I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In Psalm 127:1, Solomon wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.”

                                                             1.      The principle of this verse pertains to everything.  Unless God is the foundation and the protection of any person, family, church, business, nation, or government, all efforts are vain.  The end of those who are not founded upon God and His word will be failure.

                                                             2.      The practical application of this verse teaches us to labor and watch over only those things that are of the Lord.  No one wants to waste his time on something that is doomed to failure, so let us all invest our time, effort, and resources only in those things that are guaranteed by God to endure.

                                                             3.      Many passages of Scripture teach this same lesson in different ways:

a.       Matthew 6:19-21 – "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

b.       John 6:27 – "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”

c.        1John 2:17 – The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

B.      As in Psalm 127:1, many Scriptures use the figure of a house to represent various things, but perhaps most significant to us are the houses that symbolize our lives, the lives of our family members, and the lives of others around us.

                                                             1.      Applying Psalm 127:1, we see that only those lives that are built by the Lord according to His word can have a genuine expectation of eternal endurance.  All others are truly living in vain.

                                                             2.      Sadly, many houses are built in vain.  Their foundation is devoid of God’s word, and their only destiny is eternal failure.

II.      FALLEN HOUSES

A.      Jesus invoked the figure of a house at the conclusion of His great sermon on the mount.  He showed that acting on His words is the difference between a house that will stand and a house that will fall.

                                                             1.      Notice the Lord’s words in Matthew 7:24-27:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall.”

                                                             2.      The only initial difference between the two persons described by Jesus is that one of them acted on Christ’s words and one did not.  This difference that is the key to life.

a.       Until the storms came, the two houses looked the same.  The faulty foundation of the foolish man’s house was not evident.

b.       However, when the storms assailed the two houses, their differences were profoundly apparent.  This wise man still had a house, but the foolish man’s house was destroyed.

B.      As we look around us, we see the fallen houses that Jesus predicted.  When the storms came, these houses fell for one reason – they were not built upon the rock of Christ’s words.

                                                             1.      When you see an actual fallen house, you know something was wrong.  Perhaps there was a disaster – a tornado, an earthquake, or a fire.  Maybe there was something wrong with the construction of the house.  Maybe the foundation was bad.

                                                             2.      When you see a fallen person, whose life is in shambles, you know exactly what was wrong.

a.       Fallen persons have had their lives devastated by the consequences of sin.  "Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7), and "the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

b.       These persons were not prepared for the storms of temptations, trials, doubt, hardship, and suffering.  They did not turn to the Lord for salvation.  They did not trust in the Lord with all of their hearts (Prov. 3:5-6).  They did not act on the words of Christ.

C.      These fallen houses should provoke us to ask a question: Why weren’t they built on the rock of Christ’s words?

                                                             1.      Some had every opportunity to act on Christ’s words and simply rejected Him.

                                                             2.      Some never heard the truth of Christ’s words.  This is a failure of Christians to carry out the Great Commission to all the world (Matt. 28:18-20).

                                                             3.      Some heard the words of Christ, but other influences won their hearts.  In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of those who lost the words of Christ to the devil, those who fell away from the words of Christ because of persecution, and those who allowed the world to choke the words of Christ out of their hearts (Matt. 13:1-23).

III.   BUILDING NEW HOUSES

A.      The tragedy of fallen houses from the past must teach us a lesson on how to build houses in the future.

                                                             1.      We must be certain that we are preaching the exact truth of Christ’s words to everyone we know.  They cannot act on His words until they first hear them (Rom. 10:14-15).

                                                             2.      We must also be certain that we are teaching and practicing the exact truth of Christ’s words within our own homes and families.

a.       Consider Proverbs 24:3-4 – "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

b.       The home of a Christian must be a place that is abundant in the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the Lord.  It is only by these that our homes will receive the blessings of God (Prov. 3:33).

c.        Children should be immersed by their parents in the word of God from the earliest ages (Deut. 6:4-9; Prov. 1:7-9; 4:3-4; Eph. 6:4).  Sunday schools will never suffice for training children in God’s word.  This must be done at home.

d.       Every aspect of a family must be governed by the word of the Lord.  Relationships, education, work, entertainment, and all things must adhere to Christ’s blessed word.

                                                             3.      In all things, we must lay a solid foundation on the Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 3:10-11; Eph. 2:19-22; 1Pet. 2:4-9).  There is no place in this foundation for the weak philosophies of men (evolution, humanism, feminism, etc.).  The influence of these on ourselves and our children must be avoided (Col. 2:8).

B.      If we are to avoid a repeat of the failures of recent generations, then we must do something different.

                                                             1.      It is no secret that the church is losing members.  It is not regenerating, and it is not keeping pace with the growth of the general population.  Children are born to members of the church, but those children are walking away from the Lord.  The church is losing generations of young people.

                                                             2.      When we speak of the church losing members, understand what this means.  It is not a problem just because we have less people in the church.  It is a problem because souls are being lost apart from the Lord.

                                                             3.      Why is this happening?  What are we doing about it?  Can we continue to do the same things and expect a different result?

a.       We must not turn away from the Scriptural practices that we have been keeping at home and in the church.  However, we do need to turn away from the worldly practices that are at the heart of our losses.  Can we discern between the two?

b.       Successfully building new houses is really a question of renovation or innovation.

i.         Renovation is the right path, for it means returning to the ways of Christ’s words and ousting the worldly influences that have caused many houses to fall.

ii.        Innovation is the wrong path, for it means replacing the word of Christ with the new ideas of men.  This approach is responsible for many fallen houses already.

                                                             4.      Often when we see fallen houses, we are afraid to talk about them.  The pain of losing a soul to the world causes us to turn our heads away from the scene.  However, we are still building houses, and we need to learn from our previous failures so that the houses we build now will stand.

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      Consider Paul’s words – "According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.  For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Cor. 3:10-11).

B.      What foundation are we laying?  How are we building on it?  Will our houses stand or will they fall?