Steven Furtick - Hammer Time (10/30/2018)
In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount with the parable of two builders: the wise one who hears His words and puts them into practice builds on the rock and stands through the storm, while the foolish one on sand crashes. The preacher ties this to the "Build the House" theme, urging us to dig deep for a solid foundation on God's Word, build before storms hit, and construct lives and a church that lasts—because real faith practices what it hears, not just hears it, so we can stand firm and build beyond ourselves.
The Parable of the Two Builders – Rock vs. Sand
We've been in a sermon series called Savage Jesus. That should tell you something. We're coming to find out that Jesus isn't safe, and he's certainly not soft. We're just studying his life, and I want to continue that tonight. I want to go to a passage in Matthew chapter 7 where he taught something that I think will be really foundational for us, for all of us. Not just for those who are a part of our church. Of course, man, I mean, if you want to be a part, we wouldn't stop you. We'd like to have you.
Before I read the passage, I should tell you something. The other day, they said, make a video for Winston-Salem. They can ask people to come out. I said, cool, happily. Greg Bosch came over to make the video with me. So we made the video, and I said, I'll see you in a couple weeks. Right when he was leaving, I said, oh, hey, do you have a theme at Winston-Salem or something? Because I don't know what to preach. I preach every six days. Do you have just a theme or anything that I can use to pray about? I mean, I'll pray, and God will tell me what to preach. But can you help God tell me what to preach? Do you have a theme?
And he goes, build the house. He said it like an Under Armour commercial, too. I said, that's the theme. He said, it's the theme. He said, I said, is it a serious theme? He said, we got tattoos of hammers. I said, who did? He said, the whole staff. And so tonight, on your way out, I heard this church was a cult. I had to find out for myself. But he said, we take it seriously. So that got me thinking about this idea of building. He said, we want to be builders. And I think that's really good, because we live in a day and age where it seems like everybody is trying to tear everybody else down. And so we could use more people who think constructively. And so I applaud that theme, especially because it's just so biblical. It's just all over the Bible.
Biblical Priority on Building God's House
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, there's a time to build. Haggai, the prophet, said, you people say to yourself, the time to build the Lord's house has not yet come. You're always putting it off while you're building your own house. And so he put a priority that, you know, the purpose of God should be the most important thing in our lives. Amen. So it's all through the Bible. Paul didn't always say the humblest things about himself. I'll be honest with you. He called himself a master builder. Now, I don't want you taking on that title, Greg. Don't put that on your Instagram bio or anything like that, you know, master builder Bosch. But it's a little much. Paul's a different thing.
But this is probably my favorite instance of a teaching that really shows us… And I've been preaching this passage a long time. I used to preach it when I preached to teenagers because there's some foundational truth in it. And I was so pleased that the Lord led me back to it tonight. Honestly, normally for a night like this, I would pick something with a little more sizzle, maybe an Old Testament miracle story or something, you know. This weekend in church, I preached about Jesus casting a demon out of a man. And that's exciting for a night like that. But this is a little bit more…. It's great. It's the Bible. But it's something that I want to teach on.
And it starts in Matthew chapter 7, verse 24. Y'all want to stand for the word? Okay. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet, it did not fall. It did not fall. Just look at your neighbor right in the eye. Uncomfortable eye contact, close proximity. And all up in their face, tell them, I'm still standing. It did not fall. Why? Because it had its foundation on the rock.
The Wise Builder Practices the Word
Go ahead and get it out of your system, because this takes a dark turn. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Let's go back to the happy part. So, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
I didn't give them any support to put on the screen, because I know you're advanced and you can write down what you want to write down. But another reason, I wrote down a few titles that I thought I would use. I figured I would pick one when I got up here and saw you. I wanted to see your age demographic, because this title will only make sense to a certain age demographic. And so we're going to find out what generation you're from. Look at your neighbor and announce my title. Tell them, stop. Hammer time. Be seated.
Jesus is inaugurating something new. Jesus was kind of like Greg Bosch in this way. He understood the power of a mental model. In the Sermon on the Mount, of which Matthew 7 is a part, really, we read the conclusion of an entire sermon. We walked in at the end of the movie. When he started, he was preaching about, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That was a new phrase. Jesus was the first person who ever spoke of the kingdom of heaven. They knew nothing of the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God, at least not in the way he spoke of it. Their expectation of the kingdom of heaven would have had to do with a military insurgency, not necessarily a revolution of the heart.
So when Jesus began to speak about the kingdom of heaven in terms of internal conditions, it must have been confusing for them. Now he closes this sweeping teaching, which I highly recommend that you read all through Matthew 5, 6, and 7, because there's a lot of practical stuff in here about prayer, adultery. I mean, it's all here. It's the greatest sermon ever preached. He does everything in three chapters of Scripture, but he closes by introducing a concept, and in order to introduce the concept, rather than explain it in a classroom, he paints on the canvas of our imagination with a picture of two builders, two houses, one storm, and two outcomes.
Hearing vs. Doing – The Key Difference
It's sobering to think about what he says, but we want to break it down a little bit more because this really revolves around what God put on the heart of your campus staff, and the ink on their body will tell you just how deeply committed they are to this idea that we are all building something. And, you know, in the South, we have our concept of church, right? We have our concept of what church is for and the purpose and the function that church serves in our life. And I think it's necessary sometimes, because I've been pastoring Elevation Church for just over 12 years, the couple that started the church with me and Holly, Chunks and Amy, the next couple, John and Heather is still his wife, but she didn't come to Winston-Salem tonight.
We spent a year before we ever had a church service trying to make sure that we understood the concept of church according to Scripture, not according to culture, according to Christ, not according to culture. And so, in this, it's helpful sometimes, rather than just having more vocabulary words added to our lexicon or cute Christian cliches to explain what the church is, a picture of it. Now, a lot of you read your Bible regularly, so you're already making connections. When he says it had its foundation on the rock, you're remembering this other passage that comes later in Matthew, where he says, Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But that's later in Matthew. He's talking about something a little bit different here. He's talking about building not just a church, but building your life on the rock of the Word of God.
I want to read the verse again in verse 24. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them in a notebook… No, it's going to take practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. That's a good word. Let's just put it right there on the back of the stove. Let's come back to the verse. It says that everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice… Because as long as we look at church like a lecture hall or as long as we look at an event like this and associate it with entertainment…. If this is just a live version of a Netflix binge, we will not see the results that God has promised to those who build their life on the rock of his Word.
Avoiding Consumer Christianity – Build on the Rock
I had a weird revelation in Build-A-Bear. Have you been to this place? To me, I'd probably rather my kids experiment with drugs than ask me to take them to Build-A-Bear again. I don't mean that, Lord. See, I can tell the people who don't go to church here. That's not even anything close to the worst stuff I say. Okay. Welcome. Welcome. We're glad you're here. God bless you. I'm just saying it's crazy. I don't like it. I don't understand it. I don't know why the bear needs a $24 straw hat. I certainly don't place that premium on it, but I guess it's the experience. It's the idea that you get to customize your stuffed animal. I guess there's something about being able to personalize it. No, I want her to have black hair. No, I want her to have brown eyes. No, I want her to go around, build a blessing is what we call it when people hop from church to church.
Now, this is a whole, a whole different thing. I'm trying to fill out the room. I haven't been here before. I'm having such a good time. I don't want to mess it up. It's something when we don't understand the concept of the kingdom of God, and we start thinking that church exists to serve our preferences. It's very dangerous because, you know, in Charlotte, where our church started, it probably doesn't happen here, but people will go to a church, and they'll like this about it, but not that about it. And so then they'll go to this church, and, well, you know, I like the music better at the other one, but the Sunday school class, coffee's better at this one. I like their coffee better. I'm a Dunkin' Donuts. It's Dunkin' Donuts coffee. It's good coffee, you know. And this other one over here, Preacher Preacher is kind of long. That guy hollers too much. Oh, you know, he's too soft. I like… They wear jeans. Well, they wear jeans with holes in it. I like jeans, but I don't like jeans with holes in it. You know, I mean, they can have holes, just not the big holes.
Build a blessing where we want to customize our calling and really customize Christ and kind of make him what we want him to be. But Jesus said, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Rain came down, streams rose, winds blew, and beat against that house. And when he had finished saying these things, this is verse 28, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority. How do you know your Bible so well? Not as one of their teachers of the law. Not like he was a buffet. Not like Jesus was some sort of option.
I think we have a consumer version of Christianity that needs to be confronted if we are really going to see the world changed by our faith. Or else we will get caught in cycles of cosmetic Christianity and we will wonder why the Word of God does not work in our lives. And we will have highlighted passages in our Bibles, but no hard change. And what God is building here, this is his church. Not just this one, but the church that he is building in this area, in this region, the church that you are a part of, it starts with a simple principle.
Three Keys to Building God's Way
If God is going to build a church, there are three of these points that I want to share with you today. It is going to require that we build beneath the surface, because we live in a world where it is very easy to portray a persona that has very little correspondence with your true character. Have you noticed? And it seems like we're investing more and more time building things at the level of people's perception of us. When we do that, the problem with it is that the house that we build may be impressive. I was reading this passage a lot, just trying to see if I was missing anything, because I thought he would mention how big the square footage was of the house the man built, or what kind of countertops, or the backsplash, but I couldn't find it.
I figured Jesus put in all the details he wanted us to see, and he didn't put anything about the landscaping. Did y'all see the other day when Oprah put the videos online? When the storm came, it didn't matter how much money had been put into the house. Even the nicest, biggest houses are susceptible to a storm. Right. It goes to show that whether you build a really big house or whether you build a really small house. .. I'm using house as a metaphor. I'm talking about in your life. No matter what it looks like on the outside, there will come a testing of the foundation that will declare where your hope really is and what is in your heart.
Since I didn't see it in Matthew, I went to Luke because he puts the same teaching, but it's different. It's a different version of the same teaching. He puts it in Luke 6, 46. Look on the screens. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me, hears my words, sings worship songs, has a religious experience and a semblance of godliness, but denies the power of it. That's what happens when we do not practice the preached Word of God. But if we put it into practice, we will be like this. A man building a house... Touch your neighbor and say, build a house. Tell him this so, but be careful where you build, because some of the prettiest places to build your house are the worst places you want to live when a storm comes.
Dig Deep – Excavation Before Elevation
Some friendships are really a lot of fun as long as the sun is shining. One of my favorite preachers, he was from the country. He used to say, anyone can sing a tune on a clear day at noon. God, give me a song at midnight. I like that. He said, I want to be like a man building a house. And then I saw it. It came to me when he said, who dug down deep. How did he build it on the rock? He dug past the surface until he hit something that could actually sustain the weight of a house. So we came tonight to dig past our dysfunction, and past our shame, and past our preferences, and past our religion, and past our past, so we can build on something that can stand the storm.
Give him 18 seconds of praise. Dig for it. Dig for it. That's what I hear God saying. Dig for it. Dig for it. When is the last time that you spent more time getting your insides ready to go out into your day than your hair? That guy's like, I don't have any hair. I'm good on that, bro. And you look good too, brother. But it's the thing about it. Look, it's the thing about this surface world that we live in. It's the spirit of our age. It's the spirit of our age. And listen, here's the good news for the church. As the age that we live in becomes more artificial, the authentic will become more attractive.
We're in a season where everything that can be shaken is being shaken, so only that which cannot be shaken will remain. You see it happening in the world right now. It's separating the wheat from the chaff, the sincere from the insincere, the silver from the dross. God is purifying his church. And in order to build, there must be a season of excavation, excavation, foundation, excavation before transformation. This also is why some things have been happening in your life right now that have been uncomfortable for you. Because before God elevates, he excavates.
One of the reasons… I'm going to tell you a secret because there might be some preachers or pastors here, and I know we have a few staff here who preach, so everybody, Terry Bruce and all y'all, Jeff Bates, listen to this real quick. The best sermons I preach, before I preach them, it's the worst week. I know God is… Jess is nodding. She's been my assistant for eight years. She's telling you Holly's crying over there. Oh, God, he's telling the truth. But I know it's going to be good if it's… See, all that stuff on the surface, that's my opinions and my little… But when God really wants to give the people a word, that stuff has to come from a deeper place.
Now, some things in your life God has dug out that you didn't want him to take away, but if he dug it out, it's dirt. I don't know. Y'all always like this? I feel like preaching on a Tuesday night. If God dug it out, let it go. Something better is on the way. High-five somebody. Say, get ready for what's next. It's hammer time.
God Digs Before He Builds – Story of Greg Bosch
In fact, let me tell you a story. You have time for a story? I know you have work tomorrow. I do too. June 14, 2012, there was a young man who was denied an internship at Elevation Church. He was going to college, so they let him start an extension site at the college. Then he came over and was able to help with the Gaston launch. Then he graduated and joined a program at our church apprenticeship. It was called Elevation Prodigy at the time. Very humble title. He served at our Matthew's campus for a little while. Then at Blakeney, he was going all around. Then he finished the apprenticeship, and a lot of people in the apprenticeship got a job, but not him.
When he was denied the job, he decided to go volunteer instead. Then eventually, when the time was right… Didn't Solomon say, there's a time to build, and there's also a time to uproot? But it's the time when God is uprooting that is making room for the foundation to be laid so that what he builds will sustain the weight. Now, if you haven't figured it out right now, I'm talking about Build-A-Bosh. That bald, skinny guy. It's a fact that God will always dig before he builds. This is not just for him. It's for everybody on this side of the room. God will always dig before he builds.
You know what he'll use? He'll use disappointments, and he will dig out your idea of your dreams so that they can be replaced by his. The I is for insecurity, because after the disappointment, you'll have to push through the insecurity of what you think you're not. But when God is digging, and you think you can't take it anymore, and you feel like, if one other person leaves my life, or if this opportunity doesn't work out, I just don't know if I want to try anymore, be careful. Because all that digging is to get to the gift.
And when God puts a gift in you, when God deposits something in your life, when God has called you to make a difference for his name, he will begin to dig and dig and dig and dig, and things will hurt you and break your heart, and you won't know why, and you won't see the reason, and it won't feel good, and friends will leave you, and people will talk about you, and they'll pass over you, and they won't appreciate you. But let him dig, because if you can get through the disappointment, and if you can press past the insecurity, there's a gift in you, and when your gift comes forth, God is going to do something exceedingly, abundantly, above all you ask, or think, or imagine.
Now let's give him praise for everything he's digging out of our lives. If you're bold enough to do it, shout it out loud as a prayer. Dig it out! God, I want you to take everything out of my life, and my heart, and my spirit that is blocking me from building my life on the solid foundation of your Word. And that's what the pain has been about. That's what the rejection was about. God was digging. He always digs before he builds. He's doing you a favor. He's clearing out the wrong motives. He's getting rid of all… He's getting rid of the pride now so that you won't think it was you.
Build Before the Storm Hits
But we've also got to build not just beneath, but we've got to build before. I'm excited to show you this because you know how a lot of times we wait until life gets really bad to trust in God. And I found out that God will be there for you even if your boat breaks apart in the storm. I have discovered that God will send a whale, a great fish the Bible says about Jonah, to swallow you up if you get off track. But the better thing to do is to build before the storm.
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Watch this. He built the house before the rain came down. That's the time to do it. The time to build is before the storm. And about this storm thing, by the way, can I clarify one thing about storms? The size of your storm is an indication. You know what I'm about to say? I was going to say it is an indication of the significance of your life. Okay. I can tell like half the room was right there and half the room is like, ah!
So, just to bring us all to the same place, Jesus was going over to the region of the Gennesarines one time. He had a man that he wanted to turn into an evangelist who was possessed by demons. Guess what happened before he arrived on the shore? A storm. A little storm? A little bit of rain in Winston-Salem on a Tuesday night. A little bit of awning, umbrella, ponchos. No, no, no. By the way, I was so happy it was raining. Because I was like, the real ones are coming out tonight. I was happy. I was like, oh, it's going to be good. It's going to be good. I knew it. Because a storm will separate the people who really want it from the people who just want a resort-level religion only when it's a pina colada.
The real praiseers praise him in the storm. Not when it's over, but I praise him while the light is flashing. Though the storms keep raging in my life, my soul is anchored in the Lord. Have you had a big storm lately? If the person next to you raised their hand, tell him you must be important. The Devil must really fear you. He sent a divorce after you. He tried to make you lose your mind. He hit you with depression. He caused people to walk away from you. But you're still standing. It's something about a storm that will let you know, if I've got Jesus on my side, if God bid for me, who can be against me? And the Devil huffed and puffed. But he couldn't blow it down. High five eight people, tell him it's hammer time.
Storms Reveal – And God Uses Them
Now that I know what I'm made of, I'm ready to build. Give me my hammer, let's get to work. Hammers and hurricanes. That's part two. Preach it Sunday. Look at me now, because I'm almost done. I said what God gave me to say. You wouldn't know what you're made of. Oh, by the way, the same God who stops the storm is sometimes the same one who sends it. Here's how I know. Here's how I know. Here's how I know. Because the one who heard the words and put them into practice, he went through the same storm as the man who did not hear the word.
So I heard a theologian say, The presence of trouble never indicates the absence of God. In fact, the Scripture says that God is a very present help in the time of trouble. So, as it relates to us as a church and what God is building here, when I look around an auditorium like this, I don't just see consumers. I see construction workers. Because we need to build beneath the surface, build before the storm, and we need to build beyond ourselves. It's hammer time.