"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

So how do you make sure Jesus knows you? How do you prove your relationship is real and not religious? Jesus gives you one final image. One last test. And it's the most practical thing He's said in the entire sermon. You build.

Notice the progression Jesus has been walking us through this week. First, you choose your entrance carefully. Then you check their fruit consistently. Then you call Him Lord correctly. And now, you must construct your life concretely. Jesus moves from profession to practice. From what you say to what you do. From claiming faith to constructing with it.

Here's the picture. Two builders. Both hear the same words. One does them. One doesn't. And the difference doesn't show up until the storm comes. The storm hit both houses. But only one stood. Why? Because one builder heard and obeyed.

Jesus says the wise builder built his house on the rock. The foolish builder built his house on the sand. Same storm. Different foundation. And the house on the sand collapsed. Here's what Jesus is saying. Hearing alone is sand. Hearing plus doing is rock. Knowledge without obedience is no foundation at all.

Can I just say something incredible? Jesus doesn't say the wise builder never faced a storm. He doesn't say if you obey Me, life will be easy. No. He says the rain will fall on both of you. The floods will come for both of you. The winds will blow against both of you. The storm doesn't care what kind of Christian you are. The storm doesn't check your theology before it hits. The storm is coming for everyone.

But when it hits, only one house stands. Not because the builder was smarter or luckier, but because the builder obeyed. Just like a farmer knows that crops don't grow because you read about farming, they grow because you actually plant seeds and work the soil, your faith doesn't stand because you know about Jesus. It stands because you do what Jesus says.

And notice what Jesus says. "These words of mine." He's talking about everything He's taught in this sermon. The Beatitudes. Being salt and light. The commands about anger and lust and divorce. The instructions about giving and praying and fasting. The warnings about worry and money and judging. All of it. Every word. That's your building material.

James comes back to this same idea. He says, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." And then he gives this picture. He says a hearer who doesn't do is like someone who looks in a mirror, sees what they look like, and then immediately forgets. They gained information but it changed nothing.

Here's the difference. A hearer asks, "What does this mean?" A builder asks, "What do I do with this?" One collects knowledge. The other constructs a life. One studies blueprints. The other pours foundation.

And the storm is coming. Not if. When. And when it hits, you'll find out whether you've been collecting blueprints or pouring foundation. Whether you've been a student or a builder. Whether you heard His words or obeyed them.

Colossians 2:6 and 7 says, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." You want to stand in the storm? Get rooted. Get built up. Get established. How? By walking in obedience to what you've received.

Here's what you need to know. A foundation isn't built in a day. It's built one choice at a time. One act of obedience at a time. One moment of trusting Jesus over your feelings at a time. You don't wake up one morning with a solid foundation. You build it slowly, deliberately, consistently by doing what Jesus says even when it's hard.

Tomorrow we're going to bring this all together, because everything we've talked about this week has been building toward one question. When the storm comes, what will be left standing in your life?

Take one command from the Sermon on the Mount that you've been avoiding and obey it today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. Build one piece of foundation by actually doing what Jesus says.