Matthew 7:21-29
 21"Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but ‹only›
the one who does the will of My Father in
heaven. 22On that day many will say to Me,
‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name,
drive out demons in Your name, and do many
miracles in Your name? ’ 23Then I will
announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart
from Me, you lawbreakers!’ 24"Therefore,
everyone who hears these words of Mine and
acts on them will be like a sensible man who
built his house on the rock.
 25The
rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds
blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t
collapse, because its foundation was on the
rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of
Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand.
27The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew
and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And
its collapse was great!” 28When Jesus had
finished this sermon, the crowds were
astonished at His teaching, 29because He was
teaching them like one who had authority, and
not like their scribes.

Verbal profession

Intellectual knowledge


They both heard the truth.
After hearing the truth, they both
proceed to build a house.


James 1:22-25
22But be doers of the word and not hearers
only, deceiving yourselves. 23Because if anyone
is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
a man looking at his own face in a mirror; 24for
he looks at himself, goes away, and right away
forgets what kind of man he was. 25But the one
who looks intently into the perfect law of
freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a
forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—this
person will be blessed in what he does.
They both heard the truth.
 After hearing the truth, they both
proceed to build a house.
 They build their houses in
essentially the same place.
 They built the same kind of house.


The foundation upon which they built.

The sand- soft and shifting

The Rock- not a stone or a brick, a vast expanse
of bedrock.

Agreeing with the word, but not obeying

Verbal commitment, but no sacrifice

Religious activities, but no fruit

Trusting in things that can never save


Trust in the only one who can save.
Hearing, studying, loving, and obeying
the word of God.

Religious activities done out of love.

Fruit born out of the work of the Spirit.

The result: one will stand, the
other will fall

The house built on the sand will not stand
in the storm.

The life built on the sand will not stand in
judgment.