I Shall Not Be Moved
Scripture: Matthew 7:24-27; James 1:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:58
Introduction
The last time I stood before you I told you that we are all living testimonies. We are a living testimony whether we are having a great time or going through hard times. The question that we must consistently answer is what testimony we are portraying. After I delivered that message, I was reading the newspaper and came across an article on the website beliefnet.com. This is a website that gives "spiritual" insight into a lot of issues and is not based on any denomination. This website is looked to by millions for research, advice and information, some of which is scripturally accurate and some questionable (you need to research it in God’s Word to know the difference.) There were over 3 millions visitors to the site in September alone. When you visit the site, you can fill out a short survey about your "religious beliefs" and or affiliations. Here are the results of the millions of people who have visited the website as reported in the USA Today newspaper:
„X .5% categorized themselves as hardcore skeptics (not spiritual or religious, but interested);
„X 4.3% as spiritual dabblers (open to spiritual matters but far from impressed);
„X 8.2% as active spiritual seekers (spiritual but turned off by organized religion);
„X 13.6% as spiritual straddlers (one foot in traditional religion and one in free-form spirituality);
„X 19.8% as old-fashioned seekers (happy with their religion but searching for the right expression of it);
„X 21.4% as questioning believer (have doubts about particulars but not the big stuff);
„X 25.6% as confident believers (little doubt they’ve found the right path);
„X 6.4% as candidate for clergy (very informed and deeply committed.
I was amazed that only 6.4% of the people who visited the website and completed the survey considered themselves informed and committed enough to be a candidate for the clergy. That is a scary percentage. Even though 25.6% believed that they had found their religion and were on the right path, they did not believe they were well informed or committed. As I went through these groups, if you were the respondent, where would you place yourself? Are you a candidate for the clergy because you are informed and committed or are you a spiritual straddler because you have one foot in traditional religion and one foot in free-form spirituality?
As you consider where you fall, let me be clear, I would consider myself in the candidate for clergy and I would hope you would also. You need to be informed and you need to be committed. Being informed and committed is not a bad thing; it is how you express it. This morning I want you to know that "I Shall Not Be moved!" I will not straddle the fence or fall for every wind of doctrine, I will not be moved. I believe in Jesus Christ and because of that belief and acceptance, I am a child of God and because I am His child, He is steadfastly looking out for me. I believe this and I shall not be moved! When I was a child we sung a song that had these words in the chorus: "I shall not, I shall not be moved, I shall not, I shall not be moved just like a tree planted by the waters, I shall not be moved." This is an election year and I have been very disappointed at all of the "political advertisements" that are trying to "move me." It was bad enough just seeing the commercials, but then they started calling my home with their ads. When I watched to those ads, I refuse to be swayed by them. When I hear the first part of a message they leave on my phone, I delete the message. I will not be influenced by what they "want me to know."
This morning I want to ask you to plant yourselves; to make a commitment to God that as of today, you will become informed. You will not depend on the testimonies and faith of others; you will search the Word for yourself and become planted. There are many truths out there that are not necessarily addressed point by point in God’s Word, but the truth about His Son, the truth about who you are in Him and the power that is within you should be so firm that nothing could move you. Consider what Jesus said in the following Scripture found in Matthew 7:24-27; what I consider our "call to be planted."
I. The Call To Plant
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the flood came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against the house and it fell and great was its fall."
Matthew 7:24-27
In the verses we just read, Jesus discusses the difference between two foundations. He states that those who hear His words and acts on them would be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock. Consider this for a moment. What is the purpose of building your house on a rock? The rock does not shift. All of our houses are built on rocks, a concrete foundation. As long as that foundation is solid, your house will stand. But when the foundation of your house starts to crack, you whole house is subject to falling. A friend of mine just built a new house and moved in it earlier this year. Within five months, the foundation cracked and buckled and now her house is in jeopardy. Our houses are set on foundations that should not move therefore our houses are set. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said a wise man builds his house on a rock. So, if you hear (and study) the Word of God and act on it, you will be considered a wise man who built his house on a rock. But why was this man considered to be wise? Because when the rain came and the ground flooded, his house did not move. If your house is not built on a solid foundation, when flood waters come, your house could be washed away. I have a friend who lives in New Orleans. New Orleans is below sea level so the houses in his neighborhood are built on stilts that go deep into the ground to stabilize them. Those stilts keep the houses in place when the ground shifts.
Now compare what Jesus says about the other man. He says the person who hears His word and does not act on them is like the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. There are many people who are hearing God’s Word and that’s all. They are not acting on it. They are like the architect who draws up the plans for the house but cannot actually build it. He or she knows "in theory" what the house will look like and what is required to build it, but because they are not a mason, carpenter, or electrician they cannot do the work themselves. When we hear God’s word we gain the knowledge it takes for us to begin to establish a firm foundation. But you must act on that word in order to make your foundation solid ¡V hearing is not enough. Now you may be asking yourself, "What fool would build a house on sand?" and that is a great question. If you have ever watched some of the specials on the weather channel, you know that there are houses in California that are built on the sides of cliffs. When there have been large rain storms and the water was absorbed into the ground, what do you think happened? The ground became soft (mud) and soft ground (mud) moves. There have been many houses built on cliffs supported by large beams, but those beams are only as secure as the ground on which they stand. Well, when the heavy rains came, some of those houses slid down the cliffs because the ground gave way. This is what Jesus was talking about with the houses built on the sand. Jesus said when the floods came and the winds blew, the house came down ¡V and great was the fall of it.
In these verses Jesus is telling us that if we are not hearing (reading/studying) His word and acting on it, the spiritual houses we are building are being built on sand, meaning that we do not have a solid foundation. Our houses are representative of our "spiritual" state. Our spiritual state’s foundation is only as solid as the Word of God that we know and act on. Now what does it mean to "act on" God’s word? Let me share this story with you. Most of you know that I had a friend who recently died from cancer. The week that he died, someone who knew him asked me how he was doing. When I shared his condition, this individual said "Have you talked with him about accepting Christ because you know he’s Catholic?" I had to catch myself before I responded. But in this person’s mind the fact that he was Catholic meant that he was not saved. I basically told the person that in that area he was fine. I share this with you so that you can understand what it means to act on God’s word. This individual truly believed that if you were Catholic you were doomed to hell but if you believed according to their doctrine, you were guaranteed to go to heaven. The person was acting on what "she knew and believed" yet she was still in error. To act on God’s word means to put into action what His word speaks; walking in faith; believing the Word and acting like you believe it; loving one another and acting in love. These are just a few examples. It does not mean that we have been given the right to condemn others for what they believe and how the choose to practice their faith.
Now what happens if you are not acting on God’s word? When the storms come into your life, you house will not be able to stand as it does not have a solid foundation. Your trials and tribulations are representative of the heavy rains and floods that come into our lives that can shake our foundation. When you come under attack, it is God’s word that you know and act on which will bring you through. You may know what God’s word says, but if you do not act on it, it does you no good. It is not enough to know, you must act. Let me give you this example. You know your car needs gas in order to run. You know how to get to the gas station and pump the gas. You know how to pay for the gas in which you pump into your car. All of this knowledge you have, but if you do not act on it, you will run out of gas and your car will not run. Your knowledge is only good if you use it. If you do not get up and put the gas in your car, you knowing how to do it is worthless because you refuse to get up and do it. We all know about faith, but our knowledge of faith is useless to us if we never act on it. James said "But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." (James 1:22-24.) James says a person who is not a doer of the word is like the man who looks into a mirror and sees himself and then forgets after he walks way from the mirror. When we do not "do the Word" we forget what the Word says about us and who we are and therefore our responses to life’s situations are not what they could be. We do not respond to our situations with God’s Word as our foundation.
Paul says the following: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord), knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile (it is never wasted or to no purpose.) 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Amp)
Again we see a similar theme about acting on what you know. Paul says that we should be steadfast (firm in our stance) and immovable (not easily swayed but planted). We know what we know and it is not based on what man says we should know, but based on our own study and confirmation of God’s word. We have searched it for ourselves and based on what we have confirmed, we take our stand. Paul also says that we should always be abounding in the work of the Lord. Here again we see that our faith without any action is useless. We should be doing something. If the only thing we are doing is coming to Church (sometimes) or forwarding on "inspirational" emails and "watching Church on TV" then we can be pretty sure that we are not doing anything. It is time to get up. It is time to take a stand. It is time to start doing something to put your faith into action. Our actions should be based on God’s Word. We should be so settled, so planted, that our responses are immediate because they are a part of us.
Conclusion
When I started this message, I told you that I would not be moved. Let me elaborate on this for you. Whenever I turn on the TV and flip through the channels, there is always someone telling me what I should believe or what I should be doing. There are the news people, TV talk show hosts, infomercials, movies and other religious shows all trying to convince me that what they are telling me is the right thing. There are people on my job; friends and even family members all sharing with me their ideas. Each of you have the same influences trying to guide you and you also have me trying to show you the right way (based on what I have studied and learned). How do we know what to listen to and what to discount so that we are planted? I have found that I need to study for myself so that I know what I know. Once you have learned something for yourself, it is difficult, without some proof, for someone to convince you of something that is wrong. I may not get it all the first time, but that is why it is a continual growth process.
I will not let man determine for me what is right and what is wrong. I will not let man decide for me what I should believe about you and what I should believe about myself. I will not let man decide for me what my responses should be to the world around me. My responses will be based on God’s Word, even if I am standing alone, I’d rather stand on that foundation, that solid rock, versus the sinking sand. Where are you standing? When the floods come, will your house be moved? May God bless you.
