A FIRM FOUNDATION

If you have ever lived in or visited a large city, you probably have had the chance to watch a skyscraper under construction. For the first six months or so of the project, all the workmen do is make a great hole in the ground. To build a tall building by starting far below the surface level seems absurd, even crazy. But, as you would suspect, there is a good reason for the large hole. To build a mammoth building, it is first necessary to dig down until a strong foundation can be built, one that is capable of supporting the skyscraper.

A doghouse needs no foundation, and an ordinary house can be built on little more than a concrete slab. But a skyscraper, that’s different. It requires a deep and solid foundation.

So it is in our Christian life. Our upward potential is totally dependent on the foundation underneath it

FOUNDATIONS:

defined:

The Concise Oxford English dictionary says it is “the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.” The Dictionary of Bible themes defines foundation as “the solid base on which a secure structure may be built”.

he solid base on which a secure structure may be built; used chiefly for the base of the temple.

“the solid base on which a secure structure may be built”.

It is used figuratively of Jesus Christ and the apostles and prophets as the secure foundation on which the church is built. Obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ is the true foundation of Christian living.

The Concise Oxford English dictionary gives another definition that is helpful: it says that a foundation is “an underlying basis or principle

Foundations are essential for building; most especially when it comes to building your own house. The house is said to be the place of one’s permanent dwelling. If when building our permanent dwelling place, we fail to take into consideration the foundation that we build upon, we place ourselves in the unhappy position of having to see our houses come crumbling down.

The text before us this afternoon talks about building houses but not in the literal sense. The genre that beckons our attention today is called a parable which uses figurative language and employs one thing to explain or illustrate another thing. This text uses hearing and doing as the firm foundation and hearing only as the faulty one.

As Jesus comes to the close of his Sermon on the Mount, He says to his audience, being a “hearer only” is to built your house on the sand. The text says, ‘he will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand’ . In some areas of the world there is little or no sand, and therefore it may be necessary to render sand in as ‘loose soil’ or ‘unpacked dirt.’

Matthew 7:26 NASB95

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Matthew 7:26 NASB95

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

He tells them that they would be wise to put what they have heard into practice. He is insistent that only hearing his words without doing them was a dangerous place to built a house.

Matthew 7:26 NASB95

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

He tells them that they would be wise to put what they have heard into practice. He is insistent that only hearing his words without doing them was a dangerous place to built a house.

God’s will has been revealed to them. He tells them that they would be wise to put what they have heard into practice. He is insistent that only hearing his words without doing them was a dangerous place to built a house.

He tells them that they would be wise to put what they have heard into practice. He is insistent that only hearing his words without doing them was a dangerous place to built a house.

This text uses hearing and doing as the firm foundation and hearing only as the faulty one.

Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.

2 an underlying basis or principle.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Foundation

1 the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.

2 an underlying basis or principle.

▶ [often with negative] justification or reason.

1 the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.

▶ [often with negative] justification or reason.

Foundations are essential for building; most especially when building your house. The house is said to be for one’s Permanent dwelling. if the place that is meant to be our permanent dwelling is

Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (Eds.). (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press

Dictionary of Bible Themes 5317 foundation

The solid base on which a secure structure may be built; used chiefly for the base of the temple. It is used figuratively of Jesus Christ and the apostles and prophets as the secure foundation on which the church is built. Obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ is the true foundation of Christian living.

▶ [often with negative] justification or reason

Foundations are essential for building; most especially when building your house. The house is said to be for one’s Permanent dwelling. if the place that is meant to be our permanent dwelling is

foundations are essential for building; most especially when building your house. The house is said to be for one’s Permanent dwelling.

AND SO, THERE ARE TWO FOUNDATIONS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO BUILT ON THE FIRM ONE BECAUSE “INTO EVERY LIFE THREE THINGS MUST COME”

THE IMPORTANCE OF A FIRM ONE

RAIN

FLOODS

WINDS

The Lord would have us, like his audience in the text, to understand that storms happen to everyone. it is the foundation that will keep your house from falling. What would you do if you were not sure about your foundation?

CAN I GO FROM A FAULTY FOUNDATION TO A FIRM ONE?

There may be someone who is concerned about this issue today. You are concerned that your current building may be situated on sand. That is, you have been going up but you have not gone deep enough down to the Petra (). Notice that the text does not say that the wise man built his house on a rock, or that the house was founded on a rock; but it says “the rock”.

Luke 6:48 NASB95

he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

I am glad to tell you today: yes, an individual can most certainly make the adjustment and go from a faulty foundation to a firm one.

HOW?

Did you know that the Space Needle in Seattle Washington was two thirds completed when one of the inspectors found numerous large air pockets within it's foundation? This resulted in it being completely torn down so that a proper foundation could first be laid. Sometimes God helps us this way. But you can bet the process of tearing down can seem quite devastating to us.

I rose to tell somebody today that if you have not established your house building project on a firm foundation. Tell the Lord you can strip away all the fluff; tear down all the beautiful external looks, remove all pomp and popularity. And make me over Lord.

Ask Him to do for you what he did for Jacob who started trying to build on the wrong foundation. You remember how he stole his brother’s birthright through deception and trickery and lies. But he had to come to the place where he recognized that until he gave up his own will and obediently submitted to the Lord; his house was doomed to fall .

This text says to us today that we are responsible for doing what we hear. Be wise, built your house on the rock.

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