The House That Withstood The Storm

THE HOUSE THAT WITHSTOOD THE STORM

Matthew 7:21-27

Text: vv.24-17

Song:

Prayer

Acknowledgements:

For our scripture let us consider Matthew 7:21-27 [Repeat]. When you find it please say Amen. And it reads:

Verse 21: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (v. 22) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? (v.23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (v.24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: (v.25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (v.26) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (v.27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

I to use as theme or title tonight: The House that withstood the Storm (repeat)

Turn to your neighbor and say neighbor: What type of House are you building? [Repeat]

Bear with for a moment as I give you a brief introduction as to what is taking place here in the seventh chapter of Matthew. But before we can understand the seventh -- I think that it would behoove us to go back and examine the first.

You see -- The Old Testament prophets predicted and longed for the coming of the Anointed One who would enter history to bring redemption and deliverance. The first verse of Matthew announces this long-awaited event when it says “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”

What does all of this mean preacher? -- Well, brothers, I know that you are not Bible scholars nor are you seminary students and I do not mean to insult your biblical scholarship or intelligence, but this first verse in Matthew is a very powerful statement, which fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s family line.

Simply put, Matthew provides the essential bridge between the Old and the New Testament. The Gospel of Matthew was written to present clear evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior.

In Matthew Chapter Two we have the birth of Jesus. Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus flight to Egypt to escape King Herod is also record in this chapter.

Matthew Chapter three fulfills the prophecy recorded in Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Well -- we all know the words of John the Baptist -- Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Jesus comes along and is baptized by John in this chapter.

Chapter 4 -- Wow, the first verse. “Then was Jesus led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.” Notice that the scriptures says led by the Spirit -- that is why it is good to pray, led us not into temptation by deliver us from evil. That is powerful to me. Anyway -- after passing the test, angels came down from heaven and ministered unto Jesus (Matthew 4:11).

Whew -- now, here we go. Matthew Chapter 4:17 reads “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent; for the king of heaven is at hand.” Why did I point this out to you? Simply put this is where Jesus public ministry begins. You see -- Jesus went all through Galilee preaching and teaching the synagogues, and healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases.

He was going around Galilee healing people who were possessed by demons, epilepsy, healing people who had the palsy (paralyzed). Now, as you can imagine, all of this created a lot of enthusiasm and interest -- so the bible tells us that great multitudes of people from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea and beyond the Jordan began to follow Him.

The word was out ya’ll. People were trying to find out what all of the hoopla was about. What do you mean a man named Jesus healed the demon-possessed man downtown on the corner of Capernaum and Bethany? Folk had to see for themselves. So they followed him.

Chapter 5 -- Jesus sees the multitudes and decides to take this opportunity to teach them. This leads us to what we know as the Sermon of the Mount, Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. Read the Sermon on the Mount and you will discover the Beatitudes or should I say the characteristics of Godly people “Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of God.” “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted” “Blessed are they meek; for they shall inherit the earth.”