Intro: in the story of the 3 little pigs we find that there were three types of building materials used to build their houses: straw, wood and brick. The only house that could withstand the wolf from blowing the house down was the brick house. Every day we build our lives, and Jesus gives us a story on those whose lives will stand, and those whose lives will fall. Here are the keys to a life that will stand.
A Life That Will Stand
Matthew 7:24-27
Jesus ends his message with a final story, the story of life. He shows two builders and the outcome of both houses. Today, I want you to have a life that will stand. Here are the keys to a house that can hold up under any storm.
I. People Who Hear God’s Word—v.24
Jesus gives the first key to building a life that will stand is to hear His Word. You can’t built your life without a blueprint, and the Word of God is the blueprint for every life.
a. when we try to build our lives without the blueprint, we get things totally out of order.
Ill) man orders blueprint for building a birdhouse. He gets the blueprints but they are blueprints for a sailboat. His sailboat keeps blowing out of the tree. He writes a letter to the company demanding his money back, they send his money with this note. We are sorry about the mistake, but you aren’t near as mad as the guy who tried to go sailing in a birdhouse.
b. the Word builds us: spiritually—and the world has no way to build our spirit man. So even if you are physically strong, financially secure, emotionally stable, if your life isn’t built spiritually, then you won’t have a life that will stand.
II. People Who Obey God’s Word Will Stand—v.24b
Obedience is better than sacrifice. You can listen to God’s Word, but if you don’t apply it to your life, your house won’t stand.
a. a wise man hears the Word of God and then obeys it. A foolish man hears the same Word but rejects it.
Big Mama at 94 could quote many verses in the Bible. She also loved to recite poems. One she could recite had the famous line in it, I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day. The message of the poem,is that we must practice what we preach. It is good to hear the Word of God, it is better to do the Word of God.
b. the foolish man hears the same word but rejects the Word, and finds his life in all types of trouble. Many times it isn’t that trouble comes looking for us, but we go looking for trouble.
Ill)
It reminds me of the missing dog whose owner put up a reward
For his safe return, he gave this description, been in a lot of fights
And has a bad limp, missing one eye, tail has been cut in two,
And is missing part of his left ear that was bitten off, he answers
To the name, Lucky.
III. Sand or Rock—24, 26
Now we move into the materials each builder used: sand, rock. There are a lot of people who are trying to build their lives with sand, but when storms come, sand proves to be a poor material for building a life.
a. love relationships—some people try to find all their happiness in life out of love relationships. But many times these feelings and emotions come and go. Many times there is hurt and rejection. Many people find in time that these relationships don’t meet their expectations.
b. Money, fame, power—many people live their lives for success. And after they achieve all their dreams and goals, they still feel empty. Every thing becomes sand, except those things that are eternal.
c. Rock are spiritual things: upon this rock will I build my church
And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Faith in Jesus
Christ is the rock of our salvation. When everything in life is
Shaken, those things that cannot be shaken will remain.
Ill) an airplane came into a storm and there was some turbulence
That was shaking the plane. A businessman was sitting next to a
A little lady who was knitting and singing. He was so shook up
About the storm he said, don’t you think it would be a good time to
Be praying instead of singing. She said, I did my praying before the
Storm broke. That is a life that will stand, someone who does their
Praying before the storm breaks.
IV. The Two Outcomes—the house on the rock stood, the house on
The sand fell. Jesus gave a simple message that your life will go one of two ways: it will either be solid in Christ, or it will fall apart in the world.
The other day I read some famous last words of people: here are some of the final words of those without Christ, and here are a few final words of those with Christ.
Atheists—I now take a leap into the darkness, I fear what is behind the final door, I feel the fires of hell on my feet, I feel no joy as I cross the final line.
Saints: it is well with my soul, I commend my spirit into the hands of God, All is right in the World and God is on His Throne. I see the lights of home.
Close: the other day on discovery channel they were explaining buildings that were built to withstand the shaking of earthquakes. They explained that there were some buildings with re-enforced steel throughout that could stand when other buildings would collapse. We need to be re-enforced with the Word of God, we need the Spirit of God to help us stand.
With Jesus your life will stay together in a world that is falling apart.
