A Tale of Two Men

He's waiting for men to pour the foundation on which everything else can stand. Dr. Tony Evans talks about the importance of building your life on the bedrock of God's values, not the world's. Your foundation determines your future, and your foundation is the Word of God applied, not just the Word of God studied, heard, or known. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. Every choice we make shapes us in some way, but Dr. Evans says there are some basic bottom-line decisions that all the others depend on. Today, he'll tell us about what happened to two men in the Bible who picked two very different options.

Let's join him. We have explained that the reason that God created Adam first was that Adam was supposed to be the foundation for the family, which was to be the foundation for the culture. And so we want to talk today about foundations, focusing on the men, but not limiting it to the men, because Jesus says when he starts the story in Matthew 7, verse 24, that this applies to everyone, but even though it applies to everyone, he focuses on two men. They both have a vision. They both want to build a house. They both have the Word of God, because they're listening to these words of mine, and they both have some struggles, storms.

But that's where the comparison ends and the contrast begins. It says in verse 24, the wise man built his house on a rock. It says the foolish man built his house on sand. It's talking about what they built their house on.

That has to do with your foundation. Your foundation is what you put your structure on, and it's always where you start, because you pour the foundation first. If you build on sand, that's going to be quick. Don't take a lot of time to put sand and put a sandcastle together on a beach.

If you build on rock, it's going to take you some time. It says the wise man, verse 24, heard these words of mine and acted on them. It says the fool heard these words of mine and did not act on them.

If you want to build a life, a home, a ministry, or a society, a house, it must be resting on the right foundation, and the foundation is not merely information. The difference between the wise man and the fool was their willingness or unwillingness to act on what Jesus had taught. Or put it another way, only when the word is applied does the word work. The word, God's word, does not work just because you hear it preached. God's word does not work just because you were excited about what you heard or read.

God's word doesn't work just because you said amen to what was said. They were listening to God's word, both of them, but only one did something with what he heard, and therefore only one experienced what was needed to be experienced based on what is taught. So one man is called a wise man, and the other is called a fool.

So let me define the two. Wisdom in the Bible is the ability and responsibility of applying God's truth to life's realities. It is the responsibility tied to the ability to apply spiritual truth to life's decision making. The fool in the Bible, the book of Proverbs distinguishes between the wise man and the fool throughout the whole book of Proverbs. The fool in the Bible is the person who has the inability or refusal to apply spiritual truth to life's decision making. So you only know you're wise or you're a fool by the decisions you make, by the action you take, not by the information you can quote. So quoting the Bible, rehearsing the Bible, saying biblical things, speaking Christianese, all that means absolutely nothing unless there was the decision to take the spiritual truth and do something with it in this living scenario. Wisdom in the Bible is always practical because it's always tied to life's choices.

When you choose God by action, not simply by talking, then you have activated divine programming from the Word into your life situation. Now what a lot of Christians try to do is mix rock and sand. What they want is, they know they need God, rock, but they also have their own way of doing things, sand. So what they want is sandy rock. They want a mixture too. Sand is human wisdom.

It's man's point of view, the way you want to do something, the way your parents taught you ought to do something, the way your friends say you ought to do something, the way the media says you want to do something. That's sand. Rock is God's point of view acted on. Well, what a lot of Christians though, they know they want rock and need rock, but they're used to sand. So they try to mix them together.

So let me help you with the sandy rock mixture. Matthew 15 verse 6 says, you do nullify the Word of God with your traditions. So once you bring man's point of view and attach it to God, when it contradicts God's point of view, Matthew 15 verse 6 says you cancel out God.

So a lot of us will actually cancel out the very thing we're wanting by bringing an antithesis, a foreign point of view, into the equation. The Bible says let God be true and every man a liar. So when God says A and you think B, God says don't bring B over to my A.

Let me be true and let every man, including you, be a liar. So when you disagree with God, you need to have a conversation with you. You need to tell yourself, self, you lying to me right now, because God says this and self is saying that, and God says let God be true and self and everybody else be a liar when they contradict God.

When you want sandy rock, what you are doing is being double-minded. And James chapter 1 verse 5 says let the double-minded man know he will receive nothing from the Lord. So if you try to bring human wisdom and attach it to divine revelation, what you need to know is God says don't think you will get anything. Once you marry the two with a double mind, God cancels the whole thing. So a lot of us are canceling out our prayers. We're praying for one thing, bringing human wisdom into it, which cancels the whole prayer.

He says you cannot have both. Dr. Evans will come back in a moment with more about building the kind of faith that can last no matter what comes along. Stay with us. Join Tony Evans and the Urban Alternative August 6 to 13 on an unforgettable journey through Alaska's unspoiled paradise from its majestic mountain peaks to the mighty forest and green meadows teeming with wildlife to the spectacular ice floes. This unique cruise opportunity will also give you the chance to hear life-changing teaching from Dr. Evans and other gifted teachers, as well as worship with some of today's most talented artists.

Join us August 6 to 13. Spots are filling up quick, so book your room of choice today at tonyevans.org. Tony's been talking today about a tale of two men, and as we've been learning, the future of our families and our society depends on stepping up to God's expectations for us.

But that takes power and perseverance. In Kingdom Men Rising, Dr. Evans addresses the cultural consequences of male passivity and shatters stereotypes, painting a real-life picture of manhood at its best, teaching men to keep promises instead of secrets, to rebuild lives and not just engines, to follow Jesus more closely than the stock market or a favorite sports team. And right now we want you to have a copy of this powerful book as our gift. Just visit tonyevans.org before time runs out, make a contribution toward Tony's ministry, and we'll say thanks by sending the book your way, along with all 12 full-length audio lessons in his current series, Kingdom Men Rising. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or call 1-800-800-3222, where resource team members are standing by around the clock.

I'll have that information for you again after part two of today's lesson. Here's Tony. It did not become apparent who the fool was and who the wise man was until the storm came. See, as long as it was sunny outside, both houses looked good. Both men looked great. Both families looked intact. Both ministries appeared to be solid.

The nation seemed to be on track. That is until the storm came. It was the storm that revealed what the real deal was. Let's look at the storm.

It says the rain came, the flood came, the wind blew. So whenever you have rain coming down, flood coming up, and a wind so strong, it cannot go over a house that's called a hurricane. It's a hurricane.

It's not a rain shower. It's a hurricane. And in your life, you're going to run into hurricane season.

Hurricane season is not some minor trial. It's when all hell breaks loose in your life. It's when your world shuts down on you. It's when everything that could go wrong does go wrong.

It's that bad prognosis from the doctor. It's that something that devastates you, that overwhelms you. It's hurricane season.

And if you're alive, you're going to run into that season or that season is going to find you. He says that when the rain came, the flood came, and the wind blew, the wise man's house stood and the fool's house fell because they didn't start at the same place. The houses may have looked wonderful on the outside, but the storm always reveals what you're resting on. You can fix a foundation or pour a foundation before a storm. You can repair a foundation after a storm. What you can't do is fix it in a storm. See, a lot of folk want God in a storm. Oh, but they didn't pour a foundation before the storm. So they're wondering why they've fallen apart. Because the idea is you pour the foundation first.

In other words, you set this thing in motion first. Many couples want to get a divorce when they never poured a foundation. So no wonder when the storm comes, it blows the marriage over. Because you didn't pour a biblical foundation or a single, a biblical foundation or any carry financially, a biblical foundation.

Whatever the issue is, you never poured God's foundation and you wonder why you're being blown over by the circumstances that take place in our lives. I love the story in Mark chapter 4 where Jesus is teaching. He's teaching on the seashore of the Sea of Galilee. And then he tells his disciples, let's get in the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Sea of Galilee is about eight miles across from the Sea of Galilee.

It's surrounded by hills or little mountains or large hills that surround it. And sometimes the wind will enter into a funnel down into the Sea of Galilee and that's called a lilac, a windstorm. And it disrupts the water tumultuous. So while the disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee in Mark 4, the Bible says they encountered a lilac, a windstorm that, like a mini tornado, that was whipping up the water. And these are professional fishermen. So they're used to rough seas, but this one scared them to death.

They became afraid for their lives. While they're bailing out water trying to survive, they look and see Jesus asleep in the stern on a pillow. Because the Bible says he was asleep on a cushion. A cushion is a pillow. Now if you're asleep on a cushion, on a pillow, that means you meant to go to sleep. So they are in a storm and Jesus is snoring.

Tell the truth and shame the devil. Have you ever felt like God is going to sleep on you? Your whole world is falling apart and you're calling on heaven and the lion is busy. Jesus is not doing anything. He's nowhere to be found.

That was their sentiment. And the Bible says they had to arouse him, which means he was sound asleep. They had to shake him to get him up. He was so asleep in a storm. So he's asleep in a storm.

They wake him up and then they ask the question that we all ask when God disappoints us. Do you not care that we perish? Don't you care what I'm going through? Don't you care how I'm hurting? Don't you see my tears? Don't you see how afraid I am? Don't you care about me?

Because sometimes when you're in a storm, it looks like God. There's nowhere to be found. He's snoring on you, sleep on you. The lion is busy and your world is falling apart. Do you not care? Jesus Christ, when they wake him up, he gets up and his first words are, Why are you so timid, O ye of little faith?

Excuse me? Oh, I can hear Peter saying, maybe because we're getting ready to die. He said, why are you so timid? Why would Jesus ask them that given the bad situation they're in? Because when Jesus was on the shore teaching and they were saying, Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, ain't God good? God is good all the time.

All the time, God is good. He's the rose of Sharon, bright morning star, balm in Gilead. He's so high you can't get over. He's so low you can't get under. He's so wide you can't get around.

Oh, he's awesome. They probably think our God is awesome. So, they heard the sermon. Jesus concluded the sermon on the seashore with, Let us go to the other side. I can hear him now saying, other side, other side, other side. Jesus said, we're going to the other side.

See, what happened was, what had happened was, the storm caused them to forget the word. God will allow a storm to see whether you knew what you were saying when you said Amen to the sermon. The point is simply this, your foundation determines your future.

And your foundation is the word of God applied, not just the word of God studied, heard, or known. Until application hits, you will not see the intervention of God. So, while you are waiting on God, I am waiting on God. He is waiting on us. He is waiting on the men to take their rightful place, to begin to dream dreams and to have visions that begin to apply and to say like Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He's waiting for men to pour the foundation on which everything else can stand. But then he's waiting on all believers to apply God's truth to their lives, whether they be male or female, to see God intervene.

So, don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting to follow God means to avoid storms. And sometimes, until you really follow Him, you haven't seen it rain yet.

I am saying, when the word of God is applied, without being mixed with human wisdom that contradicts His authoritative word, you have now engaged the programming of His word to work. And you will watch Him even in the midst of storms. The wise man still had a hurricane. He didn't avoid a hurricane. He just withstood it. He didn't succumb to it because he was resting on the right foundation.

When I was a boy growing up in Baltimore, one Christmas, my father brought me a balloon punching bag, a balloon punching bag. And so you'd hit it, boom. It hit the floor, bam, then it would bounce back, bing. You hit it again, boom, boom. It would go, bam, bam, and then it would bounce back, bing. One time I kicked it, hit the wall, hit the ceiling, came back, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, bing. No matter what I did to it, it kept coming back.

That's because it had a weight at the bottom that was heavier than the air at the top. So whatever I did to it up here, down there determined where things wound up. So I wish I could send you on your way and say, when you leave here today, trouble's not going to bother you, the devil's not going to bother you, but I would be lying.

But I can tell you this. He may go, boom, and you may go, bam, but if you got the right foundation, you coming back, bing. He may go, boom, boom, and you may go, bam, bam, but if you wrestle on the right foundation, you coming back, bing. And sometimes when all hell breaks loose, he goes, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. You're being hit from all over, and I wish it didn't happen, but sometimes it does. And when it does, you may go, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

But if you wrestle on the right foundation, you coming back. Dr. Tony Evans will come back in just a moment with a final story to wrap up today's lesson as he finishes up this message from his current teaching series, Kingdom Men Rising. This 12-lesson collection offers practical, clear directions for men who want to make a difference for the Lord. And as I mentioned earlier, we're offering a special package that includes all the lessons on CD or digital download, as well as a copy of Tony's powerful book by the same name, Kingdom Men Rising. Remember, they're all yours as a thank you gift when you make a donation to help support Tony's ministry.

This special double offer won't be around for long, and we don't want you to miss out. So make the arrangements today by calling our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222. Or visit tonyevans.org, where you can also sign up for Tony's free weekly email devotional.

Again, that's tonyevans.org. Well, Dr. Evans believes there's a desperate need to reclaim civility in our culture today. In light of that, he encourages each of us to find ways to demonstrate kindness to everyone we encounter through the course of our day. Our acts of kindness change the atmosphere of our communities for good and for God. When our lives are over, it's up to our children to carry on our name. But Dr. Evans says they should be carrying on something else as well, and he'll tell us about that tomorrow.

Right now, though, he's back with his final illustration for today. A number of years ago, we were in Italy, and we were in a little town in Italy called Pisa. So if you ever go to Italy, skip Pisa. Don't even bother with Pisa. There's only one thing in Pisa.

What is that? A Leaning Tower of Pisa. Well, actually, there are two things in Pisa.

There's a Leaning Tower of Pisa, and there are people on the side of the road selling replicas of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That's it. I mean, there's nothing there. Halfway around the world, to look at a building, lean.

That's it. A building's not that big. It's 176 feet. It's not that big. People come from all around the world to see this building lean.

So people are all there taking pictures and all that. While we were there, they had ropes around the base of the building because it was leaning 1 20th of an inch every year. So it was going to fall unless something was taken care of, 1 20th of an inch every year. Well, a lot of people don't know why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans. So let me tell you why the Leaning Tower of Pisa leans. The Leaning Tower of Pisa leans because it's located in Pisa. Because Pisa means marshy. See, it wasn't built on the side of the foundation. It's been leaning ever since. And once it starts leaning, you know what you do with it? You make it a tourist attraction because you can't do anything with it. Some of us ought to be tired of being tourist attractions. God has a purpose for you.

He has a dream He wants you to fulfill. But in order for that to happen, it must be resting on His foundation, which means His truth applied. Not just known, studied, memorized. All that's key.

But until acted on, it's not activated. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.