They will tell you that if you are going to build, there are codes you must abide by.
Some people have a problem because they have a hard time following instructions.
The building codes are given for every builder to build by. One of the most important things in building any building is to have a good foundation.
Illus: Recently, the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” was finally reopened to the public, after having been closed for almost a dozen years. During that time, engineers completed a 25 million dollar renovation project designed to stabilize the tower. They removed 110 tons of dirt, and reduced it’s famous lean by about sixteen inches. Why was this necessary? Because the tower has been tilting further and further away from vertical for hundreds of years, to the point that the top of the 185-foot tower was seventeen feet further south than the bottom, and Italian authorities were concerned that if nothing was done, it would soon collapse. What was the problem? Bad design? Poor workmanship? An inferior grade of marble? No. The problem was what was underneath. The sandy soil on which the city of Pisa was built was just not stable enough to support a monument of this size. The tower had no firm foundation.
Listen, when building, you must have a firm foundation.
Illus: Before the World trade Towers were built, they had to dig seventy five feet deep into the earth to find the right kind of soil to build on.
You can not build on sand; if you do you are asking for trouble.
Many times we get aggravated when we want to build a home and we have to get a permit to build. But once you stop and think about it, it is for our good that we have building codes:
• It is good for our safety
• It is good when we buy a house to know it was properly built, meeting all the building code requirements.
As most of you know, Christ was raised in a carpenter’s home. I am sure back then they did not have building codes as we have today, but it is evident from the scriptures that the Lord knew there was:
• A WRONG WAY TO BUILD
• A RIGHT WAY TO BUILD
It is possible that when Christ was in His teens, He built things with His own hands in His father’s shop. We are never told of anything He built, but we can rest assured that He did some building somewhere. He who created the heavens and earth with HIS WORDS, as a carpenter also built lovely things with HIS HANDS.
As we think of Christ, with His knowledge of carpentry, we can easily imagine Him standing before a large crowd, telling them HOW THEY SHOULD BUILD THEIR LIVES upon a solid foundation.
Notice, in our text He speaks of BUILDING and He also speaks of a STORM. You see, a wise builder does not build for the sunshine. He builds with a storm in mind.
Illus: After hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and the levee was knocked down and water flooded New Orleans, they all recognized that the levee was built for a Category #3 storm not a Category #5 storm. If the levee had been built for a category #5, New Orleans could have survived Katrina.
A good builder knows you do not build for the BEST TIMES, you build for the BAD TIMES!
In this passage, it is implied that the storms of life are something we can depend on. Whether or not we survive them depends entirely on how we build our lives.
Notice in our text, Matthew 7:24-27, the Lord shows us there are two builders.
• Both are building a house
• Both choose a foundation
• Both experience rains, floods and winds beating upon their house
They are similar in many ways. However, in some ways they are not similar at all. For example...
• One survived the storm
• One did not survive the storm
We see ...
I. THE WISE BUILDER
Look at Matt. 7:24-25, we read, “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: 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.”
Notice that the Lord begins this passage on building, with words of admonition. “...WHOSOEVER heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him UNTO A WISE MAN...”
The word “WHOSOEVER” is used to let us know:
• It does not matter who you are
• It does not matter who you might think you are
IF YOU DO NOT BUILD ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE!
Notice, Jesus said, “...whosoever HEARETH these sayings of mine...”
We have a world full of people who do not want to HEAR WHAT THE MASTER BUILDER HAS TO SAY.
• They do not have time to attend church and learn what He has to say
• They do not have time to read the Word. They have more important things to do.
WHY DON’T THEY WANT TO COME TO CHURCH AND HEAR GOD’S WORD PREACHED AND TAUGHT?
Let me share with you exactly why they do not want to come hear God’s Word. THEY THINK THEY ARE SMARTER THAN GOD…they really do,
And since they know more about life and how it should be lived than God does, why should they waste their time to find out what God’s Word has to say about how we should live.
Illus: They are like some of these rebellious teenagers. Their parents can tell them things that will help them, but they will look at them like they have a hole in their head and all their brains have leaked out.
SOME PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL! Why should they listen to what God’s Word has to say…it is a waste of time!
WHY ARE TEENAGERS LIKE THIS TODAY? One reason is because we have dumb parents walking around saying, “CHILDREN TODAY ARE SMARTER THEN WE ARE!” A lot of parents say that because they hear other parents say it, but we need to recognize that WORDS CAN DESTROY PEOPLE’S LIVES!
Illus: Many young preachers have been destroyed because after they preached a few sermons, Christians, who meant well, began to brag about them and soon their heads got so big that God couldn’t use them.
If you keep telling a child they are smarter than adults, they soon are going to believe that stuff. And it is not true!
Listen, IF CHILDREN WERE SO SMART, THEN WHY WOULD GOD GIVE THEM PARENTS TO TEACH THEM THINGS THEY DON’T KNOW?
• God knew children do not have enough sense to get out of the rain. They need someone to say, “Get out of the rain!”
• God gave them parents because He knew they would live on candy and ice cream. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TEACH THEM to eat those VEGETABLES.
• God knew that children do not have enough sense to know when to turn the lights off and go to sleep. They need parents to tell them, “TURN THE LIGHTS OFF, AND GO TO SLEEP!”
• God knew they did not have enough sense to know how to listen to a radio without blasting everyone in the neighborhood. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TELL THEM, “TURN THE RADIO DOWN!”
• God knew they did not have enough sense to brush their teeth and take a shower. THEY NEED PARENTS TO TELL THEM TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH AND TAKE A SHOWER.
• God knew some of the young men do not have enough sense to pull their britches up. He knew they needed parents to tell them, “Boy pull them britches up!”
• God knew they did not have enough sense not to cover their bodies with tattoos. They need parents to tell them that if they put tattoos on their body, the parents will put some hand prints on their rear end.
• Children need parents to tell them, “If you pierce your body one more time, I am going to really change your appearance!”
• Boys need parents to tell them, “You are not going to get a haircut that looks like the barber just graduated from kindergarten.”
We have a lot of teenagers who think they KNOW IT ALL, BECAUSE PARENTS HAVE TOLD THEM THEY ARE SMARTER THAN ADULTS.
Speak FOR YOURSELF! If a parent is dumb enough to brainwash them into thinking they are smarter than adults, they just may be smarter than that parent.
We have CHRISTIANS who think they are smarter than God. They do not need to HEAR HIS WORD….they know it all!
God said that ALL WHO would HEAR, “THESE SAYINGS OF MINE,” are WISE! Wise people will humble themselves and recognize that they DO NOT KNOW IT ALL. They look to the Master Builder to tell them how to live.
He said that not only are they SMART to HEAR, but THOSE WHO OBEY WHAT THEY HEAR ARE ALSO WISE.
We see THE WISE BUILDER and ...
II. THE UNWISE BUILDER
It is not enough to come and hear the Word of God preached. YOU MUST ALSO OBEY WHAT IT TEACHES!
Illus: A little boy sat in school daydreaming. The teacher said, “Johnny, do you have a HEARING PROBLEM?” He said, “No ma’m I have a LISTENING PROBLEM.”
In the Book of James, we see it clearly taught that we must be DOERS, not just HEARERS OF THE WORD.
Look at James 1:23-25. We read, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Illus: Suppose you looked in the mirror and you saw DIRT on your face. Your first thought at seeing this is, “I must go wash my face.” But if after you see it, you walk away and forget about it, it did you no good to look in the mirror.
This is what some do with the Word of God. They hear His Word preached and it shows them things in their life they need to take care of NOW, but they walk away and forget they even heard the Word.
Illus: You walk into one of the fast food hamburger places and order a hamburger. When you grab it, there is so much mustard and mayonnaise that it begins to shoot out in all directions. You take a bite and your face is covered with mustard and mayonnaise. Before you get through with that hamburger, you’ve used up every napkin on the table.
But can you imagine someone having all that mayonnaise and mustard on their face, leaving and saying, “I will take care of this later,” but they never get around to doing it?
This is what many do spiritually. They hear the Word of God and it reveals they have some things in their life they need to take care of. The problem is that they say they will take care of it later, but they never get around to doing it.
James is saying it is not enough to come hear ABOUT GOD’S BUILDING CODE for our lives, WE MUST OBEY IT! When God reveals something we are building wrong in our life, we need to take care of it and we need to do it NOW!
Illus: We have many people who are always AIMING to do something about what God tells them, but they never “cock the gun and SHOOT!”
There is another truth in our text. Everyone faces trials, or storms; the WISE BUILDER and the UNWISE BUILDER.
Often Christians become discouraged because somehow they have been convinced that if one is a Christian, ONE IS EXEMPT FROM THE STORMS OF LIFE. This is not true.
Illus: Sometimes a new Christian will become discouraged because they have to face the same “storms” that sinners face. You will find Christians...
• In hospitals
• With broken-down cars
• In car wrecks
• Losing their jobs
• With rebellious children
• With major disappointment
• Facing temptations
• Facing the death of a loved one
• Facing rejection
• Being misunderstood
• Being Mistreated
• Suffering
• Neglected
Christians are not exempt from the storms of life. It is because of the storms that God tells us to build wisely, so when they come, we can stand!
Illus: A child of a Christian man died. After the funeral he would not attend church. He was asked why he was not attending church and he told this Sunday School teacher, “God took my child and I certainly do not want to attend church and worship Him.”
Listen, this man was not prepared for life. All kinds of unfortunate things happen to the SAVED and the UNSAVED! In this life, we just have to be prepared for such things because we have built according to God’s building code.
In our text, the WISE and the UNWISE faced the same storm together. The difference is:
• The unwise builds his life on the things of the world, and when the storms come he can not stand.
• The wise builder builds his life on Christ, and when the storms come into his life he can stand.
Look at Matthew 7:25. We read, “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.”
Conclusion:
• The man who builds his life on the god of sports is building on sand
• The man who builds his life on material possessions is building on sand
• The man who builds his life on seeking recognition is building on sand
• The man who builds his life on religion is building on sand; religion can not save anyone
We must build on the Solid Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ! IT IS CHRIST WHO SAVES!
We have looked at:
I. THE WISE BUILDER
II. THE UNWISE BUILDER
