“The Invisible Kingdom”

“Invisible Foundation” Magnificent & massive Winchester Cathedral is Europe’s oldest gothic church. In 1905, some serious signs of structural weakness appeared in the cathedral. Huge cracks began to develop. Architectural experts made suggestions how to remedy the problem. Finally, an expert maintained that the foundation should be probed & deep shafts were dug to the foundation. There they discovered that the great cathedral had been constructed on a bog.

The original builders had laid tree trunks flat on the soft watery soil & on that had built their massive building. The miracle was that the building hadn’t collapsed. In 1906, a man in a deep-sea diving suit began working in water thick & brown digging down through eight feet of peat. He picked the peat out in sections & replaced it with concrete. It took him five & a half years to restore the cathedral’s rotting foundation. It is far easier, less expensive & smarter to build on a solid foundation

That is true for buildings; it is true for the buildings of our lives. Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine & does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: & the rain descended, the floods came, & the winds blew and beat on that house & it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine & does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: & the rain descended, the floods came & the winds blew & beat on that house & it fell & great was its fall.” Rain & floods represent the pressures of life. When the pressures of life come, that's when the quality of the foundation is exposed. The house - the structure you build - is your life. These men both built a house. And they both experienced the same rain & wind & floods. Jesus didn't say IF the rain & wind & floods come - He just assumed they would come. You can't escape them, no matter what people tell you, no matter who you are.

THE FOUNDATION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A BUILDING. I’m afraid society today is building on the wrong foundation. They quote their favorite celebrity more than the Word of God. They seem envious of the despicable morals of this age, the disgusting music or ungodly events going on in this world! We are in this world BUT if we have been born again, we are not of this world!

What's important is the kind of people we are on the inside. ”For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." What the world sees as success, being famous or wealthy isn't important in God's sight. If you read through all of Matthew 5-7, you'll notice that The Bible tells us “Set your affection on things above not on things of the earth.” “Love not the world, neither the things in the world, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh & the boastful pride of life. These are not of the Father but of the world.” “Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth & rust doesn’t corrupt.”

These are a few of the “world’s attempts to entice us to respond to “ the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, & the boastful pride of life” The world is boasting about such things , cars with self- warming seats & audio directions given in several languages, towel warming racks for your bath towel. Worldly things can disappear in a minute in a Typhoon, an F4 tornado such as we had in 2013 or a giant sinkhole such as we saw in the news several times in 2013. He who lives only for the moment is without true meaning in life. There’s no foundation! But the invisible things of the spirit, such as the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, are eternal.” One who works only for visible things can never truly be happy because there is no real meaning or purpose to his life. Popularity with the masses, without the favor of God is emptiness. Having a Gold record, being given the key to the city or having the Heissman trophy or other worldly recognition doesn’t matter. The deceitfulness of riches, amassing this world’s goods & trying to feed the “Hunger Within” only leaves them empty. You must make your choice between devotion to God & absorption in this world's business, for no one can really bind himself to the service of more than one master at a time ; he will either dislike the one & love the other, or he will become attached to the one & disparage the other. No man can serve two Masters!