Some years ago, one of our church members asked me to go with him and find a house for him. We went to different neighborhoods, all sorts of towns, and several places. — After a long search, He finally found a home he liked. But there was a problem in the house. There was a crack on the plaster of the bedroom wall. The realtor said that the crack could be repaired and fixed. So he called a contractor. But the contractor said, “ I can't fix your problem.” He said that the cracks on the wall were not the problem. The problem was the shifting foundation under the home. The foundation is moving and that's why you have cracks on your wall. — He said that the cracks on your walls are just symptoms of a much deeper problem, if you don't stabilize your foundation you will forever be doing patchwork on the cracks.
Everywhere you look there are cracks on the wall. You're seeing cracks in our culture, in our relationships, in our families, and in our lives. And a lot of time and energy — is being spent patching them up. The question that we must answer today is what is the foundation that needs to be fixed? I want to call your attention today to a story with Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount. Matthew chapter 7. It's about two men. The question: which one are you? Now these two men had comparisons & contrasts. Let's start with the comparison: What made these two men alike? We read in verse 24 that everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock verse 26 says everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. So let's compare them. The first comparison between these two men is they both have the same dream. They both wanted to build a house.
Now to build a house in Scripture can refer to a number of things. In this passage it refers to building a life. He's talking about two men who wanted to build their lives. Nobody wants a failed life. Nobody wants to live a life of defeat. No one wants to live a life of destruction. Most people don't plan to waste their lives, and so you have dreams, dreams that affect your career, dreams that affect your desires, dreams that fit your design.
Both men wanted to build a house. They wanted to build a life of significance. We want to build a house because building a house in the Bible can refer to your life and your family, building a good family life. No couple gets married planning on their wedding day to have a divorce. Most families don't desire for a breakdown between parents and children. Most families don't want to live in constant conflict. That's not their desire. They want to build a house that is a happy home.
The second thing that these two men had in common is that they were both believers. They both knew about the word of God. — You may be wondering, how do I know that these two men know the word of God? Because Jesus said both men heard these words of mine. They were sitting under the best possible teaching that anyone could be exposed to. Because they were sitting at the feet of Jesus. So the first comparison is they both had the same dream the second comparison is they were both exposed to the truth. Behold, the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah . . . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).
Then there's a third comparison: both men faced the same storm. The storms that are referred to — in the Bible are trouble, tribulation, challenges, difficulties, and trials. It has been said you're either in a storm or just come out of a storm. Jesus said in John 16:33 “in the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
So let's review these three things in common . They both had a dream because they both wanted to build a house. They both were exposed to the truth because they both listened to the words of Jesus. And they both had struggles in life because they were both facing a storm. However that's where the comparison ends and now that's where the contrasts begin. Because both men have things that set them apart from each other.
The first man is called a wise man and the second man is called a fool. While they had a lot of things in common there was one thing that made them different. If one man is wise and the other is a fool that tells us a lot. That tells us a wise man can have a dream and a fool can have a dream, a wise man can listen to Jesus and a fool can also listen to Jesus, and a wise man can enter a storm and a fool can enter a storm.
In the Bible to be wise is your ability to apply spiritual truth to life's realities; — Let me say this once more. Wisdom is your ability and your decision to apply spiritual truth to life's decisions. A fool on the other hand has absolutely nothing to do with your degrees. Whether you have a BE or an MBA or a PhD doesn’t matter. We've all met educated fools with the inability or refusal to apply spiritual truth to life's decisions. So wisdom goes beyond information. It has to do with decision making. Although these two men had things in common they had a major difference. One was wise and one was a fool. What made one wise and one a fool? Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.- Pro.16:3
It all had to do with their foundation. It says that the wise man built his house, his life, his family, and involvement in society on a rock. But it says the fool built his house, his life, his family, and his community engagement on sand. Because they built and started to build their lives on two totally different foundations. These two men started in different places but with the same dream even listening to the same word. But they were totally different.
We're living in a day when the Word of God is not where people start. They throw it in later. They try to start with the windows, doors, and rules but not at the foundation level even though the foundation is always where you start. It's not where they start, and a foundation is always where you start. Where they started had nothing to do with biblical knowledge. Both men listened to the “ words of mine”, both were listening to the Word of God. Both were in church listening to Jesus. They both listened to these words of mine, but the wise man acted on His Word and the fool did not.
The problem was acting on the information. Christians will listen to Jesus's word and still build a house on sand. One of the reasons that issues are not being addressed in our personal lives, in our families, in our churches, and by believers in the society, is because acting on God's Word is not our first concern. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only. - James 1:22 (1 Cor.15:2)
Moses holds out his rod when the Red Sea opens up. Joshua tells a priest to put their foot in the Jordan then the water is blocked. Mary moves the stone then Lazarus is brought forth. We're walking by faith not talking by faith. For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2Cor.5:7). The absence of acting on the word is powerless even when we're saying Amen to the truth. He says the fool did not act on the word and did not start at the right ground level foundation. One of the reasons we're seeing so much defeat in our lives is we don't start with God. We start with man and invite God. And there is no power in that. The Word of God is not determining who we are, how we live — our identity. Believers have an interesting way because we try to mix rock and sand. We try to have sandy rock. Whenever human wisdom is mixed in with the Word of God, the Word of God has no effect.
Jesus says both men heard these words of mine but only one acted on it and so only one benefited from it. All this stuff is tied together. Storms are a very important part of God's plan for your life why? storms' important because they are designed to reveal your foundation. Looks like everything is fine, you may think you're on rock but in reality you are on sand. God already knows what kind of foundation you have. So what storms are allowed to do is let you see.
I love Jesus’ preaching in Mark chapter 4. He tells his disciples at the end of chapter 4:35 “let's cross over to the other side.” Outside the city of Galilee. So they took him along in the boat as He was. (36). And a great windstorm arose. The Bible says in verse 38, Jesus was asleep on a pillow. Have you ever noticed when you are going through a struggle God is nowhere to be located? Have you ever noticed when you're going through some of your deepest fears, Heaven is silent or the line is busy and you can't get through? Has it ever seemed like God is far off in the distance? The Bible says Jesus was so sleepy. They had to provoke him, they had to force him to get up.
Jesus asks an interesting question: he says why are you so afraid? That's an interesting question. Peter is not answering that question. You want to know why we're so timid, you really want to know Jesus why we're so fearful? Why do you have little faith? Let us go to the other side. They said, Amen. That means they agreed with the word of Jesus. But they were fearful and lacked faith for the storm. We act on God's truth as the foundation of our lives and families so that when the storm comes it affects us differently.
Matthew 7:27 says the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. If you have rain coming down, floods coming up and wind blowing that's called a hurricane. We're seeing it all around us today. That's a storm, that's a hurricane season, this is not a minor thing this is a major obstacle in your life.
It says that when the wise man's house stood the fool's house fell greatly, because the storm reveals what you're rooted in. What kind of foundation you're on. It is designed for you to see where you stand. Now let me tell you some news. You can't fix the foundation in the middle of a storm. You can repair it before a storm. You can repair it after a storm, but you can't repair it in a storm. See, a lot of Christians want God to do something in the middle of it. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. Jesus asks us to listen to His words and apply the truth in your family even before the storm hits in your life. Amen.
