“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 found 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. And when Jesus
finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teachings, for He was
teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.” –Matthew
7:24-29 (ESV).
In
completing the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a memorable parable of building
on the right foundation to tell His hearers that those who heard and heeded His
words would have a firm base for living a good and righteous life. The evidence of whether one is truly a
believer is the way he practices the teachings of Jesus. The bedrock on which to build a life is the
teachings of the Lord. To illustrate and
draw His point to a memorable close, Jesus gave the parable of the wise man
building a house on a rock. Whatever
came to buffet that house, it still stood because it was erected on a solid
foundation. But if the building is not
on a solid foundation, if it is built upon the sand, it will shift about and
fall in the storms. If a believer
follows unsound doctrine and does not build on solid foundations, he cannot stand
when pounded about by various “isms” and faulty religious beliefs.
The
sandy soil around the Sea of Galilee was solid on the surface, but it was not
good for building upon unless the builder dug down until he struck bedrock to
set his foundation. Only then could he
erect a building that would withstand the strong winds and storm squalls that
came erratically across the waters and beat upon whatever was built upon the
land. Likewise, in building a framework
for our belief system, we must not build upon superficial pretense and unstable
religious foundations. Only the bedrock
of truth will suffice to weather our faith through all sorts of stormy life
situations. Again we are reminded of
Jesus’ firm statement: “I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
When some who had been following Jesus turned away and followed Him
no longer, He asked the twelve, “Will you
also go away?” Peter said: “”Lord,
to whom shall we go? You have the words
of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the
Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69).
Notice
something unusual as we end our thoughts on the Sermon on the Mount. As he began this teaching, Jesus took his
disciples apart from the crowds and began to teach them (we assume, the
twelve). But recorded here as He ends
the discourse, Matthew tells us that as He concludes these sayings, “the crowds were astonished for he was
teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” Evidently others, “crowds,” joined that
inner circle as Jesus continued through His teachings that we call the “Sermon
on the Mount.” Is that not indicative of
how the truth of the gospel attracts people?
And as we live out the gospel in our own lives, as our foundation is
established firmly and we build our own lives upon it, people are attracted to
what we have as our stabilizing influence and they will ask us what we
have. We can then say: “Come to Jesus and learn of Him. What He has given to me, He wants to give to
you, likewise.”
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