be trodden down by it” (Isaiah 28:16-18). When I read where God spoke of the line and the plummet I
understood what He was speaking to me concerning the level and the square. No
one needs to be afraid or ashamed to build if they will prayerfully build with
the simple provisions that God has given to the church. Let the word of God say
what it says. Let it be the measure of truth. Do not ignore the voice of the
Spirit, even when He speaks contrary to the traditions of men. And do not be
intimated by the great religious builders. Trust God and He, through you, will
build a house that will stand.
The
Stone the Builders Rejected
It was the
foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Would you set out to build your dream
home in a swamp or on unstable ground? Or, would you raise the walls of a
building without any foundation under it? I trust not! How about your eternal
soul? Are you trusting in a religious house as your eternal habitation, yet not
certain that the house is sound? It is not good enough to say, “I just believe
what I was always taught.” My pastor always told the congregation that if you
cannot go to the scripture and show why you believe what you believe, then you
have no right to believe it. Well, perhaps you do have a right to believe it,
but you are very foolish to do so. The scriptures teach us that religious
builders have again and again rejected God's foundation. If the only foundation
you have is that which you received from a religious builder, how do you know
it is a sure foundation? There is however, one builder who was commissioned and
entrusted by God Himself with laying the true foundation for the church of
Jesus Christ. His name was Paul the Apostle.
A Wise Master Builder
According to the grace of God which is given
unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another
buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For
other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
I Corinthians 3:10-11
In the above
passage, Paul the Apostle speaks of himself as a wise master-builder. A
master-builder is not merely someone who knows how to perform construction
tasks but rather someone who first understands what the finished building is
supposed to be; and secondly, how the building is to be constructed. Paul did
not take this position upon himself, neither was he set as a master-builder by
man. He said, “…I certify (I
guarantee) you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). His commission was
to lay the foundation just as he had received it from the Lord. So certain was
Paul of the gospel he preached that he said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed” (Galatians
1:8). Having received the gospel by revelation, his instruction must have
been similar to that which God spoke to Moses when he said, “See that thou make all
things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount” (Hebrews 8:5).
A
Sure Foundation
Anyone who
understands construction knows the importance of a good foundation. Can you imagine
laying the foundation for a custom home and when the walls begin to be raised
you realize that the foundation has been laid to the wrong dimensions? It
happens! I have seen houses that had to be redesigned after the foundation was
laid because the foundation was wrong. A foundation that is slightly out of
level or out of square can produce nightmares for those who attempt to bring
the structure together. What may seem to be hairline cracks in the floor can
cause massive shifting and cracking in the walls and ceiling. The foundation is
not the whole house, but the whole house will be built on the foundation;
therefore the foundation is the most critical part of any structure. Paul laid
the foundation of the church as God had instructed him, and there could be no
other foundation laid. Any change would cause great error to enter the church.
Anything left undone and the whole of the building would be adversely affected.
Paul was very adamant, “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus
Christ.” This was a warning for his generation and
all that would follow; the foundation must be right or the whole of the
building will be wrong.
Jude left us with
a sobering statement, writing,
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of
old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the
only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). In Jude’s day men were
already changing the foundation. Someone asked the question, “If in Jude’s day
men turned grace into lasciviousness, then who turned it back?” Catholicism?
Luther? Calvin? Wesley? Which religious builder can we look to with confidence
that they gave us the sure foundation? Jude gives us the answer in saying: “it was needful for me
to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the
faith which was once delivered
unto the saints” (Jude
1:3). We must go back to the words of those who were commissioned with laying
the sure foundation. We must go to the scriptures!
What
is the Foundation?
The Apostle Paul
wrote that he had laid the foundation, which is Jesus Christ. Let us take a
closer look at what that foundation is as we follow Paul through the first three chapters of I Corinthians.
1. “For Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness: but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God.”
I Corinthians 1:17-18
Notice in the
passage above how the preaching of the cross is synonymous with the preaching
of the gospel. Never forget that the gospel is the message of Calvary. Ignore
Calvary and you have no gospel. If you take the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus out of the Bible everything else is still true, but none of it has the
power to save a single soul.
2. “But we preach Christ crucified....”
I Corinthians 1:23)
I once commented
that the church sometimes seems to be more Jewish than Christian. We search the
scriptures for principles of life, relationships, and prosperity, but rarely do
we hear of the power of the cross. Without the cross, the church is just
another sect of Judaism. That in a secular sense is not bad, but will never
impart to anyone the life of Christ! The gospel Paul preached centered on the
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and how it transformed the
believer. It was not only Christ and His teachings. It was Christ crucified. In
this he found the power and wisdom of God.
3. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified.”
I Corinthians 2:2
Three times in
these first two chapters Paul speaks
of preaching the cross “not with wisdom of words.” This gospel foundation could
not be mingled with man’s wisdom, for to do so would make it powerless (of none
effect). Anytime you see a sinful Christian it is because the cross has become
of no effect to them. In laying the foundation, not only did Paul preach
ONLY THE CROSS but he preached THE CROSS ONLY!
Why
the Cross?
For much of the
past nineteen-hundred years theologians have sought to discover the answer to
the question “Why did Jesus die?” Three
dominate theories (lines of thinking), have been developed seeking to
answer this question.
Theory
1
The most modern
of these theories presents the death of Jesus as simply a manifestation or
exhibition of God’s love for humanity. The theory is that when a man really
sees the love of God revealed in giving His Son, it will break his heart
towards God even to the point of emulating Christ. God in turn, when he sees
man’s heart broken towards Him, will extend the promise of heaven to man. In
this theory, any change in the believer comes through the psychology of emotion
and can be totally absent of the power of God. This would fit those Jude warned
of saying, “These be they who
separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude
1:19). The great error of this theory is that it denies that there was any
real purpose of Calvary, other than emotion. The death of Jesus by itself does
not demonstrate great love, but the fact that he offered Himself to die because
His death was necessary for our redemption demonstrates love beyond human
comprehension.
Theory
2
Another theory is
called the satisfaction view of atonement. This evolved out of the penance
system and presents Jesus’ death as a perfect offering of obedience to satisfy
the offended honor of God. Once His honor was satisfied, God would be agreeable
to forgive the sins of man. Another form of satisfaction atonement is called
penal substitution. This presents that Jesus died to suffer the legal penalty
for the sins of man. Both of these forms of satisfaction atonement miss the
mark because they assume that God demanded satisfaction for the sins of man, a
thought the apostles never taught or embraced. (For more on these theories and
why they miss the mark, go to the previous message [Message 3], or see “Behold
the Lamb” publication titled “Someone Must Pay!”.)
Theory
3
The oldest view
of redemption and closest to the scripture is called the ransom theory of
atonement. This theory presents that Jesus gave himself as a ransom (some
presume to Satan) so that Satan would release mankind from his claim. There are
many forms of this theory some very close to truth and some far from it. The
objection of many is that God would never pay a ransom to Satan, to which I
agree completely. Others have taught that the ransom was paid to God. The
objection to this is that it makes God the entity that held man in captivity.
The first two of
these theories miss the mark so completely because they are built upon
philosophical arguments rather than the plain statements of the apostles. Some
defend these philosophical doctrines claiming that the apostles were too vague
in their explanation of the gospel, so it fell upon theologians in the
generations that followed to formulate the true gospel. Nothing could be
farther from the truth. Paul preached a gospel that may have long been a
mystery, but he did not keep it such. He plainly declared the purpose and
accomplishments of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.
The
Stone Rejected
The central truth
of the gospel is summed up in what are possibly the most famous words of the
Apostle Paul. “I am crucified with
Christ….” (Galatians
2:20). Here we have a statement too plain, too clear, and too straight
forward for theologians to understand. Therefore, countless volumes have been
written over the centuries of church history seeking to explain why Paul is not
actually saying what he says;
“It’s positional;”
“It’s just his identity with Christ;”
“It’s a special place we all seek to obtain;”
“It is only how God sees us.”
On one hand we
declare it to be true while at the same time seeking to prove that it is not a
reality. But what if Paul was saying what he truly meant? What if he was not
being obscure, but speaking as plainly as he could. What if he really meant
that he died when Jesus died? If that were the case then surely he would say it
again. He does!
Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:6
In the text above
Paul again, clearly gives the reason Jesus was crucified. It was that we might
die with Him, causing our sin to be destroyed, in order that we would no longer
serve (be slaves to) sin. What does the church do with this passage? We obscure
it of course! “It’s positional.” “It’s just the way God sees us.” “It’s only
our identity with Christ.” “It’s not the way things are, it’s what we are to
strive for.” Paul could be no clearer, but we refuse to believe. Could it
really be that Jesus died to crucify our old man of sin in order to free us
from sin’s bondage? Yes! Peter also confirms this when he gives his explanation
of Calvary. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Did Peter really agree
with Paul that Jesus died so we would be dead to sins? Did he mean that we
actually died with Jesus on the cross and because we died with Him we would
live unto righteousness? Of course he did! That is why he said it! But again we
rush to explain it away. I could continue with scripture after scripture where
the apostles spoke so clearly as to the purpose and work of the cross only to
find that the church takes every such verse and obscures it with tradition and
dogma. The things the apostles spoke of as being finished, we change to mean in
the future. They said, “ye are dead,” but we say “you must die.” The apostles said, we are “crucified
with Christ,” but we say, “we must crucify ourselves in service of Christ.”
They said we are “made free from sin,” but we say, “we are made free from the
guilt of sin.” They said, we are “made righteous,” and we say, “God only see us as
righteous.” It is no wonder the scriptures seem so obscure to the reader;
Not because the apostles made it so, but because the religious builders to this
day reject the foundation stone.
The truth of the
gospel is simple and clear. Jesus died so that our sinful man would die. He was
raised from the dead so that He could live in us. This was not payment. This
was not penalty. This was not exhibition. This was God, in Christ, dying to the
old creation so that we also, with Him, would die to the old and be birthed
into the new. This is the central message of the cross. It is also the stone the builders so often reject!
Message
4 - By Keith Surface - “The Stone the Builders Rejected”
-------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP
of PAGE
NEXT MESSAGE
PREVIOUS
MESSAGE
Keith
Surface MESSAGES
JDG MESSAGES
Leroy Surface MESSAGES
