Today’s devotions have all been taken from Matthew 7. The first one covered the subject of the narrow way that leads to life versus the broad road that leads to destruction. The narrow way is the way of the cross via us dying with Christ to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. The broad road that leads to destruction is the easy way, but it is not the right way. The narrow way is the right way, but it is hard, because we will be rejected and hated by others for our walks of faith.
The next devotion covered the subject of false prophets (teachers) who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ferocious wolves. They are those who give the outward appearance of being Christians, but it is in appearance only, for they are out to trick us and to deceive us into believing their lies so that we will follow after the lies and not the truth, and thus we will be on that broad road disguised as the narrow way. But, while thinking that heaven is what awaits us at death, instead we are on the road to destruction, which does not end in eternal life with God.
The third devotion covered the subject of Jesus’ words where he said that not everyone who calls him “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. So it is not enough to just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but we have to walk in obedience to the Lord and to his will and purpose for our lives. For we are all going to stand before the Lord one day and we are all going to be judged on the basis of our works, i.e. whether or not we obeyed the Lord and died with him to sin. And many will be turned away who thought they were IN.
So, devotion #4 falls on the heels of these other three devotions which all lead up to the message given us in this passage in Matthew 7:24-27. So, it is good if we can read this passage in light of these other three, for the other three give us the true context of Jesus’ words in this last section.
“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.” (Matthew 7:24-27 ESV)
“The Rock” in this passage is Jesus Christ and his word. And the houses are our individual lives, not where we live physically, like in a physical location, but where we live spiritually and emotionally and mentally. And building our houses has to do with how we conduct our lives, in practice. This has to do with our belief system and our habits and our character. And it has to do with whether or not we are people of genuine faith in Lord, on the narrow way, or if our faith is of the flesh, and so we are on the broad road, which is represented by building one’s house upon the sand, and not the rock.
So, what is the difference between the two? The main difference is that the life that is built upon Jesus Christ, in truth, is a life surrendered to do the will of God and to follow him in obedience to his commands and to the forsaking of our sins. It means for us that Jesus is now master of our lives and self and sin no longer have mastery (control) over our lives. Now we live for the Lord, and not for self, and according to his word, and not according to our own thinking and reasoning. The Scriptures are now our guide for living, we take them seriously, we believe God, and so we obey him in his power.
But the life that is built upon the flesh (sand) is void of genuine faith in Jesus Christ for it is all about self and pleasing self, and it is not about pleasing God and surrendering to his will and purpose for our lives. Many who are building their lives on this sand are following an altered version of the gospel which does not require repentance (death to sin) and walks of obedience to the Lord, but it allows for the one who professes faith in the Lord to continue in deliberate and habitual sin while still promising him salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But it is all a lie which ends in hell, not heaven.
So, the encouragement here is to make certain that we are on the narrow way and not on the broad road, and that we are testing the words of those professing faith in the Lord to make certain they agree with the Scriptures so that we don’t end up following the lies and not the truth. And then we need to remember that lip service alone will not get us into heaven. We must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, if we want to have the hope of heaven when we die. And then we need to make certain our lives are being built on the Lord and not on flesh.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31]
Only in Him
An Original Work / February 19, 2014
Based off Isaiah 30
Woe to those who look to man’s help;
Who turn away from Jesus Christ;
Forming an alliance not in step with God;
Making their own plans, and praying not.
Willing not to listen to truth,
They close their ears to what is right.
Pleasing words are all that they’ll hear;
Feel good messages that bring cheer.
Trust in your Lord; turn from your sin.
Put your faith now ONLY IN HIM.
Do not turn to idols. They’ll not satisfy.
Jesus will save you. That’s why He died.
Your Lord will be gracious to you.
He cares all about you, ‘tis true.
He forgives you all of your sin
When you give your life up to Him.
Oh, how truly gracious He’ll be
When you bow to Him on your knees;
Turning now from your sin; walking in his ways.
He’ll lead and guide you all of your days.
Now you will sing praises to Him.
He delivered you from your sin.
You’ll tell others now of His grace,
So they may see Christ face-to-face.
https://vimeo.com/87181019
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