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:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded
upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Mat 7:24-27
The Wise and Foolish Builders
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded
upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man,
which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Mat 7:24-27
The Wise and Foolish Builders
Some men’s lives are like palaces, fair and spacious and lofty; full of nobleness. Some are like castles, grim and stern and tyrannical, with dark cells and secret winding passages. Some are like mills and warehouses, stuffed so full with machinery and merchandise that the owner has scarce room to move about; and not a glimpse of the bright blue sky can he catch through their dusty windows. Some, again, are lighthouses, standing bravely on their rock amid the dashing waves, and holding forth the light by which many a storm-tossed voyager is guided into port. Some lives are more like ships than houses, ever wandering, nowhere abiding. Some are like quiet cottage homes, with no splendid outside or towering pinnacles, but full of homely peace and quiet usefulness. And some-how many-never get beyond the beginning: just a few courses laid. (E. R. Conder, D. D.)
Two Houses in the Storm
We are all of us builders. People are often building something quite different from what they fancy. A man fancies life is building a fortune, when in reality he is building a prison for himself. Some persons go on building for sixty years, and have nothing to show worth calling a life.
If we would build safely and well we must build on a right foundation. It is so in small things. The want of a good foundation does not always show at once, but sooner or later the trial comes.
1. Sometimes it is the temptations of worldly companionship and influence that try our foundations.
2. Sometimes it is sorrow.
3. Sometimes sickness reveals the hidden weakness of the foundation.
If you are going to paint a picture, and get the outline wrong (which is the foundation of the picture), all the picture will be wrong. If you have a long division sum to do, and make a mistake in the first step, all the sum will be wrong. A child soon learns that he cannot even build a card house on a shining, polished table, or on a crooked, ricketty table; or a house of toy bricks without a firm level foundation. How much more must this be so in greater matters. (E. R. Conder, D. D.)
If we would build safely and well we must build on a right foundation. It is so in small things. The want of a good foundation does not always show at once, but sooner or later the trial comes.
1. Sometimes it is the temptations of worldly companionship and influence that try our foundations.
2. Sometimes it is sorrow.
3. Sometimes sickness reveals the hidden weakness of the foundation.
If you are going to paint a picture, and get the outline wrong (which is the foundation of the picture), all the picture will be wrong. If you have a long division sum to do, and make a mistake in the first step, all the sum will be wrong. A child soon learns that he cannot even build a card house on a shining, polished table, or on a crooked, ricketty table; or a house of toy bricks without a firm level foundation. How much more must this be so in greater matters. (E. R. Conder, D. D.)
The Character of Our Temple
In fair weather the two houses described may look equally safe, but a day of storm soon tells the difference. Now there are many critical hours in life that test to some extent our spiritual character and hope; but the day of judgment indicated for the two houses is properly that day of which our Lord had spoken in which doers of His Father’s will will be received into the kingdom of heaven, and workers of iniquity, however they may cry “Lord, Lord,” will be shut out. The higher and larger the foolish builder’s house, the greater the ruin into which it falls. Disappointment of vain hopes confidently cherished, enhances the misery of perdition. With these sad words, “Great was the fall of it,” ended the Sermon on the Mount. (D.Fraser, D.D)
