Built on the Rock
Matthew 7:24-27,
The Sermon on the Mount begins with those nine Beatitudes, and then comes to a close here. Jesus often closed off some of His parables, and this seems to be a parable on a very strong note of warning or exhortation. You probably know that the sermon as a whole is what you could call a highly discriminatory sermon, not a prejudice kind of discriminatory, Jesus was a discriminatory preacher. He never let people sit there and wonder as to what He was saying when it came to the great moral divide.
If you go through the sermon, He distinguished between false religion, true religion, the false righteousness of the Pharisees and also true righteousness. He distinguishes between true prophets and false prophets. And in chapter 7, He distinguishes between two gates, two ways and two destinies. So again, He is making discrimination between those who are true believers and those who are not. And He is addressing again and again the matter of religion, the false religion of that day was so rampant. But in the latter part of this chapter, verse 24, He makes another discriminatory application. This time again, it's a parable. Some think it is, some aren't quite sure, but He distinguishes between two builders and two foundations.
So here again, Jesus is making a discriminatory application here to people who hear the word of God. There are two hearers, both hear but one hears and does, he's a hearer and a doer. And you have that similar discrimination in terms of the righteous and the unrighteous, in terms of hearing the word of God or meditating upon the word of God. Psalm 1, I think that's another Psalm where you can see it as well, that great moral divide. Again, discriminatory preaching you could say, or teaching with regard to the moral distinction that separates mankind.
And in Psalm 1, we're introduced to the righteous man first by way of a negative and then by way of a positive, what he doesn't do and then what he does do, and so we're told, first of all, what he does not do. And what does he not do? Well, he doesn't listen to the counsel of the ungodly, he doesn't stand in the way of sinners, and he doesn't sit in the seat of the scorner. So you could say people know where he stands. They know he's a man of conviction, a man who will take a stand when it comes to holiness.
That's the negative. But as far as the positive, look at verse two, he's the man who meditates upon the word day and night and if he does, if he follows through with the negatives and follows through with the positive, his life will be significantly impacted. That's why He gives a beautiful illustration of a tree planted by rivers of water. It says its fruit will not perish or it will bear fruit in season. And then the durability, his leaf will not wither. So you have I think three things here about the righteous man:
But obviously, the word of God impacts his life. He's a doer, you could say that, could you not? He's building his house upon rock.
So as we go to prayer time, that's something we should want to keep in mind. I thought it'd be wise for us to think again what we heard. We can all hear the word of God, but are we going to put it into practice? And so we can even pray that we would put it into practice. The psalmist could say, “I have hid your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth.” We cannot live the Christian life, we cannot grow the way we should grow unless we regularly are feeding upon the word of God. It's like food, the best of food. What does Moses say in Deuteronomy 8, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
And one of the reasons, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why we come to a corporate prayer meeting is so we can pray together, pray in what we heard this past Sunday. And I trust that will help us to be doers, to be doers.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The Sermon on the Mount begins with those nine Beatitudes, and then comes to a close here. Jesus often closed off some of His parables, and this seems to be a parable on a very strong note of warning or exhortation. You probably know that the sermon as a whole is what you could call a highly discriminatory sermon, not a prejudice kind of discriminatory, Jesus was a discriminatory preacher. He never let people sit there and wonder as to what He was saying when it came to the great moral divide.
If you go through the sermon, He distinguished between false religion, true religion, the false righteousness of the Pharisees and also true righteousness. He distinguishes between true prophets and false prophets. And in chapter 7, He distinguishes between two gates, two ways and two destinies. So again, He is making discrimination between those who are true believers and those who are not. And He is addressing again and again the matter of religion, the false religion of that day was so rampant. But in the latter part of this chapter, verse 24, He makes another discriminatory application. This time again, it's a parable. Some think it is, some aren't quite sure, but He distinguishes between two builders and two foundations.
So here again, Jesus is making a discriminatory application here to people who hear the word of God. There are two hearers, both hear but one hears and does, he's a hearer and a doer. And you have that similar discrimination in terms of the righteous and the unrighteous, in terms of hearing the word of God or meditating upon the word of God. Psalm 1, I think that's another Psalm where you can see it as well, that great moral divide. Again, discriminatory preaching you could say, or teaching with regard to the moral distinction that separates mankind.
And in Psalm 1, we're introduced to the righteous man first by way of a negative and then by way of a positive, what he doesn't do and then what he does do, and so we're told, first of all, what he does not do. And what does he not do? Well, he doesn't listen to the counsel of the ungodly, he doesn't stand in the way of sinners, and he doesn't sit in the seat of the scorner. So you could say people know where he stands. They know he's a man of conviction, a man who will take a stand when it comes to holiness.
That's the negative. But as far as the positive, look at verse two, he's the man who meditates upon the word day and night and if he does, if he follows through with the negatives and follows through with the positive, his life will be significantly impacted. That's why He gives a beautiful illustration of a tree planted by rivers of water. It says its fruit will not perish or it will bear fruit in season. And then the durability, his leaf will not wither. So you have I think three things here about the righteous man:
- His stability, he's planted by rivers of water. The guy is not going to go anywhere. He's sure in his convictions.
- His fertility, he's a man who produces fruit in his life. He will bear fruit in season.
- And then his durability, his leaf shall not wither.
But obviously, the word of God impacts his life. He's a doer, you could say that, could you not? He's building his house upon rock.
So as we go to prayer time, that's something we should want to keep in mind. I thought it'd be wise for us to think again what we heard. We can all hear the word of God, but are we going to put it into practice? And so we can even pray that we would put it into practice. The psalmist could say, “I have hid your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth.” We cannot live the Christian life, we cannot grow the way we should grow unless we regularly are feeding upon the word of God. It's like food, the best of food. What does Moses say in Deuteronomy 8, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
And one of the reasons, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why we come to a corporate prayer meeting is so we can pray together, pray in what we heard this past Sunday. And I trust that will help us to be doers, to be doers.
Posted in Pastor Devotional