If its Not Jesus, it's Sand", Pastor Chris Lopez, June 27, 2026

Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 put Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes, wars, pestilence, and all the shaking of the world in the right frame: these things should not surprise God’s people, and nobody should be deceived. Jesus is coming soon, and readiness is not a vague feeling but a life with the right foundation. Matthew 7:24-27 brings that foundation down to one clear issue: everyone who hears Jesus’ words and does them is like a wise man who built on the rock, and everyone who hears and does not do them is like a foolish man who built on sand.

Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with that picture because he has already spoken about righteousness, prayer, enemies, mercy, holiness, and the whole shape of Christian life. Jesus presses the final question: what is going to be done with everything he said? The rock is not merely hearing Jesus, and the sand is not merely ignorance. The difference is obedience.

The foolish man is not foolish because sand is hard to identify. Sand is obviously not a good foundation. The old prayer for the houses of the men of Sharon helps bring out the point. The Plain of Sharon sat by the great trade route, close to business, travel, ports, and opportunity, but its sandy, swampy ground and seasonal floods made houses cave in. The people built there anyway because it was easy, convenient, and pleasurable. Sand had traffic. Sand had profit. Sand had comfort. Sand just could not hold when the water came.

Luke’s parallel adds the detail that the wise builder dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. The rock takes work. The rock calls for more than showing up at church, giving offerings, attending prayer meeting, or looking put together. Jesus wants the deeper work of a changed life, a surrendered temper, a patient spirit, a mind stayed on him, and a heart that follows the Lamb wherever he goes. Revelation 14 pictures God’s end-time people that way: wherever the Lamb goes, they go.

Isaiah 26 names the Lord God as the everlasting rock, and Psalm 55 promises that the Lord sustains the one who casts the burden on him. The storm still comes to both houses. The rain falls, the flood rises, and the wind beats hard. The difference may not be visible before the storm, because both houses can look the same for a while. The storm reveals the foundation in an instant.

Proverbs 18 calls the name of the Lord a strong tower, and Christ makes that mighty name a refuge even for the weakest soul. Jesus does not force the choice, but Jesus offers something better than sand. Jesus calls the hearer to go all in, dig deep, and build on him before the great fall comes.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Sand is convenient, not safe. Sand often looks attractive because it sits where life feels easy, profitable, and pleasurable. Jesus exposes the foolishness of building there, not because the danger is mysterious, but because the heart can knowingly choose comfort over stability. Convenience can become spiritually deadly when it trains a person to ignore what will not hold under pressure. [217:07]
• 2. Obedience is the real foundation. Jesus does not separate hearing from doing. The wise builder is not the person who merely knows the words of Christ, but the person whose life yields to them. Obedience is not a decorative feature added to faith, but the place where faith becomes weight-bearing. [222:11]
• 3. The Rock requires digging deep. Luke’s picture of the wise builder shows that rock is found through effort, not surface religion. The deeper work of Christ reaches temper, desire, patience, surrender, and the hidden places that public religion can leave untouched. A shallow spiritual life can look fine until the water rises. [218:46]
• 4. Storms reveal hidden foundations. Both houses face rain, flood, and wind, and both houses may look the same before the storm arrives. Trial does not create the foundation so much as reveal it. The storm makes instantly visible what had been quietly true all along. [225:22]
• 5. The weakest soul has refuge. The name of the Lord is not a theory for strong people, but a strong tower for the weakest soul that runs to Christ. Satan trembles and flees before that kind of refuge because the safety rests in Jesus, not in human strength. The mighty name of Jesus is enough when self-reliance is not. [227:43]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [195:22] - Venezuela Earthquakes and Prayer
• [200:21] - Jesus Warns About the Last Days
• [202:14] - The Wise and Foolish Builders
• [207:00] - The High Priest’s Prayer
• [213:24] - The Dangerous Plain of Sharon
• [216:39] - Why People Build on Sand
• [218:22] - Digging Deep to the Rock
• [221:01] - Following the Lamb Wherever He Goes
• [223:08] - The Lord Is an Everlasting Rock
• [225:22] - Storms Reveal the Foundation
• [227:05] - Refuge in the Mighty Name
• [228:18] - Choose Jesus Today

Bible Reading

Matthew 7:24-27
“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 against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” [03:22:14]

Luke 6:47-49
“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” [03:38:22]

Isaiah 26:3-4
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” [03:43:08]

Proverbs 18:10
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” [03:47:05]

Psalm 55:22
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

Revelation 14:4
“It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,” [03:41:01]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 7, what is the one clear difference between the wise man and the foolish man, and what do they both experience? [03:42:11]
2. In Luke 6, what extra detail is given about how the wise builder prepared his house, and what does the foolish builder fail to do? [03:38:22]
3. What kinds of things make “sand” attractive to build on, even when it is not safe? [03:36:39]
4. According to Isaiah 26, Proverbs 18, and Psalm 55, what pictures are used to describe the Lord, and what do those pictures say about his care for his people? [03:47:05]

Interpretation questions

1. If both builders hear Jesus’ words, why does Jesus place the dividing line at obedience rather than knowledge? What does that reveal about the kind of response Jesus is seeking? [03:42:11]
2. Luke says the wise builder “dug deep.” What might that suggest about the difference between surface religion and a life that is truly founded on Christ? [03:38:22]
3. Both houses may look fine before the storm comes. What does that suggest about how trials expose a person’s true spiritual condition? [03:45:22]
4. Revelation 14 describes God’s people as those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. How does that help explain what building on the rock looks like in everyday life? [03:41:01]

Application questions

1. Where does sand look most attractive right now—comfort, convenience, profit, image, relationships, or something else? What would it look like to stop building there before the storm reveals it? [03:36:39]
2. Jesus speaks about hearing and doing. Is there a specific word of Jesus that has been heard clearly but delayed in practice—perhaps in forgiveness, purity, honesty, prayer, mercy, or surrender? What would obedience look like this week? [03:42:11]
3. Digging deep often reaches hidden places like temper, desire, impatience, and self-will. Which hidden area most needs to be brought under Christ’s rule right now? What makes that area hard to surrender? [03:38:22]
4. Storms do not create the foundation so much as reveal it. When pressure rises, what usually comes out first—peace, panic, prayer, anger, trust, self-reliance? What might that be revealing? [03:45:22]
5. Isaiah says the Lord keeps in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on him. What tends to pull the mind away from Christ in anxious seasons, and what helps keep it stayed on him? [03:43:08]
6. Psalm 55 says to cast the burden on the Lord, and Proverbs 18 says his name is a strong tower. What burden needs to be handed over to the Lord instead of carried alone? What does running to him actually look like in practice? [03:47:05]
7. The Lamb’s people follow him wherever he goes. Is there any area of life where following Jesus still has clear limits—where obedience is welcome up to a point but not beyond it? What would “wherever he goes” mean there? [03:41:01]