Now That You Know...
Are You Storm-Ready?
"But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
This may be a surprise to some Christians, but Jesus never said that things were going to be easy after you decide to follow Him. Even after salvation, life is not going to be all sunshine and sandy beaches. Remember this, both the wise man and the foolish man faced the same storm! What they went through wasn't where they were different!
This means that you don't have to be discouraged when you face the same troubles, trials, and circumstances as the world around you. Going through a storm is NOT a failure...it is an inevitable part of living in this world. Jesus said just that in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
This means, if you're not ready, you better get ready - there is a storm heading your way! You had better take the time to look over your life. Are you built on the rock? Are you sure?
The rock is the Word of God. We know that because of the phrase, "whoever hears these sayings of Mine." Where do we find the sayings of God? In the Bible. A life built on the rock is a life built on the Bible.
But here's where we come to the point where these two (the rock and the sand) are different. It is a true statement to say: There are many, many Christians out there who know God's Word, learn God's Word, and value Gods Word...and are still not built on the rock!
The difference between the rock and the sand isn't what they knew, it was what they did!
Don't be deceived here...you are not built on the rock just because you know the Scriptures. You are only built on the rock if you do the Scriptures that you know!
When Knowing Is Not The Problem...
James 1:22 - "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
Why is it deceptive to hear the Word and not do it? Because eventually you'll begin to think knowing it is enough! If you're anything like me, you know how quickly that can happen. Here's how it works:
1 - You hear something from the Bible that pricks your heart and causes you to see some place that you fall short
2 - You agree with that thing you heard and make a snap decision that you need to implement it in your life
3 - You leave church or shut your Bible and immediately forget all about it!
Why? Because you were deceived into thinking knowing was enough!
I've known so many Christians in my lifetime that have fallen to this. They were well-trained in what the Bible said; they knew the Bible forward and backward; and in some cases they even taught the Bible themselves! But when the storm came, it became obvious that their life was built on the sand!
Why? Was the storm the problem? No! Was the problem with what they knew? Again, no! The issue that defined their collapse was what they did with what they knew! In these cases, no amount of further teaching, learning, or study could've helped them.
Listen carefully: When knowing is not the problem, learning more is not the answer.
Don't be deceived into thinking that reading the Bible more or hearing another sermon is going to solve a problem that you caused by not doing what you already knew!
The Truth About Judgment Day
The reality is, if you're not doing what you already know, then learning more is going to be worse for you! Why? Because, when someone knows and disobeys, they will be judged more harshly than someone who disobeys because they didn't know.
Luke 12:47-48 - "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. (a greater judgment) But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. (a lesser judgment)"
There are three kinds of people in this world:
1 - Those who know God's will and do it
2 - Those who don't know God's will and don't do it.
3 - Those who know God's will and still don't do it.
Of these three, blessing is only available to those who know and do what God wants. The other two will be facing judgment. But even then, the greater judgment will be given out to those who know and don't do. Why? Because one is due to ignorance - the other is blatant rebellion.
I didn't discipline my kids for not doing the dishes when they were two years old. Now I do, though. Why? What changed? That's easy...now they know more. Greater knowledge brings greater responsibility.
Let me show you this from Scripture - look at 2 Peter 2:20-21 in the New Living Translation: "And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life."
Don't get me wrong when I say someone who knows has a greater judgment than someone who doesn't - you don't want either of those judgments! The starting point here is eternity separated from God in Hell...that's not something you want to play around with! But what I am saying is this: coming to church and hearing God's word preached is doing you NO favors if you're not going to put it into practice. You will be judged based on what you know!
Luke 12:48 - "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more."
Again, don't be deceived on this: When knowing is not the problem, hearing more Word is not going to be the answer.
Building On The Rock
Before Jesus told the story of building on the rock, He made this statement:
Matthew 7:21 - "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
Luke 6:46 - "But why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?"
From that statement, Jesus then goes on to say, "Everyone who hears and does what I say will be like a wise man building on a rock." You see...the only type of life that weathers the storm and enters the kingdom of heaven is the life that hears God's word and then puts it into practice. Otherwise....if you're not going to do that, then why bother calling Him your "Lord"? (Lord means Ruler, Owner, Boss, the One in charge...)
Let this not be us! The last thing we want is to go to church, read the Bible, agree with what it says...and then come stand before Jesus and a conversation like this:
"Son/daughter, let's watch the replay of your life. You see? Right here's where you clearly heard what I told you to do. Let's slow that down so you can see yourself nodding along with what you heard. But the problem is, I can't find any record of you putting what you heard there into practice. Why would you agree with what I told you, and then do nothing? Why were you calling me 'Lord' when you didn't do what I told you?"
Not me...no sir! Before I focus on learning more, I'm going to focus on doing what I've already learned! What about you, are you going to join me in that? Are you going to commit to putting what you already know into action?
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