The House that Stood

Matthew 7:24–27

We’re coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Now, we’re facing a time in today’s world called the Great Resignation where people are quitting, dropping, out, giving up. But the reason so many fall away, or cannot stand, is they have no real foundation in their lives. When the storms come, they are blown away. That’s what Jesus is talking about in our text – staying power.

Jesus is talking about building on a firm foundation. If the bottom has fallen out of your life, you had better go back to the foundation. If you would weather the storms—there are three things I want to lay on your heart out of this passage of Scripture to help you.

I. Build Well:

a. Jesus says we’re all building a spiritual house. And is talking about two kinds of builders. In verse 24, it’s a wise builder who builds his house upon a rock. And, in verse 26, it’s foolish builder who built his house upon the sand. In some ways they are alike. They’ve both heard His Word, both follow Christ. Both are building a house near one another and have the same basic plan. We are like these two builders. We have a lot in common. We’re in the same church, proximity, hearing the same word. We have the same basic purpose and plan.

b. But there was a vital difference between these two builders, and it was just below the surface. There is a difference here today amongst us. It’s not what we see when we look around at one another, but it’s just below the surface. Jesus said one built his house upon the rock. But, there was another man who built his house upon the sand. There are two things necessary to have a firm foundation to build upon a rock. First, HEARING the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Second, DOING the Word of God (James 1:22).

II. Build for the Storm:

a. When you build a house, you don’t build it for fair weather, you build it for the storm. Jesus says that the storm fell upon both houses—(verses 25-27). Storms come to every life, saved or not; built on the rock, or built on the sand. You are going into and out of storms. And, the storm is going to show whether or not you have a foundation. The storm is going to test your faith. And, the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.

III. Stand Strong:

a. (Matthew 7:24-25) Why do some people come apart spiritually in the storm? They have built upon the shifting sands of good intentions, of religious activity, or of self, but they have never built upon the Lord Jesus Christ. “For”—the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:11—“other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is [the Lord] Jesus Christ.”

b. I’m not talking about sinless perfection. I’m not saying that if you get saved and give your heart to Jesus and the storms come, you won’t have some doubts and fears. You will. I’m not saying that you won’t stumble. You may. When the storm came, it blew through the life of Judas Iscarot; and it blew through the life of Simon Peter. And, when the storm was over, Judas’s house was gone, but not Peter’s. He had the real thing. He knew his God. He heard the Word of God. He did the Word of God. Weak, yes; failing, yes—but the house that stood (Peter’s House) was built on a rock.