The Foundation Part 2

 

Greetings! This is Rob Haymes. This program is called 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today we are continuing to talk about The Foundation. I would like you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 7, verses 24-27, 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: 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. And every one 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. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 6, verses 1&2, Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. I want you to notice here in verse 1: Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, that's what we are talking about when we talk about the foundation; it's being established in the principles of the doctrine of Christ. We need to be firmly established as Christians in the truth that Jesus taught. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We need to be established in the principles of the doctrine of Christ. Doing the Words of Jesus is like building your house on a rock. We must be established in the whole, true foundation as described in Heb 6:1&2 in order to be able to do the Words of Jesus, to do the Sermon on the Mount. When the foundation is built on the rock, established on the rock, then the building will be founded on the rock, and it will be able to withstand the storm that is coming. And the storm is surely coming.
Last week we talked about Repentance from Dead Works, Faith toward God, and the Doctrine of Baptisms. Today we are going to start with the Laying on of Hands. Not many people build houses upon the sand now a days. Everybody knows that the house will fall if it's built on the sand. So what they do is, they build it on some kind of a concrete foundation. There are different types of foundations that can be built, but the only ones that really stand the test of time, and the movement of the earth, and the storms that come; the only ones that really stand are the ones that are founded upon the rock. What they do for a really good foundation is they drill piers all the way down to bedrock; it may be only a few feet, or it may be as much as 15 or 20 feet deep; they drill a pier and it's founded on the rock. And they pour concrete, reenforced with steel. And they pour a certain number of piers in certain locations, and the foundation is built on those piers which are established on the bedrock. That way you have a solid foundation, and you can build whatever building has been designed for that foundation. But many houses are built on inadequate foundations. They may only pour a concrete slab without piers. In order to cut costs on building a house, many people compromise the foundation, and they build a lesser quality foundation. The result is that they always end up having problems with the house. There is settling, there is cracking, there are all kinds of problems that happen with an inadequate foundation. However, this foundation that we are talking about is a very costly foundation. It was purchased with the precious Blood of the Lamb of God. It was purchased and established through His sacrifice on the cross. The lamb of God, the Son of God became a man; Jesus became a man, and He lived as a man, and He was tempted in every way as we are, yet He never sinned, and He offered Himself a living sacrifice for our sins to establish us in His righteousness, through His grace. And He rose from the dead on the third day to bring us into eternal life with Him; to overcome all the powers of darkness, all sin and unrighteousness, and to live with Him forever in His glory. This is a precious, costly foundation, founded on the Rock. So, as a Christian, we must be established in all the foundation that the Lord has built for us.
Today we are going to talk about the fourth part of The Foundation, in Hebrews chapter 6, The Laying on of Hands. Let's turn to Acts 9:10-12, And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And, as we read on, Ananias obeyed the Lord, in verse 17&18, And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. In Acts 9, Ananias ministered healing and the Holy Ghost to Saul, by the Holy Ghost, as he was sent by Jesus to do so, through the laying on of hands. Let's turn to Acts 13:2-4, As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. We see here that the Holy Ghost is sending out Barnabas and Saul for the work that He had called them to do. The disciples fasted and prayed and then they laid their hands on them and they sent them away. So they were sent out through the disciples, by the Holy Ghost. They were sent forth by the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands has to do with commissioning disciples for the work that the Lord has called them to. They prayed, they fasted, and then they laid hands on them and they sent them out by the Holy Ghost. When a man is sent by the Lord he has authority to do whatever He sent him to do. The laying on of hands in Acts 13 was to send out Saul and Barnabas, giving them authority by the Holy Ghost to accomplish the work He was sending them to do.
Let's go to Acts 6. This is talking about when the Apostles appointed deacons. Just to give a little back round we'll look in chapter 6, verses 1-6; And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. This was the appointing, or commissioning of the deacons, including Stephen and Phillip, by the Apostles. It was done through prayer, and then the laying on of hands.
In Acts chapter 8, let's go there. This is talking about when Phillip went down to Samaria and preached the Gospel, with many signs and wonders, and many people were saved. Verse 12, But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Verse 14-17, Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. So we see here a pattern: they prayed for them first, and then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. So here we have a second purpose for the laying on of hands which is the giving of the Holy Ghost. Acts 19:1-6, And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. So again we see Paul laying hands on the new disciples, and the Holy Ghost was given.
Another purpose for the laying on of hands is to minister healing, as we see in Acts 28: In Acts 28 Paul and those that were with him experienced a shipwreck and they landed on an island call Melita. Verses 7-10, In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary. So here we see the same pattern: Paul entered in, he prayed for the man, and then he laid his hands on him and he was healed. Luke 13:10-13, talking about Jesus, And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called and said unto her Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. Similar to prayer, Jesus spoke that word to her: Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity, and then He laid His hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. So we see Jesus ministering healing through the laying on of hands. Luke 4:40&41 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. Jesus was sent by the Father, and He was obeying the Father. Remember He said, I only do what I see my Father doing, and I only say what I hear my Father saying. He was a man under authority. We also see in Mark 16:15-18, in Jesus' commission to the disciples, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
The purpose for the laying on of hands, to conclude, is for healing, for the baptism in the Holy Ghost, for commissioning and sending out. Most of the time they prayed and then they laid hands. They did not lay hands and pray at the same time, as we usually do in the contemporary church. Also it is done only through the authority of God, the command of Jesus, by the Holy Ghost, the will of the Father at the direction of the Lord, not when we feel like laying hands on someone and praying for them, or when someone asks us to do so. Things happened because it was by the direction and authority of God. He initiated it. People believed, and prayed, and obeyed, and laid hands, and God moved. First, a man must be sent by God, doing the will of God, led by the Holy Spirit to pray and lay hands, and then, because we are in His authority and obedience and faith and love, it will happen. By the way; just a reminder: all of this works through love. Jesus said, If you love me, keep my Words; if you love me, you will do my Words, you will do my will. So, as we love the Lord, we are seeking to follow Him. We don't have an agenda to be going around laying hands on people. We don't have an agenda to see people healed. Our purpose is to serve the Lord because we love Him and He directs our lives.