In these 3 chapters Christ starts out by proclaiming blessings or beatitudes, after that he lays out some very basic principles for us to live our lives by, there is also the golden rule as we call it, a description of what judgment will be like and then at the end he makes a very point blank and powerful statement.
Matthew 7:24-28
Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will compare him to a wise man, which built his house on a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and does not fall because it was built upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, shall be like 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.
I find it interesting that Christ used the analogy of building a house. I am going to take a guess and say it is because he was trained as a carpenter when he was a boy. If you will notice with me, the key factor in the two houses he talks about is the foundation. If you will think with me this is not the only time he used construction terms in making his point. In Matthew the 16th chapter while talking to his apostles he stated he was going to “build” his church and talked about the foundation of the church and that it would be built upon a rock. Now I am no Greek scholar but I have been told the Greek word used by Christ to describe the foundation the church was to be build on is the word “petros” meaning a boulder or bedrock. So Christ saw the importance in building on a solid and firm foundation.
For the next few minutes I want to think of some reasons why it is important for us to build our lives on the teachings and the gospel of Christ. As I mentioned a moment ago, if one will take the principles found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 and apply them to their life, Christ compares this person to a man who would builds his house on a rock. The wind, rain and floods Christ talks about represents the trials, persecutions, and various issues we are faced with in our lives, and if we have our lives built on a rock, then as the house that was built on a rock, it will not fall.
So why is this important? Well, most usually end up finding themselves a spouse. If I am trying to build my personal life on a firm foundation chances are I am going to find someone who is trying to build their life on a firm foundation. Then after a while we as married couples usually have a child or two or three and we instill our values and beliefs, or at least try to, into our children which in turn creates a spiritual or Christian home, which the Apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians 5 and 6.
Last if you have a Christian person or individual who finds a mate who is a Christian and raises their children in a Christian home and you put several of these homes together with the purpose of worshiping and praising God, then you will have the strong and faithful church build on a solid foundation that Christ talks about in Matthew 16. Every day I try to better myself so I can better my family and hopefully encourage and support the people I worship with every week. We can not make it in this world alone, we need help and I can think of no better way to find the strength and encouragement I need to keep going than worshiping with my fellow brothers and sisters every week.
I hope you have found these thoughts to be encouraging and uplifting.
On a personal note before I close, I have a very special and dear friend who is dealing with some issues right now so I would like to solicit your prayers for this person. For the privacy of this person, I am not going to give their name but if you will pray for “Mike’s friend” I think God will know who you are praying for.
Thanks for watching today, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the program, have a wonderful day and God bless.
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