For example, in...
- Matthew 16:18. We read, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will BUILD my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
- Romans 15:20. We read, “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should BUILD upon another man's foundation:”
- I Cor. 3:12-14. We read, “Now if any man BUILD upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”
There are several reasons why building terminology is so greatly used throughout the scriptures.
First, building terminology best describes what the Lord is trying to do in our lives.
We all have driven by an empty field filled with clutter, then a few weeks later drive by that same field and see the land has been cleared and a gorgeous house is being built there. Then still later we drive by and the house is complete.
This is exactly what the Lord is doing, spiritually, in our lives. Before we were saved our lives were filled with the clutter of sin. Then by the precious blood of our Savior our sins are cleansed and God begins building things of value in our lives.
Building terminology describes what God is doing in our lives.
Secondly, the reason building terminology is used by Christ, we must not forget, probably was because he was raised in the home of a carpenter. In most cases you will find that a carpenter’s son will know more about carpentry than a bankers son.
It is conceivable to imagine that when Christ was in His teens that He built things with His own hands in His father’s shop. We are never told of anything He built, but we can rest assured that He, Who created the heavens and earth with HIS WORDS, as a carpenter built lovely things with HIS HANDS.
As we think of Christ, with His knowledge of carpentry, we can easily imagine His standing before a crowd, telling them WHAT THEY SHOULD BUILD THEIR LIVES UPON.
For example, notice in our text, as He speaks of BUILDING He also speaks of a STORM. You see, a wise builder does not build for the sunshine. He builds with a storm in mind. For example...
Illus: In many regions of this country building codes are being completely revamped. Why? Because they have learned that building according to a code for moderate weather is not sufficient. When severe storms come, or earthquakes come, buildings and houses are destroyed unless they have been built strongly enough to withstand the winds and upheaval.
Illus: We saw a good example of this in September of 1988 when we were introduced to hurricane Gilbert. It went through Jamaica, part of Mexico, and the shores of Texas. Almost from its inauguration, this hurricane had winds up to 170 miles per hour. Needless to say, when these winds whipped through these regions everything in its path that was not very strong, and on good foundations was destroyed.
Anyone who has ever been in a severe storm knows what a frightening experience it is. What makes it so frightening is that when we face it we never know if we will survive or not!
In this passage, it is implied that the storms of life are something we can depend on. Whether or not we survive them depends entirely on how we build our lives.
Notice in our text, Matthew 7:24-27, the Lord shows us in His Word that there are two kinds of builders. That is...
- Both are building a house.
- Both choose a foundation.
- Both experience rains, floods and winds beating upon their house.
They are both similar in many ways. However, in some ways they are not similar at all. For example...
- One experienced a great deliverance.
- One experienced a great destruction.
Let us look at...
I. THE DELIVERANCE.
Look at Matthew 7:24-25. We read, “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.”
Notice that the Lord begins this passage on building with these words of admonition, “...whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man...”
In these verses the Lord is telling us two things we must do in order to build wisely. First...
A. We must listen. Notice that Jesus said, ““...whosoever HEARETH these sayings of mine...”
We have a world full of people who do not want to HEAR WHAT THE MASTER BUILDER HAS TO SAY.
Illus: Have you ever invited someone to attend church and had them assure you, with a snicker, that they had better things to do than attend church.
WHY DO THEY NOT WANT TO ATTEND?
Simply because they think they KNOW IT ALL ALREADY! They feel that no preacher or Sunday school teacher can tell them anything! If you try to teach them anything, they feel insulted that you would imply that you know more than they do--WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!
We live in a society today of people who feel they know everything. There was a time when a young person reached the age of 15 or 16, he was in a know-it-all stage in his life.
Listen, today we have children in grammar schools who have already reached the place in their lives that they “KNOW IT ALL!”
HOW DID THIS SOCIETY BECOME LIKE THIS?
It does not take a brain surgeon to figure this out. If you have parents who are always talking about HOW SMART CHILDREN ARE TODAY, THE CHILDREN WILL BECOME CONVINCED THAT THEY ARE SMART.
In fact, you will hear some foolish parents who state, “Children today are smarter than us adults,” in the presence of their children. That simply is not so! Listen, IF CHILDREN WERE SO SMART, THEN WHY WOULD GOD GIVE THEM PARENTS? God knows children do not have enough sense to take care of themselves. Most children...
- If they did not have parents, would live on candy and ice cream. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TEACH THEM IT IS RIGHT TO EAT VEGETABLES.
- Do not have enough sense to know when to turn the lights off and go to sleep. They need parents to tell them, “TURN THE LIGHT OFF, AND GO TO SLEEP!”
- Do not have enough sense to know how to listen to a radio without blasting everyone in the neighborhood. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TELL THEM, “TURN THE RADIO DOWN!”
- Would not take showers or brush their teeth. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TELL THEM TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH AND TAKE A SHOWER.
- Most young men would not have enough sense to get a decent hair cut. Some we see today look as if a friend put a bowl on their heads and just cut up to the edge. Any barber who would give such a cut is giving grounds for a law suit. YOUNG MEN NEED PARENTS TO TELL THEM NOT TO GET RIDICULOUS HAIR CUTS BECAUSE THEY SHOULD CARE ABOUT HOW THEY LOOK.
- Do not have enough sense to sew up holes in their britches. THEY NEED PARENTS TO NOT ALLOW THEM TO WEAR BRITCHES WITH HOLES, TO GET THEM SEWN UP.
Yet some of these (foolish) parents think children today are the smartest creatures that ever walked the earth. The fact is, if you believe the child is as smart, or smarter, than an adult then he is probably smarter than you. Because some parents have told their children, over and over, how smart they are, we have raised a generation of young people who THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL!
Sad to say, there are some adults and young people who think they KNOW IT ALL SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING! The Master Builder, Who REALLY KNOWS IT ALL tries to tell them how to build their lives, but they treat Him with contempt.
God said that ALL WHO would HEAR “THESE SAYINGS OF MINE,” are WISE! Wise people will humble themselves and recognize that they DO NOT KNOW IT ALL. They look to the Master Builder to tell them how to live.
He said that not only are they SMART to HEAR, but THOSE WHO OBEY WHAT THEY HEAR ARE ALSO WISE!
B. We must obey. It is not enough to come and hear the Word of God preached. YOU MUST ALSO OBEY! In the book of James we see it clearly taught that we must be DOERS, not just hearers OF THE WORD.
Look at James 1:23-25. We read, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Illus: What is James saying? He is saying, “Suppose you looked in the mirror and you saw SMUT on your face. Your first thought at seeing this is, ‘I must go wash my face.’ However, if you walk away even if you do not wash you will forget what you saw in the mirror.”
James states that coming to church and looking into the Word of God allows us to see spiritual SMUT all over our face, but as we walk out of the church, or lay our Bibles down, often we forget what we have heard and read and we do nothing about it.
In churches across America we have people who have heard the Word of God preached many times, but some have a problem. Some have never OBEYED what THEY have HEARD!
Illus: We have many people who are always AIMING to do something about what God tells them, but they never “cock the gun and SHOOT!”
In our text the Lord is showing us that what we build our lives on means everything.
- It is the difference between success and failure.
- It is the difference between life and death.
- It is the difference between rewards or a loss of rewards.
- It is the difference between acceptance or rejection.
- It is the difference between standing or failing.
There is another truth in our text. Everyone faces trials, or storms, the WISE BUILDER and the UNWISE BUILDER.
Often Christians become discouraged because somehow they have been convinced that if one is a Christian, ONE IS EXEMPT FROM THE STORMS OF LIFE. This is not true. It is because of the storms that God tells us to build wisely so that when they come, we can STAND!
In Matthew 5:45 we are told, “...heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Christians are not exempt from the storms of life.
Illus: Sometimes a new Christian will become discouraged because they have to face the same “storms” that sinners face. You will find Christians...
-In hospitals.
-With broken-down cars.
-In car wrecks.
-Loosing their jobs.
-With rebellious children.
-With major disappointment.
-Facing temptations.
-Facing the death of a loved one.
-Facing rejection.
-Being misunderstood.
-Being Mistreated.
-Suffering.
Storms of life come to everyone.
In our text, the WISE and the UNWISE faced the same storm together.
The difference is that the WISE BUILDER built his life on the Lord Jesus. When the storms of life came, he was able to stand because his life was built upon the Lord.
- Throughout scripture the Bible refers to Christ as being the Rock upon which we are to build our lives. For example:
- Deut. 32:4 states, “He is the Rock...”
- Deut. 32:15 states that He is, “...the Rock of his salvation.”
- Isaiah 8:13-14 pictures the Lord of hosts as, “...a stone of stumbling...” to the unholy people of Israel and Judah.
- Paul, in I Cor. 10:4, identified Christ as the “spiritual Rock” which nourished Israel in the wilderness.
- In Matthew 16:18, He identifies the Rock upon which Christ shall build His church.
God’s Word clearly reveals that Christ is the “Rock” on which we are to build our lives. All those who do so shall be DELIVERED FROM THE DESTRUCTION while others are sinking in the sand.
Look at Matthew 7:25. We read, “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.”
II. THE DESTRUCTION.
Why was there destruction? Look at Matthew 7:26-27. We read. “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:
27 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.”
In verse 26 there is something very important. We read that the unwise builder HEARS but HE DOES NOT OBEY.
Did you know that most people would not have 90% of the problems they have if they WOULD JUST DO WHAT THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD DO?
Illus: Pastors have been counseling with some people for years; telling them the same thing over and over again, but those people still have the same problems. Why? Because they know what they should do, but will not do it! Year after year they continue building their lives on sand. Then they wonder why everything keeps caving in on them.
The UNWISE man built on SAND. Anything other than Christ is sand. For example:
-The man who builds his life around the god of sports is building on sand.
-The man who builds his life around material possessions is building on sand.
-The man who builds his life around seeking recognition is building on sand.
-The man who builds his life around religion is building on sand. Religion can not save anyone. IT IS CHRIST WHO SAVES!
Conclusion: The Lord Jesus asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” (Matt. 16:13b) They answered, verse 14, “And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”
When Peter declared that Christ was the Son of the living God, Jesus said to him, Matt. 16:17b, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
Until a person receives this revelation, he will continue to build his life on the wrong things.
Jesus asked the question, “But whom say ye that I am?”
Who do you say that He is? The Bible states emphatically that He is the Rock on Whom we are to build our lives.
I. THE DELIVERANCE
II. THE DESTRUCTION
