ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND

Proclamation:

“As for everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like.  They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.  When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”  Luke 6:47-48 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Luke, the physician and frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Luke begins this chapter by presenting what Jesus, The Christ, did on two separate Sabbath days which upset the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. (Luke 6:1-11)  Then he recounts how Jesus repeated the Sermon on the Mount to a large crowd which had gathered on the level plain who had come to hear Him speak, the Sermon on the Plain, and be healed. (Luke 6:17-26)  Jesus taught them to love their enemies, (Luke 6:27-36) not to judge others, (Luke 6:37-42) and that like a tree, a man is known by the fruit he produces. (Luke 6:43-45)  He ends this chapter with the example which Jesus gives of those who come to Him, hear His words, and applies them to their life as opposed to those who don’t. (Luke 6:46-49)

Application:

Those of us who believe, who have heard The Word of God and applied it in our lives, are like the man who built his house on a solid foundation.  When the storms of life came up against the house, it was able to stand strong and was not shaken.  The solid rock of our foundation is Jesus.  Those who do not have Jesus in their lives are like the man who built his house on sinking sand. (Matthew 7:26-27)  They have no foundation to their house.  When the storms of life come up against them, they will collapse and be completely destroyed. (Luke 6:49)  These “storms” include the trials, tribulations, and temptations of Satan, the persecutions of the world, the corruptions of men’s heart, and the errors of false teachers.  Where are you building your house?  As for me and my house, like the song says, “On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.”

BUILT ON THE SOLID ROCK OR ON SHIFTING SAND

Proclamation:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."  Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke near the end of His Sermon on The Mount as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Matthew.  Jesus compared the believer to a man who built his house on a rock, a solid foundation, versus the non-believer, a man who built his house on sand, a shifting foundation.  The former was able to withstand the storms, whereas the latter was not and it fell apart.

Application:

Our house, our religious life, will be tested and judged.  Only those whose house is built on the foundation of belief in and obedience to The Word of God will stand through the tests of life and the judgement.  The spiritual life of those who built their life on the doctrines of man will crumble under the tests of life and will not stand during the judgement.  Just going to church once in a while or once a week is not enough.  We need to believe, read, and live The Word of God.  The rock, the solid foundation, is The Word of God.  The shifting sand is human opinion and the doctrines of man.  Is your foundation built upon the solid rock, Jesus, The Christ, or on shifting sand?  The storms of life are coming and so is the judgement.  All will be judged. (Revelation 20:12-13)  However, only believers who have their name written in The Lamb’s book of life will survive the judgement. (Revelation 20:15 and 21:27)

HEAR AND OBEY THE WORD OF GOD

Proclamation:

“... Blessed rather are those who hear The Word of God and obey it."  Luke 11:28 (NIV)  The King James version of The Bible reads: “… Blessed are they that hear The Word of God, and keep it.”

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by Luke, the physician and frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Jesus was responding to a woman in the crowd, who had just witnessed Him cast out a demon from a man that was mute. (Luke 11:14) She called out to Him and said “Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and nursed you.” (Luke 11:27)  His response to her was that those who hear and obey The Word of God are blessed.   

Application:

All of us have been blessed in more ways than we can count and we all want additional blessings.  However, this conditional blessing requires a two fold response on our part, we must first "hear" and then "obey" The Word of God.  Many people hear The Word of God, but as the old people used to say, “it goes in one ear and out of the other.”  It does not stop, interact with, or change anything as it passes through their head.  When we hear The Word of God, it ought to change us in some way.  We ought to see things in a different light and we ought to think, speak, and act differently.  We need to be doers of The Word and not just hearers only. (James 1:22)  If after hearing The Word of God we are no different than we were beforehand, then we are not true followers of Christ.  True believers are changed by the exposure to The Word of God and become new creatures. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The Holy Spirit of God indwells believers and they begin to exhibit the fruit of The Spirit.  Believers are not perfect.  All who truly believe in Christ will change and lose some of their desires for the sinful passions of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-24)  When we know better, then we ought to do better or we will be convicted by The Holy Spirit within us when we don’t.

Be Doers Of The Word Of God

"Do not merely listen to The Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."  James 1:22 (NIV)  The King James Versions says: "But be ye doers of The Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

The author, James, the half brother of Jesus, wanted his readers to know that it is not enough to hear The Word of God.  One must believe it, internalize it, and put it into practice in their life.

When we know better, then we ought to do better.  If we hear The Word of God, and if we understand what it is saying, it should change our behavior.  If it goes over our head, or if it goes in one ear and out of the other without making a difference in us, then we may as well not have heard it.  Believers are changed by The Word of God, not perfect, but different.  We no longer get the same pleasure out of our sin because we know that it is not pleasing to God.  We know that we have been changed because some sin no longer appeals to us.  However, we have some sins that we struggle with, and pray to God for help with because they are like an addiction.  The good news is that the more time that we spend talking to God in prayer, and reading His Holy Word, the less time we spend in sinful activities.  So, when we are tempted to sin, we need to pick up our Bible and read it.  Then we need to try to live like it says that we should live.  Be doers of The Word.

A Good Heart Produces Good Fruit

"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."  Luke 8:15 (NIV)

Here Luke, the physician, records the words of Jesus as He explains the parable of the sower and the seed to His disciples.  The seed is The Word of God and the good soil or good ground is the person with a good heart who hears it, retains it, incorporates it into their life and it produces good results.

A lot could be said about this parable and this verse, but briefly focus on the "good heart".  We know that only God can see the heart of a person. (Luke 5:22 and Hebrews 4:12)  We also know that we do not have a good heart by nature. (Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21)  Our heart and thoughts are only deemed by God to be good based upon what we do with The Word of God once we have heard it. (Matthew 7:17-19 and 12:33)   If we are changed by it, and our life and efforts produce some good fruit, then we have a good heart.  That does not make us perfect, we will still fall and sin.  However, a true child of God will get up after each fall, ask to be forgiven, and will persevere in their walk with God.   A true saint with a good heart will persevere until the end, and will produce good fruit in the process.

Read Hear And Joyfully Obey The Word Of God

"On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra, the scribe, to give attention to The Words of The Law.  They found written in The Law, which The LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month ... So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths on their own roofs, in their courtyards ... And their joy was very great ... Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from The Book of The Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days ..."  Nehemiah 8:13-18 (NIV)

These are the words of Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to the king and the governor of Jerusalem, written under the guidance and direction of The Holy Spirit of God.  He recorded this celebration of the feast of the seventh month, which was lead by Ezra, the famous scribe and priest.  Ezra read The Word of God, the people heard it, and they joyfully obeyed it, and then they celebrated the feast.

These people of God heard The Word of God and they obeyed it.  They were not just hearers of The Word, but they were doers of The Word. (James 1:22)  Also, after they heard The Word of God, they changed their behavior, they lived in booths instead of their homes.  And, "their joy was very great", they joyfully changed their lifestyle and lived according to The Word of God. (James 1:2)  They did not just do this once, but they did it "day after day" when The Word of God was read to them.  We could learn a  lot from this Old Testament scripture.  When we read or hear The Word of God, if we are believers, it should change us and change our lives.  We should behave and live differently after we are exposed to it.  The more we read or hear it, the more we grow stronger in our faith, our belief, and in or walk.  We were not meant to be a milk-fed spiritual baby in Christ all of our life. (1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12)   We must do something with The Word of God when we hear or read it, we must exercise our faith in order for it to grow. (Luke 17:5 and 2 Corinthians 10:15)  Our Bibles should be opened and read every day, and we should joyfully apply what we read to our daily lives in order for us to grow and change to become more Christ-like.

Hear Obey And Repent

"Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."  Revelation 3:3 (NIV)

In a vision, the Apostle John received a message to the believers, directed through the Angel of a local Church, from The Lord God who told him to write to them and say, remember The Word of God which they had received and heard, that they were to obey it and repent from their sins, because they did not know when The Lord was going to come and require them to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds.

This message is just as appropriate to us today as it was to them then.  We need to repent and obey The Word of God.  The main point of the first sermons of Jesus, The Christ, was repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)  This is a call for us to "wake up" for soon this life will be over. (Revelation 3:2)  We must hear and obey The Word of God. (James 1:22)  For one day, and no one knows when it will be, we will have to give an account of our stewardship. (Matthew 12:36 and Romans 14:12)  This is our wake up call, we need to get ready people, we need to repent, for judgement day is coming.

Hear And Obey The Word Of God

 "He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.' "  Luke 11:28 (NIV)

Luke, the physician and frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul, recorded the words of Jesus as reported to him by eyewitnesses. (Luke 1:2)  As Jesus was explaining to the crowd that His power to perform miracles, like casting out demons, came from God.  He was interrupted by a woman in the crowd who yelled out blessed is the woman who gave birth to Him and nursed Him.  To her He replied "Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of God and obey it."  Without putting her down, Jesus redirected the conversation stating more than that, those who hear and obey The Word of God are blessed.

Likewise, we are blessed when we hear and obey The Word of God.  Just hearing or reading and knowing The Word of God is not enough. (John 13:17)  We are to be doers of The Word, and not just hearers of it. (James 1:22)   Not only did Jesus preach and teach The Scriptures, He lived them.  Herein He provided an example of helping the woman see the bigger picture instead of embarrassing her.  We should also pass up the opportunity to put someone down.  We should phrase our comments in such a way as to help enlighten others instead of putting them down.  Let's do more than read and listen to The Word of God, let's obey it and live it, and be blessed for doing so.

Make Sure That You Have A Firm Foundation

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."  Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

The Sermon on the Mount was a very powerful sermon, it contained many parables, principals, and lessons.  In these verses, Jesus makes it clear that he who hears and does what He says will have a solid foundation and will survive life's storms, and those who don't, won't.

It is not enough just to hear, or read, The Word of God, we must also put it into practice and live it.  Our living by His Word is what gives us a strong foundation, like the wise man.  Choosing not to live by His Word is to invite disaster into one's life, like the foolish man.  There will be storms and difficult times in all of our lives, but those of us who follow His way, He will guide and protect through the storms and bad times.  Those who choose not to live His way are on their own and headed for disaster.  The storms are coming and we each have to make the choice for ourselves, live with Him or without Him.

Want An Extra Special Blessing?

"He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear The Word of God and obey it.' " Luke 11:28 (NIV)

Jesus was talking with His disciples and the crowd after teaching them the model prayer and casting the demon out of a mute man when a woman in the crowd yelled out 'bless His mother', this was the reply that Jesus gave her.

Jesus conferred many blessings on individuals, on His disciples, and on the people who believed. While not conferring any additional special blessing on this woman in the crowd or on His earthly mother, Jesus made it clear that those who hear and obey The Word of God would be blessed. This clearly applied to more that just the woman in the crowd. The words "those who" also applies to all of us today. So if you want an additional special blessing, read the Bible out loud, or listen to the preacher, and obey The Word of God and you will be blessed.