Let's turn for our message today
to the book of Matthew. I want to read from the seventh
chapter of Matthew's gospel, and I'll be reading verses 24
through 27. Now, here's the title of this
message. It's called A Tale of Two Heroes. A Tale of Two Heroes. In Matthew 7, 24, the Scripture
says, and this is our Lord speaking, most of you know this portion
of Scripture as the Sermon on the Mount. And he says in verse
24, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon
a rock, the rain descended The floods came, and the rain beat
upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a
rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish
man, which built his house on the sand. The rain descended,
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house,
And it fell. And great was the fall of it. Now these verses, if you noted
while I was reading the scripture, you will notice that these verses
speak to men and women who hear the word of God. Now let me repeat
that again. He says, therefore whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock. And then
he said, and whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth
them not, I will liken him unto a foolish man." So they do not
say anything about those who do not hear the Word. These words
are spoken to those who hear the Word of God. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings, and doeth them, whosoever heareth these
sayings, and doeth them not. Most of you listening to me have
heard the Word of Christ. You've heard the Word of God.
Most of you have a Bible in your home. I doubt that there's a
home. where this program reaches that they do not have a Bible
somewhere in the house. You've read a Bible. You've heard
it quoted. You've heard it preached. Christ
is preached today, not very effectively and sometimes not very sincerely
and oftentimes not very truthfully, but at least his word is preached.
Paul said Christ is preached out of contention and envy and
jealousy, and I just thank God that Jesus Christ is preached.
But his word is accessible. You have an opportunity to hear
the word, don't you? Now let me ask you a couple of
questions. If a man perishes from hunger when bread is on
the table, is he to be pitied or to be blamed? Now here's a
table full of good food, just laden down with good food, bread,
milk, and potatoes, and gravy, and meat. If a man perishes sitting
right there looking at that food, Is he to be pitied or to be blamed?
Another question. If a man dies of thirst, sitting
right beside a well, a deep well of refreshing, cool, clear water,
is he to be pitied or is he to be blamed? Another question. If a man dies of a disease, he
has an incurable disease, and he dies from that incurable disease
when an infallible cure is right in his hands. He's holding an
infallible cure, a medicine that can make him whole. He's holding
it in his hand. And that's what Paul said in
Romans 10. The word of faith is right in your mouth. Listen
to me. Every time you use the name Lord,
you use the name that saves. Every time you curse and swear
and damn somebody with the name of God, you use the very name
that saves. Every time you call the name
of Jesus Christ, as a curse word, by word, swear word, or whatever,
you use the very name that can save. Now I ask you, whose fault
is it if you go to hell? Whose fault is it if you go to
hell? And are you to be pitied, or are you to be blamed? Here you are with the very word
of salvation on your coffee table, in your hands, and you still
perish? If you hear the word of God and
do it not, are you to be excused, or should you be judged? God
says, you'll be judged. Christ said, my word will judge
you, and there without excuse. But let's go back to our text.
Now these words are spoken to those who have heard the word
of God. He said, whosoever heareth my
saying. They're affected, people are
affected different ways. He said, some hear my sayings
and do them, some hear my sayings and do them not. All hearers
are builders. Did you know that? All hearers
are builders. in a different fashion from others,
but all heroes are builders of some sort. All religious people
are builders of some sort. I want us today to look at four
things. Number one, let's look at the
builders themselves. And then secondly, let's look
at their houses. And then thirdly, let's see if
we can find out the difference. Now, both of them are builders,
and both of them have houses, but there's a difference in these
houses. And then let's watch the end, what happens to the
two houses. All right, first of all, we have
the builders. Our master said to his disciples, he said, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a man, a wise man, that Luke says he digged deep and
found a rock and built his house on the rock. And Christ said,
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and reject them and do
them not and despise them, I will liken him unto a foolish man
who was also a builder who built a house, but he built it on the
sand. And after a while, his house fell. Now, both of these
men, as all religious men, felt a need for a refuge. They felt
a need for a house. Not many people say, well, I
don't believe in God, I don't believe in judgment, I don't
believe in heaven or hell, I don't believe in eternity. No, most
people feel a need for a refuge, even the rich young ruler. came
to Christ and he said, good master, what good thing must I do to
inherit eternal life? Even Nicodemus the Pharisee came
to our Lord by night concerned and troubled about something.
He wanted to talk about this matter of eternity, this matter
of redemption, this matter of a man's relationship with God.
But everybody who hears the word, who is conscious of God, and
the Bible, and judgment, and death, and heaven, and hell,
and eternity. Everybody feels a need for some
kind of hiding place, some kind of refuge, some kind of place
to find some safety, protection. Well, these men resolved to build,
both of them. Both of them. Both these men
were heroes, and both of them felt a need for a refuge, some
place to hide, some place to rest. And both of them actually
resolved to build a house. They were determined. This wasn't
just word only. It was deed. They sincerely built
the house. Both of them built the house.
And listen to this. They both finished what they
started. They both persevered in building and they finished
their houses. Now I know a lot of false religionists. They get religion today and lose
it next week. They make a profession and then
they lose it in six months and forget it. But everybody doesn't.
No, sir, all false professors, they don't quit. In fact, our
Lord said they'll hold on to their refuge and hold on to their
hiding place and hold on to their house built on a sandy foundation
until they actually stand before me in the judgment. And then
they're going to say, wait a minute, Lord. Well, we preached in your
name and prophesied in your name and cast out devils in your name
and did many wonderful works in your name. And even at the
judgment, they're holding on to their assurance. They're holding
on to their confidence. They were sincere in this thing.
All false professors are not hypocrites. I beg your pardon.
Some of them are dead sincere. But their house is on the sand.
Their house is on the wrong foundation. Their house is going to be destroyed.
Let's stay with the builders now. They were both heroes. They
both heard the scriptures, and they both felt a need, and they
both resolved to build a house, and they both finished it, and
moved in, and moved in. All right, secondly, let's look
at the two houses. He says, Whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine, the word of God, you see, the word of God
is the power of God unto salvation. Of his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. God hath begotten us unto a living
hope through the incorruptible seed, the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. All flesh is grass, and all the
glory of man is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth
and the flower fadeth, but the word of God abideth forever.
They hear his word, and the man that does it, does what Christ
commands, and does what Christ tells us to do, and does what
Christ exhorts us to believe. Christ said he's like a wise
man that dig deep and laid his, built his foundation on a rock
and built his house. He's a wise man. The other man
just built it on the sand. Now, let me note some things
about these houses. Both of them built houses. Both
of them built refuges for eternity. First of all, the house built
on the sand was built a whole lot quicker than the one on the
rock. Now, anybody out there that knows anything about building,
knows if you spend a lot of time on a foundation, especially if
you're going to dig deep and lay that foundation on a rock,
it's a whole lot faster just to put some boards down and start
building walls and putting a roof on it. So the fellow that built
on the sand, he had that thing built while the other fellow
was still digging. He just got his house built in
no time because he had no foundation. He just built it right on top
of the sand. It went up fast. And I'll tell you, most false
professions and most false decisions happen just that way. I'm not
discounting sudden conversion. Saul of Tarsus was suddenly converted. The Philippian jailer was suddenly
converted. The thief on the cross was suddenly
converted. But I warn you, I warn you, my
friend, about this quick, easy believism that we're dealing
with in 1980, which ignores Holy Spirit conviction. which ignores
genuine repentance toward God, which ignores a searching of
the heart in the counting of the cost, which ignores a faith
in Jesus Christ, which ignores a breaking of the heart, which
ignores a counting of the cost, your eternal soul requires and
demands that you count the cost, that you consider your need,
and that you seek and search for a certain hope. The house on the false foundation
went up a lot quicker than the one over here that was laid on
the rock. The one that fell was built a lot faster because he
didn't dig. He didn't search. He didn't seek.
He didn't find a rock. He just laid it on the sandy
foundation of self-righteousness, decisionism, a profession of
faith, be baptized, join the church, be one of the bunch,
you know. The other fellow's over here
digging in the ground. He's going down. He's hunting
that rock. He's seeking for that rock. Tell you something else
about these two houses. The one built on the sand was
built with a whole lot less effort than the one built on the rock.
You know the hardest part about building a house is digging a
foundation, digging a footer. I'm not talking about with a
backhoe. I'm talking about with a back. I'm talking about with
a pick and shovel. And this thing of laying your
hope for eternity on the rock, Christ Jesus, and digging deep
to find that rock requires a searching of the scriptures. and a searching
of the scriptures is delicate and difficult work. Yes, it is. Study to show thyself approved
under God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, if
you're going to make war on a fellow, you better count the cost, whether
you have enough troops to get the job done. If you're going
to build a house, you better count the cost, whether you have
sufficient to finish it. Heart conviction and repentance
is painful work. And the tearing down of old traditions
is a troublesome work. Salvation and repentance is a
new creation. It's a new birth. It's a new
nature. It's a new life. I worry about these preachers
that just pressure people and Push people into certain decisions
and certain professions. Just hold up your hand walk down
there Shake my hand say this prayer. God bless you. You're
saved See you in heaven. If you know you're going to heaven
as if you're already there raise your hand. Listen, my friend
Our Lord said the wise man is a man who hears my word, who
digs deep, and he finds a rock, the rock, and he builds on it. He doesn't build rapidly, he
doesn't build quickly, he doesn't build with no effort. It takes
effort. And I'll tell you something else,
that house built on the sand, these houses are not alike, not
by any means. Both these men have houses, both
of them have refuges, both of them have hiding places, but
they're different. One built on the sand and one
built on the rock. And the one built on the sand.
Now any of you fellas know anything about building? If a house doesn't
have a foundation, something's going to happen to it. It's not
going to stay like it was. Something's going to happen to
it. First of all, it's going to be out of plumb. That's the
first thing you're going to notice. That house is unbalanced. It's
out of plumb. That corner begins to drop. Or
this corner begins to drop, you see. It's out of plumb, it's
out of bouts of windows won't open because they're crooked.
The doors start where they won't open, you know, or you get them
open and they won't close. And that's the way it is with a fella
that doesn't have his foundation built on Christ. If it's on the
sand, he's generally unbalanced. He's out of plumb. He's high
on prophecy and low on grace. He just makes a whole lot of
prophecy. Every time you listen to him, he's talking about prophecy.
But he never talks about grace. He never talks about mercy. He
never talks about Christ. He's big on healing of the body,
and he's silent on substitution. He's big on sanctification, and
he's little on justification. He's high on doctrine and says
nothing of practical holiness. He's unbalanced. He's out of
plumb. But a man who's built on Christ
is balanced He loves the prophecies. He loves the atonement. He loves
sanctification. He loves justification. He loves
righteousness. He loves redemption. He loves
the sovereignty of God. He loves the effectual work of
Christ. He loves perseverance. He loves irresistible grace.
He loves the word of God, all of it. He's not twisted and warped
and majoring on this point and neglecting all the other things
that give God the glory. Tell you another thing about
this house built on the sand. It's not only out of plumb and
unbalanced, But it develops some cracks. Anytime the foundation's
not right, the house is gonna crack. It'll crack. And you know
what happens when a house cracks? And the wind blows. It's uncomfortable. The cold wind blows in. The snow
blows in. And it's uncomfortable. And I'll
tell you this. No false profession can yield you any comfort. No
false profession. No house built on a sand. You
might have your refuge. You might have your hiding place.
You might have your house built on the sand, but I'll guarantee
you, my friend, you might hide in there, and you might make
a lot of noise on the outside, but you're cold on the inside,
and you're troubled on the inside. And it never yields any peace,
and it never yields any rest, because only Christ can give
a sinner peace, and only Christ can give a sinner rest. A sinner
can only find warmth and rest and peace in Christ in time of
trial and storm. Another thing about these sand
houses, these false professions, not only are they unbalanced,
and not only are they full of cracks that let the wind in,
and they're uncomfortable, but they always need to be repaired.
Always need to be repaired. You know why churches have to
keep having these special meetings, evangelistic meetings? The weaker
the church is, the more meetings they have. That's right, the
more singings and revivals and the more programs and the more
promotions, the weaker they are in the faith, the weaker they
are in the gospel, the weaker they are in the word of God,
the more revivals in these special seasons they have to have. You
know why? Because their houses always need repairing. When a
house is built on the sand, it starts to shift in the sink.
You have to keep calling a plumber, you have to keep calling an electrician,
you have to keep calling a carpenter, you have to keep calling a brickmason,
you have to keep calling somebody to come in and repair it, and
revive it, and rededicate it, and rebuild it. Falls down on
this side. He patches it up. You have if
it falls down on the mission side you bring in a mission Evangelist,
you know to make pull that side up where it belongs it falls
down on the soul winning side You bring up in one of these
promoters to my boat soul winning if it falls down on the prayer
side you bring in some great preacher on prayer if it falls
down over here you bring in the singers to get the people and
And it falls down on giving. Some preachers say the church
won't give. They bring in a tithing expert or a bonding company to
get the people all fired up. Repairing, reviving, rededicating,
rebuilding all the time because the old house hasn't got a foundation.
Here's what needs to be done. Pastor needs to preach the gospel.
And let people just tear down all their old houses. Just get
a bulldozer and sweep them all away. Just tear out the rubbish
and start all over again and dig down and find Christ, the
foundation, and start all over again. Unfortunately, though
the owner of the house built on the same It's in bad shape
and he knows it and he's not comfortable in it And he's sitting
in there freezing to death in the winter and burning up in
the summer And he's always had to repair it and rededicate it
and refurnish it and rebuild it, but he's not too disturbed
Because most of the houses on the block just like you They're
all just like here. So he really he's not too concerned
everybody around him's got houses built on the same floor And he's
constantly told that this is normal. It's normal. And he's constantly told that
he's all right. Peace, peace, they say, when
there is no peace. Well, he's never lived in a sound
house anyway, so how would he know the difference? He's never
been at peace. He's never been at rest. He's
never built. He's never resided in a refuge where there was no
trouble. Just resting in Christ. He's
never ceased from his labors and rested in Christ. He's always
lived in a sandy house. Let's see the difference in these
two houses. Our Lord said, Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, I liken him unto a man who dug deep, and found
a rock, and built his house. Now the real difference in these
houses is underground, where the eye can't see. That is your
eye and my eye and the preacher's eye. There is an eye that can
see where the difference is, the eye of the Lord. God looketh
not on the outward countenance, but looketh on the heart. You
pass by two houses. Here's one built on the sand
and one over here built on the rock. And you look at them with
your human eye and you can't see the difference. An expert
contractor architect came. He knows the difference. And
he points out the house that's built on the rock. And our Lord
God knows the difference, and the real difference is out of
sight. The real difference is in the heart. That's where the
work of grace takes place. It's a work men cannot see, but
God sees. It's a heart work. God is known
to them of a broken heart. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. My son, give me thine heart.
Keep thy heart, out of it are the issues of life. Out of the
heart proceeds the things that defile a man. What is this hard
work? It's a real knowledge of sin.
A real knowledge of sin. What is this hard work? It's
a real understanding of inability. My inability to please God, my
inability to satisfy His law, my inability to honor His justice,
my inability to make myself whole. I need Christ. I need His blood
to cleanse me. I need His righteousness to clothe
me. I need His intercessory work to mediate for me with the Father.
It's a real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a heart
work. It's underground. It's where
men can't see. Most of these so-called revivals
today, you raise a hand, or lift a foot, or stick up a finger,
or make a statement, or shake a hand, or write your name, or
sign something. Who's emphasizing heart work?
Keep your hands down. Keep seated where you are. Don't
walk up and down aisles. Salvation's not in the front
of a church, it's in Christ. Quit shaking hands, and making
statements, and signing cards, and pledging, and doing these
things. Look to Christ. Nowhere in the Bible does it
say, he that raises his hand shall be saved. It says, he that
believeth on the Son of God. Nowhere in the Bible does it
say, he that walketh an isle and shaketh a preacher's hand
shall have eternal life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Nowhere in the Word of God does
it say, he that signeth a card and joineth a church shall be
saved. And yet we've got all this outward work. We need a
heart work. We need to do some digging Into
the very soul of the earth and find the rock into the Bible
and find the rock. Where is this rock? It's Jesus
Christ I was there 28 16 I lay in Zion God said I lay in Zion
that rocks there because God put it there that rock is available
because God made it available that rock is yours because God
gave it That rock is there because God Almighty in His sovereign
grace and sovereign will and sovereign mercy put that rock
there. He said, I lay in Zion a rock. And that stone, it's
a stone that shall not move. It's a tried stone, tried by
Satan, tried by the law, tried by men, and tried by God. It's
a precious stone, precious to the father, precious to the believer
because it's just one. And it's a sure foundation. He
that believe it shall not be ashamed. The foolish man heard
the word. He heard a sermon on heaven.
He heard a sermon on hell. He saw a film on hell. And he
determined to build himself an eternal refuge. So at the sound
of the preacher's voice and the quiet singing of the choir, he
rushed forward and took the preacher's hand and said, now I'm saved.
He built his house without a foundation. He had no foundation. He had
no rock. He had no truth. The wise man
heard the word of God, and he heard it again, and he listened
and heard it again, and he heard it in his heart, and he examined
his life, and he digged deep, and he wept over sin, and he
counted the cost, and he sought God's mercy, and he cried out
for grace in Christ Jesus, And he laid his foundation on the
rock, Jesus Christ. He found Christ in the word.
He found Christ in the promise. He found Christ in the prophecy.
And he built his hope on Jesus Christ. Everything that came
forth, came forth from that rock foundation, Jesus Christ. It's
all underground. Nobody really knew what was going
on. So he started up with the house, but the foundation was
already laid. And his neighbors and friends
said, what happened to old Bill? You see, this foolish fella,
he had to go around and tell everybody something happened
to him. But this wise man, the work was done on the inside,
and when you cleanse the inside of the cup, the outside's clean
too. When something's done in the heart, something happens
to the mouth. A preacher friend of mine used to say, if a man
really gets converted, the old hound dog in the backyard will
know it. He'll know it. It'll leak out on you, my friend.
But the work, the hard work, now last of all, the trials.
Our Lord said both these men built houses. One of them digged
deep, and he found a rock, and he built his house on that rock.
The other man, in a hurry, quickly, without any effort, just threw
up a refuge, and then the trials started coming. There was rain.
What is rain? It comes from up there. Trials
from heaven. Trials from heaven. And then
there was a flood that came up. Trials from the earth. Trials
from the earth, from everybody and everything. Sickness, old
age, depression, trouble, all these things. And then the wind.
The wind's mysterious. What kind of trial is it? That's
trials you really can't account for where they're coming from.
They come from within. There's something you can't explain.
There's trials like despair and despondency and all of these
different things that happen in the heart and the mind. You
just can't explain. The wind blows where it's listed
and you hear the sound, feel the effect, but you can't tell
when it's coming or where it's going. Well, that house built
on the sand is all right in the sunshine, but when the trials
came, it began to shake, and then it fell, and great was the
fall of it. But that house built on Christ,
on the rock, when those trials came from heaven, and when those
floods came from the earth, persecution, insults, slander, mockery, all
of these things, and when those winds blew and those things that
troubled you and tried you, you couldn't explain, you couldn't
account for, it stood. The better house had a better
foundation. That's the whole key. The foundation
was Christ.