A.
Building a good house requires hard work; building a house to withstand the storms that will blow in your life as a Christian will require even harder work.
(i) Jesus in Matthew 7: 24-27 lays out some key things that one will need in order to build a strong spiritual house to withstand the storms.
(ii) The house must be build with wisdom; it requires a solid foundation; the house must be build using His words which do so when we apply it to our lives. 1Cor 3:
10
(iii) He says though the storms that were expected came and blew wind and rain until there was a flood the house build was able to stand because it met the requirements for construction Luke 6: 46-49.
B.
On the other hand He also gives the consequences of those who foolishly build their house using material that the Lord has not instructed them to use. 1Cor 3: 11
(i) A weak house is build by a Christian who constantly neglects or rejects the words and instructions of Jesus Christ.
(ii) A weak house is one that is built on a weak foundation; in other words it is built with everything but what God requires.
(iii) When the storms of life blow with the wind, rain and other elements a house build on a foundation of sand will no doubt fall apart.
(iv) Are you today building a house that will be able to withstand the storm that is no doubt coming to your life at some point?
A.
If you are not a Christian, today is a wonderful opportunity for you to give your life to the Lord and become a member of His Church.
(i) You can do so by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ Rom 10: 13
(ii) You are required to believe what you have heard by faith Heb 11: 6
(iii) You must repent of your sins; a turn from doing wrong to doing right before God.
(iv) You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Matt 10: 32-33
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(v) And finally you must be baptized for remission of your sins Acts 2: 38
(vi) When all of this has being completed the Lord will add you to His Church paid for with his precious blood.
B.
There are four things we want to examine in this sermon today, to see what we can learn in order to build up a strong spiritual house which will withstand the storms of life.
(i) What does the “house” represent in regards to the wise and foolish builder?
(ii) What are the storms that Jesus is speaking about?
(iii) How can we build to withstand these storms?
(iv) What are the instructions of Jesus we need to hear and do?
A.
What does the “house” represent in regards to the wise or foolish builder?
(i) The “house” represents our lives; we all building either lives directed by the wisdom of God or lives dictated by the foolishness of this world.
(ii) James 4: 13-15 reminds us of the uncertainty of our lives which implies we must be extremely careful of the kind of lives we are striving to build.
(iii) A life that is build on the wisdom of God is one that can withstand the storms of life while that which build on the foolishness of worldly living will crumble into nothingness.
(iv) Solomon made this discovering when he realized that a life without God is like living in a world without meaning or purpose. Ecc 12: 13
B.
Whether or not we want to accept it we are all building our lives on some kind of foundation.
(i) Foundation in this context refers to that body of belief, doctrine or philosophy to which you subscribe to. Do you know you believe what you believe?
(ii) So many of us are Christians members of the Lord’s church and have absolutely no idea why we are or how we became members or what we did to be where we are.
(iii) The kind of builders we are whether wise or foolish will determine how well we endure the storms of life when they do blow our way.
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(iv) Are you a Christian because of your parents? Are you a Christian because of your friends? Or are you a Christian because you know Jesus Christ?
(v) Make sure the foundation you are building is one that is firmly planted in Jesus
Christ. “On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand”.
A.
While you are building your house remember to build with the expectation that there will be a storm or several storms waiting in the wings. Rev 2: 10; 1Pet 4: 12
(i) Storms are anything which threaten our well being or our spiritual lives. All of us will have to be prepared one or more storms in our lives.
(ii) Some of the storms that will blow will be created by circumstances over which we have no control; while others will be created by our bad decisions or foolish choices.
(iii) The Christian life brings with it pains, sufferings, trials, tribulation, sickness, death, bad health and a host of other things and we do what we can to prepare ourselves for when they come.
(iv) The only way we can prepare ourselves for these storms is to invest much of our lives in knowing the word of God. When the storms do blow make sure you know enough to be reminded of the goodness and power of God over your life.
B.
Jesus says a part of how we prepare for the storms is placing our focus on the one who controls our lives and who can operate outside of life’s circumstances. Col 3: 1-3; John
16: 32-33
(i) If our focus is in the wrong place and on the wrong persons when the storms blow we will be devastated; so many persons leave the Church because they are not prepared to deal with the storms when they blow.
(ii) When the storms blow we must remember we do not exist by our own strength but we are totally depended on God to sustain us. 2Cor 12: 9-12
(iii) It is only by faith and the mercy of God that we are able to withstand the strength of each storm that will blow as we try our best to live faithful to God each day. 2Cor 5: 7
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C.
There is one storm that all of us must prepare to face whether or not we are prepared
Heb 9: 27.
(i) This storm will be the truest test of our building character 2Cor 5: 10-11
(ii) The Lord will decide the kind of structure that we have building Matt 25: 21;
Matt 25: 26
(iii) No matter how long we live the storm of death will blow our way one day what kind of building have you built in preparation for this.
A.
Hearing and obeying Jesus is key to withstand the storms. It is not enough to just hear obedience is a key factor.
(i) It is foolish to think we can build on just any old foundation and God will still be pleased with our efforts. Matt 7: 26-27
(ii) James say we deceive ourselves when we don’t pay attention to what God requires of us James 1: 22-23
(iii) If you employ a shaky contractor to build don’t be surprised if you have a shaky house to live in; if you build your Christian life on a shaky foundation then that’s the kind of life you will live.
B.
To build a strong foundation for your spiritual life we all must be prepared to do those things that often times are not among the popular things to do. Matt 16: 24
(i) Those who do what Jesus says will be those who will be able to withstand the storms when they blow.
(ii) Their lives have been firmly planted upon on the Rock of Ages this is the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
(iii) James declares that it is the doers who are blessed in what they do James 1: 25.
A.
Finally what are the instructions of Jesus we need to hear and do to be able to withstand the storms of life?
(i) We are to lay up treasures in heaven Matt 6: 19-21
(ii) We are to first seek the kingdom of God Matt 6: 33
(iii) We must allow ourselves to be led by false teachers Matt 7: 15-20
(iv) We must get into the narrow and strait way and stay in it Matt 7: 13-14
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(v) We must do onto other as we would have them do to us Matt 7: 12
(vi) We must pray asking, seeking and knocking Matt 7: 7
(vii) We must not go around wrongly judging people Matt 7: 1-6
(viii) We must stop worrying about material things and what God tells us to do Matt
6: 30-34
(ix) Our righteousness must exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees Matt 5: 20-48
Conclusion:
You can build a house (life) that will withstand the storms that are sure to come. Whether it be the literal or figurative storms of everyday life or the storm of the day of death and the judgment that is sure to come. What is your storm? What kind of foundation are you building your life (house) upon?
Listen to the saying of Jesus and do them. Right now He is saying (Matt. 11:28-
30) (28) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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