Building

M06050

TITLE: BUILD THERE AND YOU'LL NEED WASH AND WEAR

INTRODUCTION:

In viewing the story of the wise man and the foolish man I was reminded of two young brothers that were faced with life.

The one brother, the elder of the two, set his sights on the things of the world and began working at an early age to gain the things that he wanted. The elder brother was raised in a church where the gospel was nominally preached, and he had made a profession of faith through being baptized. As he headed on down through life, he relied on the mistaken belief that he was a Christian, yet there was no evidence in his life to indicate such a change. As he traveled lives pathway several shared the Gospel with him and at one point he was even aggravated that everyone thought he wasn't a Christian. He asked the younger brother about this one evening and the reply was simply that maybe the other people didn't see the changed life that accompanies salvation.

The older of the two ended up in later life having gone through three marriages and divorces in a VA hospital where an old chaplain was able to share the Gospel with him.

The younger brother was confronted with the Gospel as a teenager and knew that the Lord was just what he had been looking for in life and that all he desired to do was to serve God in any way that he could. He went off to Bible College and Seminary and entered into the ministry. The younger's marriage and family survived the rigors of three teenagers and is still ministering.

The elder brother had early in life thought that he should be a minister. Due to many decisions in his life, that never came to pass, yet in later life after the many problems God was gracious to save him and to place him in a limited ministry where he could serve as well as his health and situation would allow.

The difference in the brothers was not age, not parents, not economics, not education, not environment, but in their response to what Christ taught. The one rejected Christ's teachings for many years and relied upon his own methods. The other submitted to the Lord's Word and found through life, even though the storms came and went that the Lord was always there to hold him above the troubles.

Indeed one of the younger brother's favorite passages was Ps 18:1-3, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. "I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

Lu. 6:46-49. 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Matt 7.24-27 24 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: 25 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. 26 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.

UP FRONT! IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU GAIN FROM THIS TEXT THIS, learn that the ruin of that house was great! Great was its fall. Understand the emphasis on this thought. The authors could have just mentioned that the house fell and we would have known what was meant, yet they go on and emphasis the GREATNESS OF THE FALL and the ruin the fall caused. GREAT WAS THE FALL AND RUIN.

We aren't just talking about a children's story, we are talking about the stuff that life is made of! If you don't pay attention to what the text says, you are leaving yourself open for a GREAT FALL AND RUIN!

I did not say that, nor did the authors of the books, it was the Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the universe that shared these illustrations for His listeners.

My wife and I have lived in many places and two of them remind me of these two texts. One of the houses has been torn down in recent years, but when we lived in it the house was basically very solid. Some of the floors were getting creaky but mostly it was very solid.

This house had been there since the 1800's I would guess. It was way before lights and sewer in the Denver area. All the niceties had been added later. Over all it was solid as a rock after 100 years or so.

The other house is the one we lived in when in Wyoming. The yard was nothing but a sand dune in the winter when it was dry. The house, a mobile home, when we moved in was quite solid, but in the three years that we have lived there the ground settled and the house creaked, groaned, vibrated, and sloped.

We should understand that there is nothing wrong with the foundation, there is nothing wrong with the structure, nor is there anything wrong with the elements involved in these accounts!

The fault is the builders. The elements were as they were and should have been considered. The structures were built properly. The foundations are as the Lord of creation designed them to be. The rock was a rock and the sand was sand. That sand did not just turn into something that wouldn't support a house. It by design is as it is and there was nothing wrong with it.

The builders were at fault. They considered the structure, they considered the elements, they considered the foundation and built.

The utter simplicity of these texts is plain as black and white!

DO IT GOD'S WAY ---- NO STORM WILL TROUBLE YOU!

DO IT YOUR WAY ---- ALL STORMS WILL TROUBLE YOU!

In comparing the two foundations we should look at some of the differences.

ROCK SAND

__________________________________________________________

SOLID WEAK

FIRM SHIFTING

COSTLY LITTLE EFFORT

DEEP SURFACE

STORMS DON'T AFFECT STORMS UNDERMINE

We had a minor flood in Wyoming. Water ran for about an hour and it took all the sand from around our mobile's skirting. It took me many hours to get the holes filled in.

As we consider the accounts it is obvious that there are some direct results from building on the different foundations.

ROCK SAND

__________________________________________________________

WISE FOOLISH

SAFE DANGEROUS

Economic in the long run COSTLY

PROTECTION NO PROTECTION

STABILITY INSTABILITY

NO DAMAGE GREAT RUIN

If we follow God's word we have all the safety and security that the omnipotent God can offer. If we reject God's word we have all the justice and judgment that the just God can deliver!

THE TERMS INVOLVED:

fool = The term is the Greek term "moros" which is the basis for the term in English, "moron". Webster says of the term moron, that it can include the thought of someone that is mentally retarded and between the ages of 8 and 12, but he also lists the usual concept that we have of the term, "a very stupid person" (Strong's number 3474)

wise = "characterized by wisdom: marked by deep understanding, keen discernment, and a capacity for sound judgment...." (5429 = "phronimos" = it is always translated wise in the NT.)

The other terms in the text are easily understood as they appear. Ruin has the idea of breaking or broken apart.

These are God's terms! IT ISN'T A DIFFICULT PASSAGE TO UNDERSTAND.

God's way is wisdom AND your way is very stupid. SIMPLE, ISN'T IT!

SETTING:

To properly interpret this text we must understand that the setting of the account is the Lord speaking of a time which had a certain set of standards.

Christ was speaking of a set of laws and principles for a time when He would be reigning here on earth as king. That time He was speaking of was the kingdom that He was offering to the Jews of His day.

This is the kingdom that we call the Millennium or the 1000-year reign of Christ. This kingdom is yet future. It will be set up after believers are taken out of this world, and after the seven years of terrible tribulation.

The Jewish people rejected Christ as a whole and the kingdom was postponed for a time in the future when Israel would turn to God.

We are not living in the kingdom, but are in the church age. The differences are quite definite between the kingdom age and the church age.

The specific application of these texts is to the Jew living in Christ's time. The thought of the passages is that of eternal life. Christ was calling them to follow His teaching and follow Him into the kingdom foretold of in the Old Testament.

These accounts are actually an illustration to show the listener that if they are rejecting His teachings they are not going to be known by Him in times to come.

Mat 7:21-23 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 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:

We can find specific application in two areas this morning for our own time.

a. The first application would be the same as that of the Jew in the kingdom. Following the Word's of Christ will produce eternal life and rejecting His word's will result in damnation.

b. The second application would be the lesser yet still very important and would relate to living within the physical world.

As a person or family decide to follow the word's of the Lord they will be building on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the storms of life can never harm them.

If a person or family reject the teaching of the Lord then their lives will be on the shifting sands of the worldly philosophy, false gods, religions, and the storms of life will certainly swamp them.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The thought of Salvation is upper most in this text and this message.

Do not miss what has been related to you in this study!

Christ is very plainly communicating the fact that if you are a fool and follow other than His words you will end in destruction and ruin. Hell is not going to be a pleasant place.

The text tells of destruction and ruin. When Mt. St Helen, the volcano in Washington, blew there were great masses of debris and mud that entered into the rivers and caused drastic flooding.

One of the TV stations had positioned a camera at the end of one of the interstate bridges many miles from the main trouble and was filming the waters that were endangering the bridge.

As they were filming, a two story house that had been washed away by the flood crashed into the bridge. The destruction was total and complete. There was nothing left of it but flying boards. You couldn't have destroyed it any better if you had taken it apart board by board and nail by nail. It was as if a demolition squad had filled the house with explosives and blown it apart.

If you have any doubt about what that end will be like, what Christ meant by ruin and fall, please allow me to read a few verses to you from Luke 16:23-26. This is the account of two men that died at the same time and they are in the place of residence for departed souls. One is in paradise and the other is in torment.

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

The rich man had built his entire life on the sand of the world and riches, while the beggar had built his life on the Rock of God.

Christ is also stating plainly that if you are wise and follow His words that you will end up in strong success. You will never be moved from that foundation!

Eternity with God will be as glorious as The Lake of Fire will be terrible!

The message is so very crystal clear. A fool will choose ruin, while the wise man will choose eternal life with God!

That leaves each and every person that does not know Christ as personal savior with a decision to make - right now. Either you are going to be wise and follow the Lord or you are going to leave as a fool.

That is not my terminology, it is God's!

2. The two builders were building for a specific purpose. So, we, as we go through life we are usually building for a specific purpose. We need to be very aware that what we do now, this day, will affect our entire future.

Note should be taken that the decision to follow or reject is often made early in the process of life. It isn't to say that you can't change your way later but you will need to face the extra cost of not having done so earlier.

The decision also has far reaching ramifications that cannot be foreseen before the trouble comes. We saw this in the account of the two brothers in the introduction. One resulted in no marriage and little contact with his children and grand children - the other in a long marriage and good family.

We must be aware that all of mankind is open and free to make any decision that they care to make. The fact that they often forget is that they must put up with the costs and side effects of their decision.

Today in many areas of our own country we have people that are doing the same thing that the Lord uses for illustrations. They don't build on sand, but they build on flood plains and ocean coasts and on mountains where they know, sooner or later their house will be floating away, be dashed to pieces or dumped down the side of the mountain.

They still do it. I've seen interviews of people that have just lost everything and they are planning to rebuild in the same spot. God terms them fools.

Do it once and it might be excusable, but do it twice or three times and the term fool seems better to apply.

Prov 1:24-33 gives us a look at Wisdom personified. Wisdom is speaking.

"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; "But ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof: "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh: "When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: "They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. "Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. "But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."

What a declaration. Those that turn foolishly away from God will reap destruction and death upon themselves.

3. There is a third application that should not be missed from the study we have had together.

In the context of the wise man and the foolish man, the main point Christ was making was that in the kingdom, and indeed the time of judgments there will be many that cry Lord, and He will declare to them that He knows them not. Let me read that context again for you.

Just because you do wonderful things, even if you do miraculous things, it does not mean that you are a believer!

It is the blood of Christ, and it received that allows the person into the kingdom or eternity. Nothing that we can do no matter how neat will help in any way.

Even if you call Him Lord today, be sure that if you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, you are planted on the sand and will certainly reap the destruction and ruin that the Lord was referring to!

If on the other hand you are founded on the rock through salvation continue to build your life on the Rock Jesus Christ.

How will you leave this study today?

A wise person - following Christ - serving God - seeking Him.

as a fool - following your desires - serving yourself - seeking worldly pleasures?

God used the illustration!

You must this day choose your own title!

I trust you will choose the path of wisdom and accept Christ as your Savior and then build your entire life upon Him!

Another encouragement: God says you are wise if you walk with Christ so you don't need to look at the world for approval. Everyone can be with the Devil and you can know you are right.

In closing I would like to read the words of a hymn.

This is the song HE LIFTED ME.

In loving kindness Jesus came My soul in mercy to reclaim, And from the depths of sin and shame thro' grace he lifted me.

He called me long before I heard, before my sinful heart was stirred, but when I took Him at His word, forgiv'n he lifted me.

His brow was pierced with many a thorn, His hands by cruel nails were torn, when from my guilt and grief, forlorn, in love he lifted me.

Now on a higher plane I dwell, and with my soul I know 'tis well; yet how or why, I cannot tell, H should have lifted me.

From sinking sand He lifted me, with tender hand He lifted me, from shades of night to plains of light, oh, praise His name, He lifted me!