The Wise Foundation Series

The Wise Foundation: June 1, 2008

Keith J. Andrews

All Scriptures marked ESV: The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

Ordinary Time/Third Sunday after Pentecost (Green)

Matthew 7:21-29

In St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana Sheriff Jack Stephens has a home on the Gulf Coast directly in the path of Hurricane Katrina. During hurricane, Katrina his house survived 20 foot waves and 145 MPH winds, while the other homes in the neighborhood were completely destroyed.

What was the difference? The house is built 21 feet in the air with hurricane resistant construction. (www.bae.lsu.edu)

This morning, we are looking at a somewhat familiar passage from Matthew 7:21-27. This passage tells the story of the man who built his house on a rock and the man who built his house on the sand.

This passage helps us to rethink what foundation we are building our lives on—is it rock or is it shifting sand?

I pray this morning that we will walk away this morning with a fresh understanding of where our foundation is laid.

Look with me to Matthew 7:21-27

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

(Mt 7:21-27, ESV).

I want you to:

1. Consider the Builder

The Bible says in this passage that the wise man built his house on the rock and the foolish man built his house on the sand.

Proverbs 1: 7 says:

5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6 to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Pr 1:5-7, ESV)

There is a difference between the wise and the foolish. The wise seek knowledge, but the fool is the one who hates wisdom and instruction.

There is a lot of hatred toward wisdom and understanding in today’s world. We are supposed to be an enlightened age, where we know so much and we understand so many things—but the Bible says that we are fools! The Bible says that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and, in to many cases, we purposely remove God from our understanding and from our discussions and we cross Him off as irrelevant and impractical. We are fools. And we know nothing.

Most of us remember the star of Tool Time, Tim “the Tool man” Taylor. This character from the TV show “Home Improvement” brought many laughs during his time on television. Frequently, he would be shown completely destroying part of the house, a project in his garage, or a demonstration for his TV show.

Are we not the same? We parade around like we know so much, but in reality we know very little.

But, the wise hear and increase in learning. They are constantly asking for other opinions and further guidance. They begin with the fear of the Lord and move outward.

Will you seek to be a wise man or a foolish man? Will you be caught complacent in your understanding of the God and His interaction with the world. Or will you be constantly learning, seeking to understand what God is doing around you?

Now,

2. Consider the House

While the story speaks of two houses both contain the same thing. Contained in these houses were the lives of these two men.

They both could have had family inside. They both had memories. They both contain all of their earthly possessions.

When I’m traveling, I like to go to visit old homes. I like to see how the people truly lived and how they spent their time.

One of my favorites is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. At the Biltmore Estate, they have renovated many of the rooms that the family once used when the home was first built. There is a bowling alley, a swimming pool, many different bedrooms, a library, and, my favorite, a study. Much of the house still is not even open to the public, but the parts that are open to the public give the visitor a view of how the Vanderbilt’s lived their lives in the late 1800s.