This week, Michael writes that Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount leads to the ultimate conclusion in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 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. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 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.”
Chapter 7 began with the contrast between the world’s prideful judgement and God’s righteous judgement. Then Jesus contrasted the Broad Way of the Highway to Hell in the world with the Narrow Gate and the Narrow Way of the kingdom of Heaven … for Jesus Christ himself is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Many will enter into the broad way that leads to destruction, but few will enter into the Narrow Gate and into the Narrow Way that leads to life eternal.
Luke 6:43-44 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.” Jesus taught the multitude about the false prophets who come into the church to devour the flock of God. They deceive the flock disguised as wolves in sheep’s clothing. They attract the congregation with enticing music and by speaking flattering words of man’s worldly wisdom, but they are wolves whose goal is to scatter, confuse, and devour the flock. Jesus said, you can tell these false prophets from God’s true prophets by inspecting their fruit.” For by their fruit you shall know them.
The conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount is: the foolish man builds his house on the sand of the devil’s worldly wisdom whereas the wise man built his house upon the rock. Whether the house will stand depends on the foundation upon which the man builds his house. For Jesus said, “upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
An excerpt from the book Prepared, Living Your Life in the Midst of an Increasingly Hostile Culture says: “Is America loosing the spiritual war, having already lost the cultural war? Apart from a gracious intervention of God, America will never return to her godly roots. There was a process that gradually resulted in removal of America’s godly roots. This process began with the removal of the Bible from public schools in 1962, then in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled that Americans are allowed to kill their unborn children. Next was the classification of homosexuals as a protected class in our laws. Then the court ruled in favor of the legalization of homosexual marriage.
In exposing the world’s sin, Christians have become a persecuted people. How are Christians to live while professing their faith in an increasingly hostile culture? The question is not whether we will suffer persecution, but how we will handle the suffering. Will we bear up under the suffering, casting all our care upon Him for He cares for us?”
Let's continue Michael's message on Christ, our firm foundation in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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