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.”
Notice, the Lord compares the foolish builder to a person who hears but refuses to obey.
Illus: Suppose you want to build a house, and you locate a contractor to build it for you. The builder is given a set of plans that tell him exactly how you want your house built. You looked at all the styles available, such as:
• Tudor
• French Style
• Spanish Style
• Victorian Style
• Log Style
• Colonial Style
• Beach Style
• Chinese style
You chose to have a Colonial Style home built. The blueprints that you gave the contractor told him exactly what you wanted him to build, and gave him all the specifics of how to build such a house. You left, and in about six weeks you came back to see your new Colonial home. But what you discovered is that the contractor trashed your plans. Instead of building a Colonial home, he took it upon himself to build you a Chinese Style home.
HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND TO A SITUATION LIKE THIS?
You would be upset to say the least.
God the Creator is very upset with people who decide to ignore what He wants them to do with their lives, and take it upon themselves to do as they see fit.
But because the judgment of God has not taken place at the present time in their life, they think they are getting away with it. But they aren’t!
When they stand before God on the judgment day, they are going to realize what a foolish thing they have done with their lives.
God compares them to a FOOLISH BUILDER who built his house upon the sand.
Now if you know anything about building, the most foolish thing you can do is try and cut corners on the foundation.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger, tells that when he was growing up in a rural area in Columbia, South Carolina, he noticed one day that they cleaned the lot off in front of his house, to build a new home.
The new family consisted of a dad, mom and three children.
They chose to build a nice concrete block home.
The owner had someone come in and dig the foundation and pour it. He was not there when this was done.
Later they started laying the blocks, and when they were finished, everything looked great.
• Several months after they moved into the home, they began to see hairline cracks appear in the block work.
• Within a year, the cracks were so obvious that you could stand inside the house and see daylight through the cracks.
The owner dug down beside the foundation, and found out that the man who poured the concrete had only poured it two inches thick in some areas of the foundation. The house got so bad that the family moved out, and the house was torn down.
You see, you can build on a bad foundation and get by with it for a little while, but the foolish way you have lived your life will one day be revealed.
The foolish builder was foolish because he refused to obey the instructions of God’s Word.
Illus: Every conscientious parent recognizes how difficult it is to exercise his God-given authority over his children. The delicate balance of being tough, yet tender, is not easy to maintain.
But there are some children that seem bent on doing evil.
Illus: One mother had such a child, and she was determined to get her child to obey her.
After an especially trying day, she finally flung up her hands and shouted, “All right, Billy, do whatever you want! Now let me see you disobey THAT!” (Our Daily Bread, August 7)
We have looked at THE FOOLISH BUILDER, now let’s look at-
II. THE WISE BUILDER
Look at Matthew 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.”
Look at the contrast between the FOOLISH BUILDER and the WISE BUILDER.
• One is WISE and one is FOOLISH.
• One built upon SAND and the other one built on ROCK
• One OBEYED and ONE DID NOT
Notice, the thing that determined which was WISE and which was FOOLISH, was OBEDIENCE.
The problem with most people is that they justify their disobedience with their good intentions. One day they intend to start obeying God.
Illus: We must never forget the old saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
When God tells us to do something, He does not mean:
• Think about it
• Do it when you get chance
He means to do it, and do it NOW!
Illus: A friend often told me about the problems he had getting his son to clean his room. The son would always agree to tidy up, but then wouldn’t follow through. After high school, the young man joined the Marine Corps. When he came home for leave after basic training, his father asked him what he had learned in the service. “Dad,” he said. “I learned what ‘now’ means.” (Contributed by Jan King, Humor in Uniform, Readers Digest, May, 1996, p. 174.)
WHY DO PEOPLE NOT OBEY GOD?
Illus: Oswald Chambers said that the root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good.
Isn’t it true that somehow we’ve got a generation of kids -- and perhaps their parents as well -- who think that God is not good, that sin is attractive, and that God is a type of killjoy?
But the reason that God tells us to obey Him is the same reason we parents want our children to obey us.
We are not trying to make life miserable for them, we insist that they obey us because we have their best interests at heart.
Illus: Josh McDowell tells the story of a young man who lived his life pretty much as he wanted to. Josh tells the story of this young man like this, “…A high school guy wanted to go swimming with his girlfriend at midnight. The neighbors down the block had a pool, and he knew it. So they ran down there and scaled the fence, even though there were ‘No Trespassing’ and ‘Do Not Enter’ signs. Just as he hit the diving board, the girl yelled, but it was too late. There was only a foot of water in the pool. He broke his neck, and he’s in therapy to this day. He didn’t realize that the signs on the fence - the precepts - would have protected him.” (Josh McDowell, New Man, March/April 1995, p. 55)
Conclusion:
God expects us to be obedient.
Illus: How we admire the obedience a dog shows to its master! Archibald Rutledge wrote that one day he met a man whose dog had just been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained to Rutledge how it happened. Because he worked out-of-doors, he often took his dog with him. That morning, he left the animal in a clearing, and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, for that’s exactly what he did. Then a fire started in the woods, and soon the blaze spread to the spot where the dog had been left. But he didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master’s word.
With tearful eyes, the dog’s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.” (Our Daily Bread, January, 19)
I. THE FOOLISH BUILDER
II. THE WISE BUILDER
