[SUB12] A CASA CAIU - Luciano Subirá

Guys, I’m here at Curitiba, in a very well known place of our city that is the ONM, Oscar Niemeyer Museum, or , like its popular nickname, the Eye Museum. I want to share a word that will bless your heart. This is a fantastic architectural project.

For this thing to stand there is a lot of study, a lot of structure, a lot of foundation. And today, I want to speak precisely about what we build based in a word of Jesus and I want you to meditate with me our theme today is: “The House fell apart. ” (Portuguese saying) The Lord Jesus declares , on the gospel of Luke, chapter 6, verse 47 to 49: "As for everyone who comes to me, and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.

They are 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. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed; and its destruction was complete. " The NIV, the New International Version, says this: "it collapsed", speaking of the house, "and its destruction was complete.

" Basically, Jesus is presenting to us the vision of two people. These two people have exactly the same mission. They have the mission of building a house.

Both are under what we can call the same circumstances. First there is a scenario without the rain and without the flood, later there is the rain and consequentially the flood. Both have exactly the same mission, they’re under the same circumstances, a inicial moment of ease, and other of difficulty, but one succeeded and the other did not.

This brings me to a question: what makes people fail in the Christian life? Certainly is not the way we begin. It has to do with the process, with the way we are building, what and how we’re building it, when we thing about the Christian life as a whole, when we think of our future, when we look ahead.

On this passage we can learn some truths. Paul the apostle writes to the Galatians, he says: "see, you started well, who has stopped you from continuing the same way you started? " This brings me the understanding it’s not only about starting well, we need to finish well.

And the way we walk, the way we build our Christian lives is what determines if we will succeed or not. This is what determines if we’ll have success or if we will have failure What is the great difference in between the man that was successful building the house and the one that failed? Jesus made it clear: the house that stood, was well built.

So it is the way that we edify it that will make the difference. That’s why at 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, Paul the apostle says: "Let each one take care how he builds upon it. " He does not only say look to the one that edifies it, but he says look to how he edifies it.

The first man is presented by Jesus and he is obviously making an analogy of the spiritual life, the way that we walk with Him, when he speaks about not only listening to the word, but to practice it. He’s talking of how serious we are in conducting our christian life the way it should be done. The first one, Jesus called a prudent man.

The difference is that the second is called foolish. For example, in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, the Word of God gives us a few details beyond what we read in Luke’s gospel. In Matthew we can understand that the flood was caused by the rain.

Let me tell you something, it is a matter of time. The rain, the storm, adversity will come, there is no promise that you and me, when choosing Jesus, as we decide to walk the Christian walk that we won’t face problems. On the contrary, The Lord Jesus says in John 16:33 “in this world you will have trouble".

He was actually not only warning, He guaranteed. Some of us could say that he promised that this kind of circumstance would happen. Problems would come, adversity would come and none of us should think of building a house without thinking about the storm that’s coming ahead Actually, what collapsed the house of the foolish builder was the storm.

That means that even if he had built it without foundations we would definitely say that the lack of foundation would not be the problem if the flood didn’t come. the problem of a lot of people today, of not having a grounded christian life, and deep, it’s because he is not waiting for the flood, he is not planning to face adversities. The trouble, the difficulties will come, but the question is: when they come, will we be ready for it?

Will we be waiting for it? That is the question to be made before we build. the first man, I repeat, was called a prudent man by Jesus.

Why? He could foresee the problem, he could prevent the adversity, the trouble that would come. The second one is called foolish specially for not dealing with this.

Now when the bible speaks of the prudence of each one, it’s not only about choosing the place where they build it. Because a fast reading can lead us to a premature deduction that one was lucky because he found the rock and the other wasn’t lucky enough to find a land with the rock. But actually, the one who dug it and set the foundations upon the rock, Jesus actually says he dug deep down.

Let me tell you, finding a strong foundation is something laborious. Finding a firm foundation is not by chance, it is not someone’s fortune, it demands planning, it demands determination. And I want to tell you, if you want a lasting christian life that can survive every adversity, the barriers you will find, you’re gonna have to fight for this.

You’re gonna have to pay a price for it. Having a grounded life will demand more effort of you, dedication, determination, having a time with the Lord everyday, engaging to the word, we should really ground our faith in the word, in the deep understanding, we develop a relationship with God that is not superficial, that doesn’t rely on weekly meetings. That will require that will demand from us determination.

And actually we could not think of something different in our christian life. When we think of the perspective that God has done His best for us, we should imagine that the way of living the christian life should be a great response of gratitude like it was a declaration to God from us: “we will also do our best for you Lord. " A christian life of dedication, of excellence, is necessary.

Because if not, we risk being like the foolish builder. He did not dig in a deep way, he did not find what is necessary to make us survive trouble that is specially the foundation and he simply edified it thinking about the moment. Many people have been edifying their christian lives like this, thinking of the moment.

He looks around, the weather is calm, there is no harbinger of a storm, no flood in sight, and he does it according to the moment. But we need to be wise, we need to plan. The christian walk is not only today, not only now.

It is a lifetime walk. My challenge to your heart is that you may in fact stop, think and meditate: what am I building? How am I building it?

Are you building something momentary or permanent and lasting? Are you building it with dedication, with excellency, or are you doing it in a negligent way? The Word of God says in Hebrews, chapter 6, verses 11 and 12, that we cannot be indolent The word "indolent" means loose, negligent.

The Bible says the opposite, we have to be diligent, what does that speak of us? Of dedication. We have to give ourselves to it.

In the sower’s parable the Lord Jesus speaks of a seed that fell upon what he called a rocky soil. That seed actually sprouted but the roots couldn’t go deep. And specially because it couldn’t go deep, Jesus says that when the sun came out it burned.

And how does he interprets the sun? Precisely as the persecutions, the trouble, the adversities that come because of the word. In another words, Jesus is saying that if we don’t develop deepness, if we don’t dig, in resemblance to the wise builder, deep down, if we don’t go deep, when the pressure come it is going to beat us.

They have the power to cancel the effect of the word of God. Even if it has been initially received with Joy, with excitement, it doesn’t last, it doesn’t survive. Unfortunately today in the Brazilian nation we have millions devious believers.

Some statics say that the average is 1 to 1. For each strong believer there is someone who knew the word of God and is now devious. That makes us evaluate the context of the Brazilian church and it makes me believe that we are edifying just for the moment.

I don’t want you just to be part of the good statistics, of those who are firm, I want us to proclaim a gospel, I believe that more than I want, God wants us to proclaim a gospel where people are in fact grounded in the truth. Where their decision is not for a moment, but for a whole life. Where it doesn’t matter the kind of problem that show up, of adverse circumstances, of even persecution if that’s the scenario, that will make us give up.

When I go through the pages of the book of Acts, the epistoles, we see a type of believer that doesn’t give up They were "unstoppable". No one, it wasn’t the circumstances, it wasn’t the spiritual kingdom offering opposition, nothing could stop them. But when you see the message that reached their hearts starting with the apostles that listened to Jesus, extending to that generation that they trained and prepared it was a message that prepared those christians to live for more than just the moment.

They were edifying a kind of building that would stand. I turn to the question: What kind of house are you building? The example that we fave here in the background is of an amazing architectonic work.

this required not only planning, not only the structural calculations but all due investment to its foundations so that this work would stand. Now, when we speak of the christian life, we are speaking of something a lot more important, of something a lot more precious. What investment have you been doing for your christian life to last to the end?

The expression “the house fell apart" is used in our midst to speak of a project that didn’t work. It is not only to talk about structural damage, of an architectonical failure. When we bring that to the context of faith, saying that someone’s house has fallen apart, is saying that he built it badly, that he didn’t finish well and that he miscarried his project.

This certainly,in the name of Jesus, wont be mine or your story. On the contrary, we’ll change ours and help to change the story of many others to a well succeeded christian life that will remain until the end, in the name of Jesus.