OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 23

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Reaching the end of His discourse on the hillside, the Lord Jesus advised His listeners to put into practice the things He had taught them because what He had taught them was the solid rock of truth. A person who based his life on these teachings would be like a house built on solid rock that could not be undermined by the erosive forces of weather and would remain standing through rain, floods and winds.

On the other hand, hearing the words of Jesus and rejecting them or failing to put them into practice would result in a great fall because that person, by basing their lives on other foundations, would be like a house built on a sandy foundation that is easily undermined by rain, floods and winds.

Even if a person were to use engineering intelligence and strong materials to build a solid house, if the house was constructed on a sandy foundation, when water flooded or wind blew around the base of the house, the particles of sand would be individually swept away until the house was no longer evenly supported and it would break apart.

The words of the Lord are the definitive explanations of the basis upon which a person can successfully establish their lives in the kingdom of God because they are a unitary whole that cannot be washed away piece by piece.

If a person cobbles together the principles of living in the kingdom of God from sources other than the Lord Himself, that person will find that the bits and pieces of their founding philosophy will be eroded away under the different pressures in his environment and his life in the kingdom of God will collapse.

The people listening to the Lord Jesus were astounded by how authoritatively and powerfully He delivered His words. 

They were used to the uncertain and hedged way the scribes taught them while Jesus, a master of the subject matter, spoke with the conviction of one who established the principles.

Amen.

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