Lesson#15

• MEMORY VERSE: PSALMS 18:2

• CLASS ACTIVITY: MAKE A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS YOU HAVE DONE TO PREPARE YOUR FAMILY IN THE EVENT OF A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE OR NATURAL DISASTER..

• THE PARABLE OF TWO HOUSES (MAT 7:24-27)
• READ MAT 7:21-29 AND LUK 6:46-49 FOR CONTEXT.
• THIS IS THE LAST PART OF JESUS’ SERMON ON THE MOUNT, SPOKEN PRIMARILY TO BELIEVING DISCIPLES ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
• THE IMPORTANT CONCEPTS OR PRINCIPLES IN THESE VERSES:
• =1= EVERYONE DOES NOT GET INTO HEAVEN, BUT ONLY THE OBEDIENT. (21)
• =2= MANY PEOPLE THINK THEY WILL GET INTO HEAVEN BY THEIR OWN WORKS. (22)
• =3= THE LORD WILL SAY TO THEM, “I DON’T HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.”
• NOTICE THAT JESUS INDICATES HIS DEITY HERE IN MAT 7:21. HE IS THE LORD AND THOSE WHO DESIRE TO ENTER HEAVEN KNOW IT.
• READ JOH 13:13
• =4= THE OBEDIENT PEOPLE ARE THOSE WHO BUILD THEIR LIFE STYLE IN CONFORMITY TO THE WORD OF GOD. (24)
• =5= WHEN PROBLEMS COME IN THIS LIFE, THE LIFE STYLE THAT IS BUILT ON JESUS CHRIST, THE ROCK, WILL STAND FIRM. (25)
• =6= THE LIFE STYLE THAT IS NOT BUILT ON JESUS CHRIST WILL FALL. (26-27)
• THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE PARABLE OF TWO HOUSES IN MAT 7:24-27
• THE CHRISTIAN LIFE BEGINS WITH A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST AND IS THEN BUILT ON A LIFE STYLE OF OBEDIENCE TO JESUS AND TO THE WORD OF GOD. SUCH A LIFE STYLE WILL WITHSTAND ANY ADVERSITY IN THIS LIFE.
• WHO IS THE WISE MAN?
• ONLY THE CHRISTIAN WHO BUILDS HIS LIFE WISELY AFTER ACCEPTING CHRIST AS HIS SAVIOR IS WISE.
• DISCUSSION: WHAT IS IT THAT THE WISE CHRISTIAN DOES THAT DETERMINES HE IS WISE?

• READ JAM 1:22-26 HEARING AS WELL AS DOING GOD’S WILL IS IMPORTANT.

• DISCUSSION: IF THE OBEDIENT ARE THE ONES WHO ENTER HEAVEN, CANNOT A NON-BELIEVER FOLLOW OBEDIENTLY EVERYTHING THAT THE BIBLE SAYS TO DO AND THEN ENTER HEAVEN? WHY OR WHY NOT?
• READ EPH 2:8

• WHO IS THE FOOLISH MAN?
• THERE ARE TWO VALID POSSIBILITIES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF THE IDENTITY OF THE FOOLISH MAN.
• =1= THE FOOLISH MAN IS THE NON-BELIEVER WHO DOES NOT HAVE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST BUT ONLY GOOD WORKS.
• HE THINKS HE IS A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE HE LEADS A GOOD, MORAL LIFE. HE BASES HIS SALVATION ON HIS GOOD WORKS.
• WHAT DOES HE FOOLISHLY DISREGARD?
• READ ISA 64:6
• =2= THE FOOLISH MAN IS THE PERSON WHO IS A SAVED, BELIEVING CHRISTIAN BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE WORD OF GOD ON WHICH TO BUILD HIS LIFE.
• IF HE DOES NOT KNOW THE WORD OF GOD, HE CANNOT BE OBEDIENT TO THAT WHICH HE IS FOOLISHLY IGNORANT.
• WHAT DOES THE ROCK REPRESENT?
• THE ROCK IS A SOUND FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD YOUR LIFE.
• ALL THROUGH SCRIPTURE, OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT, JESUS CHRIST IS CALLED, THE ROCK.
• READ 1COR 10:4
• READ DEU 32:4
• READ PSA 18:2, 46
• READ ISA 28:16
• WHAT DOES THE SAND REPRESENT?
• SAND IS A POOR FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO BUILD.
• THE SAND REPRESENTS A SHIFTING, UNCERTAIN, EMPTY PROFESSION OF FAITH.
• IT IS LIKE THE PHARISEES WHO HAD AN EMPTY PROFESSION OF FAITH. THEY BELIEVED THEY WERE SAVED BASED ON AN EXTERNAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICE WITHOUT FAITH IN THE HEART.
• WHAT DO THE RAINS, FLOOD, AND WINDS REPRESENT?
• EXCESSIVE RAIN AND HIGH WINDS THREATEN THE ROOF AND WALLS OF A BUILDING.
• FLOOD (AND EARTHQUAKES) THREATEN THE FOUNDATION OF A BUILDING.
• ALL THESE THINGS BRING FEAR AND CALL TO MIND THE FACT THAT PHYSICAL LIFE IS TRANSIENT (NOT PERMANENT).
• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION:
• IF YOU LOOK AT THE LIST YOU MADE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS LESSON, YOU CAN TELL HOW WELL PREPARED YOU ARE FOR AN EARTHQUAKE OR A NATURAL DISASTER. FROM YOUR LIST, A MEMBER OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT COULD DETERMINE IF YOU ARE WISE OR FOOLISH WHEN IT COMES TO EVALUATING YOUR LIFE BASED ON HUMAN STANDARDS OF PREPAREDNESS.
• MORE IMPORTANT IS HOW WELL PREPARED WE ARE IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES.
• NOTICE THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO KINDS OF FOUNDATIONS, EITHER ROCK OR SAND.
• JUST AS THERE WERE ONLY TWO GATES AND TWO WAYS TO GOD’S KINGDOM, THERE ARE ONLY TWO FOUNDATIONS ON WHICH TO BUILD A LIFE.
• JUST AS MANY PEOPLE THINK THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO GATES AND MORE THAN TWO WAYS IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, MANY PEOPLE THINK THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE.
• NOTICE THAT THERE ARE ONLY TWO CLASSES OF PEOPLE IN THIS PARABLE, THE WISE OR THE FOOLISH.
• NOTICE THAT NOTHING IS MENTIONED ABOUT THE BUILDING MATERIALS IN THE PARABLE. THEREFORE, BOTH BUILDINGS COULD LOOK THE SAME ON THE OUTSIDE.
• IN OTHER WORDS, YOU COULD BUILD YOUR HOUSE ON THE SAND AND LOOK LIKE A CHRISTIAN, HAVING DEVELOPED ALL THE “CHRISTIAN” CHARACTER QUALITIES AND DO ALL THE THINGS CHRISTIANS DO.
• HOWEVER, IN THE FINAL JUDGMENT, THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR LIFE IS REVEALED.
• READ 1COR 3:11-17

HOMEWORK
THE PARABLE OF FOXES AND BIRDS (MAT 8:18-22)
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE OF TWO HOUSES (MAT 7:24-27)
• CONSIDER THE FOUNDATION OF YOUR LIFE:
• IS IT FIRMLY ESTABLISHED ON JESUS CHRIST?
• HAVE YOU INVITED JESUS INTO YOUR LIFE TO BE THE CORNERSTONE ON WHICH YOUR LIFE IS BUILT?
• IF NOT, CONSIDER DOING THAT TODAY. YOU CAN TALK TO A PASTOR OR TO ME IF YOU NEED SOMEONE TO PRAY WITH YOU TO RECEIVE CHRIST.
• IF YOUR LIFE IS ESTABLISHED ON JESUS CHRIST, CONSIDER THE BUILDING MATERIALS WITH WHICH YOU ARE BUILDING YOUR LIFE.
• WHAT FAULTY BUILDING MATERIALS DOES THE LORD WANT YOU TO STOP USING? (WE ALL HAVE SOME)
• MAKE A LIST OF THOSE THAT THE LORD BRINGS TO YOUR MIND.

• IN PRAYER, LAY THE FAULTY BUILDING MATERIALS ON THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE TO JESUS CHRIST. ASK HIM TO REPLACE THEM WITH SOUND BUILDING MATERIALS.

• PREPARATION FOR THE PARABLE OF FOXES AND BIRDS (MAT 8:18-22)
• READ MAT 8:14-27 FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE PARABLE.
• WHO IS THE AUDIENCE FOR THIS PARABLE?

• WHAT IS THE CENTRAL TRUTH OF THE PARABLE OF FOXES AND BIRDS?

• WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DOES THE FIRST MAN REPRESENT?

• WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DOES THE SECOND MAN REPRESENT?

• WHAT DID JESUS MEAN BY, “FOXES HAVE HOLES AND BIRDS HAVE NESTS”?

• MEMORY VERSE: PHILIPPIANS 4:12