I'm very sentimental in bringing you this heart
-to -heart talk today. And I have chosen something
that's very precious to my own heart. And it's
the climax to the greatest sermon that was ever
preached. Preached by the very son of the living
God. You dare not take issue with the doctor.
in this sermon because it came from the highest
authority in heaven and earth. And I'm going
to read the climax of this sermon as preached
by the Son of God. Hear it. Therefore, Whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man which built
his house upon a rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
upon that house. And it fell not, for it was
founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall
be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house, and it fell. And great
was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were
astounded at his doctrine. For he taught them
as one having authority and not as the scribes.
That, beloved, was the climax, the final words
of the greatest sermon ever preached. I am using
these final words as my first words to you in
this, my first heart -to -heart talk of a new
year. Oh, these words are tremendous, believe
me. Jesus is saying here, every man builds. And
this is a common quantity in this illustration.
The fact of building. But notice the difference.
It's not in the men who build or in the materials
with which they build, but in the foundation
on which they build. It's the foundation that
makes all the difference in the world. The one
thing that you and I have in common, the one
thing that all of us have, in common is the fact
that we are building. And we begin building at
the age of accountability. And we continue to
build until that moment when the old heart takes
its last beat and the soul leaves the body. I
don't care who you are. You may be down in the
very depths of despair. You may be so low down
you have to reach up to touch bottom today. You
may be so high up that you are on the very pinnacle
of all things. Yet, both men are building. That's
the one thing that we have in common. May I go
a little bit further to say to you that the most
priceless day In the sight of God is man, the
individual. You know, we have gotten our sense
of values all wrong. We've gotten to the place
where everything is measured in the light of
dollars and cents. This is a very materialistic
world. Where a man dies, we say, how much did
he leave? While he is living, we say, what is
his income? How much is he making? The uppermost
thought in the mind of most people is, what do
I get out of it? How much will I be paid? Bless
your heart. I want you to know that God doesn't.
Put values on the material things. Why the streets
of heaven are paved with gold. Money doesn't
mean a thing to God. Precious stones don't mean
a thing to God. The most priceless thing to God
is man. If only you and I could see it. Not only
man as humanity, but as individuals. You are
as important to God as though you were the only
person created in His image and after His likeness.
I can prove that to you. Of the millions of people
who have lived in the past, of those who will
continue to be born in the future, and the millions
who are living this very hour, you are so important,
so individual to Almighty God, that no one else
has the same fingerprints that you have. Pause
whatever you're doing. Look at that thumb. That
small area of a thumb. I am telling you the truth.
The God's truth. No one who has ever lived or
will live or is living this hour has the same
songprint that you have. You're marked. In the
mind of God, you're marked. You're precious.
You're important. You are individual to him.
You will be you forever and ever and ever. And
as an individual, you are building. Every man
builds. That's one thing we... all had in common.
I repeat, it's not in the men who build or in
the materials with which they build, but in the
foundation on which they build. The foundation
is everything. We may build with the same materials,
with the same structural correctness, upon sand
as upon rock. And all through the summer days,
the buildings both appear to be right. You may
not be able to tell one from the other. But remember
something. Summer days do not exhaust the days.
All days are not summer days. It would be very
foolish of me to try to convince you today that...
All days will be summer days. As surely as there's
a summer, there'll be winter. And as surely as
there's winter, there'll be summer. Just as surely
as night follows day, and day follows night.
As surely as there's a summer, there will be
a winter. And all days will not be summer days.
There are days of pelting rain, of sweeping winds
of hurricanes, tornadoes. The winds will blow.
The sleet will come. The snow will fall. And
those are the days that will test our buildings.
Do that. There will come a time of testing. So
far as our building is concerned. Therefore,
it is not so much a matter of the man building,
not so much a matter of the material, but of
the foundation. It's the foundation that makes
all the difference in the world. Here then is
what Jesus is saying. Take these sayings of mine.
Take my teaching. Take my word. Live according
to my laws. Build on them. And no storm can destroy
your building. The tornadoes can come. The winds
can blow. Sorrow, heartbreak, disappointment.
Little do I know, little do you know what this
new year will hold for us. Oh, today it's wonderful.
We feel as though the whole year will be a year
of sunshine. Oh, sure. the neighbor next door.
We'll know his days of rain. The tornado may
strike in another part of the country. But not
for me. Somehow we're sort of like that. We feel
as though we are the exception. Remember something.
As surely as you are a part of humanity, As surely
as you live and breathe, this new year will hold
the rain for you. There will be the storm. There
will be the dark clouds. Jesus is saying, be
sure of the foundation on which you are building.
No storm can destroy your building. No tornado.
No disappointment, no sorrow can destroy your
building. You will not, you cannot be defeated
on a single score if you have built your life,
if you are building now. If you have as your
foundation in life my words, my truths. If you
are living according to my law, hear these things
of mine. Disobey them. You're going to meet with
defeat. When the rains come, you have no foundation
that will hold the rest of the building up. Remember
something. This has nothing to do with the man
who has never heard them. He's not... hear in
view at all. This word is not to the heathen.
It's to the man who hears and disobeys. To you.
You know. You know the way. You know the truth.
You've heard. And yet, lo, these many years you
have disobeyed. The man who has seen a vision,
dreamed a dream. The man who has heard heard
the glorious infinite music, and will set his
instruments to catch the tune. You can go on
building. We may look at the structure and say,
what's the use of Christianity? What, after all,
is the use of Christianity? Why is it so important?
That house is as beautiful as this. This man's
character is as beautiful as the others. But
wait a minute. Wait. Presently, there will come
the storms of sorrow, of bereavement, of temptation.
And then you'll see the difference between the
man who has had Christianity as his foundation
and the man who has been building on sand. That's
what makes the difference. That's the difference.
Conscience walks out in front of you and points
its accusing finger at you. What are you going
to do when misfortune and the ways of adversity
overwhelm you? What are you going to do when
The physician tells you that you are one of four
who has cancer. What are you going to do when
the undertaker comes and takes the measure for
the little shroud? What? are you going to do
in the night of despair when the stars are dead?
What are you going to do when the bottom has
dropped out of everything? The night is dark.
Oh, so dark. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but... Holy lean on
Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand.
For one thing I know. All other ground is sinking
sand.