The Parable of the
Wise and Foolish Builders

 The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders:

Matthew 7.24-27

 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.

Luke 6.46-49

Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?

47 For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [in order to heed their teaching] and does them, I will show you what he is like:

48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock.

49 But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great.

The "imagination" is a whole world inside the mind...

Parables are powerful "word-pictures" that are meant to be engrafted into our thinking...as mental pictures do control our thought-life. That's where the "imagination" gets involved. The imagination allows mental exploration of the past, present, future. It is the ability to see pictures and images in the "movie theater" of the mind. The imagination is the "workshop" of the human mind. It is the only thing in the world we have complete control over. That's why GOD takes great interest of what goes on there, and judges what we allow to grow there - Genesis 6.5

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders...

26 And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does 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.

What is the basic message of the wise and foolish builders?

I strongly suggest that the parable of the wise and foolish builders is the revelation that the rock is forgiveness, and the sand, or having no foundation is unforgiveness

1. Those who forgive are building their life on the "rock"
2. Those who refuse to forgive, and live in unforgiveness - are building their house upon the sand -
   

Listen to this - Holding "unforgiveness" in our heart will destroy us...

• We all have the opportunity to hold grudges against other people who we feel have hurt or offended us in some way or another. We have the false idea that somehow we are making them suffer by our being hurt and angry with them.
• Observe what emotions are there: anger, resentment, sadness, feelings of tension, thoughts of ill will toward the other person.
• Forgiveness does not mean that we are condoning the act of the other person.
• Forgiveness simply means releasing ourselves from this cycle of torture that continues to reside inside.
• Forgiveness releases us from that person controlling us anymore.
  
• Forgiveness is the key to walking out into freedom...

And, not to forgive has serious consequences -

Matthew 6.15 "But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

That will totally destroy everything we have built! Learn how to "release forgiveness"...we must not loose all that we have on this one truth!

• All houses are tested. [those on the rock or on the sand]
  
• All houses go through the same pressures
• The difference was unseen - under the surface - unable to be detected by the visible or natural eye
• Must emphasis in this parable was given to the house that was destroyed with a loud crash
• The days of "spiritual shortcuts" or cover-ups are over
• All houses will come under judgment
  

The wise builder: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or founded on a rock.

This may be a little extreme, but it does illustrate that the rock secures the house. Of course, in this case, there is no sand to make a shortcut with - the rock is the only option... So should it be with us - to build our life solidly by "hearing" and "doing."

Note that Jesus called the man without a foundation, or by not building on the rock - a "foolish man" not an "evil man" The reason why people build on the sand is because they are too lazy to remove the sand and get down deep to the rock If no rock is underneath, that space should be abandoned and another found where rock exists When we hear the sayings of Jesus, it affects three parts of us Our emotions Our intellect, or information chamber Our will These three drive all decisions in life!

The wise and foolish builders' differences are clear -

1. He that hears my sayings and does them
2. He that hears my sayings and does them not!

Only two choices. Two results...

The Kingdom of GOD demands:

1. Truth must first be heard
2. Truth must be pondered, meditated on
3. Truth must be lived or activated!

Any man, or nation who refuses to do so - their life will crash and be ruined...

..."and great was the fall of it."    "Unforgiveness" will do this in us...

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