The House On The Rock Series

BUILDERS MT 7:24-27

TEXT

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."

The parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders is part of the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount that begins at 7:13. In verses 13-14 Jesus teaches about the way to Heaven, saying that there are two gates and they carry there own destiny i.e. - life or destruction. In verses 15-23 we are told by Jesus not to be deceived by false prophets or by the way things appear or even what we hear. He tells us to concentrate and in verse 21b we read “ but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven Those who say, "One religion is as good as another” and "We’re all trying to get to the same place” are wrong!

THE PARABLE

In this passage (24-27), He teaches that God’s will is performed by; “Therfore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practise is like a wise man who built his house on the rock". He illustrates this truth with "a wise man" and "a foolish man."

The key word in this parable has to be "THEREFORE". When Jesus says THERFORE it is because there are only two ways for us to go, we can listen to those who will deceive and inevitably destroy (the broad road) or we can listen to Jesus and be one of the few to gain life (the narrow road). The word THEREFORE in this context then, equals BECAUSE~ because if we don’t listen to Jesus and accept what he tells us, then we know what the alternatives will be.

The simple issue then is this: Are you listening to Jesus or someone else? Mt I:l-8

THE PARABLE EXPLAINED

In this parable we are told of two men, each with identical elements who are builders and there intention is to build a house, each chooses a different area to construct his own house. We should remember that Jesus is not talking about building literal houses on literal rock and sand, but about lives - establishing values and determining priorities on different philosophies or lifestyles.

Another set of identical elements in the story is the life situations of the two builders. Each of them has to go through a storm, which neither of them can avoid. The storm is one, which they cannot escape or avoid. They both feel the down-pouring rain that increases to flood level and the sting of the wind that hits with horrendous velocity.

Jesus is not telling us how to find a safe, comfortable setting or an ideal atmosphere where life remains non-threatening and where the climate is wonderfully calm and supportive. What he is fact doing is telling us that we must face reality, that life is difficult, we will have to face the storms and accept the pain and discomfort and the heartaches. BUT HE IS ALWAYS NEAR! The two builders are totally different kinds of people. - They build their houses in totally different manners. One chooses to build on rock; the other, on sand. The first builder is the type who does more than hear what Christ has to say; he acts upon the truth, the second builder hears the same thing, but he stops. He deliberately does not act upon what he hears. The first build is called "WISE" the second is called "FOOLISH" (James 1:22-25 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 a man 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 the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

And now we consider the outcome of the two houses, one did not fall and the other came crashing down.

The wise builder constructed his life in that no amount of testing, no extent of difficulty, is enough to bring him down. - Because he was founded upon a rock! And on NOTHING LESS! If you are only hearing and reading the truth and are not acting upon it, you are not prepared for life’s storms. Both the foolish and the wise builders heard, but the foolish builder did nothing about it. ( Verse 24a “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practise”