First of note in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders is the word \"these\" (Matt. 7 : 24 ). \"These sayings,\" in Greek \"tous logous toutous,\" accusative plural of \"ho logos houtos,\" are the entire Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 : 3 - 7 : 27 ) and the parallel accounts in the other Gospels, exclusive of everything that Jesus later taught. Therefore, if we would be like the wise builder, we would obey everything He commanded in His Sermon on the Mount -- and would be found wise even if we never understood His later teachings such as the camel passing through the eye of the needle in Matthew 19. Conversely, dare we ignore the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, by asserting that it is intended for heaven but no earthly way to live life, Jesus has warned that then He will liken us unto the foolish builder regardless of otherwise good works, scriptural training, and understanding of the rest of the Bible. In light of this, it is a good sign for me that my comments on the Parable of the Ten Virgins (which I take together with those of the good and evil servants and of the talents) refer to the Sermon on the Mount, particularly when I make a moral claim. Now, let us examine the details of the wise and foolish builders: how we use the Sermon on the Mount. Do we obey Jesus\' words therein, or dare we shove it aside for our convenience? Far shorter than any compilation of everything that Jesus taught on earth, the Sermon on the Mount is still not easy to follow in practice. Teaching those Gentile Christians who know some of the Jewish Law to obey it as God\'s will because their consciences are aware of it among Gentile believers presumed ignorant and able to tell the Jews \"I didn\'t know better\" is not easy, for \"all\" was not \"fulfilled\" at the time of the Resurrection in Matt. 5 : 17 - 20 , for example, prophecies from Yichzeqi\'el (Ezekiel 38) concerning modern Israel. Therefore, for a Gentile believer in Christ who knows the Jewish dietary laws to let his light shine before men (people) in Matt. 5 : 15 - 16 must include keeping those laws in his own home (also Matt. 23 : 1 - 3 ). Jesus knows our awareness or ignorance about keeping kosher kitchens; whoever knows God\'s clear commands yet disobeys sins. Settling out of court (Matt. 5 : 25 ), refraining from leering (v. 28 ), and amputating the part of the body that brings scandal (vv. 29, 30 ) are not all easy. The wise builder\'s communication will be full of clear Yes or No answers in place of the usual hedging or sworn answers from unbelievers. The difficult verses in Matt. 5 : 39 - 41 require interpretation in the context of the Roman Empire, and verse 42 requires absolute generosity from Jesus\' followers! It is the stinginess of most American churches and pastors toward the needy which has me most convinced that the Church Growth Movement along with the rest of the Great Apostasy (II Tim. 4 : 3 - 4 ) is like the foolish builder who built his house on the shifting sands. Many churches nowadays are sinning in trying to serve both God and Mammon (wealth) as masters and expecting prudence from their followers and from the needy (Matt. 6 : 19ff ; also Luke 16 : 1 - 13 , the Parable of the Unjust Steward). Without the generosity of Jesus Christ in our hearts, we look an awful lot like the foolish builder. Punishment is coming soon after it becomes certain that the hypocritical churches never will spread the Gospel throughout the whole inhabitable earth in time to fulfill Jesus\' prophecies at the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24 : 14 , 34) without uprooting the evil servants in charge on this earth (Matt. 24 : 45 - 51 ). I look to LUKE 16: 1 - 13, the Parable of the Unjust Steward, for the means to live the bountifully generous way our Lord commanded. That Luke 16 is neglected and not tolerated at many churches shows that entire congregations are foolishly building their Christian lives on sand. Still, we have a choice to learn and follow the Sermon on the Mount to the letter by beginning with LUKE 16 to make it practical. Yours in Christ, +++ Kevin D. Rosenberg