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HOW TO HAVE A ROCK SOLID HOME--PART 2
MATTHEW 7:24-27
Introduction:
Last week we began examining this matter of how to have a Rock solid home. We said that whatever we are building–a house, a life or a home–a good foundation is essential. Jesus uses this imagery of a foundation to illustrate this spiritual truth here in our text. We said that if we want a life or a home that will stand through the storms of life, then we must build upon a good foundation! (READ–Matthew 7:24-27).
We said that a Scripture has one interpretation, but can have many applications.
The context of this Scripture shows that Jesus is specifically applying this to a person’s life. In other words, Jesus is saying your life is no better than the foundation you are building it on and there is only one acceptable foundation–the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!!!
But then we began looking at this illustration and relating it to the home.
A life is no better than its foundation, but a home is no better than its foundation either!
In building our homes today, we said that we need to realize some things:
The storms will come!
God has left us instructions of how to build our lives and our homes!
Our life and our home will either stand or fall depending upon the foundation it is built upon!
It takes some key ingredients to build a life or a home that will weather the storms!
It takes Want!
It takes Wisdom!
It takes Willingness!
It takes Work! (You’ve got to dig deep!)
So What Does A Home Need In Order To Stand Through The Storms Of Life?
I. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABIDING PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES!
(John 15:4-5; 7)
I’m talking about the abiding presence of Jesus! “Abide” means “to stay.”
I like what Dr. C. I. Scofield says in his footnote on this matter. He says “To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share. On the other hand, the abiding one takes all burdens to Him, and draws all wisdom, life and strength from Him. It is not unceasing consciousness of these things, and of Him, but that nothing is allowed in the life which separates from Him.”
So how does one experience this abiding presence:
A. It First Begins With A Relationship With Him!
We First Need To Come To Jesus For Salvation, Then After We Have Come To Him, We Need To Just Stay With Jesus!
You can never abide in Jesus until you’ve first come to Him!
1. Husband And/Or The Dad, You Need To Be Saved!
2. Wife And/Or The Mom, You Need To Be Saved!
3. Children Need To Be Led In A Path That Leads To Salvation At An Early Age!
Mark 10:14–“Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
B. We Need To Abide In Him When The Going Is Easy.
The problem with having it easy in life is that there seems to be no urgency for dependence on God. God help us to abide in Him when things are going good!
C. We Need To Abide In Him When The Going Gets Tough!
A problem that I see many times is that when the going gets too tough, folks want to abandon ship. They want to jump out of the boat and into the storm!
That is when we need Him most!
Just like the marriage vows we took with our spouses–for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, so we need to stick with Jesus through whatever comes in life!
D. We Need To Abide In Him When We Can See Our Way Clear And We Need To Abide In Him When We Can’t Even See The Next Step!
We need to abide in the one who sees all and knows all–He understands what we are going through better than anybody!
We need to abide in the one who is powerful enough to overcome any obstacle we face!
We need to abide in the one that goes with us wherever we go! He will never leave us or forsake us! Standing somewhere in the shadows, you’ll find Jesus!
We need to lean on those Everlasting Arms!
Colossians 2:6-7–“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
We need to be like the Apostle Paul who said,
Galatians 2:20–“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
We need to live in Christ and Christ needs to live in us!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABIDING PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES!
II. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN AUTHORITATIVE PRINCIPLE IN OUR LIVES!
What is that Authoritative Principle? It is the Word of God!
John 8:31–“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
A. The Principles Of This World Are Shifting Sand!
1 Corinthians 1:19-20– “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
My friend, the wisdom of God is foolishness with this world and the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God!
It doesn’t matter the number or the names of the Universities that one may have attended, studied, or graduated from.
It doesn’t matter the number of degrees they have behind their name.
It doesn’t matter how much they have studied.
It doesn’t matter how much they are applauded by those in academia or by the media or by the world.
It doesn’t matter how many books they sell in the marketplace.
Psalm 1:1–“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
When we choose the wisdom of the world over the Wisdom of God in building our homes we are building on shifting sand and we are in trouble!
Example: For years parents raised their children according to Dr. Spock, but Dr. Spock acknowledged before his death that he was wrong on some things.
Yet his books still sell and people continue to raise their children according to a faulty wisdom!
We had best leave the advice from the talk show hosts, the secular psychologists, the newspaper columnists and all the rest of those who portray a worldly wisdom because it is nothing but shifting sand of man’s wisdom!
B. The Principles Of Our Feelings Are Shifting Sand!
Feelings can be deceptive because our hearts are deceitful.
Jeremiah 17:9–“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Proverbs 14:12–“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
Our feelings are useless as principles because our feelings can change.
We must not follow our own reasonings or feelings because that is shifting sand too!
C. Only The Principles Of God Are Solid Rock!
2 Peter 1:19–“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed. . .”
We can’t improve upon perfection!
We can’t improve upon the highest wisdom!
We can’t improve upon the Word of God!
Luke 6:47-48 - “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”
If we are going to build our homes on solid foundations we had better get back to the authoritative principles of God’s Word!
Deuteronomy 6:6-7–“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABIDING PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN AUTHORITATIVE PRINCIPLE IN OUR LIVES!
III. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ATMOSPHERE OF PEACE IN OUR LIVES!
Matthew 12:25–“. . .Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:”
If a house is characterized by fighting and contention, it is being built on shifting sand!
Where there is strife and conflict you can be assured of one thing, somebody has a pride problem!
Proverbs 13:10–“Only by pride cometh contention:”
What maintains an atmosphere of peace in our lives? It is the fullness of the Holy Spirit!
When there is strife and conflict you can be assured that somebody in that battle is not filled with the Holy Ghost!
Galatians 5:22-23– “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
When we are spiritually minded instead of being carnally minded, there is life and peace!
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
IV. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABUNDANCE OF PRAYER IN OUR LIVES!
Ephesians 6:10–“. . .be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”
We do that by putting on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil!
Ephesians 6:18–“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
Philippians 4:6-7–“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
A. Prayer Is A Dependence Upon God!
Proverbs 3:5–“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
B. Prayer Is An Acknowledgment Of God!
Proverbs 3:6–“6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABIDING PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN AUTHORITATIVE PRINCIPLE IN OUR LIVES!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ATMOSPHERE OF PEACE IN OUR LIVES!
THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ABUNDANCE OF PRAYER IN OUR LIVES!
V. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN AUTHENTIC PRAISE IN OUR LIVES!
Psalms 34:1–“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Psalm 50:23–“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.”
Psalms 101:1-2 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
VI. THERE NEEDS TO BE AN ACCEPTABLE PATTERN IN OUR LIVES!
Ephesians 5:22-25–“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
Titus 2:3-5–“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
Conclusion
What is your life being built upon? What is your home being built upon?
It all must start with a good foundation or else it is destined for destruction!
If you want a Rock solid life that will stand the storms of life, you must have these essentials!
If you want a Rock solid home that will help you weather the storms of life, you must also have these essentials!
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!