CHOICES: The Wise & Foolish Builders

CHOICES: The Wise & Foolish Builders (Matt 7:24-29) (Based on sermon notes by Kua Soo Li)

This Sunday, CDC was privileged to have her own Pastor Micky teach on the topic of the Wise & Foolish Builders taken from Matthew 7:24-29, simply titled “Choices”.

 
Daily, we are faced with many choices. Some are trivial, some are important. However, the most important choice we have to make is found in today's passage.

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

 28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The teachings of our Lord Jesus are not for information but for transformation. Therefore, everyday, we face the CHOICE OF OBEDIENCE when confronted by his teaching. We must choose to obey or disobey, to follow His way, or our way.  

Starting off from the last two verses of the passage, Pastor Micky pointed out how Jesus spoke with AUTHORITY as He taught the great sermon of the Mount. Scribes quoted rabbis, prophets quoted God, but Jesus said: "Truly, truly, I say to you.." Where does His authority come from on how we should live our lives? Just as an artist would probably be the best interpreter of his or her work, the Creator is the best interpreter of Life. Jesus is our Creator and God! Through Him all things were made, and in Him all things have their being!

Matthew Chapter 7 speaks about two Gates, two Trees and two Builders.

The two Gates speak about two choices, the narrow gate or the wide gate, the more difficult but correct choice, or the easier but wrong choice.

The two Trees speak about two results, the good fruit or the bad fruit. The good tree bears good fruit and the bad tree bears bad fruit.

Finally, the two Builders combine Choice and Result, and gives us the Basis for our Choice. The wise builder chooses the narrow gate and bears good fruit. The foolish builder chooses the wide gate and bears bad fruit. Those who follow the Words of Christ will build a solid foundation for their life and become fruitful in every way!

Pastor Micky now led us to view the Contrast between the two Builders:

Firstly, the Foolish Builder -
- is impatient (much faster to build on sand)
- gives in to instant gratification (acts based on the feeling of the moment)
- clings to a life of ease and comfort (first to quit when hardship comes)
- places Self on the throne ("I will decide whether or not I want to obey")
- has a form of religion (for man to see, meaningless rituals)
- has a short-sighted building plan (doesn’t think much about the future)

In contrast, the Wise Builder -
- is patient (much slower to build on rock)

- takes time to dig deep (takes time and hard work to build on the hard rock)
- diligent and disciplined ("no pain, no gain!", disciplines will to do what is right, even if difficult)
- God-centred (I want to please God first before myself)
- has personal relationship with God (Christianity is Real and Alive! Full of Meaning and Joy)
- builds for eternity (lives life now with a vision of eternity, doing what will really matter at the end)

Likewise, it is instructive to Contrast the 2 Foundations
Firstly, SAND
- hears but obeys self
- is self-deceiving (because knowing what is good does not make you good)
- employs self-effort

(Individual grains of sand fill the entire seashore, but they are still weak, individual grains, easily moved by the tides of life)

ROCK
- hears and obeys
- is salt & light to the whole world, not just to the church on Sundays
- relies on Christ's strength to obey

(The Rock stands firm, united on the Great Rock, our lord Jesus Christ. The tides of life cannot move it, because of its strength and unity in Christ)

The Rain and the Floods represent for us the Tests in life –

Failures, losses, disappointments, disease, death.

If our foundation is sand, our life is quickly shaken, and we crumble easily into despair, bitterness, sin and destruction.   

If our foundation is rock, our life remains strong, and we face adversity with courage, hope, and love, trusting that God will bring us through in the end!

In conclusion, Pastor Micky gave us three important steps on “How to build our lives on the Rock”

i) Repent and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord – Whoever confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from evil. We must turn away from the things we know are wrong, and continually ask our Lord to abide in us.

ii) Desire to love and obey him – We must want to love and obey Him from the bottom of our hearts. Our holy desire will give birth to righteousness and when righteousness is fully grown, it will lead us into eternal life.

iii) Ask the Holy Spirit for empowerment to obey – Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher, our Counselor, and in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, we will be changed more and more like Christ. We need to recognize and avail ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit everyday, and He will teach us and lead us in the way everlasting.

May the Lord help each one of us learn to be wise builders, and build our spiritual house on the great Cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ, always!

God bless,

Jason