Matthew 7:24-27 ESV
“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.”
A few verses before this we had the message from Jesus that
we are to enter (the kingdom of heaven is understood here) by the narrow
(restricted, regulated) gate (door, and Jesus is the door). For the gate is
wide (broad, all-embracing) and the way is easy (not hard, no restrictions)
that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is
narrow (restricted, controlled) and the way is hard (not easy, but regulated)
that leads to life, and those who find it are few. This was in Matthew 7:13-14.
A few more verses further we read: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23.
So, these verses set the stage for the verses we are going
to be discussing next. For what they teach us is that the Christian life is not
an easy road with no restrictions. We can’t just profess faith in Jesus Christ
and have our sins forgiven and be promised heaven as our eternal home and then
just live however we want. We have to obey our Lord’s commands (New Covenant)
or we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And we have to forsake our sins and
walk in holiness and in righteousness, in the power of God.
And again, the subject is obedience. If we hear the words of
the Lord (or just read them) and we do what they say (we obey), then we are
wise people who are building our lives on the Rock, Jesus Christ, and not on
the pleasures of the flesh. So when the trials and tribulations of this life
come against us to test our faith we do not fall, but we stand secure on the
Rock and on the Scriptures, and on the faith God has granted to us who believe.
And we will enter into the kingdom of heaven when we die.
But if we hear (or read) the words of the Lord, and we do
not put them into practice, then we are foolish (unwise) people. For we are not
building our lives on the Rock, Jesus Christ, but on sinking sand, and we will
sink with it. Then, when the storms of life come against us, we will fall,
because our lives are not securely fixed on the Rock but on sinking sand. And
sinking sand represents all that is fleshly and of this sinful world. And so
when judgment comes at the end, we will then hear Jesus say, “I never knew
you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
And it isn’t as though we have not been warned who make professions
of faith in Jesus Christ. All throughout the New Testament we are given warning
after warning that we must no longer make sin our practice, but that
righteousness and holiness and walks of obedience to our Lord must be what we
practice or we will not inherit eternal life with God. For it doesn’t matter
what our lips have professed if we still walk in sin and not in righteousness
and not in obedience to our Lord.
Too many people today are being convinced that they can
believe (usually not defined) in Jesus Christ and now their sins are forgiven
(past, present, and future) and heaven is guaranteed them when they die
regardless of what kind of lives they live while they are still on the earth.
But that is a lie from hell. We can’t just live however we want or we do not
have eternal life with God. We can’t keep on in deliberate and habitual sin or
we will die in our sins and heaven is, thus, not our eternal destiny.
So, we need to take this seriously. If we don’t, then heaven
is not what awaits us when we die. Hell is. For not everyone goes to heaven.
Not even all moral people go to heaven. Not even some of the kindest and
sweetest people we know walking this earth go to heaven unless they have
humbled themselves before God, repented of (turned from) their sins, and now
they are walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands and no longer in
deliberate and habitual sin. For God sets the rules, which we must follow.
I
Take Refuge
An Original Work / September 1, 2018
Based
off Psalm 71
O, Lord, I take refuge in You,
For You are my God.
Turn Your ear now to me.
Be my Rock and Fortress
To which I do go.
Deliver me, God. You’re my hope.
My lips now give praise to You, God.
I always have hope,
Since You saved me from sin.
My enemies speak evil
‘gainst me, O God.
Oh, help me, O Lord, rescue me.
The path of my life has been hard.
For, I have had troubles
Too many to bear.
But, You will increase honor,
Restore again.
Your faithfulness, Lord, comforts me.
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