"Building Your Life On the Rock"

Hi there this is Lon Solomon and I would like to welcome you to our program today.

You know it's a tremendous honor that God is given us to be on stations all around the nation bringing the truth of God's word as it is uncompromising and straightforward and I'm so glad you tuned in to listen and be part of that.

Thanks again for your support and your generosity that keeps us on the radio and now let's get to the word of God this morning to talk about laying a solid foundation not for buildings but for our lives, because that's what Jesus talks about in the passage that we have in front of us here in Luke chapter 6.

In fact, this is one of the most interesting and one of the most familiar passages in all the Bible just about every cute as ever been the Sunday school knows this passage and the reason they know it is because there's a song that forms around this passage wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down and the house on the rock stood firm right is the third verse, the ghosts will build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings will come down now that might be a cancel but I'll tell you. That song is full grown up truth. I'm to talk to you about that this morning for my path is to look at it. Luke chapter 6 verse 46 Jesus said why do you call me Lord, Lord, and you do not do what I say I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well-built but the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation and the moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. To understand this parable Jesus tells we have to understand a little bit about the topography of Israel in Israel, particularly the southern part of Israel from Jerusalem South via architecture down there consist of high rocky cliffs would be why deep valleys in between these big, deep, wide valleys are called wadi. Sometimes during the rainy season in Israel which is December, January and February. Suddenly out of nowhere.

Flash floods can ward down through these bodies wiping out everything that's down there houses everything that's what lies behind Jesus's parable Jesus says that the foolish man is a man who goes ahead and builds his house down in the wadi, but all of a sudden sooner or later the inevitable happens and the wadi suddenly rages with water and the man's house is swept away by contrast, the wise men of the land goes up on the hillside in the rocky land and there is where he sings this foundation now it's true that you have to work a lot harder to think is foundation up there on the hillside. In fact, if the wise man in the foolish man. It started building at the very same time the wise man would still be up on that hillside with his sledgehammer pounding away long after the foolish man who built down in the wadi was done. However, when a flash flood came through that man who built his house upon a rock was the awful glad he put in the extra time and effort it took to build it up there or not, down in that valley salon.

What's the point that Jesus is trying to get across to us here is Jesus wants us to see that whether we ever stop to think about it or not, every one of us here is a builder everyone of us here with our actions with our words and with our habits. We are building a lifestyle, a building that will either be of benefit to people around us or it will cost people around us great suffering, a building that our grandchildren and our children are going to copy.

Whether it's good or bad to copy it in a building that Almighty God. One of these days is going to evaluate what Jesus is trying to get us to understand is how important it is to build our lives on the right foundation on a solid foundation because a week foundation means a week building. I don't care how flashy the upper stories might be, you can build a building that has the flashiest superstructure in the world but of the foundations bad.

Sooner or later, that buildings coming down.

And Jesus says by the same token, you can build a life that on the outside has flashy and looks just perfect. But the foundations week. Sooner or later the storms of life are good to bring the building to this is what Jesus is talking about. Okay okay Lon I got that I got the point. Good foundations are important understand all about wadi.

Thank you very much, but Lon really so what difference does this make for me to tell you, you know, when it comes to having a solid spiritual foundation for our lives. There are three footers that the Bible tells us about and I want to tell you what they are. So you sure you're using right footers for number one is this a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In the book of Ephesians chapter 2 in the Bible verse 20 it says that Jesus Christ himself is the chief cornerstone. What God means by that is that whether or not were building a nation or whether were building a society whether were building a church, whether were building our personal lives. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone around whom we must build. If we want a solid foundation.

If you want a life that has a solid rock as its foundation on life that will withstand the storms of this world, a life will even stand up to a few flash floods every once in a while the only place you and I are going to find that kind of foundation is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ the living God of the universe. Isaiah said this, chapter 28 verse 16 he said this is what the sovereign God of the universe for us. I am setting up a tested stone, Israel he's referring to Jesus spell a precious cornerstone on which you can build a sure foundation and the person who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Dear when God says when you be awful if you and I wanted to build a life and we wanted to build it on a solid spiritual rock and there was no solid spiritual rock anywhere to build it on but you see, God hasn't left us in that condition. God says in Isaiah. I have set up a stone, I've created a cornerstone that you can build a foundation on and I put it in Israel. The cornerstone is Jesus Christ. And if you will build on that cornerstone, you will never, the Bible says be put to shame if you're here and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way. I hope that you really think about what I'm sharing with you this morning because everything else out there that your building on a sinking saying your career, your building on your career it sinking saying your building on the money you got it sinking saying it's all sinking saying it's all going to go away and collapsed. The only thing there is. That's not is Jesus Christ, the risen son of God.

That's it. If you want to go to life than solid gold building on your career, your money, your health, or anything else with Jesus Christ.

I got a phone call this week. My family did from a lady in our church and she said you know I have some friends. I like to know if you'd be willing to talk with.

They said she has little daughter who has the same problem.

Your little daughter has Anna Laura has epilepsy and as many of you know we had a terrible time our daughter 16 months old terrible time getting her seizures under control. It's just been a horrible year. If she is doing little better thank you but she said this other family has a daughter was having the same problems and is about a fact she's in Fairfax Hospital. Right now the daughter is in the trying to get her seizures under control. She's the same age as your daughter and these friends of mine are not Christians and they told me that they feel like their whole life is falling apart that there's no place to turn, there's no solid ground run to anymore. We said to this lady sure we would love to talk to your friend because we understand how your friend feel and we understand and we got an answer to their problem, not to their epilepsy problem.

I will have an answer to that, but I've got an answer to the problem that you might feel when you will feel you got any ground run to anymore because we were going through these tough times. What we found is that having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is what made all the difference. Knowing the Jesus Christ loved us, knowing that God had a plan for our life knowing that we could go to him to get strengthened to give hope when there didn't seem to be any hope in this life and in the details of this world, folks, that's where you build a life that will stand the flash floods that God sent you don't know Jesus Christ in a real and personal way your building on same. I hope you'll think about what I shared with you. Well, that's quarter number one footer number two is a lifestyle that is based on the values of the word of God, not just a personal relationship with Christ but a lifestyle that's based on the values of the word of God is a song we sang at this morning.

How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord is laid for your faith where remember in the here is what excellent word functional really when you boil it all down. There's only two possible bases in all of this world on which for you to decide the moral issues of life bases.

Number one is relativism, meaning that you say I am the authority and I will make the decision as to what's right and wrong.

I will decide what to do based on what seems best to me in the given situation. Relativism. The only other option is revelation, meaning that you are not the authority anymore.

But God is and that we go to the revelation of God as we find here in the Bible and we say all right God based on the package you know man from the end to the beginning and you know the world from the end of the beginning. What is the eternal plan that you have a one of the eternal truth morally and ethically that you have so I can do that and you know our country today is like a ship that's been cut loose from its moorings and is morally adrift at sea. We've eliminated the values of the word of God and eliminated the teachings of the word of God from our universities. Our public schools are local governments, our courts, our legislatures are media our national ethics are businesses and we replaced it with rampant relativism. Everybody out there is doing what's right in our own site if it will. How can we, the greatest country in the whole world get to be like this first symbol. We talked a foundation for morality and sanitized American life from it. We wiped it out. We took the Bible. The only real foundation there is for moral truth anywhere in the world and we sanitized our culture folks.

You can't build a firm foundation for your life on relativism. You're not capable of deciding the moral issues of life for yourself and making good decisions, solid moral foundation have to be built on a solid on shifting base and that's why God gave us the word of God, third footer in last is not only a personal relationship with Christ not only the values of the word of God. The third and finally a personal surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 46 Jesus said why do you call me Lord, Lord, and you do not do what I say it's pretty good question. I mean I would work anywhere else in the world trying to trough it calling boss boss and then don't do what he says and see what happens they will love calling you boss and your boss and you know that boss but I do what I feel like doing here. The company and the boss would say to you, here's your big slip got your check and sayonara why is it that we think this will work in any other area of life. Except we were dealing with Jesus Christ on we always are saying, Lord, Lord Jesus is will do what he tells us friend, even if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And even if you acknowledge that the Bible is the true source around what you're going to base your life. Listen now that will not translate into a solid foundation for life just goes to. You need to third footer and the third footer is that because I have a personal relationship with Christ and because I grant the Bible to be my true source. Therefore, I'm going to go out and I'm not going to just talk about the Bible but I'm going to implement what the Bible says and I'm going to live it in my life. Would you notice in Jesus's parable Jesus is the difference between these two men look at verse 47 the first builder.

He says heard his words and put them into practice and the second builder verse 49 here's my words Jesus says and does not put them into practice for years. When I read this parable. I thought the difference between these two men is one of them heard what Jesus said in one of them didn't.

It took me years before I read it carefully and realize that's not the case at all.

They both heard his words. The difference is one of them did what he said hello and it we as Christians are greater talking about the Lordship of Jesus Christ but a solid foundation only comes from living the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I ran across an article not too long ago called honest him sick and it says this is how some of the old favorite hymns would sound if we were really honest when we say this in a few of the titles I've surrendered some onward Christian reserves. Just as I pretend to be. I love to talk about telling the story you know the him it says I love to tell the story of this was as all of the talk about telling a story to tell anybody but I love to talk about telling and here's my favorite take my life and let me be. Can you relate isn't it true that most of the time when we're in church singing these kind of songs that maybe this is what we are really saying if we were honest about where we stood with the Lordship of Christ, folks.

God is given us a solid foundation to build our lives on, but it's not enough just to come to church and listen to the Bible is not enough just to read it occasionally for yourself. We have to commit ourselves to implement it in our lives. We have to be willing to make Jesus Christ the ruling force in our lives not not what we feel like doing not what we wanted to, but Jesus Christ and what he tells us to do and it's only then we have a personal relationship with Christ and a commitment to the word of God and also a commitment to letting the word of God run our lives, then you've got a foundation you can build a life for that to withstand the storms of this world is Avalon that sounds so simple and I'm standing one or more people understand this while more people build our lives on this very simple foundation. The answer to that question comes by asking another question and that is what made the foolish man go down to build his house in the wadi see we can answer that. Maybe we'll get some insight as to why more people to live the way were talking about.

First of all, maybe the foolish man went down to build his house in the wadi because he wanted to avoid hard work and it was a lot easier to build it down there in that old flat ground we could dig to get done quick and then have time to relax and enjoy it kickback. He made the decision to take the easy route and it describes the way people really live out there is all kinds of foolish people out there will just look in the wing it. Looking to get buys quickly think it is easy they can with as little work in as little effort as they can and the problem is they don't just do business that way they build our lives that way. Is it easy to live for Jesus Christ in this world of ours know is it easy to stand for the values of the word of God in your neighborhood and your family in your office know is it easy to dedicate yourself to the Lordship of Christ and deny your flesh and deny what you feel like doing and obey Christ instead know it is not easy to do that but if you want a life it's going to stand the storm.

You and I would have to be willing to put out the extra effort to build on the rock. Second of all, maybe builder down there because after all his friends built her house is all little bunch of foolish people community. Maybe they call it fools tell him Israel or something like that down there in the wadi and maybe was really important for him to be down there with all of his friends all the in crowd late enough to climb all way up the mountain to see him and he let his friends dictate his building standards in his choice of location. When I was a kid plays always say to my mom was no intelligence to go here and get to go there and I'll see what I think you ever say that you and your my mom is always say to me. She is always say well if your friends went and jumped off a bridge, would you go jump off the bridge with him and her point was. Was I gonna let my friend set the standards for my life will be frank with you. Back then the answer was yes I'm very happy to let my friend set the standard for my life now that I'm alone little smarter. I've learned that that's a stupid way to live not to let my friend set the standard for my life. I'm to learn what God says and set the standards for my own life.

You know there's a lot of our friends were building their lives down there in the wadi and if they want to build their lives. There you can pray for them and you can try to talk to them but you can't stop them. But that doesn't mean you and I have to be stupid enough to go build a house next door. Maybe builder's house in the wadi because you want to be with his buddies certain finally. Maybe the reason he goes out down there is not just because you want to be with his friends or not. Just because he wanted the easy way out. The maybe builder down there because he was just plain stupid. Don't you think he knew that sometimes flash floods came through these bodies. I think you did. Don't you think he knew that other people's houses they been wiped out because they built down there.

I think he did.

Maybe he figured well that happens a lot of people wadi is not mine. Or maybe he just didn't have enough sense to appreciate the long-term dangers.

All he was interested in was the short-term advantages and you know in the Bible God says whenever we choose short-term advantages over long-term godliness and integrity. God calls us stupid fools. The word he uses in the Bible and we always lived to regret it always know folks, the Bible says that one of these days of your Christian every single one of us is going to stand in front of Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians chapter 5 we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that God may give us the things we've done in our body the rewarder's are not rewarded for the things we done in our body for the good or bad. You could have a performance review. Did you know that as a Christian that I will decide whether or not you get into heaven or not. If you know Jesus Christ personally yielded in heaven but you would have a performance review when you get there that I have a lot to do with how things go in the heavens for you.

And you know what, knowing that that's out there in the future. It seems to me that we ought to be asking ourselves about any decision that we have to make MRI prepared to stand before Jesus Christ and defend this decision when facing and if you can answer that question and say yes, I'm excited about defending this decision in front of Jesus Christ. My advice to you is don't do if we lived more like that.

I think we make a lot better decision but you see were willing to trade so often short-term advantages and were willing to trade in long-term benefit. God says we do that we stupid in this regard. One of the stupidest people in the Bible was a fellow named lot. Sound never heard it while it was Abraham's nephew and Abraham and Lot were living together in the land and Abraham said a lot is a lot look is that we get too many people here live together is what will you do you go this way, although that will you go east although West go North LaSalle you choose and I'll go the other way and the Bible says Genesis 13 that lot looked and saw that the land around Sodom and Gomorrah was well ordered and green like the Garden of Eden there was an short-term advantages to that site but only further down the passage it says but the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. There were some long-term disadvantages endangers their lot was willing to trade in the long-term disadvantages to get the short-term advantages and brother was he sorry he did. He lost everything he owned. He lost his wife. He lost the moral integrity of his daughters. He lost it all.

Decision and you know friends. God wants you and me as Christians to be a lot smarter than lot. He wants us to be smarter than the fool build his house down and not wanting. Don't assume floods never coming your way. Don't assume you're never going to stand before Christ and if you make this decision about 11, I hear about it again. I promise you there is not a decision you or I will ever make that we will never hear about again where hear about every one of them again. Make sure the decision you make is one you're prepared to face a second time Jesus Christ brings it up to two on the screen and causes it and says not what about this. Tell me about this friends.

The issue is not whether were building, but how were building were building the issue is how God loves you so much and he loves me so much he wants us to make sure that were building properly. Don't kid yourself and assume that the storms of life only hits all the guys house. Believe me, God has a few flash floods.

He's going to send your way to test your house. Make sure your foundations ready for them built for long-term benefit from God, then we won't have to sing. There shall be sprinkles a blessing we can sing, there will be showers of blessing because that's what God will do for us. Spray heavenly father, I want to pray that you would use what we've talked about this morning is a reality check for the lives of every single person. It's here I want to pray Lord Jesus.

That's you would help us to evaluate our lives. In light of the footers that we've talked about this morning, help us not to build where our friends build, help us not to look for the easy way out. The Lord Jesus I pray that you would help us to build a foundation that is solid and firm and can withstand the storms of life, one that can withstand the judgment of God or Jesus I pray that if your folks here as I suspect there are, whose foundation is a little wobbly lately. Maybe there's some things in our life that in light of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, ought not be theirs. Christian, I pray that you, through the power of your spirit will change our heart towards those things this morning.

Make us willing to bring our behavior and our attitudes in line with your will so that we can change our character and our lifestyle for Jesus, thank you for speaking to us about this very timely issue. We pray these things in Jesus name amen been listening to that went with Dr. Lon Solomon said plan is an outrage in Milan found in ministering to listen to today's message, or for more information visit our website. Lon Solomon ministries.org. Thank you for your support. If you would like to contact us, please visit our website or call at 866788777 we had people join us next time in line to answer one of life's mission might stand