BUILD YOUR HOUSE ON THE ROCK - "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."
To conclude His sermon on the mount, Jesus reminds His audience to remember one simple rule: Listen and obey "these words of mine." Those who serve in military and law enforcement are extremely familiar with the principle of listen and obey, for the sake of their safety and the protection of others depends on it. It is also a lesson countless parents preach to their children on a daily basis to instill personal discipline, accountability, healthy boundaries, and respect for authority. Why then is it so difficult for the body of Christ to obey God's Word if it directly results in similar benefits? Perhaps it is because the Bible is absolute, all-encompassing, and frankly, unapologetic for standing boldly against the weight of cultural pressure to justify sin. Conversely, perhaps it invokes conviction which runs far too deep for our personal comfort. Whatever the case may be, we must overcome pride which seeks to resist submission and humble ourselves to love and serve others for the glory of God and not our own by obeying His Word. It is as radical a teaching as Christ could ever give, yet the foundation of Jesus' exhortation centers upon HIS WORD which we are called to not only read and hear, but obey unconditionally without reservation. "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like" (James 1:23-24). Keep in mind, Jesus was a rebel because He broke legalistic status quo mandated by the religious leaders of His day (Pharisees) who were hypocritical, manipulative, and self-consumed by power, prestige, and social status. Likewise, we are united with Him in our rebellion against the powers of darkness that surround us in our lives which seek to destroy our faith and unwavering resolve in the absolute truth of the Gospel. That is why Jesus reminds us as He did His disciples, "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles" (Matthew 10:16-18).
Undoubtedly, we live in a world bent on persecuting Biblical Christianity in the short term and eradicating it altogether in the long term. Look no further than social media posts to see how much hate, venom and judgment many in secular culture feel toward Christians who believe the Bible is absolute truth cover-to-cover and obey what it says unconditionally. As a result, there is a growing disconnect in the church today of self-proclaimed Christians and churches watering down the Bible and sidestepping certain passages that oppose secular issues and agendas in order to appease the culture. They fail to realize the big picture Jesus warned us about if we do not obey His Word. "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32-33). Therefore, it is more imperative than ever we personally examine the foundation we've set as our moral compass, because our theological foundation will either crumble under the crashing waves of relative truth or withstand firmly the onslaught post-modernism attacks us with. At the end of the day, we must choose who's side we're on because our salvation depends on it. "Do not think that I (Jesus) have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 10:34-39). Make no mistake, choosing to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior will likely create division with those we love, but the sword is meant to cut deep and will likely sever us from those who live to serve and glorify themselves rather than God.
Remember, the Bible is the only offensive weapon we have at our disposal to defend ourselves when we're attacked and persecuted. "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17). When we put on the armor of God, we are spiritually preparing ourselves for battle. In essence, we are digging our trenches and fortifying our foundation with rock as opposed to sand, letting our enemy know we will not surrender our position because we have planned accordingly. Consider Jesus' words regarding how prepared we must be: "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps" (Matthew 25:1-4). Per the ESV Study Bible, "As God referred to himself as the "husband" of Israel in the OT, so Jesus pictures himself here as a bridegroom. It was the Jewish marriage custom for the groom and his friends to leave his home and proceed to the home of the bride, where the marriage ceremony was conducted, often at night. After this, the entire wedding party returned to the groom’s home for a celebratory banquet." Because of their foolishness, five found themselves separated from the bridegroom because they were not prepared, and inevitably rejected from attending the wedding feast because they chose foolishly and assumed they were adequately prepared.
"As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Matthew 25:5-13). The most heart-wrenching element of Jesus' "Parable of the Ten Virgins" is that when the five virgins left the wedding party to purchase oil in order to light their lamps and enter the kingdom with the bridegroom, they found the door shut upon their return. No longer were they invited guests but outcast strangers. Their moment of opportunity had passed and they were cast into the darkness because they did not prepare wisely. Fast-forward to our present day and we are similarly surrounded by those who spiritually cannot see the forest through the trees. They boldly reject God or assume they are saved when they have not bore a single piece of good fruit whatsoever as evidence of their salvation. In other words, they trust in their personal sufficiency rather than the sovereignty of God as their foundation, which is why Jesus encourages us to build our house upon the rock of His Word (Matthew 7:24-27) immediately after warning us we will not be saved on judgment day if our decision to follow Him does not result in heart change (Matthew 7:21-23).
But as we close our study of the sermon on the mount, let us be honest with ourselves. Truthfully, many of us haven't opened the pages of our Bible in weeks, months or even years, yet we confidently proclaim our faith in Jesus and identify ourselves as Christians. Consider the implications though of how "healthy" we truly are if this is our lifestyle. For instance, our human bodies can survive over 3 weeks without food and 1 week without water. However, if our bodies are emblematic of our spiritual health, do we really think we can survive any length of time without proper nutrition? Jesus said at the beginning of His sermon, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6), because our spiritual health is determined by what we consume (good or bad). In other words, garbage in—garbage out if we choose to ignore God's Word! Remember too what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14). The Word of God is sufficient for those who trust upon the Lord, which is why Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:53-56). Unity with Christ begins with faith and is sustained by His Word. Therefore, let us ensure we are not starving ourselves of God's absolute truth by conforming to the pattern of this world, but let us feast daily on God's Word to ensure we are properly equipped and spiritually healthy enough to defend our faith and defeat our enemy. "If you really want to be a rebel, read your Bible because no one's doing that! That's rebellion. That's the only rebellion left." (Song: "Rebel-Intro" by Lecrae).
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