The Sermon on the Mount 25
Weather the Storm
Mat 7:24-27
Guess what folks? We’re at the end of the Sermon on the Mount! Jesus originally preached this message to willing and anxious ears. They sat quietly through His sermon which even though it may have taken Him only an hour or two, we have been going through it, as of today, for 25 weeks. So, I hope that fact hasn’t ruined you on the topic, but that’s the nature of expositional preaching. He said it, and I’ve expounded on what He said, bit by bit in an effort to make it a little clearer and to encourage you to live it out in your own lives.
Now we’re at the end. He’s given us principles to live by. He’s told us that followers of His will display certain characteristics in their lives, and then He began wrapping it all up by making a call to all of us to live it by treating others as we would wish to be treated, to follow the narrow path toward His righteousness, watch out for false teachers who would lead us astray from that path, and now, to build our lives as a house on a solid foundation. A solid foundation. Bedrock.
You know, we have a very serious problem going on in this world today. In our “Christian” world, we’ve got a dropout problem. We’ve got dropout disciples, collapsing Christians, famishing church members. We’ve got a lot of people who should be standing up for Christ, who are instead folding up and putting up and shutting the door. They’ll come to church for a while, get baptized and are all “gung ho”, but then when something happens like trouble, persecution, heartache, or temptation, they just fall away. They’re Alka-Seltzer Christians; plop, plop, fiz, fiz, oh what a relief it is. But when the fiz fizzles, they’re gone. Jesus said they’re like the seed that was sown on the rocky ground. It grew up a bit, but because it had no root, when persecution or affliction came around, they fell away.
Now, just in case you’re thinking I’m talking about church members who, for whatever reason, haven’t been around for a while, I’m not. I’m talking about those who have fallen away. They were rocky ground believers who had no root. In today’s message we’ll see that they had no foundation. Or, they had the wrong foundation. No solid foundation.
Back in 2005, hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast. It was a category 5 hurricane that caused devastation all along the coastal states. One of the hardest hit areas was New Orleans. At about that time, my son Daniel was undergoing a hernia operation, and I was sitting in the hospital waiting room watching the effects of the storm on the TV news. While watching the devastation and thinking about the storm of life we were currently going through at that same time, a song came to me. It’s the same song you just heard me play and sing, titled Weather the Storm. What I was seeing on TV made me think of all the homes and lives that were affected, and I wondered what kind of a foundation they all had.
You see, this is what Jesus is talking about in His final appeal today. Not only are we to enter through the narrow gate and walk the narrow road, but we are to build our house, which is a symbolic way of saying build our lives on a firm foundation. Jesus said…
Mat 7:24-27 "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: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
The Lord is talking about building on a firm foundation, and friend, when something is going wrong in your life, if you’re losing hope, or you feel like the bottom is falling out, then you need to go back and examine your foundation. Because folks, there is a storm coming. There is always a storm coming. You simply can’t live this life and not be hit with a storm now and then. So, check your foundation. It needs to be solid. It needs to be on the rock, because I can guarantee you that there are 3 truths about this life. Those truths are that you are either just getting out of a storm, or you’re in the midst of a storm, or you’re getting ready to go into a storm.
And if you want to weather that storm, then you need to have…
I. A Strong Building
You need to have a strong building. Now, Jesus is talking about our lives. You’ve got that, right? He’s likening our lives to a house we are building throughout our lives, and those who build in this life are either wise or foolish. So, there’s two kinds of builders, the wise builder who built his house on the rock, and the foolish builder who built his house on the sand. Now, that’s kind of dumb, isn’t it? Can’t you immediately see that building on sand is a crazy idea? But there are those who do that all the time. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of humans on this planet are relying on sand to keep them propped up through life. They have no foundation.
Now, these two builders are very similar in many ways. They’re both builders and they have the same purpose. They’re building houses. It also seems that they are building their houses close to each other because the same storm is going to hit them both. The structures they’re building are probably similar to other houses with walls, floors, roof, and all the other things houses have in them. All of us here today are very similar. We all came to church, we’re all worshiping the Lord and hearing the word preached. We all have the same basic plan, we’re in the same basic place, we have the same basic purpose. But there is an important difference between these two builders. It’s a difference that can’t be seen on the surface because the difference is underneath, it’s in the foundation.
The one who built on the rock had to dig down deep in order to lay his foundation. Jesus said in Luke’s version of this parable that Luk 6:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And you know, laying a good foundation like that takes time. It takes a lot of work, but if you build your house on the sand, like the other guy did, and like so many people still do today, then you can build your house much quicker, and with less cost. It may look like it’s every bit as good as the other one, but it’s not.
Some years ago, Terri and I wanted to buy a mobile home, but we had a real hard time finding a bank that would finance a mobile home. They didn’t want to have anything to do with homes that were on blocks and maybe only tied down with some anchors. Now, that may have changed since then, but back then we couldn’t get financing at all until we found the house we’re in now in Miami. It’s pier and beam, so it has a better foundation. But in your life, what makes a firm foundation? What will make us solid and on the rock?
Well, the first thing is A. Hearing the Word of God. Paul told us that Rom 10:17 …faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And Jesus said Mat 7:24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine… and what we’re doing right now, hearing or listening to the word of God preached, these are all part of building a strong building on a solid foundation. You’ve got to hear the word of God, but you also have to B. Heed the Word of God. Hearing is only half of it, the other half is heeding, or doing the Word of God.
He said, Mat 7:24 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. And you see, that is where we begin to see the difference between the wise builder and the foolish builder. The wise one hears, and then does, but the foolish one heard the same thing, but did not do. And folks, James, the Lord’s brother told us to Jas 1:22 …be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
If we hear the word but don’t do the word, then folks, we’re deceiving ourselves. And what that means is, what that breaks down to is that we’re not Christians at all. If we hear the words of Christ but don’t do them, then we are not His. He us asked Himself Luk 6:46 But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? The implication here is that if you’re not obedient to His Word, then you’ve got no right to call Him your Lord. Now, He is Lord, whether you believe in Him or not, but if you say you believe, but don’t obey, then you’re only deceiving yourself.
Now, don’t think that I’m talking about a works based salvation here, because I’m not. Paul wrote Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. So, we are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. Martin Luther once said that “We are saved by faith alone, but not faith that is alone.” In other words, we are saved by faith that is followed by obedience.
Look at what else Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Eph 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast. Now, check this out. What we just read is immediately followed by verse 10, which says (10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Folks, we are not saved by works, but we were created in Jesus Christ for good works.
Oh friend, when a person believes in Jesus Christ and is saved, there is a change that occurs. They are born again, and they become new creatures. They will no longer follow after their old ways, but they will follow Jesus and they will do as He says. So, to build a firm foundation you’ve got to hear the word of God and you’ve got to do the word God. Jesus told us that if you do that, then you are building your house on the solid rock. But if you hear the word of God, and don’t do it, then He says that you are a foolish builder, building your house on sand. The house that is built on sand will never withstand…
II. The Stormy Blast
You have got to build a strong building. One that’s firmly on the solid rock. But after you erect a strong and sturdy building, you can bet that a stormy blast is on its way. It’s coming folks, and you can count on it. The Lord said Mat 7:25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house;
What house? Both houses. You need to understand this; that storm came against both houses. Both the house built on the rock, and the house built on the sand, both of them had to face the storm. There’s no way out of it. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why people build houses is to protect them from storms.
You do realize of course that when you come to the Lord, when you get saved, that does not mean that you will no longer experience any storms in life. Folks, these two builders and these two houses they represent both the saved and the lost. Both of them, the wise builder and the foolish builder had to go through the same storm. Friend, Job had it right when he said Job 14:1 Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
There are going to be storms in your life. Saved or lost, you’re going to have them, and those storms you’re going to go through are going to reveal whether you built your house on the solid foundation, Christ the rock or sand. That’s what the storms will do, they will test your faith and reveal your foundation. And folks, your faith has to be tested because the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.
Now I know that there are a lot of folks out there who believe that if you come to Jesus then life is supposed to be good from that time on. If you get sick, then you can name it and claim it because sickness or poverty are from the devil, but Jesus wants you to be healthy and wealthy. So, you can claim your healing or claim your wealth all the while sniffling, coughing, feeling lousy and living in poverty. It’s as if they believe if you deny reality enough, it’ll go away.
But friends there’s going to be storms. There’s going to be sickness. There’s going to be good Christians who suffer hardships, and heartache. There will be Christians who fight cancer, hepatitis, aids, or a host of other illnesses. There are going to be Christians who face persecution and great difficulties in life. They may go through them, but none of these things will ever separate them from Christ if they have built upon the rock.
Paul wrote Rom 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (36) As it is written: "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER." (37) Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Difficulty in life does not mean that God has abandoned you. He has promised that He Heb 13:5 …WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU. And because we have this promise, if you build a strong foundation on the rock, then you will also have…
III. A Steadfast Blessing
What am I saying? If you will build a very stable, secure, and strong building founded upon the rock, then when the storms come, you will have a steadfast blessing. What Jesus said again is Mat 7:24-25 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: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“It did not fall.” “It did not fall.” Why do some people give up? Why do they fall? Why do they cave in? Why are some just blown away? I’ll tell you why: because they have built upon the shifting sand of good intentions, they built upon the silt and muck of religious activity. They did not build upon the Lord Jesus Christ because 1Co 3:11 …no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
They fall because they weren’t built on the rock. Now, this doesn’t mean that if I build on the rock I’ll never stumble, or I’ll never relapse because folks, even the house built on the rock will go through the storm. So, you may stumble from time to time. That’s an effect the storm can have on us.
I want you to think of both Judas and Peter. Two builders. One of them, Judas, probably had a great-looking house. Think of it, he might have been the most trusted of all the disciples. They trusted him with the money bag, right? He was the ministry’s banker. That would have been a trusted position among the disciples. I mean, Matthew was a tax collector, so he would have been a perfect banker. He would have been good at counting money and all that goes with it, but they chose Judas instead. And then, when Jesus told them all that one of them would betray Him, no one looked to Judas, they all looked to themselves. They all wondered and asked, “Lord, is it me?” None of them said, “Hey! That’s got to be Judas.” No, they had no idea of his wickedness until that night in the garden when he gave the Lord a Judas kiss.
To all outward appearances, his would have been a nice-looking and strong-looking house. But Peter had his moments, didn’t he? He would be the first to openly declare that Jesus was the Christ, and the Lord said that He would build his church on that rock, or that faith. But he was also weak because when the storm of persecution came, he denied the Lord 3 times. Stumble as he did, Peter had a solid foundation, but Judas did not. After his denials, Peter would later become the flaming apostle of Pentecost because he had the real thing. He was firmly planted on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
He heard the word of God. He believed the word of God, and he bowed his knee to the Son of God. Weak and failing—yes, but his house stood because he built on the rock.
Is your house built on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, or the shifting sands of popular opinion? If you want to stand through the storms that come your way, then give your life to Jesus today. Trust in Him and build a house that will withstand all that comes against it.
