Memory Text: (Mat 7:24 NIV) "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.

"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright ©1973,1978 & 1984 by the International Bible Society: Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House."

The Two Builders, Part One

(Mat 7:12 NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  

(Mat 5:17-20 NIV) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. {18} I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. {19} Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. {20} For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

(1 John 4:21 NIV) And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

(Mat 22:34-40 NIV) Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. {35} One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: {36} "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" {37} Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' {38} This is the first and greatest commandment. {39} And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' {40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

(1 John 3:14-24 NIV) We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. {15} Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. {16} This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. {17} If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? {18} Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

{1 John 3:19-24} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence {20} whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. {21} Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God {22} and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. {23} And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. {24} Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

(Mat 7:12 NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

(Mat 5:20 NIV) For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

(Exo 34:4-8 NIV) So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. {5} Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. {6} And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, {7} maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." {8} Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.

(Lev 11:44 NIV) I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.

(Mat 7:12 NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

(Psa 89:26 NIV) He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'

(1 Cor 10:1-4 NIV) For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. {2} They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. {3} They all ate the same spiritual food {4} and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

(1 Cor 3:11 NIV) For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

(Isa 40:8 NIV) The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

(Mat 7:12 NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

(Luke 6:48 NIV) He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

The Two Builders, Part Two

(Rev 21:1-8 NIV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. {2} I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. {3} And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. {4} He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." {5} He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." {6} He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. {7} He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. {8} But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

(Eph 4:14 NIV) Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Cleaning House

(Mat 12:22-45 NIV) Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. {23} All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" {24} But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." {25} Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. {26} If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? {27} And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. {28} But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. {29} "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. {30} "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. {31} And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. {32} Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. {33} "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. {34} You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. {35} The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. {36} But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. {37} For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." {38} Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you." {Matt 12:39-45} He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. {40} For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. {41} The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here. {42} The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. {43} "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. {44} Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. {45} Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation."

(Mat 12:22 NIV) Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.

(2 Cor 6:16 NIV) What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."

(Eph 2:22 NIV) And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

(Amos 5:15 NIV) Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

(2 Th 2:10 NIV) and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

Hard and Dry Versus Soft and Porous

(Mat 16:6 NIV) "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

(1 Cor 5:6-8 NIV) Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? {7} Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. {8} Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

(Gal 5:9 NIV) "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."

(Gal 5:16-26 NIV) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. {17} For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. {18} But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

{Gal 5:19-26} The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; {20} idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions {21} and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. {22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. {24} Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. {25} Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. {26} Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

(Gal 6:2 NIV) Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

(Eph 4:17-24 NIV) So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. {18} They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. {19} Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. {20} You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. {21} Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. {22} You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; {23} to be made new in the attitude of your minds; {24} and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

(Eph 4:31-32 NIV) Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. {32} Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

(Eph 5:1 NIV) Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

(Mat 7:12 NIV) So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

(Lev 19:32 NIV) "'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.

(Prov 23:22 NIV) Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

(1 Pet 5:5 NIV) Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

How Does It Work?

(Mat 13:33 NIV) He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 97

Like Unto Leaven - As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works from within outward, so it is by the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to transform the life. No mere external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony with God. There are many who try to reform by correcting this or that bad habit, and they hope in this way to become Christians, but they are beginning in the wrong place. Our first work is with the heart. A profession of faith and the possession of truth in the soul are two different things. The mere knowledge of truth is not enough. We may possess this, but the tenor of our thoughts may not be changed. The heart must be converted and sanctified. The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely--because he is required to do so--will never enter into the joy of obedience. He does not obey. When the requirements of God are accounted a burden because they cut across human inclination, we may know that the life is not a Christian life. True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. It springs from the love of righteousness, the love of the law of God. The essence of all righteousness (p. 98) is loyalty to our Redeemer. This will lead us to do right because it is right--because right doing is pleasing to God.

(John 3:1-8 NIV) Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. {2} He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." {3} In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." {4} "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" {5} Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. {6} Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. {7} You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' {8} The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

FURTHER STUDY

(1 Sam 10:9-13 NIV) As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul's heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. {10} When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. {11} When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, "What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?" {12} A man who lived there answered, "And who is their father?" So it became a saying: "Is Saul also among the prophets?" {13} After Saul stopped prophesying, he went to the high place.

(1 Sam 16:14 NIV) Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

(1 Sam 18:10-11 NIV) The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand {11} and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice.

(1 Sam 19:9 NIV) But an evil spirit from the LORD came upon Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the harp,

(1 Sam 31:1-6 NIV) Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. {2} The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. {3} The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. {4} Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. {5} When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. {6} So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

(Mat 10:1-4 NIV) He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. {2} These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; {3} Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; {4} Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

(Luke 22:3-6 NIV) Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. {4} And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. {5} They were delighted and agreed to give him money. {6} He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.

(John 13:21-30 NIV) After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." {22} His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. {23} One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. {24} Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means." {25} Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" {26} Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. {27} As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, {28} but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. {29} Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. {30} As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

(John 18:2-5 NIV) Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. {3} So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. {4} Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?" {5} "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

(Mat 27:3-10 NIV) When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. {4} "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." {5} So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. {6} The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." {7} So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners. {8} That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. {9} Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel,

{Matt 27:10} and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."

(1 Cor 13 NIV) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. {2} If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. {3} If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {4} Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. {5} It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. {6} Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. {7} It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. {8} Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. {9} For we know in part and we prophesy in part, {10} but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. {11} When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. {12} Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. {13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 147 - 152 & 95 - 102 (not included with lesson help)

Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 98 - 99

Like Unto Leaven - The great truth of the conversion of the heart by the Holy Spirit is presented in Christ's words to Nicodemus: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he can not see the kingdom of God. . . . That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit." John 3:3-8, margin. The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, says, "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:4-8. The leaven hidden in the flour works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening process; so the leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted. 99 A new standard of character is set up--the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the faculties are roused to action in new lines. Man is not endowed with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience is awakened. We are endowed with traits of character that enable us to do service for God. Often the question arises, Why, then, are there so many, claiming to believe God's word, in whom there is not seen a reformation in words, in spirit, and in character? Why are there so many who cannot bear opposition to their purposes and plans, who manifest an unholy temper, and whose words are harsh, overbearing, and passionate? There is seen in their lives the same love of self, the same selfish indulgence, the same temper and hasty speech, that is seen in the life of the worldling. There is the same sensitive pride, the same yielding to natural inclination, the same perversity of character, as if the truth were wholly unknown to them. The reason is that they are not converted. They have not hidden the leaven of truth in the heart. It has not had opportunity to do its work.

Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 98 - 99 (continued)

Their natural and cultivated tendencies to evil have not been submitted (p. 100) to its transforming power. Their lives reveal the absence of the grace of Christ, an unbelief in His power to transform the character.

(Mat 7:24-27 NIV) "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. {25} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. {26} 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. {27} The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

(Psa 14:1 NIV) For the director of music. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

(Prov 1:7 NIV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

(Prov 3:7 NIV) Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

(Prov 12:15 NIV) The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

(1 Cor 1:20 NIV) Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

(1 Cor 3:20-23 NIV) and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." {21} So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, {22} whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, {23} and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Special thanks to: Jerry Giardina for all his help in producing these lesson helps

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Last updated on June 29, 1997