Standing Through the Storm

The message was brought by Jimmy Gross

Matthew 7:24 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: 25 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. 26 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: 27 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.

Faith on false hope and doctrine is basically nothing. We
see landslides in many places today; people are the same. Trials come and we
slide away from the Lord.  One can be
religious and still be lost. One can sing, read the Bible and pray, but if the
Lord has not been accepted as Savior, that person is not ready to meet Him.

There are two builders in this text; one built on the rock
and one on the sand. Storms came to the house on the rock; storms came to the
house on the sand.  These two builders represent
two groups of people.

The foolish ignore the gospel and keep doing things their
own way. Many people want something for free. 
WE HAVE THE FREE THING TO GIVE and SALVATION is it.

The wise group builds on a rock, a solid foundation. The
Psalms say the Lord is the ROCK. A wise person must build on Jesus, our ONLY
foundation. We cannot allow grudges, discord and the like to have right of way
in our hearts. God is to direct our paths; we must pay attention. We mess up
when we step away from that Foundation. Jesus said He is the way, the truth,

and the life. A builder digs a hole and grades it. He lays block for a sure
foundation. He wants it secure and level. A life in Christ cannot be rocky and unleveled.

The storm challenged the structure built on the rock. The
same storm challenged the house built on the sand. They both heard how to
build. The foolish man ignored it. There have been many foundations built upon
that are not the correct ones.

1)      Wealth—by
this and that. You cannot buy salvation.

2)       Pleasures—go to the lake, go here and there—let’s
just have fun. Our life is God’s and pleasures should not be put before Him.

3)      Praise
of people—everyone likes a pat on the back. We can’t live on that. No one
deserves true praise but the Lord.

So, storms come. What made the difference? It beat on both
houses. What made the difference?  The
FOUNDATION was and is the difference. A wise person builds solidly on the Lord
as his Rock. The foolish build on what slips away.

 There is no straddling the fence. What foundation are you
building on?