“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: “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. “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: “and the
rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that
house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24
Biblical
commentaries tell us that parables are earthly stories with
heavenly meaning1
The main point of
this illustration is that obedience to Christ’s teaching will help
us in our daily lives to be secure and safe during the storms of
life. This statement
also ends the famous Sermon on the Mount given by Christ in
Matthew. It asks us all to examine how we build our lives as
followers of Christ.
Biblically, a
house describes a tabernacle, temple, or a family dwelling.
It is also figurative of our bodies, our earthly life, or our
heavenly mansion. Christians
need to see their first responsibility is to build their own life on
the foundation of hearing and obeying God’s word.
The second consideration is to then build their family, job,
and church life solidly on the teachings in the bible.
The bible is a wealth of wisdom but it is also a personal
love letter to all of us from the God who created us.
And
this illustration may also be linked to Christ’s admonition to
Peter: “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of
hell will not prevail against it!”
The rock here is the revelation of God that comes not through
the mind but through the spirit of man and takes place at times of
personal bible study, prayer and meditation.
Clearly the devil won’t be able to stand against the
revelation that only God can give.
And our human nature can’t stand against Him either.
Jesus
calls us to overcome the world, our flesh and the devil.
He would NOT call us to do something that He could not
empower us to do through the His Holy Spirit within and His word to
guide us. Studying His word, seeking His answers, and spending time
with God is the only way to hear His voice and obey it.
Sometimes
we being sheep wander off the narrow path and obedience to His ways
get murky or muddled. When
we ask, seek and knock, God always responds.
Perhaps not as quickly as we think He should, nor in the way
we think He should. However, when He does respond to our cries, he does so with
love, tenderness, and in a way that helps us in the future to not
fall into the same pits we did in the past.
Saints
in the past have prayed, fasted, retreated, or had others pray for
them to be able to hear God better.
Jesus, has the door wide open all the time because we are
forgiven and He never shuts anyone out who is serious about hearing
His voice.
Some Key
Principles in the Sermon on the Mount are:
1.
Do not judge others.
2.
Judge yourself by the Holy Spirit
3.
Be more interested in letting God cleanse you than in
cleansing others.
4.
Don’t take the “pearls” of Christ’s wisdom that he is
giving you to grow in wisdom and in His likeness to people outside
the kingdom. They are
unclean and won’t understand them. In casting them off they will
actually turn on you and cut, tear you, and leave you bleeding.
5.
Ask and it will be given
6.
Seek and you will find.
7.
Knock and it will be opened.
8.
These three responses by you will connect you to God’s
wisdom, His holiness and cleansing.
9.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
10.
And the entire key to the Sermon on the Mount is “hear and
obey”. To do that you
must be in relationship to the God who wrote the bible, created the
earth, and everyone in it.
1
Bible
Believer’s Commentary