Building on the Foundation of Obedience

Matthew 7:24-27
Dr. Tony Evans
Notes taken on March 25, 2009

I had a crack on my wall which I hired someone to fix. He plastered it and painted it, and it was good as new. One month later, the crack reappeared, so I called him again to fix his work; it looked good until a month later, when the crack not only appeared but also brought along its cousins! Frustrated at the workmanship, I called a differed person.

He came, took one look, and said that he can't fix the crack. I was agog. Didn't you specialize in fixing cracks? He said, yes, but the problem with your wall is not a crack. It is your shifting foundation. If you fix the crack, you are just patching the symptoms, not addressing the actual problem.

Many of us spend time and money fixing cracks on the wall, when it's the unseen shifting foundation that needs our attention.

The metaphor of building a house

Two men were building a house. Both had a dream and wanted to build something of value, significance, that matters.  The house can be the following things:
• A life that matters.
• A household. No one wants to walk on the aisle knowing that it will lead to divorce.
• A church or ministry.  We're a household of faith. No one wants a ministry that doesn't grow.
• A nation.

Comparison between the two men

Both men were compared in their dreams and adversities (storms). Both had access to the word, to a Bible believing church. How do we know this? Because Jesus said, "Everyone who hears these words of mine..." Nothing can be closer to orthodoxy than that.

Contrast between the two men

While they had many things in common, Jesus contrasted them. He called one a wise man, and the other, a fool.

Who is the wise man? He is one who ascertains God's desires and seeks His mind, and then pragmatically applies them to life.

Who is the fool? He is the one who refuses to apply God's mindset to his life. You can be a fool coming to church. Listening to His word one day, and leaving the mindset all behind on Monday.

Building the right foundation

Both had the same dreams, but they didn't start from the same place. One started on a rock; the other, on  sand.

When people are building a skyscraper, they dig deep. In fact, you can discern their ambitions and tell how high they plan to build by how deep they dig. Yet, many people build their skyscraper dreams on chicken-coop foundation.

You know why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans? Because it was built on Pisa—that's Pisa. Pisa means "marshy." The only thing Pisa is good for is as a tourist attraction. There is nothing there except for a small building that has to be held up by ropes lest it falls. I don't know how good your life is right now, but if it's built like this tower, it will come crashing down.

Building on a rocky foundation:
• Expensive
• Time-consuming
• Means you heard the word and acted on it

Building on a sandy foundation:
• Cheap
• Quick
• Didn't do nothing. Truth unapplied might as well not be heard.

Applying what you learned

You need the classroom to learn the football play, but it's in the field that it's practiced. Christians have a disconnect between Sunday and Monday.

What people want is sandy-rocky. When we water down the word of God, that's what we get. When we mix the sand of man with the rock of God, we cancel the effectiveness and power of the word of God.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, yes, but not if it's candied apple dipped in a vat of sugar. It's not that the apple is no longer nutritious, but the sugar cancels out the benefits.

So why do we take the word of God on Sunday, then dip it in human understanding on Monday... and then wonder why they don't experience God's power and transformation?