Firm Foundation?

Matthew 7:24–29 ““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

We are on the last lesson, the last part of the sermon on the mount. Now that we are at the end, and you received this information, what do we do with it?

Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder. Jesus actually concludes this message by addressing this question.

Let’s read Matthew chapter seven, starting in verse twenty four. Matthew 7:24–29 ““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

We all heard what Jesus taught. But there are two ways to respond.

One, you can listen and do something.

Two, you can listen and do nothing.

When receiving information, you must do one of two things. Act by changing based on that information, or act by doing nothing.

James talks about his.

In James 1:22–25 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

You might have heard something over the past school year that convicted you. That you thought “Wow, I need to change in this area.” But you did nothing.

I use to do this at camp, I might do it this year, but I would get a mohawk at camp. It was a fun thing me and a couple of guys would do. Sometimes we do get them at camp. But then I would get back, go to the store or chick fil a or something, and people would be staring at me strangely. I was confused until I remembered that I had a mohawk.

I knew I had one. I was awake when it happened. But I didn’t see my hair constantly, and I forgot that I had one.

One night, after youth, I walked into kroger and people were looking at me weird. I realized that I still had gnome stickers on my shirt.

In the same way, we are walking around with flaws, sins, areas we need to grow in. We are made aware of them through God’s word. But if we don’t act, we continue to walk around and forget that they are there.

Why is that important?

You might be thinking, “It’s fine. I’ll do the things when I get around to it.”

But in Matthew seven, Jesus gives us a warning.

2. When life gets hard, will your foundation hold?

Take video of sand and rock foundations vs leaf blower?

When you go through hard things. If you put Jesus’ words into practice, can you have wind damage on your house? Yes. You might be missing a view shingles, you might have some siding stripped away. But your house, your life, it may take some bumps and bruises, but it won’t collapse.

But, if you hear Jesus’ words and don’t put them into practice, storms will come, and your house, your life, will collapse. You will be devastated.

Here is the thing, I we know Jesus it talking to the crowds, but I believe this isn’t the difference between believers and unbelievers. I’ve seen believers who go through hard things, and they are devastated.

They don’t have their treasure in heaven. So when their treasure here on earth is taken away, they are devastated.

They worry about everything, they don’t understand God’s love for them. They are always a wreck.

They aren’t Salt and Light, but they find their identity in their job. Then they lose their job and are devastated.

They go through the Christian life wanting others to think well of them. The give, pray, fast, whatever… In order so others will see them and think highly of them. But when their reputation is ruined, so are they. Or, when someone better comes along, and they aren’t the center of attention, they are jealous and ruined.

These are just some examples from the sermon on the mount that I have seen first hand… From Christians.

Why? Because they built their life on the sand. They heard the truth, but didn’t act on it.

Jesus says they are foolish. He says the wise hear his words and acts on them.

Does he say, “They lose their salvation?” No! Does God stop loving them? No. But WHEN life gets hard, WHEN the storms come, is it going to be hard, or is it going to be devastating?

What about you? What from this great sermon that Jesus did do you need to act upon? What is one thing from the past school year does God want you to work on.

It may be multiple things. But start with one. Ask God, “What is one thing YOU want me to ACT on?”

If you can’t think of anything, I would encourage you, reread Matthew 5-7, asking God this question while you read it.

Do this not only with this passage, but whenever you read or hear God’s word. Ask “What is one thing YOU want me to ACT on?” “What is one thing YOU want me to ACT on?”

Questions: 1. Is it hard to do what God’s word says? Why do you think it’s so hard?

2. How does doing what God says to do before the storms come help you stand during the storm?

3. What are some storms you and your friends face? How does building your life on the rock help you in those storms?

4. If you had to choose one area of your life right now where you know God wants you to take action, what would it be? What’s one small, realistic step you could take this week?