Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell— and great was its fall! (Matthew 7:24-29)

Jesus was a carpenter. He knew a lot about building. One day as He spoke to the people, He put two houses in a parable, for he knew the tendency in human nature: He knew how easy it is to hear things, listen to them, agree with them and then go out and do not one thing about them. And so He told the story to show the necessity of doing as well as hearing. It is not enough to know; it is not enough to agree. Every word is given that we may use it, put it into action and make it a part of the structure as we build a life.

The first thing Jesus is saying in this parable is that all of us are builders.

Everyone of us is building a house. It's a life-time job building a house of personality and character. Everything we do, every word we speak, every thought goes into the structure and becomes part of the life we build. We may think our deeds, actions and experiences are scattered and unrelated but they are uniquely fitted, nailed, cemented together.

We are all building a life, and in the parable, Jesus said that some are building wisely and some foolishly. Foolishly wrecking our lives with intemperate habits that burn up our bodies and befuddle our minds with alcohol, narcotics and psychedelic drugs; foolishly living a life of moral uncleanness, allowing sexual passions to control and dominate your life, exposing yourself to the deadly ravages of a devastating disease; foolishly bringing unhappiness to those you love and a great burden of guilt upon yourself. The foolishness of a mixed-up mind that has lost touch with the harsh reality of life.

Hers was an unlikely tragedy. At 18, ready for the world, an honor student, she enlisted in the Army and took the mandatory AIDS test. A week later she learned she was HIV positive. Kaye Brown, in Newsweek, blames only herself and a sexually permissive life style. "It makes me angry," she stated, "that I allowed this to happen. Choices I made have stolen away the choices that I might have had in the future."

Now everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a sensible man, and everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a stupid man. (Matthew 7:24)

These words of Jesus are not just good advice. They are not a little lean-to you add on to the house if you want to and leave it off if you don't. These words are the laws on which the structure of life is built. This is first. Every person is building his or her own house.

There is a further fact that this parable makes clear. Not only does everyone build his own house, everyone must live in the house he builds.

Simple enough. How often we hear it said this way, that every person must live with himself. That's certainly true. He can never get away from himself.

Here's a story I first heard in my early years about a wealthy man who laid blueprints before his secretary and told him, "I'm leaving on an extended trip and I want you to build a house for me in that location above the lake. I'll be gone for ten months. Here are the plans and specs and funds to cover the cost."

The astute employee saw a chance to feather his own nest. He hired a crooked contractor, employed unskilled labor whenever possible, and put cheap, inferior material into the building. When it was finished, it had the appearance of magnificence, but was really a poorly constructed, insubstantial shell.

When the employer returned and went with the secretary to see the building, which looked quite beautiful overlooking the lake, he asked the secretary, "What do you think of it?"

"I think it's wonderful," the secretary replied.

"I'm glad you like it. I'm retiring from business; I won't need your services much longer and I want you to have a nice house in your retirement. This house is yours."

We get the message! It is not good sense to erect a shabby building when the house we are building is our own. It is not very smart to play tricks on ourselves and weaken the structure of our own house. If we lie and cheat and cut corners, we are not really putting something over on our friends or relatives or the larger society.

We are not really "smart operators." We're just building a house on sand, putting cheap, shoddy stuff into our own buildings. Every person must live in his own house; the house which he himself has built. "I want to be fit for myself to know." You can move from here to Timbuktu, but you can never get away from yourself. You live in the house you build.

Returning from Trinidad, we flew into Miami on August 23. The airport had an alarming air of panic. We were informed the airport was to close at six because of Hurricane Andrew and we needed to make arrangements for housing in the event our flight did not leave before closing. Fortunately, our flight was the next to last flight leaving the airport before closing. As we waited in the lounge for the flight departure on the television, announcers were warning people of the coming storm and the precautions they needed to take.

However, the cameras showed people who were having hurricane parties, drinking and minimizing the danger. They were predicting the storm would not hit us.

That storm missed some. Well, this storm of life, of which Jesus speaks, will miss none. Every house, no exceptions—no life will be immune from the storm. This is something that cannot be said too often because many believe, as in Jesus' day, the storm breaks only on the unrighteous.

"Not so," said Jesus. Look at that storm coming up. See the thunderclouds shaping the shadowed scowl of the skies, hear the rumbling roar of the thunder, see the flashing intimidation of the lightening. The storm beats on every house. It beats on the house built on the sand. It beats on the house built upon the rock. The same storm that beats on one house beats also on the other. Every house gets tested by the storm. The passage is dramatically clear in its warning, but also in its assurance.

The final truth is the difference in the foundation.

The difference between standing and falling is not in the houses, not in the storm, but in the foundation. Jesus presents two different foundations, two classes who have been blessed with an understanding of divine truth. One class not only hears his sayings, but also does them, and another class hears, but does them not.

There is a storm coming which will test our life-house to the utmost. We need to watch with the greatest care how we build. We should dig deep and lay our foundation sure, making sure that our foundation is solid rock, Jesus being that rock. For while it is

true, this passage carries an admonition about building on sand. The greater truth is, it conveys an assurance about building on the rock.

Yes, the Master tells us the storm is coming, and He gives us the storm warning of a Divine Doppler. But more than that, He gives us storm assurance.

The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. (Matthew 7:25)

The State of Florida said it was ready for winds of 130 MPH, but panic set in when winds reached 160 MPH. Now some say winds reached gusts of 200 MPH. We have divine assurance whatever the life-storm category, 5 or 10. No matter how swiftly, suddenly, unexpectedly it comes up, we have his assurance that if we will build on the rock— if we will hear His words, if we will do them— the life house will not fall. Building on the rock does not prevent the storm. The rains fell, the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house. Building on the rock does not prevent the storm. It prepares for it.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built on the rock—and it did not fall.

Father, by Thy grace it will be so.

David Hardin: Ben, so many schools have been put together these days— women's colleges have taken men and men's colleges have taken women, etc.— why do we still have black colleges?

Benjamin Reaves: That is a very interesting question and a very appropriate one. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) colleges, of which Oakwood is one of the member colleges, and other historically black colleges and universities were established to provide access to opportunity and excellence at a time when access and opportunity was limited. Obviously, today those things have changed to some degree. The question might naturally rise, "Do we need those colleges?" That question is asked because generally the questioner does not appreciate what historically black colleges and universities offer that cannot be found in other institutions.

Hardin: What is that?

Reaves: It is a nurturing environment that accepts and affirms in historically black college or university settings. Young people are surrounded by role models who represent for them the kind of dreams they have for themselves. Because of the societal struggle that is always present, historically black colleges and universities are needed now as never before.

Hardin: So their self-esteem is built instead of maybe being frittered away.

Reaves: That is correct.

Hardin:  And that is very important.

Reaves: Yes, it is.

Hardin: How have the kids changed since you took over seven years ago? Is there any difference in today's college students?

Reaves: Well, I would like to say that it has been all downhill since I was a college student but that would not be correct.

I find the students of today are far more sophisticated about life in general. They no longer accept easy, pat answers. They will come back with a second and a third question. I find that they really put us on our mettle so that as we strive to stretch their minds, they are stretching ours as well.

Hardin: I wanted to ask you about one other thing. We are graduating, especially in our inner-city schools, especially in the black areas, lots of people, especially young men, who are not able to function at the college level. They can't read well. We are not really educating them well in high schools in the big cities. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Reaves: America needs to understand that that quote is not just an inner-city or a black problem, but the mounting despair and frustration that builds there will engulf society. We all have a stake in this and it is our burden and responsibility to address the need, as one writer put it, in those Congo villages of urban oppression.

Hardin: Is there a way we can get at that? Are we talking about more teachers? What are we talking about to help them?

Reaves: I think we are talking about all of that and more. We are talking about more teachers; we are talking about smaller groups which translates into more money. It is interesting that government can vote billions of dollars for other things, but somehow we fail to realize that the human concern is the greatest concern this country faces.

Hardin: It is an investment in tomorrow.

Reaves: Absolutely and it pays tremendous dividends.