Where Will You Build?

Archived on July,. 2001

Welcome to this new message, I hope it is a blessing to you. Buildings are constructed these days at a rapid pace. What used to take several months is now accomplished in a few weeks. Just like everything else, the labor pangs are growing faster and closer together. Buildings are made of every material known to man, but there is one house that is not made with our hands but with our deeds. That house is in a sense, a spiritual temple where God dwells within us. As it is written in 1st Corinthians 15:44, there is a spiritual and a physical body. In the same way there are physical and spiritual houses. Jesus spoke about the physical temple when He told the Pharisees, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. " (John 2:19 KJVA)
He was of course speaking of His resurrection. So our temple, the physical body is one temple and then we have the spiritual temple inside this physical temple, that holds within it our soul, spirit and the Holy Spirit that is indwelling. We cannot build these buildings back up if they are destroyed, only the Father is capable of that. However; there is a building we can build, and it is up to us where we build it. Jesus taught of this house in Luke chapter 6:46-49. This is going to be the scripture we will use for the basis of this week's message.
Just before this scripture Jesus is speaking of good and corrupt fruit. Good comes from good and bad from bad. He tells them, whatever is in the heart, the mouth speaks it. So build that which is good.

Luk 6:46-49 KJVA
(46) And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
If you call him Lord why do you not do the things he says to do? Here is the main reason for this scripture, if we hear(study or read) the word of God but don't do what it instructs us to do, we are being foolish and vain in following Christ. He is going to lay down a parable to us here that describes those who are doers and those who are only hearers.

(47) Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
(48) 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 hear His word and DO what we hear, we are like a wise man who built on the rock and his house didn't fall when the storms came raging in.
The first question we should ask is "What is this 'house' we are talking about?". Once again, this is the spiritual temple, if we base our spirituality on anything but His Word, our house is not going to be built very well. In this same way, the house here can also represent, our "household", our family. If our house is founded on the Rock, it will not fall. More on that a little later.
Next we should ask, "How do we HEAR His word?".
Romans 10:17 answers this question for us, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". It's that simple. To hear God we must dig into His word, read it, study it, live by it. This brings us back to what Christ was teaching. He told them that the man, "digged deep". He is using the analogy of digging in the earth, but we are talking about digging into His Word.
Now we come to the rock here. A Christian should know exactly what rock Jesus is talking about. David wrote of Him many times in the Psalms. Here is one of those places, "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." (Psa 18:2 KJVA)
Paul also identifies this Rock or us: "And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."
(1Co 10:4 KJVA)
That Rock is Christ!! If we build our beliefs, our faith on this Rock, no matter what comes, it will not fall. See here we are back at digging into the Word. Jesus said to "..learn of him.." and we could enter into a wonderful rest.(Matthew 11:29) Build your foundation, your house, family, your life on the Rock! Remember we are talking about not only basing your belief on Him, but DOING WHAT HE SAYS. This is what He is teaching, that the DOERS would be like this wise man. "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."(James 1:25, KJV)
Now let's carry on to the next verse and see what it is like for someone who doesn't DO what they hear.

(49) But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Here we have the opposite! A hearer who does not do anything with what they have heard(learned from the Word). They have read that whole Bible in a year, but do they follow it and truly understand what it means? Not if they have tried to build their house without the foundation and even worse on the earth! It is a foolish person who has a house without a foundation, things can creep in easily, weeds can grow and the inside becomes unclean. This is true of our spiritual house. If we do not found our house on the Rock, it is easy for other things of this world to creep in and destroy our lives, our family and our walk with Christ. Here the man is building his house on the earth, the world. God used the earth to symbolize the children of the promise that was given to Abraham. That his children would be like the sands of the sea. So Christ here is speaking of the world, if we build our house, using the World as our foundation it will fall and be ruined. We cannot have any faith in worldy things, they will all melt away with a fervent heat at the return of Jesus. Why would anyone want to have faith in those things? As for me and my House, we shall serve the Lord.
Now I want to talk about this stream and the flood that came upon this house that both men built. We are mainly talking about the the things of this world coming in, trying to beat us down. The storms of life rage from the day we are born, brought on by the sin that was introduced into this world. As long as we have a strong foundation(Christ) no matter what may come, we will stand strong. If your house is based on the things of this world, the world itself will ruin you. There is however; a deeper symbolism here that Christ uses. The word "flood" as used here is the G4215:
ðïôáìï?ò , potamos, pot-am-os', Probably from a derivative of the alternate of G4095 (compare G4224); a current, brook or freshet (as drinkable), that is, running water.
This same word is used to describe the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon in Revelation chapter 12. He is called the serpent here, the same is that old serpent as written Revelation 12:9. They are all a type of satan.
"And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood."(Rev 12:15 KJVA)
The second word rendered "flood" in the English is the G2416, which is a deluge, an overwhelming of anything. The dragon, satan, will come spouting lies from his mouth to deceive those who have not dug deep and laid their foundation in the Rock. Not all who call themselves Christian have made their foundation strong, they go to church on sunday but they never open the Word of God for themselves to "learn of Him" and enter into that rest from the storm.
There is a wonderful old song of which I want to relay the chorus to you:

Where will you build friend, where will you build
on the sinking sand or a rock on the hill
Through the raging storm will your building stand
It's sure to fall if you build it on the sand.

So..Where will you build?
Father bless
Carl Towns.

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