*THE LIFE THAT STANDS THROUGH A STORM*
Matthew 7:24-27
Dorn Ridge & York Manor February 26, 2012
(Perhaps a quarter of this message originated with another contributor.)
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Jesus was the great illustrator, and one of the places this is clearly seen are in His parables.
A.) Today, I want us to look at a very familiar parable of Christ.
B.) In this portion of Scripture Jesus tells of two men who illustrate false and true faith.
2.) The two builders represent all people.
A.) The wise man heard the Word of God and obeyed it.
B.) The foolish man heard the Word of God and ignored it.
I. THE WISE MAN BUILT HIS HOUSE ON A ROCK.
-- verse 24
1.) The rock provided a solid foundation.
A.) The Lord is our rock.
aa.) Psalm 28:1
B.) He is our only sure rock.
ba.) Ps. 62:2, 6-7
baa.) The Old Testament pictures God as a rock. In the New Testament we are given another great truth:
2.) Christ is our firm foundation.
A.) No other foundation will stand.
aa.) I Cor. 3:11
B.) This foundation is secure.
ba.) 2 Tim. 2:19
3.) Are you building your life on this foundation?
A.) Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
aa.) There are many foundations we can build upon.
ab.) Many will build their lives on one foundation after another.
aba.) They will build on one foundation, and when it fails they will go build on another.
abb.) Sadly, some will spend their entire lives building on one foundation after another, and yet without ever building on the one true foundation of Jesus Christ.
abb-1.) Yet Christ is the only sure foundation which will not fail.
4.) Then came a fierce storm that challenged the structure of the house.
-- Verse 25
A.) We have all seen and perhaps even experienced physical storms like this.
aa.) I remember well the Ground Hog Gale of 1976.
aaa.) Up around here it was not that big of a deal, but I come from Deer Island. Around there, and Campobello, and Grand Manan it was the storm of the century.
aab.) It was a storm that wiped out wharves, sunk ships, took stores and businesses built on wharves that had been there over a century into the sea.
B.) But we have also experienced other storms that have tested the strength of our spiritual house.
ba.) The reality is that nobody can go through life without storms.
5.) The house of the wise man stood firm in the storm.
A.) When the storms come is the time when the physical structure is tested to its limits.
aa.) Likewise, the storms of life test our spiritual structure and foundations.
II. THE FOOLISH MAN BUILT HIS HOUSE ON THE SAND.
-- vs. 26
1. He heard the Word of God but ignored it.
A.) How many today have heard the Word of God, yet choose to build their lives on a different foundation!
2.) There are many choices for life’s foundations.
A.) Some choose to build on wealth.
B.) Some choose to build on pleasure.
C.) Some choose to build on the praises of people.
3.) On what are you building your life?
4.) Will your life hold up when the storm comes?
A.) For our lives to hold together when the storms of life come, we have to have strength from the firm foundation of Jesus Christ.
B.) Back in the days of sailing ships, one of the great ship builders of the past described how he would prepare a mast for the ship that was being built.
ba.) He had learned by looking at the trees what ones might make good ship masts.
bb.) When this craftsman found the ideal tree, he would go and cut down all the other trees on all sides of this tree for a distance of several feet.
bba.) In this way his selected tree would be powerfully hit by the full force of every storm and wind that nature would give.
bbb.) The shipbuilder was patient, because it might be several more years before this tree had endured sufficient storms to have the strength to hold the sails, while battering the winds and storms on a sailing ship.
bbc.) You see it was the storms of life that gave the tree its strength.
bc.) I don’t like the storms of life.
bca.) I doubt that anyone in this room rejoices when life’s storms come upon you or your family.
bca-1.) In fact something would be desperately wrong if you did rejoice in those times.
bcb.) But when your life is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, you have a foundation that will not fail – even in the strongest of the storms that life will throw at you.
bcb-1.) As we endure the storms, like the tree being prepared for a mast we become stronger.
bcb-2.) The storms we have endured bring us to a new place spiritually.
bcc.) Each of the storms also help us to help others when they are going through the storms of life.
bcc-1.) 2 Cor. 1:3-5
5.) The storm collapsed the house of the foolish man.
A.) We can see and visualize that physical picture.
B.) That physical picture depicts the scene of one who does not have the foundation of Jesus Christ when the storms of life come.
ba.) I have seen both those who have a strong foundational faith in Jesus Christ, and those who have a spiritual foundation built on the sands of this world.
bb.) I have seen those whose foundation is strong go through storms that have been severe, I have wondered how anyone could endure them.
bc.) I have also seen those with weak spiritual foundations go through storms that destroy them.
bca.) I have seen even some who have claimed to be Christians but have not built on the foundation of Christ.
bca-1.) When the storms come, the real test of our foundation is given.
bca-1i.) You can observe a life when the foundation has not firmly been built on Jesus Christ.
bca-2.)Some of these same people have denounced their faith in Christ.
bca-2.) I have seen some say that if God could allow the storm them or their family had gone through that they could no longer believe in or trust in Him as God.
bca-2i.) My friends, I want to tell you that God never failed these people. Where the failure had come is that they had merely named God as their foundation, but had not built their life on Him.
bcb.) God is not obligated to remove all the storms of life, but if He is the foundation, He will give us the strength to withstand the storm.
bcb-1.) Sometimes, the only way we can grow to become like Christ is by going through the storms.
bcb-2.) When we go through the storms what we have built on Jesus Christ will remain solid and true.
bcb-3.) When the storms are done we will be tested; we may be shaken to the very depths of our soul - - but through Jesus Christ we will also be victorious.
III. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE?
1.) The devastating storms in this parable were the same.
A.) The rain descended and the floods came.
B.) The winds blew and beat on these two houses.
ba.) None of us are exempt from the storms.
bb.) We all go through them.
bc.) Both the wicked and the righteous experience similar life storms.
bca.) How is it then that one can go through the storm and be shaken and tried to the very limits, yet come out victorious, while the other will go through the same storm and be completely destroyed?
2.) The difference was in the foundations.
A.) The house built on the rock stood firm.
B.) The house built on the sand collapsed.
3.) Examine the foundation of your life.
4.) Will your life stand when the storms arrive?
A.) One of the realities of life is that the storms will come upon us.
aa.) Much of the time we have either just come through a storm, are now in one, or just about to receive one.
ab.) Every one of us prefer the times when there are no storms.
aba.) Those times are often short-lived, and help to strengthen and prepare us for the next time a storm will come into our lives.
B.) Perhaps right now you are in the middle of a storm.
ba.) If your foundation is firmly built on Jesus Christ it will stand.
baa.) While you are in the middle of the storm, it may seem like you cannot make it through, but you will.
bb.) But if today you are weathering a storm, and your foundation has crumbled, or is starting to crumble then you need to build on Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION:
1.) Storms come to all.
2.) Let’s build our lives on Christ and His Word.
