Sermons
How firm is your Foundation
Sun, Sep 16, 2018
Teacher: Mark Hull Series: Sunday Sermons - 2018 Scripture: Luke 6:46-49
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How firm is your Foundation
Luke 6:46-49
Several years ago there was a new housing subdivision in Mesquite, Nevada. It was a beautiful building project and absolutely brand new... but there was a problem. Several months after many of the families had moved in, serious cracks began to develop in the driveways and roads, and there was a constant disturbing smell of methane gas coming from ground
What was wrong? Well, it seems the builders of the subdivision had built about 8 of the homes directly on top of a landfill –and that landfill was about 20 feet beneath the living rooms of these homes. Things got so bad the floors shook and the walls began to crack... and houses began to sink into the ground.
Obviously – someone had forgotten the importance of building on a good foundation
Now, renovators of older houses will tell you that there are 2 things they look for when they decide to take on a project. First, they want to know if the roof is sound, and second they want to make sure the foundation is solid. They can fix just about anything else... but if either the roof or the foundation is bad they won’t even look at the house.
Here in Luke 6, Jesus tells us to pay close attention to our foundation. Jesus tells us the wise man “dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built because it was founded on the rock.” But the fool “built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
ILLUS: In the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus used a much similar illustration. But in that sermon He spoke of the wise man building his house on a rock whereas the fool built his on sand.
Now, in the days of Jesus, that was a powerful piece of imagery. His audience could picture a man building his house on the sand where he would lose it to a massive flood. You see, back that day, much of the water in Israel came down out of the mountains. And when there’s a heavy rain in the mountains it came down in a flood, and you could pretty well tell where the water was going to flow because there were dry river beds where the waters thundered down toward the sea. When there were no floods, the river bed was flat and easy to build on... but a wise man would never do that.
Now, why would anybody in their right mind build on dry riverbed if that’s going to happen? Well, apparently someone who would do that would not be in their right minds. They’d not be very smart. In fact, the only motivation for building a home on those river beds would have been laziness. It was flat, easy ground and housing construction wouldn’t take much effort. Or, self confidence that they themselves were in control and that couldn’t happen to them.
But notice what Jesus said about the wise man: he “dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock”. The wise builder had to work hard to make sure his foundation was secure.
ILLUS: Years ago there was an old farmer who built a house into the side of a hill. And he wanted to make sure that the basement of the home (which was the foundation of the house) had “6 bag cement”. Have any of you ever heard of “6 bag cement”.
That was an old farmer’s way of saying he wanted enough bags of cement in the mix to make sure that the foundation would be strong and solid.
All the time that he and his family lived in that house, there was only one minor crack that ever showed up in that basement because he had built his house on a firm foundation.
Now, everybody in Jesus’ audience understood the absurdity of a person being so lazy that they didn’t even bother to think about how or where he they built their house. But, of course, Jesus wasn’t talking about a “Stick-built home”. Jesus was talking about the kind of foundation you build your LIFE on.
Just to be clear, as long as it doesn’t rain, it doesn’t matter what kind of foundation you build on. But sooner or later... it’s going to rain. It doesn’t matter if you’re a righteous man of God... or a selfish godless atheist... the rain is going to fall And what Jesus is saying is saying is this: There will come a time when you’re going to struggle. A time when the wind will blow, and the rains will fall, and the floods will beat upon your life, and you’ll feel like everything is falling apart. And HOW you build your FOUNDATION is going to make all the difference of whether or not you can stand in the midst of those storms.
Now Jesus is saying there are basically only 2 types of foundations you can build your life on. You can build on the teachings of Jesus’ ... or you can build on something else.
Jesus’ teachings will work. Everything else won’t. Jesus said a wise man is the one who “... COMES to me and HEARS my words and DOES them....” Everybody else is like the fool who builds his house on a foundation of sand.
That’s it. There’s no other foundation. It’s either Jesus... or its sand.
In fact, Scripture tells us there’s only one true foundation you can depend on. I Corinthians 3:11 says “...no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Without Jesus you can build a house. But without Jesus you won’t have a foundation.
In fact, Jesus says something like that in John 15:5. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
(PAUSE)
Seriously? That’s doesn’t seem right. How could it possibly be true that you can’t build on any other foundation than Jesus?
I gave that a lot of thought, and suddenly I saw my answer in the key statement of this passage: Jesus said, a wise man (who builds on the rock) is someone “... who comes to me and HEARS my words and does them.” Luke 6:47
There’s a lot of people out there who think the Bible has some good stuff to tell us. But they also believe that there’s a lot of OTHER TRUTH out there that’s just as good as what we find in Scripture. They believe there are other good books with great wisdom that we should listen to. And so they tend to mix a lot of human reasoning (from those other books of wisdom) into God’s reasoning... because, well, they believe they’re both equally good stuff.
Jesus said: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know THE TRUTH, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
In His final prayer in the Garden Jesus asked the Father to “Sanctify (His followers) in the truth; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.” John 17:17
And Jesus said ... "I am the way, and THE TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Jesus and his teachings are truth. Anything that contradicts it is false.
God’s Word is ALWAYS right. I can be wrong... but God is NEVER wrong.
A wise man HEARS the words of Jesus because Jesus’ words are TRUTH.
So a wise man HEARS the words of Jesus. Secondly, a wise man DOES what Jesus asks Him to do. Jesus tells us a wise man (who builds on the rock) is someone ... who comes to me and hears my words and DOES them.” Luke 6:47
The foundation of your life is going to be based upon what you decide to DO in your life. And you can either DO what YOU want to do, or you can DO what JESUS wants you to DO! But either decision will determine the foundation you lay down.
Proverbs 14:12 tells us “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.”
Paul wrote: “... I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
How many of you do NOT use the internet
How many of you do NOT use Facebook
Essentially Facebook is a place where people tell other people WHO THEY ARE!
Well, actually it’s a place where people tell other who they THINK they are...
Well, actually, it’s a place where people tell others how they wish others thought they were.
Now on my Facebook, I have pictures that may show me as being...
· Forceful
· Affectionate
· Mysterious
· Religious
· A Traveler
Etc.
And here in Luke 6 Jesus is essentially telling us that God has a Facebook page for each of us. On that Facebook page God sees exactly who you and I are. Every word we speak is recorded. Every action we do is shown Because God sees us as we really are.
Now just to put your mind at ease - none of us come off looking all that good on the Facebook page God has for us. As Romans says – “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Then Jesus points out what kind of fruit God looks at:
· God looks at what we SAY
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth SPEAKS.” Luke 6:45
· AND God looks at what we DO
"Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not DO what I say? Luke 6:46
What Jesus is saying is this: what you say and what you do are reflections of what is inside of you. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.
How you and I TALK... and how you and I WALK are reflections of what we’ve stored in our hearts. In computer language they have a scientific description of that process.
It’s called “Garbage in, garbage out.”
If you put bad things in a computer... you’ll get bad things out.
And conversely, if you put good things in... you’ll get good things out
So, as Christians, what’s INSIDE of us?
Galatians 5:22-26 says “the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
we know God is watching... He’s reading our Facebook page.
TURN WITH ME to Ephesians 5:15-21
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart
So what good things should I store up in my heart?
1st, Music – “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord”
2ndly – Paul says we need to fill ourselves with Thanksgiving.
“Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There’s a reason why people in this world are depressed
There’s a reason why a lot of folks have trouble sleeping
There’s a reason why many face each day with a lack of hope.
They’re not thankful people.
They spend all their time thinking about what they don’t have/ rather than what have.
In Philippians 4, to rejoice in the Lord always. And then God tells us that when we learn to do that we end up having a peace that passes all understanding. It doesn’t even make any sense... but it’s there.
1Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Psalm 127:2 tells us God “grants sleep to those he loves.”
If we learn to be thankful people - the good stored up in our hearts because we’re grateful removes our anxiety, gives us peace, gives us sleep.
Lastly, Ephesians tells us to “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Eph 5:21
To be filled with the Spirit you need to fill your heart with a priority that’s higher than you
Philippians puts it this way:
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4
Thus, to bear the fruit of God’s Spirit... you and I need to fill ourselves...
· with the right music
· with the right attitudes
· with the right humility to serve others.
INVITATION
Where and when we meet
Chardon, Ohio 44024