Neighbor’s House Knocked Down
Story about the house next door getting knocked down in one day.
Back in September the house next door caught fire. They put it out but it was so smoke damaged that it was unlivable. Well last week we noticed the fireplug in front of our house had a valved installed on it! Then a bulldozer/backhoe appeared in the next door’s driveway. My wife talked to them and they said they were going to knock down the house. At 7AM the next morning they started and they had the whole house into rubble by lunch time. They used a water hose while doing it to keep the dust down. Of course I filmed part of it “just in case” to make sure they wouldn’t damage our house - but they pulled it inwards and didn’t even come close to our house. But amazing that in less than one day they knocked down that house. They cleared out the rubble the rest of the afternoon and when I came home from work all that was there was the foundation. They even knocked down a couple of trees and got those out. Wow!
The next day they busted up the foundation and took that away.
How long does it take to build a house? I Googled: 3 or 4 months most - some 6 months.
How long does it take to knock down a house? One day! 2 days if you count removing the foundation too. Wow!
Let that be a lesson to you! There’s a sermon in there somewhere! ;-)
Matthew 7 - wise man built his house upon the rock
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
You can’t even have a house unless you have Jesus
Matthew 7:13,14 - Be saved by Jesus
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
How will you know someone is saved? By their fruits
Matthew 7:15-20 -
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
So fruits do not save you but you will know them by their fruits.
James 2:26 - Faith without works is dead.
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
Spiritually speaking, what does this mean?
The House is your Life
The Foundation is Jesus’s words. (The Word was with God and the Word was God!)
The Rains, Floods, and Winds are Life’s trials.
Your Life:
You spend your whole life just floating through life.
You go to school, you get a job, you retire, but at some point every one of us will face God.
Your life might flash before your eyes, and what did you do with it?
With your life laid bare before God, what will matter? Both good and bad will show before God?
Your success? Your video game scores? That you were a good teacher? That you were a doctor?
Sadly none of that will matter?
You spend your whole life working to be the best football player, the best at something…
Then God says, depart from me for I never knew you.
The spiritual house you built all crashes and is destroyed in one moment!
How do you prevent that?
How do you build that house on a firm foundation that will not be destroyed?
Foundation is Jesus’ Word
James 1:22-25 - Listen to Jesus’ word and do it!
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Be ye doers of the word! Not forgetters of the word!
1 Cor 3:9-17 - You have to Plan to end up with a solid house!
9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
Funeral planning
Someone has said, if at your funeral you want people to say nice things about you, you have to do those nice things before you die. In your life, if you want a nice house, you have to plan it and build it to your plan.
House built with no plan
Imagine what a house would look like if you built it without a plan. You just started slapping up wood then slapping bricks on that wood then oops fix it because that fell down. Etc.
Partial builders - they’ll build a foundation and framing and build as far as you want, and you can finish it. You could get your friends and cousins to help you finish it. Many never finished their own houses. Or the job you did yourself was horrible because you didn’t know what you were doing! You walk in and people say partial builder huh?
Life happens - how will you stand?
I pay a mortgage on my home. When we pay a mortgage we say we own it but we really don’t own it yet.
Club of Home depot
When you own a home you get an instant membership to the club of Home Depot!
I’ve worked on the kitchen, I’ve worked on the plumbing,
I’ve worked on the electrical, I’ve worked on the bathroom.
Now in the bathroom, I did about 85 percent. Now it has been at 85 percent for a couple of years now. Sigh.
So then we had a water pipe burst in the laundry/garage. So that was put on hold.
Then we had to clean the drain in the kitchen so that job was on hold.
Then…
So yeah, our whole house is at about 85%.
Is that how your house is? Are you a complete person, or are you 85% a person?
You need quality time
You can’t always get 100% quality time to work on your house. LIfe happens, and things get in the way, and other more important things happen, and other things happen. In your life, you won’t always get to finish all of your life projects, things get in the way. I believed our life’s keel was all in order and then we had a daughter!
Rain falls on the Just and the unjust!
Luke 14:28-33 - Count the cost
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Be a big building
What kind of building do you want to be? A little straw shack, or a two story building, or the Burj Khalifa? (Spiritually speaking) It’s the biggest building on Earth right now! 2700 feet tall!
Counter weight - God shaped hole
At the top of the Burj Khalifa there’s something in the top. It’s a big counter weight. It’s bigger than a house but it’s at the top of the building. It takes up a few floors. Why is it there?
When the winds blow, it’s a counter weight and when the wind wants to push it one way, the counter weight pushes back and it keeps the building from swaying.
Some huge boats have the counter weight too. Ever been on an ocean liner and noticed that you don’t really feel the waves that much? It’s because of that huge counterweight keel mass.
If you want to be a big building and you have a God shaped hole there, your building is going to sway and fall down. If you are a huge boat without that God shaped keel, you’re going to capsize. You can’t do it without God. If you want to be a big building, you have to have a big helping of God! How do you get a big helping of God? You can start by reading your Bible and praying. Then you can continue by having a big relationship with God. When you put on your whole armor and have God on your side, then wow, let the wind blow because it will just feel like a light breeze to you! You will mount up with wings like eagles and soar!
The flip side - who do you trust?
You can build on the Rock, or you can build on sand (spiritually speaking).
The sand is the world’s ways.
You could trust in money, (you cannot serve God and money)
You could trust in science, (science has its limits and certainly cannot save you)
You could trust in other things but ultimately we know the end of the story - only God wins so why trust in anything or anyone else? That would be trusting in a loser!
Why would you do that?
The Throne room
Imagine if you will, we will all stand before God.
Perhaps, we will be in line and watch as our neighbors find out that their houses were built on sand and are destroyed in that day.
When you stand before God in the end, will your life’s house stand or will it fall?
Build your house on the Rock!
