SERMON ON THE MOUNT continued

The Wise and Foolish Builders
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.

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.” (Matthew 7:24-7)

EXPOSITION:

The hearers of Christ’s word are here divided into two sorts; some that hear, and do what they hear; others that hear and do not. Christ preached now to a mixed multitude, and he thus separates them, one from the other, as he will at the great day, when all nations shall be gathered before him. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.

TESTIMONY:

Jesus uses this graphic illustration as the conclusion of His great sermon, to define the difference in eternal destiny between 'hearers' and 'doers' of His Word.

We live in an area that is prone to earthquakes. In a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in 1931, here in Napier, 236 people were killed including one of my aunties, aged 6 at the time.

Some time ago, we took a lease on a building in our sister city of Hastings, also affected by the earthquake of 1931, in order to open a new Seekers clothing shop. The local Council required the landlord to spend over $300,000 on strengthening the building before allowing a change of use from storage to retail. The deal fell through.

Our prospective landlord would have loved to have us there, but he wasn't prepared to 'pay the price' necessary for our occupation.

How much that is like us! We love the idea of having Jesus in our life but we are not prepared to pay the price of changing our habits, our traditional way of doing things, be they good or bad. Strange as it may seem, many times we are happy being unhappy, as we are comfortable in it. For change is never comfortable!

The problem with foundations is that while they take much effort to build, in the final analysis, they are hidden from view! Yet, as Jesus illustrated, without the foundations of trials and testings, of submission and obedience to the Father, of developing the character of Jesus in our lives, living well, going to church and doing good deeds of the publicly seen walls and roof of the house of our life, will be futile. A showy waste of time when it comes to the storms of persecution, and to Judgment Day.

My life is not perfect! These words apply to me as much as to you. The Lord has changed, even transformed me, over the years of my Christian life, but there are still areas remaining to be dealt with. Some I know about, others that He has not yet revealed to me. While I have considerable natural determination and willpower, I have discovered that there are very few changes that I have been able to make in my own strength. Particularly as one matures in Jesus, foundational aspects of our character are exposed and change required. For example, while it may be relatively easy to stop the negative behaviour of stealing, it is be a lot more difficult to develop a positive, generous, giving personality. Such things take time.

I am slowly learning to stop trying to 'do it myself', but to go to the Holy Spirit with an open heart, mind and will, and give Him permission to change me. It does work, in His timing.

As Jesus himself said, prior to His death;

John 16:13

May we submit to our Lord, allowing Him to build solid foundation in our life that will withstand the storms and carry us through to eternal life with Him.