He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Parable Of The Two Builders) # 6

They show us miles and miles of homes that have been scattered like trash from a trash can that has been turned over, and the wind is blowing the trash everywhere.

When these storms strike, the first buildings that are destroyed are those that were built by contractors who were bad builders. Because storms are such a threat to our society, many of the building codes have become tightened.

The problem is that many build during the good weather, but a good builder knows you do not build for the good weather, you have to build for the bad weather.

He knows the sun may be shining today, but tomorrow the building he constructs may be facing storms that could be packing winds of up to a hundred miles an hour or more.

If he does not build properly for these times, his buildings will be destroyed.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was a carpenter.

Look at Mark 6:3, we read, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”

The Lord takes this opportunity in this parable of “The Two Builders”, to take something they were familiar with and use it to teach them a spiritual lesson.

Builders usually lay their foundations when the weather and soil conditions are at their best. It takes foresight to know how a foundation will stand up against adverse conditions.

Today, many people live their lives with no foresight of the future.

The Lord said these astonishing words in Matthew 7:21-23, “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. 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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Notice, the Lord said that on the judgment day, many will profess to know Him, but He makes it clear that He will deny that He ever knew them as His own.

So that we can be ready for that day, let’s look at this parable of THE TWO BUILDERS, to see which category we fall into.

Let’s look at -

I. THE FOOLISH BUILDER

When it comes to the Bible, ignorance in this country is widespread.

Illus: Increasingly, today's young people know little or nothing about the Western moral tradition. This was recently demonstrated by Tonight Show host, Jay Leno. Leno frequently does "man-on-the street" interviews, and one night he collared some young people to ask them questions about the Bible.

• "Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?" he asked two college-age women. One replied, "Freedom of speech?"

• Mr. Leno said to the other, "Complete this sentence: Let he who is without sin..." Her response was, "Have a good time?"

• Mr. Leno then turned to a young man, and asked, "Who, according to the Bible, was swallowed by a whale?" The confident answer was, "Pinocchio." (Christina Hoff Summers. From the files of Leadership.)

With all this ignorance in the land, many folks have no idea what this Bible teaches, so out of ignorance, they are constantly violating the teachings of the Bible.

But the majority of the time people choose to live a life of sin, not because they do not know what is WRONG and what is RIGHT, it is simply because they exalt their plans above the plans of God.

Even a child knows what is RIGHT and what is WRONG!

Illus: Laura Christianson tells the story of her little son. She said, “My husband was home with our three-year-old son, Ben, when the plumber arrived to fix our leaky pipe. As the plumber cut a large hole in our family room ceiling, Ben watched solemnly, then informed him, ‘My mommy is going to be very upset with you.’” (Laura Christianson, Washington. Today's Christian Woman, "Small Talk.")

We have many in our society who live a life of disobedience, and the reason they choose such a life is because they exalt their plans above the plans of God.

Make no mistake about it, when anyone lives their life deliberately disobeying the commands of almighty God, they are a FOOLISH PERSON! It does not matter if they have more degrees than a thermometer, they are foolish.

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: 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.”