Your Response is Critical

Luke 6:49

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.

Jesus presented two people and two different outcomes. The first person was someone who built a house on a rock. He dug a deep foundation and built the house on a rock because he knew one day the storms would come and test his house. He loved those in his house, so he built it right. Jesus said the storms came, but the storms could not shake the house because it was built on the rock.

The second person was someone who also built a house. However, the second person took a shortcut to finishing his house, and instead of digging a foundation to build his house upon, he just built his house on the sand. However, this man also experienced storms, but when the winds blew and the streams continually washed up against the house, the house fell because it had no foundation.

However, there is one key phrase to this whole story that affected the outcome of each house. The key phrase is he that heareth. It was what each did with what they heard that determined the outcome of their house. The man who heard and did what he heard was the man whose house weathered the storm. The man who heard but did not listen to what he heard was the man whose house collapsed in the storm. Both men heard the same thing, but both had different responses to what they heard. One listened and did, and he found success, but one heard and did his own thing and found his house to be a great failure when it collapsed.

There are three types of people in every church. The first type of person is never or rarely there to hear and only gets a little instruction on what to do. You cannot follow the instructions of what to do in the storms if you are not faithfully attending church. Many wonder why their life is a mess, and the answer is you cannot get the instructions on what to do if you are not in church to receive God’s instructions of what to do when the storms come.

The second person is one who comes to church, but won't follow what is taught and preached. This person hears what to do, but they won't follow what they are supposed to do. To hear and not do is just as bad as not hearing. I am glad this person goes to church, but God has given them instructions on how to weather the storms that life will bring against them, but they won't do what they hear. Some won't do because they just want to do their own thing. Some won't do because they have their mind made up that they are the exception to the rule. Some won't do because they think they know better and often think they are better than everyone else. It doesn't matter what your reasoning is for not doing; you will face destruction when the storms come if you won't do what you hear to do during the preaching of God’s Word.

The third person is the one who hears and does what is preached. This person seems to have no problems because his life is all together. This person realizes that God is trying to help them through the storms of life, and they are smart enough to know they are not smart enough, so they follow the instructions God gives them in the sermons, and they weather every storm that comes their way. My friend, the storms of life will come, and you will only weather those storms if you hear and do what you hear in the preaching of God’s Word.