“THE BIBLE” Matt. 7:24-29
INTRO – Books are an important part of our lives. Surrounded by them. In school, we have books of all types. In our homes, we have books…at work…I have hundreds of books in my own personal library. Ms. Lois Russell has been working tirelessly to get our new library/media center up and running in the FLC. Hundreds of books there for anyone to come and check out.
Books are an important source of communication.
- You graduates who are looking at going to college probably have catalogs from different colleges that give tons on information about that colleges degree programs, meal programs, social programs, and other things.
- All of us who own cars have an owner’s manual in the glove compartment that is filled with lots of useful information about operating that vehicle. Tells you how to operate it when it’s working fine and tells you what to do when it’s not running right.
- Many people are given an employee’s handbook when they go to work for a company so they will know how to conduct the business of that company and how to conduct themselves as an employee of that company.
- When I was on the FD in Brandon, we had an SOP – Standard Operating Procedure – a book that told you everything from who the chief was and what he did to what color belt to wear w/ your uniform to how to pump water out of a fire truck to how to ventilate a building.
Even w/ advent of computer and the information superhighway known as the internet, books still remain a highly popular source of information. Huge bookstores like Books-A-Million and Borders and Barnes & Noble are extremely successful businesses. Wonderful places to go and browse – coffee shops; relaxed atmospheres, comfortable surroundings.
And b/c books are such a common part of our everyday lives, the importance of this book – the Bible – has diminished. It’s become just another book among the thousands of books at Barnes & Noble. And this is exactly what the world would have us believe about the Bible…
- It’s just another book.
- It’s irrelevant and unimportant.
- It’s out of date, out of style, outmoded, obsolete.
- It’s old-fashioned.
- It doesn’t apply to our world today.
Question is: Is this what YOU believe about the Bible?
The book that you were given today is the most hated book in the world. The world hates the Bible and anyone who believes the Bible and stands up for what the Bible teaches. Listen to these news reports:
All of us have to decide how we’re going to build our lives. What is going to be the foundation of our lives? Who are we going to listen to for advice and direction? Where are we going to go to gain wisdom? What will be the main influences in our lives?
In the church, and especially here in the deep South, we might give lip service to the importance of the Bible in our lives. We SAY it’s important. We do Vacation BIBLE School. We used to do BIBLE drills w/ the kids. We own several copies of the Bible. But are we truly basing our lives on what G says to us through His living Word today?
“Many Christians do not read the Bible regularly. Why? Because in the pressures of daily living, they cannot find a connection between the timeless principles of Scripture and the ever-present problems of day-by-day living.” (www.lifeapplicationbible.com)
“Curious times, these. There is simultaneously a glut of the word of God and a famine of it, a drought and deluge. We have every translation of the Bible you can imagine – the NIV, the NEVG, the KJV, the NJKV, the NASR, NRSAV, the preacher’s bible, the worshippers bible, the spirit-filled believers bible, the left handed bald gypsy fiddler’s bible, with versions for the nearsighted and the farsighted. (The last was made up).
You can have it in hardback, paper, leather, cloth, in pink, red, oxblood, turtle shell, iridescent orange, psychedelic paisley, with maps and charts and indices and appendices and concordances and holograms of the temple in the back , and a little sleeve with a CD-ROM that takes you on a guided tour of the Holy Land.” (Mark Buchanan, Your God is Too Safe)
The food is out there – and it’s a banqueting table. We’re just picky eaters. Oh, we’re buying bibles. And sometimes we’re even reading them. But there’s not much evidence that we’re studying them. We’re nibbling, not devouring. And you are what you eat… (Pastor Steve Malone)
Two of our greatest presidents said some pretty important statements about the Bible. George Washington said, “It is impossible to righteously govern the world without God and the Bible.” President Ronald Reagan said, “Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today—if only we would read and believe.
If we are going to face the storms of life, we must have a strong foundation. And there is no other foundation strong enough, deep enough, or sturdy enough than the foundation of the word of God.
The tower of Pisa in Italy leans some 18 feet from where it should be b/c back in 1174 when work began on it, the builders did not realize that the soil was much softer than they had anticipated and that the foundation was much too shallow to hold the 185 foot-tall structure. It took 176 years to build the Tower of Pisa and during that time, many things were done to try & compensate for the tilt, but nothing worked b/c the foundation was faulty. Experts say that one day it will fall.
Same is true of our lives. No matter how good our lives look on the outside, no matter how successful by world’s standards and measurements, if we are not rooted and established on the foundation of the Word of God, we will begin to lean and will one day fall.
In the parable that Jesus told, there are two things that were true then & are true here today:
BOTH MEN HEARD JESUS’ WORDS & BOTH MEN HAD STORMS
Is it a good thing to hear the Word of God? Sure, it is. We need to hear it read & preached & taught. We need to read it to our kids & read it to ourselves. Hearing the Word of God is so important.
But Jesus makes it abundantly clear that hearing His words were not enough. In this passage, He is coming to the end of some of His most significant & important teaching in His entire ministry, the Sermon on the Mount. Began back in Matt. 5 and covers 3 entire chapters. And after all of the incredible teaching He did in this message, He ends by saying, “Therefore”- (What’s the “therefore” there for?)…
“You can listen to all of these teachings that I’ve given you and do one of two things:
- Put them into practice;
- Don’t put them into practice.
Simple as that. Told the crowds that had gathered there on that Galilean mountainside, “It’s not enough to just hear my teachings; you’ve got to apply them to your life and live them out.”
That crowd was probably similar to this crowd in some ways. Parents had their kids there. Senior adults were there. Teenagers were there. Maybe some folks had taken off work to be there. Some of them were suffering from physical problems. Some had marital problems and family problems. Might have been some unemployed folks there. Some of them were mired in sinful habits & addictions. Some didn’t really care about what was being said; they were there b/c it was the popular thing to do right then. Or it was the socially acceptable thing to do right then. Some were there to be critical. Some were supportive of Jesus; some were against Him. And they all HEARD His words.
Amazing to me how some things never change. Every week, crowds gather to hear the Word of God. People come for different reasons; have different agendas; bring different needs w/ them. Some are supportive of the messengers; some against the messengers. And these crowds hear the Word of God.
But so few “put them into practice.” If we did, this place would be packed out every week b/c we would be witnessing throughout the week. It wouldn’t take 40+ Southern Baptists to win one person to X. We could go to 2 services and we’d pack it out, too. Longest part of service would be the invitation. We would worship passionately, authentically, freely. If we did put the Word of God into practice, our lives would be so full of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We wouldn’t be sinless, but we would surely sin less. We’d be quick to confess our sins. We would make things right w/ those we’ve hurt or have hurt us. We would serve God w/out question or reservation. Nominating Committee would not be needed.
The foundation is not in the hearing; the foundation is the doing. James 1:22 – “But be ye doers of the word, not hearers only.”
BOTH MEN HAD STORMS
Everyone is going to have storms in their lives. Jesus doesn’t promise us a storm-free life if we follow Him. Doesn’t promise a storm-free life if we hear and apply His words. Parable is not about avoiding the bad weather days in our lives. The parable is about the foundation of our lives.
San Francisco Earthquake 1989 – South pier of Golden Gate Bridge sits right on top of San Andreas fault. But it was undamaged b/c the weight of the bridge rests on the two towers that are embedded into rock deep beneath the waters of the sea. In contrast, remember the double-decker freeway in Oakland that collapsed and killed a number of people. It was built on land that had been filled in and was not solid. But it all looked the same until it was tested.
