A House Upon a 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." And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

When we look at Matthew's verse, there is so much here in two sentences, six verses; people were drawn to Jesus because he speaks with authority. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew wrote that the people were astonished by how Jesus spoke. Their astonishment was because they had never heard of teaching like this.

It is sad because today, there are pastors out there, one we all probably know in Texas, who has his best life now and says people need to be entertained by sermons. He uses the Sermon on the Mount because he says, "Jesus was the ultimate entertainer," so his rationale is the people were astonished because Jesus entertained them. My friends, the people who heard Jesus, were astonished because of Jesus' authority. One big problem with this idea is that after Jesus preached, someone or many often wanted to kill Him.

Scripture tells us the way Jesus spoke, with authority, astonished the crowds. Unlike the priests and scribes who would say, "And this is what Moses said, and here is what he meant." Or Isaiah wrote this, and what he meant was this." In our verse, we see what Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine," it is Jesus' words that carry weight because He is the Son of God; He is God. He also warns, "And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them," you see, Jesus' words must be obeyed. Even today, the words of Jesus should be as astonishing today as they were in His day. Why?

First, Jesus' words offer authority to a world of autonomy. Jesus teaches the world that there are only two ways. The two ways are Jesus' way or the highway, and we know where that highway leads.

Second, there are only two religions. If I taught world religions, it would be an easy class. There are only two. The true Christian religion was taught by the authority of Jesus, followed by His disciples, and everything else. Some may be close but still fall short. There is only one true religion: Christianity, taught by Christ; everything else is false. Man seeks religions that make him comfortable because it is a hard road that leads to Jesus, yet it is the only road that leads to the Father through Jesus. Even if we add to Christianity as the Judaizers did, we do so in our rebellion against God. We cannot improve Christianity.

Jesus is God and carries all authority. If we look at three passages, we see it. John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome." I love the writings of John because He declares the deity of Jesus.

In the Epistle 1 John, we see it again, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed jour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Lastly, in Colossians 1, starting at verse 13, "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or all minions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

These are not the only verses about Jesus but the key Christological verses that establish His deity, His authority, and that He is God. So, the words Jesus speaks are unalterable; they are perfect. There is no other gospel.

We cannot do better than Jesus. It is rebellion to think we can. Jesus entertained no one. He spoke His words with authority because they were the ultimate authority; the words coming out of his mouth were the words of God. So, when we engage people with the Gospel, we must ensure that we speak the Gospel without change or modification. If we change anything, it is wrong. More importantly, we must be obedient to the words of Christ. Therefore our life, our house will stand despite the rain and the floods when built on the rock of Christ.