The House on the Rock - Part 1
Matthew 7 (KJ2000)
24 Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
One of the most important things Jesus did in His earthly ministry was to teach. Over 2,000 years have come and gone since the Sermon on the Mount, but in the Scriptures we have privilege of listening again and again to the Word of God speak the word of God.
In this series I’d like us to consider again the contrast that Jesus drew between two types of people who listen to Him. In fact, this contrast is the same, whether the people in question are peasants who left their jobs to follow Him as He went about Palestine doing good, or Christians living in the 21st century. Jesus tells us the way to differentiate between wise and foolish believers. This contrast can be summarised this way - Wise believers are doers of the Word of God, foolish believers are not.
Notice that both the wise man and the foolish man that Jesus spoke about built a house. Both buildings suffered the same challenges from bad weather. Both experienced rains, floods and contrary winds. At the end of the day, one was left standing, the other had collapsed.
I remember as a young boy in Sunday School being taught that the wise man built his house on correct doctrine, while the foolish man built his house on false doctrine. Well, it’s important that we believe the truth, not error. But that isn’t the point here. Jesus does not actually give us the impression that there was anything wrong with what the foolish man believed. In fact, He says that both the wise man and the foolish man “heard these sayings of mine”. If there was anything wrong with what the foolish man had heard, there would be something wrong with what the wise man had heard, too.
As an adult I still listen to teachers who leave me with the impression that it’s important to believe correct doctrine so as to be able to weather the storms of life. That is all well and good, but let us remember that as far as Jesus is concerned, you could believe the truth all you want and still be described as “foolish”, if you’re not a doer of the Word of God.
James says essentially the same thing.
James 1 (KJ2000)
22 But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Not everyone who hears, does. The one who does, is blessed in his deed. The one who doesn’t, isn’t blessed in his deed.
This week, let’s explore together what it means to be a doer of the Word.
Continue in grace!