LOJ #45: Is Your Life Built to Last?
Andover Baptist Church-November 8th, 2009
Opening
A. Text for today is Matthew 7:24 through 8:1 and our sermon is
Title: Is Your Life Built to Last?
B. Children’s Sermon(SLIDE)
1. Needed items: a pan, some sand, big flat rock, two
identical Lincoln Log homes, water gun or watering can
2. Set one of the homes on a base of sand in the pan and
one on the rock
3. Call the kids up and ask them, “If it were to rain and the
wind were to blow which one of these houses do you
thing would stay up?”
4. “Why? Lets test it!”
5. Pour/Shoot the sand and rock until the one on sand falls
6. “Jesus told a story about two houses like this, one was
built on rock and one on sand”
7. When the wind and rains came the one on the sand fell
down
8. “Do you know what Jesus was trying to tell us?”
9. “If we follow what He says and obey Him our life will
be strong like the house on rock. If we don't do what
He says well eventually we will get in trouble for
it….just like the house build on sand fell down!”
10. “So do what Jesus says, okay?”
C. Introduction
1. So far Jesus has compared our lives to two roads, two
types of trees and now He is going to compare it to two
type of homes
a. One with a good foundation
b. And one with a very bad foundation
2. Before we begin let’s look at a building that is
considered by many to have the worst foundation in the
world
3. Anyone know what it might be? Leaning Tower of Pisa
a. Built in Pisa Italy in 1173 the tower shortly after
construction started to lean southward
b. It’s average movement is 1 millimeter per year
c. That doesn’t seem like a lot but when you figure
in 800 years that changes things
d. In fact it’s tilt got so bad that tourists could no
longer go in it because it was on the brink of
crashing to the ground
e. Engineers determined that when the tilt reached
5.44 degrees the tower would be in falling range
f. By 1990 the tower’s tilt was 5.5 degrees
g. Something had to be done and in 1999 and 2000
major work was done to stabilize the tower
h. Its current tilt is back to its 1838 days
i. The celebration will be short lived, it will likely
again be on the brink of collapse in about 200
years
j. And one day my friends the Leaning tower of
Pisa will come tumbling down with a great crash
k. All of this could have been avoided at one rule
been followed: build on solid ground,
4. Jesus says that the same thing applies to our lives: Build
it the solid foundation of Him and His teaching and it
will stand. Don’t and it will fall.
5. So I ask you, what are you building your life on?
Sermon
READ: Matthew 7:24, 25 (Scripture slide)
"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."
A. 'Therefore'
1. ‘These things being or consequently then’ do this
2. Jesus is saying is that this next statement of His will link
back to His entire Sermon on the Mount
3. There are two types of people who hear His sermon
a. The wise ones who hear it and obey
b. The fools who hear and disobey
c. Right now you sit in one of these camps, which
is it? How you answer that determines your
eternal destiny
B. The Wiseman
1. They hear what Jesus as taught just as the fools have
but the wise person goes beyond hearing and acts on
them
2. The wise person understands that Jesus has the authority
to require our obedience
3. Therefore true wisdom is found only in Jesus and
following after Him
4. 'Everyone': not limited by sex, age, color or nationality,
the wisdom in following Jesus is open to all
5. Simply put this is the follower and disciple of Christ
Jesus
C. The Strong Foundation
1. This parable should not surprise those who realize that
Jesus spent a number of years as an expert Carpenter
a. Jesus knows how to build a house that will last
b. As our Creator and Savior He also knows how
we are to build a life
c. This parable links these two themes together
2. Here our life is symbolized by Jesus as a home
a. Anyone who has built a home realizes it takes a
sizable investment of our time and resources
b. And any wise home owner realizes the
importance of investing in a stable foundation for
their home
1. Luke gives us a little more detail on how
this wise home builder made sure his
foundation was stable and secure
2. 6:48 states the homeowner ‘dug down
deep and laid the foundation on rock’
3. So important was a stable foundation that
some wise home owners would dig up to
30 feet down to get to the rock
4. This was not the easy out, but the wise
house builder knew that building a home
on the topsoil was foolish and lazy
building
5. The wise builder knew that the
foundation of a house is essential for it
to last in the stormy climate of Palestine
3. Likewise the spiritually wise man invests in the
foundation of his eternal life by basing it on Jesus Christ
a. He is the only true and stable foundation
1 Pe 2:4-5 "4 As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
b. Eternally the only way your life will have
meaning is if the foundation is on Jesus and His
words
4. Is your life built on Christ? If not you will not be ready
for what will happen next….
D. Storms
1. Palestine is notorious for it's flash storms and flash
floods
2. Rains come in the winter so it is possible that winter has
just past and Jesus is using the opportunity of thoughts
still fresh in His hearers minds (spring is coming: look
at the lilies of the field, etc.)
3. Storms brought rain which caused 'streams rose': lit 'the
rivers came'
4. Creek beds would be bone dry only to fill extremely
quickly in a torrential rain
5. The wise man who had invested in the foundation of his
house could find safety and comfort from these storms
a. The rock provided a stable foundation
b. The wise mans house is unmoved by the rain
c. It is in essence storm proof
6. In this life we all will face problems as they rain down
on us and cause stress to rise…how much better it is to
face life with Christ than without Him, but the rain listed
here is more than just problems
a. It symbolizes the judgment of God
b. Those who have built their spiritual life on the
foundation of Jesus need not worryabout eternal
judgment
c. Is your eternal life as secure as the wise man’s
home?
7. MOTIF: What are you building your life on?
READ: Matthew 7:26, 27 (Scripture slide)
"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."
A. The 'foolish man'
1. Word foolish used here is from the Greek word
moros….we get our English word moron from it…this
guy was literally a moron
2. For every wise man there seems to be a dozen fools
B. Why was he foolish? He built his house on a False Foundation
1. He took the easiest route to build his home
2. By building on the topsoil this fool literally set up his
house to crash because it's foundation would wash away
in the flood! He had not dug down and built on the
rock!
3. It is even possible by the wording here that this moron
built his home in dry, sandy creek bed, where it would
be easy to dig the foundation but would be disastrous
when the storms hit
4. And in good weather the fools home make look as stable
as the wise man’s, but the fool had traded stone security
for shaky sand
C. The consequences of building on a false foundation
1. Both homes went through the storm
2. Both lives will be examined by God
3. But the difference between both will come down to
which foundation was built upon
4. The Palestinian ground gets baked hard in the heat of
the summer
a. This gives it the look of being stable
b. It is the rains that show it for what it is
c. As seemingly hard and stable as it appears dirt
will still soften underneath the rain
d. The arid ground could only absorb so much water
before it gives away
5. Likewise a life without Christ cannot stand up to the
judgment of God, for there is no one to take their sin
away!
6. Therefore I beg you to watch where you build your life!
7. People will go to great lengths to build their homes and
not even go across the street for their own souls (tie in
the expensive homes list from internet)
8. So it is with this foolish man does not invest in the
foundation of his life and the storm is on the horizon for
all who build on any foundation other than Jesus
Pr 10:25"When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever."
9. When the storm hits the home of the fool it will indeed
be a horrible sight
a. Notice that this is not a soft letdown
b. 'great crash': could be trans. 'and great was its fall'
c. SHOW VIDEO OF BUILDING COLLAPSING
(OPTIONAL)
d. My friends do not let that be you when you come
face to face with Christ, which I tell you now that
one day everyone in this room will stand before
Him to give an account. Only those who have
built their lives on Him will remain standing
D. My friends where are you building?
READ: Matthew 7:28-8:1 (Scripture slide)
"28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, 29 because He taught as One Who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. 1 When He came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him."
A. Jesus ‘amazed’ the crowds
1. His teaching ability was amazing (lit: overwhelming)
2. His youth was shocking
3. The fact He had no formal rabbinical training floored
them
Jn 7:15"The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”
4. This was like down to earth Arkansas boy with no
education teaching some eastern Harvard and Yale
yuppies a thing or two
5. His teachings were simple but honed with a razor’s edge
that cut them to the soul
6. Elsewhere others had said of Jesus, 'Never man spoke
like this Man!'
B. Jesus amazed because of His 'authority'
1. Jesus was no normal Jewish rabbi who had followed
another rabbi and taught like that rabbi
2. The teachers of the law did that and they were boring
3. Jesus used His own teachings and based them on His
own authority
a. Other rabbis would say, ‘So and So said this’
b. Jesus on the other hand said, ‘But I tell you’
c. It was shocking because when Jesus said these
things it was as if He were saying, ‘Believe Me it
is true because I say it is true’.
4. Let me give you an example
a. Think in your mind about the Mona Lisa
b. I could read all kinds of things about it and teach
a class and I might be somewhat interesting
c. But if Leonardo Da Vinci, the painter of the
Mona Lisa were to come here and talk about it,
he would have an authority on that I simply do
not have
d. Why? Because He is the creator of that painting
e. Likewise Jesus is the Ultimate Authority of
Scripture because He is the One Who inspired it!
f. As the Author of Scripture, the very Word of God
made flesh, there is no higher authority on God's
Word than the Word Himself
5. And as our Creator Jesus has the right to invade our
lives and to tell us that our lives are built on shaky
ground and that we need to build it upon Him!
6. Perhaps today the Holy Spirit is convicting you of
building your life where you should not have built
C. 'large crowds' little Faith
1. Two world systems at play here: one will eventually
crash down around its adherents ears
2. Jesus has already told us that many who claim a
relationship with Him will be proven to be liar
3. Simply admiring Jesus teaching (i.e. Gandhi) is not
good enough to Him
4. Do you really believe what Jesus has said? You should
and it should scare you if you are not living the way He
has said!
Application (slide)
A. I ask you once again: What are you building your life on?
B. Many have heard the words of Jesus but so few act upon them
C. And to not act on Jesus' words means to invite ruin upon
yourself
D. May I say that you could be a Judas and hear every word of
Jesus, and never let one penetrate your heart!
E. If that is the case I promise you one day your life will crash
round you if you have not build it upon the Rock of Jesus
Christ and His teachings!
F. This choice is really very simple: You can build your life upon
the words of Jesus or be judged by them….the choice is yours!
G. This fool built as if the rains would never come, don't do the
same with your life
Jn 12:48 "There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day."
Invitation
Let us sing our last song #,
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