The Wise and Foolish Builders

Luke 6:43-49

Key verse 48

“They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”

1. Read verses 43-45. How can we recognize whether a tree is good or bad? (43,44) How can we know what lies in peoples’ hearts? What do the words we say reveal about our hearts? (45) How do you think we can store up good things in our hearts?

2 Read verses 46-48. What issue do you think Jesus is addressing here? (46)

What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice? How does putting Jesus’ words into practice compare to digging deep in order to lay a foundation for a house?

3. Read verses 49. What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and does not put them into practice? What do you think Jesus symbolizes with the flood and torrent? (49) What do you think may be hindering you from putting Jesus’ words into practice? What does this parable mean to you in your life?

The Wise and Foolish Builders

Luke 6:43-49

Key verse 48

“They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”

Introduction

Today, Jesus continues his Sermon on a level place(17). Jesus commanded his disciples to be fruitful by cultivating their hearts and to be the wise builders by hearing his words and putting them into practice. Our Christian life is not to accumulate our Bible knowledge but to practice God’s word. May God bless us to practice Jesus’ teaching through this passage.

1. Read verses 43-45. How can we recognize whether a tree is good or bad? (43,44) How can we know what lies in peoples’ hearts? What do the words we say reveal about our hearts? (45) How do you think we can store up good things in our hearts?

1-1, Read verses 43-45.

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

1-2, How can we recognize whether a tree is good or bad? (43, 44)

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.

The good tree refers to Jesus while the bad tree to Adam.

Naturally Jesus grants us his love and strength to bear good fruit.

In order to bear good fruit, we must first struggle to take root in Jesus and to live according to his word and love.

John 15:1-11 read,

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

1-3, How can we know what lies in peoples’ hearts?

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. (45a)

1-4, What do the words we say reveal about our hearts? (45)

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (45b)

1-5, How do you think we can store up good things in our hearts?

***It is in and through Jesus Christ our Lord that we can store up good things in our hearts.

In fact Jesus did not focus his effort on improving his disciples’ appearances.

Jesus wanted to transform their inner character. Jesus wanted to transform their hearts into good hearts. It is because good fruit comes from a good heart.

There is no substitute for a good heart.

**For example, love does not come out of a hateful heart.

Joy does not come out of a bitter heart.

Peace does not come out of a vengeful heart.

What Jesus’ disciples need most is a good heart.

***When we want to raise up a disciple of Jesus, we have to feed them with the word of God deeply. It is time consuming and requires lots of patience.

But at God’s time we will harvest them into the kingdom of heaven.

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. -John 15:3

He also prayed for them, “Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth”

• John 17:17

It is the word of God that purifies our hearts and creates in us a clean heart.

So it is important to know the fact that storing up good things means spending our private time reading and memorizing God's word.

What we take in we will store into our hearts. Then out of the overflow of the heart we speak words of life or death.

2 Read verses 46-48. What issue do you think Jesus is addressing here?

(46) What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice? How does putting Jesus’ words into practice compare to digging deep in order to lay a foundation for a house?

2-1, Read verses 46-48.

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

2-2, What issue do you think Jesus is addressing here? (46)

do not do what I say?

There were a lot of people hanging around Jesus who called him, “Lord, Lord,” but did not do what he said.

He really wanted them to obey his words as of first importance.

2-3, What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and puts them into practice?

like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.

2-4, How does putting Jesus’ words into practice compare to digging deep in order to lay a foundation for a house?

The disciples heard Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies,” “Do not judge,” and “Good fruit comes from a good heart.”

But hearing was not enough. They needed to practice these teachings in their lives.

This requires a great effort, like that of a man digging down deep to lay a house foundation on rock.

***Building a house and laying foundation on a rock is hard work. It requires digging down deep, spending much time and energy.

When you dig deep, you have to get rid of a lot of useless dirt.

It requires a lot of hard work even though when the house is finished you never even see the foundation.

This teaches how much we must struggle to put Jesus’ words into practice.

In doing so, we build a solid life foundation on the Rock, Jesus Christ.

***When we have even one word of Jesus in our deep hearts, we can overcome the torrents of the world and render glory to God.

For example, apostle John must have struggled hard throughout his life in order to obey Jesus’ one command, “Love one another.”

He could have had hard time due to hatred and anger in his heart.

But eventually he overcame them and live by faith to the end.

***Spending much time with Jesus is to come to him, hear his words and let Jesus' words planted in our hearts until we practice his words.

It requires much struggle to dig and uproot innate pride and selfishness.

It requires early morning, hidden prayer and meditating on Jesus' words until the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.

It requires us to search our hearts in order to repent and come to the cross to receive forgiveness of our sins.

*** 2 Peter 1:19-21 show a practical example about how to lay the solid foundation;

“We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

3. Read verses 49. What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and does not put them into practice? What do you think Jesus symbolizes with the flood and torrent? (49) What do you think may be hindering you from putting Jesus’ words into practice? What does this parable mean to you in your life?

3-1, Read verses 49.

49 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. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

3-2, What is someone like who hears Jesus’ words and does not put them

into practice?

like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

3-3, What do you think Jesus symbolizes with the flood and torrent? (49)

Flood: an overflowing of water, especially over land not usually submerged.

Torrent: a stream of water flowing with great rapidity and violence.

Perhaps a torrent comes with persecution from our friends or family members, or takes away your job, or your child is sick or rebellious.

The worst torrent to come might be death.

The torrent of a flood will surely come one way or another.

3-4, What do you think may be hindering you from putting Jesus’ words into

practice?

***We are often times distracted with so many things.

If one is spending his time surfing the new things online, going to all the latest movies and partying, he cannot build his house on the solid foundation of Jesus.

If one is not studying the Bible deeply nor spending quiet time in prayer, then he cannot build his house on the solid foundation of Jesus.

***Building a foundation on the rock does not usually happen all at once.

We may not see quick results. Real repentance takes an enormous struggle of faith.

When we really repent of our sins through Jesus' blood, we depend on Jesus by faith and Jesus takes hold of us.

But, this cannot happen unless we come to Jesus daily, hear him, and practice his words. So many voices compete for our attention.

We may also lay the foundation of Jesus by preparing Bible studies, eating daily bread, writing deep testimonies, living in common life, and taking care of his sheep.

3-5, What does this parable mean to you in your life?

***This foolish builder neglected foundation work, working only on the part of the house one can see.

The house built without a foundation perhaps looked the same outwardly as the one built on the foundation. Surely, it involved less cost and less work.

The foolish builder finished his house early and could relax on his deck and throw a lot of parties.

He laughed at the one building on the foundation, saying, "Look at me enjoying life while you are still working on that foundation."

***He does not obey Jesus' teachings at all. He has superficial Bible study and doesn't bother to get up early to pray.

He hardly reads his Bible nor writes testimonies.

He just shows up to church on Sunday and hangs out with his friends, but there is no personal struggle to repent of his sins.

He never accepts one word of Jesus deeply into his heart nor puts Jesus' word into practice in person.

He is building a house, but it is without a foundation.

Perhaps the house can last for a while, looking good on the outside. Perhaps no one can tell there is something wrong with the house.

But, he cannot fool God. The Lord sees that there is no foundation.

The flood eventually comes to the foolish builder's house, but there is no foundation to hold it firm against the flood.

His house collapsed quickly and was swept away by the torrents and completely destroyed.

The foolish builder could not withstand the destructive torrents of life or the final torrent of death and God's judgment.

2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness —

• Habakkuk 2:2-4

Conclusion

From the parable of the wise and foolish builders, Jesus teaches that only when we build our lives on the foundation of Jesus, we can stand the storms of life and even God's judgment. Are you a wise builder or a foolish builder? Jesus wants us to be wise builders. From today's passage we could see that Jesus is focused on our hearts, whether our hearts are right with him. Then, we can hear Jesus' words and put them into practice. May God help us to be wise builders who lay on the foundation of Jesus the Rock.

One word: Jesus, the Rock