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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher, Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro, located in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study our series entitled the Foundations of Faith.

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Have you repented of your sin? Have you come to Jesus and said I'm sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me? Have you acknowledged the fact that he is the son of God, that he died for your sins and that he rose from the dead so that you might have new life and living living that new life? Do you remember that you were cleansed?

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Even if you're not handy, you know that when it's time to build a house, the foundation must be the first thing that's addressed. It must be done right the first time. Our relationship with God is no different. We must have a firm foundation in the Word of God that's rooted in a deep and lasting faith in Jesus. That's why Pastor Ken chose to share with you our series entitled the Foundations of the Faith. There can be no other foundation with God except one that is built upon an initial faith, acceptance of the free gift of salvation that God has provided in his one and only son, jesus Christ. And, as we just heard from Pastor Ken, you need to start there. You need to repent of your sins and let that be the foundational cornerstone of your life with God. Don't forget to stay tuned after today's message to hear more information about Heed the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles and let's join Pastor Ken.

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And that really is the first part of laying this foundation. Now we read a moment ago from Peter and Peter was a witness of this gospel, and we see that back in 2 Peter 1. Starting in verse 16, peter writes For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. But were eyewitnesses of his majesty For he received from God, the Father, honor and glory when such a voice came to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice, which came from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Peter is saying listen, the prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah. The prophets foretold that there would be one coming who would be our Savior. And we were eyewitnesses of this fact and in fact we were there on the mountain of transfiguration and we saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah that testimony from the law and the prophets. And while we were there. We heard God himself say this is my beloved son, whom I'm well pleased. They heard the voice of God bearing witness to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, the son of God. Peter knew who Jesus was. The question is do you know who Jesus is? Peter had said here that he received from God the Father. Jesus received from God the Father honor and glory. Do you honor and glorify Jesus?

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Jesus had asked a question of Peter and the other disciples himself in Matthew 16, verses 13 through 18, and Peter gave the answer as well. Matthew writes that when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea, philippi, he asked his disciples saying who do men say that I, the son of man am? So they said. Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them but who do you say I am Simon? Peter answered and said you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said you are the christ, the son of the living god. Jesus answered and said to him blessed are you, simon barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven, and I also say to you that you are peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it.

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Now, those in the Catholic faith would teach that Jesus was saying that it was on Peter that he would build his church. In fact, just a few verses later, we see that Jesus rebukes Peter and tells him to get behind him because he's speaking as the voice of Satan in essence. So we know that that's not what Jesus was saying. It's important that we look at the definition of two words. First, the name Peter is Petras in the Greek, which means a piece of rock, but the word rock that Jesus uses when he says that he's going to build his church upon the rock is Petra, which means a mass of rock.

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So, yeah, peter you're a little rock, you're a tiny little stone. You're a pebble, peter, but you just said a mouthful. That mast of rock, that weighty truth, that thing upon which Jesus was going to build his church was the confession of faith, that acknowledgement that you, jesus, are the son of faith, that acknowledgement that you, jesus, are the Son of God. It is upon that confession of faith, upon that massive rock, that Christ is building his church even today. And it is upon the confession of faith in your life that Jesus wants to build your Christian walk with him. It's upon that confession of faith in your life that Jesus wants to build your Christian walk with him. It's upon that confession of faith.

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Now Peter recognized who Jesus was. But there was a time in his life when he had not yet done that, as there is in all of our lives, and there was a certain experience that Peter had that I think it would be well to us to look at. Let's go back to Luke, chapter 5, starting in verse 1. So it was as the multitude pressed about him to hear the word of God that he stood by the lake of Gennesaret and saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had stopped speaking, he said to Simon Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. But Simon answered and said to him Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying depart from me, for I am a sinful man, o Lord. For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon do not be afraid, from now on you will catch men. So when they had brought their boats to the land, they forsook all and followed him. Now Peter is not alone in the scriptures, in his realization of his own sinfulness and his unworthiness to be in the presence of God. It was the power of God that was displayed in Jesus that had brought Peter to the realization, at that moment, of his own sinfulness.

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Isaiah had a similar experience. Let's turn to Isaiah, chapter 6. Starting in verse 1, isaiah writes In the year that King Uzziah died. Turn to Isaiah, chapter 6. Starting in verse 1, isaiah writes In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew.

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And one cried to another and said Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

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The whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth with it and said behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged. Also, I heard the voice of the lord saying whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said here am I send me. So Peter goes from a man who falls at Jesus knees and says depart from me, for I am a sinful man. He goes from that in a moment's time to being a man who would follow Christ and leave everything else behind him.

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Isaiah says goes from the point of saying woe is me, I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and I come from a people of unclean lips, and in a moment's time, goes from that to saying here am I send me.

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What was the difference? The difference was the presence and the power and the personal touch of God. There wasn't a man who led either one of these two people to the Lord, but it was God himself who touched them. You see, each one of them started with the realization of their own sinfulness, and sometimes we just don't quite grasp that, do we? You know, maybe we're in a situation where we're operating in sin and like maybe we're living with our girlfriend or boyfriend, or maybe we're experimenting in illegal drugs, or maybe we're doing whatever the case might be, pick your sin, it doesn't matter. And we come to a point where we say, hmm, you know, I really don't think God wants me to do that. Yeah, it's sinful. I suppose I probably ought to stop. When we go through that thought process, we're leaving out a very important thing, and that is the holiness of God.

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You see, when we come to the realization of how holy and perfect God is, then our sin becomes something that is not just a good idea for us to walk away from, but it becomes impulsive to us and it becomes something that we loathe, and it becomes something that we recognize as the uncleanness for which it is.

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And when we recognize that, that is the point at which true repentance can come in, because then we mourn for our sin, we grieve over the fact that we have failed God and it is in that confession, in that realization of the fact that he is holy and we are not, that he comes to us and he touches us in the very place where we are failing.

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Isaiah had said I'm a man of unclean lips. And God said let me deal with that problem. And he touched his lips with that coal from the altar. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5, part of verse 5 through 7, that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And he tells us therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you, for he cares for you. Isaiah came to the same realization in Isaiah, chapter 66. Let's turn there.

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The word of the Lord is being spoken by Isaiah here in these verses, and I want to start in verse 1. Thus says the Lord Heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me and where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand is made and all those things exist, says the lord. But on this one will I look.

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Basically, basically, what he's saying is hey, I'm God, you can't build a house that's going to contain me. Okay, we cannot contain God in our religion or in the practice of our religion. God is so far beyond the exercises of man. But God says this on this one I will look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, who trembles at my word.

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He who kills a bull is as if he who slays a man. He who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck. He who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood. He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways and their sole delights in their abominations, so will I choose their delusions and bring their fears on them. Bring their fears on them Because when I called, no one answered. When I spoke, they did not hear, but they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I do not delight. What is he saying? It doesn't matter how much you practice these foundational principles of faith that I'm going to be sharing with you over the next few weeks.

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It doesn't matter how much you pray, it doesn't matter how much you read your Bible, it doesn't matter how faithfully you attend church, it doesn't matter how often you get together with other Christians, it doesn't matter how often you go out and you share the gospel with other people, it doesn't matter how much money you give, it doesn't matter what level of devotion you have. If, in the midst of all of these things, you do not have a contrite spirit before the Lord, if you are seeking to justify yourself through spiritual disciplines, you will never succeed. You can't be good enough, you can't be holy enough.

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You cannot be perfect enough. What is it that God is looking for? Isaiah told us on this one. I will look on him, who is poor and of a contrite spirit. Have you acknowledged the fact that he is the Son of God, that he died for your sins and that he rose from the dead so that you might have new life and living that new life? Do you remember that you were cleansed from your sin, and does the memory of that cleansing exhort you to bear fruit in your life?

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God is holy. We've seen that in the lives of Isaiah and Peter, as we've read, and as we've seen also in their lives. We are not holy. Adam sinned and through him, sin entered the world, and so we could blame Adam, couldn't we? It's all your fault, adam. If it hadn't been for you, none of this would have happened to us, right? But Ecclesiastes 7.20 puts it this way, and I like the way the New American Standard puts it better than the other translations. So I like the way the New American Standard puts it better than the other translations, so I'll read this verse from that. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

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There is not a righteous man on the earth who continually does good and never sins. You might say well, I do good, I avoid sin. Yeah, but do you continually do good? Do you never sin? Because that's the standard of righteousness. If you have ever sinned, or if you have ever refrained from doing good, guess what? You're guilty. You're not holy, you're not perfect, you're not set apart. We all are guilty of sin, and Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. That means when you sin, when you cease from doing good, you earn death. You deserve to die. I deserve to die. There's no debate on this issue. But the free gift of God, you know it, doesn't save the wages of righteousness, does it. You can't earn those, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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We do deserve to die, but he gives us life. He refused to leave us hopeless. Colossians 1, 21 and 22 says it this way Although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death, in order to present you before him holy and blameless and beyond reproach, if indeed you continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under the heavens. What he's saying is listen. Jesus paid the price for you.

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Don't go looking for the answer anywhere else, because you're not going to find it anywhere else. Don't let anything or anyone tell you that there is not hope in Jesus Christ. Don't believe for a moment that your sin is so grievous that the blood of Jesus cannot atone for it. Because it can, it does, it did. So how do you appropriate this hope? How do you acquire this incredible salvation? Where do I sign? You receive by faith that which God has said he will do for you. To the question, what must I do to be saved? That the Philippian jailer asked in Acts, chapter 16, peter and Silas responded with the scriptures believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved Bottom line. I guess I could preach this whole sermon in a couple of sentences today, by saying this God is holy, you aren't Deal with it. You are sinful and he is perfect.

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And when we compare our sinful to his perfect, you should recognize the fact that you're not going to make it on your own and that you deserve death, and that death is all that waited for you, but that God, because of his incredible love for you, while you were still in sin sent his son to die for you and that Jesus on the cross paid the price for your sin and that if you will believe that he is the son of God and if you will accept the fact that he stands ready to forgive you and receive that forgiveness that he offers, just by believing, then you will be saved. In spite of anything that you can do or cannot do, in spite of how unworthy you may be, it is by faith that you've been saved. Because of the grace of God that's exercised in the death of Jesus Christ and in his resurrection, we too have eternal life. So believe it. That is the first foundation of faith. Now, now that you believe it, don't forget it. Don't begin to think somewhere along the way that there's anything good about you. Don't think that you come to a point where you don't still need Jesus. I'm reminded of the DC talk song. Maybe you remember it.

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I keep trying to find a light on my own, apart from you. I'm the king of excuses. I've got one for every selfish thing I do. What's going on inside of me? I despise my own behavior. It only serves to confirm my suspicion that I'm still a man in need of a savior. It only serves to confirm my suspicion that I'm still a man in need of a Savior. I need Jesus. I need Him as much today as I needed Him 18 years ago, and I'll need Him just as much 50 years from now. You need Him too.

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Let the knowledge of what God has done for you cause you to rely on Him and to live your life for Him. You will be saved. The Christian life was never designed to be a solo flight. God designed us with the need for relationships with others who can encourage us in our personal journey of faith. Maybe you're listening today and you don't have a home church and this message ministered to you. Well, we'd like to take this time to invite you to join us for one of our worship services.

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Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro meets each Sunday morning at 10.30 am and Wednesday evenings at 7 pm. Besides our Sunday morning services, we have ministries for children, men, women, couples and youth. To learn more about Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro, log on to heaththewordorg and follow the link, or, if you'd like to talk with someone, give us a call. Our phone number is 817-447-5675. That's 817-447-5675. So visit the website or call us today. Now we also want to encourage you to review this study.

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This study and many more taught by Pastor Ken are available at our website, heathewordorg. Many of Pastor Ken's teachings are available in MP3 or podcast format. You can also receive a CD copy of this message. Simply log on to heedthewordorg and select the option for CD requests. The CD that you'll receive is the full length unedited teaching. When you fill out the order form, please keep in mind today's date. On edited teaching when you fill out the order form, please keep in mind today's date. This helps us make sure that we send you the correct message. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Please join Pastor Ken next time as he continues teaching through our series entitled the Foundations of Faith, right here on Heed the Word.