(Matthew 7: 24-27) “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: (Vs.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. (Vs.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: (Vs.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.”
Have you ever considered how majestic a huge skyscraper looks that is towering up to the skies? Some skyscrapers are impressive constructions but the main factor has to do with the kind of foundation upon which these huge skyscrapers are built. While the assembly of the skyscraper itself is erected quite quickly it takes a long time to get the foundation right and much drilling down into the bedrock is required to make the foundation solid and secure so that the tall building can remain upright especially when a severe storm hits.
The Lord Jesus had just been speaking about spiritual principles of living in the kingdom of God based on the teaching of the Torah and the prophets. He concludes His discourse with a “therefore” in Matthew 7:24. A “therefore” is based on what has been said before! The main emphasis He places on His concluding remarks is to do with the solid foundation of God’s Word upon which a New Covenant believer must build their lives according to God’s good acceptable and perfect will if they are to spiritually survive in the storms of life and in their war against the world, the flesh and the wiles of the devil, especially in these last of the last days. Let’s now look briefly at what He says…
Matthew Chapter 7:24-26.
(Vs.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:”
At one time the Lord Jesus asked His disciples “Who do you say that I am?” Peter declared “You are the Messiah the Son of the Living God!” The Lord Jesus replied; “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for this was not revealed to you by man but My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (a small rock or one who is rocky or rough in character) and on this rock (a large and solid rock or stone) I will build My Church (Assembly) and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:15-18).
This revelation Peter had of who the Lord Jesus is was not something Peter had arrived at by a deductive process of his mind but was the result of a supernatural revelation by the Spirit of God concerning the true nature of the Lord Jesus. We can know God’s Word but in order for it to change us deep down on the inside of us the blessed Holy Spirit must make it a living reality and enable us to do what it says. Against this inner spiritual revelation even the gates of Hades and demon powers themselves cannot stand against or overcome the spiritual power of this revelation when believed in and acted upon! This huge rock then was not Peter himself but the Lord Jesus and the revelation of Him upon which a person can build their whole life and future.
A revelation of the Lord Jesus by His Spirit spiritually regenerating our inner human spirit will lead us to the written Word of God which will become for us the only solid and lasting foundation for everything that pertains to life and godliness in this present age. As it is written; “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
To build our lives upon the solid foundation of God’s Word is to build upon the Lord Jesus Himself, the rock of our salvation and this is God’s wisdom which the world does not have. God’s Word will make us wiser than the wisest of men (Psalm 119:97-99). There are only two types of wisdom in this world according to the apostle James because Satan is the god of this world and oversees the wisdom of this world which at its very core is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic and where you will find jealousy and selfish ambition and where there will be disorder and every vile practice.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness (by God’s standards) is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:15-18). It is only the Word of God that will give us this wisdom if our inner spirit man has been spiritually reborn by the Holy Spirit deep down on the inside of us (John 3:3) (1 Corinthians 2:12-15). As it is written; “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Sadly, even among many born again New Covenant believers, you will find them going to Christian psychologists to get ‘counselling’ when they could go to God’s Psychology manual for life and godliness being the Book of Proverbs. We can have God’s wisdom in any and in all situations we face but we must ask for it by faith and believe we receive it when we ask for it (James 1:5-8) (Mark 11:22-24). There is more wisdom in God’s Word than in all of the books in the world combined! When we are feeding our inner spirit and mind upon the Word of God and allowing it to shape the direction of our lives in this world we are feeding upon the Lord Jesus Himself the Living Word of God who was made flesh and tabernacled among us (John 6:47-51) (John 1:1-2, 14) (1 John 1:1-2). And then we read…
(Vs. 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.”
No one is sheltered from the winds and storms of life. The intensity of tribulation in this life is clearly described in the terms of the rain, the floods and the wind which are the elements of adversity and affliction which at times can be overwhelming to say the least, whether it is in the area of our relationships, our finances, our health or our livelihood or even when persecuted for righteousness sake and marginalised and rejected by man because we follow the Lord Jesus.
At such times, if we have been consistently feeding our inner spiritually regenerated spirit every day upon the Word of God, and seeking to walk in all of God’s commands empowered by the Spirit of God and not by the power of our human will power, then our lives will not come apart at the seams when adversity, affliction and persecution comes because we have been regularly and consistently building our lives upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Himself by feeding upon His Word and that by faith.
Our feelings are no barometer for our spiritual condition or right standing before God. “We live by faith and not by sight” and fix our eyes. Not on what is seen and temporal, but fix our eyes upon what is not seen but is eternal!” (2 Corinthians 5:7) If anyone had afflictions and trials in this life and many disappointments and emotional rollercoaster rides it was the apostle Paul yet he calls his afflictions light and momentary! He writes; “For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). No matter what storms Satan brings against us and he will and which God allows, according to His Word He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
In these last days of disaster, darkness and confusion we need to recon on the fact that God still has everything under control and He does you know! There is no security and inner peace outside of a personal relationship with the Triune God through completely leaning on Him and trusting in our Lord Jesus to keep us by the power of His Word, His Spirit and especially through faith in His blood. It is by His blood of Jesus that we are justified, forgiven, cleansed, sanctified, our conscience purged and by which we have access to God and protection from the wrath to come and the power to overcome whatever the devil throws our way! (Ephesians 1:7) (1 John 1:7-9) (Hebrews 14:12) (Hebrews 9:14) (Hebrews 10:19-20) (Revelation 1:5) (Romans 5:9) (Revelation 12:11). And then we read…
(Vs 26-27) “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.”
To seek to build our lives on any other foundation other than the Lord Jesus and upon His unchanging word is to build upon something that is as unstable as sand which can be dissipated by rain, washed away in a flood and swept away by a strong wind. Such is any personal life or corporate organization or structure of man that seeks to build upon another foundation other than the Lord Jesus Himself. As Paul writes; “But each one must be careful how he builds. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus the Anointed Messiah” (1 Corinthians 3:10b-11). This principle of building on the only foundation being the Lord Jesus and His Word, which we have in the whole Bible from cover to cover, not only applies to us individually as New Covenant believers but also corporately to the wider Body of the Messiah.
Today there are churches and ministries building their empires on health, wealth, programmes, personalities, nepotism, secular marketing strategies, miracles, signs and wonders, large church buildings and denominational structures and doctrines, but very few building upon the solid foundation of God’s Word. God never gave ministers and church leaders permission to change or amend the Word of God or to do things according to the traditions and commandments of man! Unless the affairs of the local assembly are under the headship of the Lord Jesus, led and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and having its activities regulated first and foremost by the Word of God, then no matter how grand and splendid the building and programming is, when the real storms of adversity hits that edifice hard, it will crumble and fall and that big time! The bigger the building, the bigger the fall!
In closing, we all need to ask ourselves are we seeking to build our lives on, and living for the things of this world and according to the wisdom this world offers, or are we building our lives upon the solid foundation of God’s Word and that pure untainted divine wisdom contained within its pages? Only when the foundations are solid will the building stand! No matter how attractive and grand things may look personally or corporately on the outside before men, if the foundation is not solid then, when the rain, the flood and the wind of Adversity strikes, everything will come tumbling down and its fall will be great!
