Building a life that will last is something like building a house. It's got to be built right if it's going to stand the tests of time. And the most important thing that must be done is to make sure that it is built upon a solid foundation. How many houses have fallen on hard times or have been torn down, not because the part that was above ground was all that bad, but because the foundation that it was built upon below the ground was awful.
We once lived in a house like that. The foundation was put together so poorly that in the hot Texas sun it cracked. The result was that the house had shifted. It had water problems. There were cracks in the walls and floors, doors that stuck, surfaces that weren't quite even. From the outside the house didn't look bad at all. In fact it looked quite impressive. But it wasn't quite right. The owners had a terrible time trying to sell it or keep renters in it. After a time, we left, too. So many problems were encountered because the builders did not take the time to lay a good foundation.
How's your house being built? That's what the Lord Jesus is asking you in our text. But He's not thinking of the home in which you live here in Missouri. He's thinking of the house that is inside you, in your heart – your life of faith. Are you building it on a solid foundation that will not crack in bad weather and will stand strongly against time and eternity? Or, are you building it on a bad foundation that will not stand?
May God the Holy Spirit graciously guide us in the study of our text this morning that our house of faith may stand firm till the end. If Your “House” Is to Stand, Build It Right. Build it I. on a good hearing of Christ's word; and II. on a putting of Christ's word into practice.
I. Build it on a good hearing of Christ's word.
First, let's consider just the topic of “hearing.” Do you know that hearing dominates all your activities that you do every day? Hearing takes up most of your time. In fact, if you stop and think about it, it takes up all of your time because, unless you are deaf, your ears are always at work whether or not you are conscious of it.
Think about it. Every second of the day when you are awake or asleep, something is going in here. Most of the time you aren't even aware of it.
For example, when I was sitting at my desk drawing up this sermon, my ears were busy hearing, but I didn't realize it until I began to pay attention to what was going on. Outside the birds were singing, the wind was rustling through the trees, the dog was barking…. I was hearing it all but did not realize what I was hearing until I began paying attention to it. I don't know of our other senses if we could say that we are always seeing, or tasting, or touching. But, whether awake or asleep, we are always hearing.
So, dear friends, we spend a lot of time hearing. Is it all “good” hearing? Are we paying attention to what we hear? Are we getting something out of it?
You know what God says about hearing, don't you, especially “good” hearing , the kind that really counts?
“Hear the word of the Lord,” He says (Is.1:10;Jer.2:4; Hos.4:1). “He who has ears, let him hear” (Mt.13:9). “Today, if you hear (My) voice, do not harden your hearts (to it)” (Hb.3:7). “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him and he with me” (Rv.3:20). “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (Jn.10:27). And, in a very descriptive way in our O.T. Lesson this morning, He urged us to always hear His Word when He said, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Dt.11:18f). In other words, always keep God's Word in front of you – always in every occasion of life. You see, God has a lot to say about our hearing His Word.
How does that fit into our text, and what does hearing have to do with house-building?
Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.”
If Your House of Faith Is to Stand, Build It Right , Jesus is saying,
on a good hearing of Christ's word. That is the foundation on which our lives are to be laid. The foundation is Christ and the truth of what He has told us, not on what man says or thinks, but on that which Christ says is truth. That's the only foundation that will stand the test of time and eternity. Therefore, the apostle Paul said, “Each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Co.3:11). We build our lives
upon Christ and
a good hearing of His Word . That must be the foundation. So we each have to ask ourselves, “Have I made it the foundation of my life?”
Many seem to be sincerely convinced that they are religious people. Yet they have not found the stability and security of the faith in Christ which Jesus promises in our text. Perhaps the reason for this is that for them religion and the hearing of God's Word has become merely decorative when it should be foundational.
To use the picture in our text, some build the house of their lives regarding religion as the bedroom, a place where they can find temporary rest from the toil and turmoil of the day. Others conceive of religion as a library where they can find intellectual stimulation. Still others think of religion as the living room where they find social entertainment and activity. Many seem to think of it as the attic, a place to store traditional values where they can be kept out of the way, yet easily found if they should ever need to get them out. Some think of religion as the roof of the house, a sort of covering where they can flee if the weather should get bad. And there are others who seem to treat religion like the decorative siding on a house that adds a certain good-looking finish to it. But, dear friends, we must understand that religion is not just a room in this “house.” It is the foundation on which all of life rests.
So then, don't make your religion only a decorative part of your life; make it foundational. For that to take place it depends upon a good hearing of Christ's word , a constant hearing, a paying attention to it. If you make money, or success, or art, or sport, or pleasure the foundation of your “house” and give the hearing of Christ's word only a secondary place in life, then do not be surprised when the whole thing collapses!
Here is how you can tell whether you have a solid foundation on which to stand. Do you hear His Word and live it?
- If you repent of your sin and believe in Him as your Lord and
Savior, trusting only in His works and merits for your forgiveness
- if, like Paul, you “live your life by faith in the Son of God who
loved you and gave Himself for you,” living for Him not yourself
- if you are filled with love for Christ and devotion to His kingdom
– if you accept the absolute authority of Christ's teachings and with
the help of the Spirit conform your life to it
- if your faith influences every area of your life, making it Christ-
centered
- if you eagerly strive to hear His Word every Sunday and daily
- if the ultimate purpose of your existence and the supreme goal of
living is reunion with Christ above
- if the source of your courage, the basis of your hope, the secret of
your happiness is the Savior who redeemed you
then you know that your life is built on nothing less than Jesus and His saving Word. Let the rains of sorrow come down, let the floods of disaster rise up, let the winds of adversity blow! Your “house” will stand for it is built right, on a good hearing of Christ's word.
II. Build it on a putting of Christ's words into practice.
But hearing is not enough. Even nodding in agreement is not enough. Jesus said, “Whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Hearing must lead to trust, and trust will lead to activity.
Throughout this Sermon on the Mount Jesus had been pointing out what it means to put His words into practice . So, on the basis of what He already taught, we can say that the wise man who builds his house on the rock is one who is poor in spirit, who mourns over his sin, who is meek before God, who hungers and thirsts for Christ's righteousness. He is pure in heart; he is a peacemaker, and he is persecuted because of faith in the Savior. He is the salt of the earth and the light of the world. His righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, because it flows from the Lord Jesus. He goes the extra mile, even showing love to his enemies. He gives quietly, without letting his left hand know what his right hand is doing. He prays humbly and sincerely to Jesus. He stores up treasures in heaven and does not attempt to serve two masters, God and Money. He trusts God to provide for all his needs. He does not judge other people's hearts. He watches out for false prophets. He strives to enter heaven only through the narrow gate of Christ. All these God-pleasing works and more are included when Jesus speaks of the wise man building his house right. When he hears what Jesus says, he believes it and puts Christ's words into practice .
Think of what Jesus means with this. If your ears only hear His words but your heart doesn't trust whatever He says, and you don't go out from this church or a devotion to live what He says, you have only half a house, and half a house can't stand either, even if it's built on a good foundation. Half a house will fall. There's something more that makes it complete. Hearing without believing and living is incomplete; it's like an unfinished sermon.
As an illustration of this the story is told of a husband who saw to it every Sunday that he got his wife to and back from church. One Sunday as he was climbing the steps of the church to get her, he met an elderly woman who was just leaving. “Is the sermon over?” he asked. “No,” said the kindly lady, “the sermon's only half over. The pastor has preached it. Now I'm going home to do it.”
In a sense there are always two divisions of every God-pleasing sermon, of every hearing of Christ's words. In the first place we have to hear – to pay attention to it. In the second place we have to put it into practice – to do something about what we have heard. Too many sermons end after the first part. But they are really never finished, they are never done. If it ends there, the house of faith is not built right.
About such things the apostle James wrote (1:23), “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 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
Staring into a mirror without responding to that which one sees will never remove a blemish from our face, comb our hair, or adjust our clothing properly. The looking must be followed by doing.
Likewise, listening to sermons Sunday after Sunday, hearing God's Word daily in our devotions will never in themselves comfort the sinner, keep one's thoughts upon God, cause us to worship Him, pray to Him, help us to feed the poor, relieve the needy, or bring the hope of the Gospel to others. There must be a resultant “doing.” It's not a doing that saves you, for salvation comes only by faith in Christ. But it's a “doing” that expresses what has been heard as a fruit of a faith that saves. When both hearing and doing are in place, then the sermon is a finished one, and the house of faith will stand strong and true.
May God the Holy Spirit enable us each to be wise builders, not foolish ones. If Your “House” Is To Stand, Build It Right – on a good hearing of Christ's word; and on a putting of that word into practice. God grant it in our lives of faith for Jesus' sake. Amen.