Episode 2081 - what is your foundation

Good morning and welcome to this brand new day. This is scripture links, daily dose of inspiration for Friday, March 8, 2024. And today is National Peanut Cluster Day. The wonderful concoction, if you will, of chocolate and peanuts. And I think sometimes there's caramel in it as well. Well, I used to love those things, but of course, you can't eat them anymore. It seems the older you get, the less you can eat because the stuff that tastes good is the stuff we can't have. So anyway, if you can still have it, if you enjoy peanut clusters, go get yourself some today and enjoy this national Peanut Cluster day. today we're going to finish up our series on the sermon on the mound. And again, I highly recommend you go back and check out these episodes. We're at episode number 2081 today. And if you want to listen to the entire series, go back to. Starting at episode 2065 will be the very first episode. And I encourage you to go back and listen to those, because today I'm going to challenge, and Jesus is challenging us here with what is our foundation built upon. And we're going to look today Matthew, chapter seven, verses 24 through 29. And, let's go ahead and read it, and then we'll jump into our study today. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it, and it came to pass. When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. That's probably some of my favorite verses there. I, love this story that Jesus ends the sermon on the mount with, let's, break it down, see what he has for us today. We see here again in these verses that we see another set of two. Yesterday we looked at two other sets of twos. The first one we looked at was the two ways, the straight gate and the wide gate, or the straight path and the narrow wide path and a narrow path. Those two ways equaled the start of our life of faith. Then we looked at the two trees talking about the false prophets. We looked at the two trees, the good tree and the corrupt tree, and those symbolized growth and the results of a life of faith in the here and now. A tree is going to be growing, especially the type of trees Jesus was talking about here and producing fruit. That's the here and the now. Then he ends this series or this section talking about two houses or two builders, and that is symbolic of the end of this life of faith. So let me ask you, what is your foundation? What is the foundation of your life built upon? Verse 24 and 25 tells us about the wise builder. He says, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I, will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. We see here a very important principle. There are two important principles here that make this man the wise man. It is because of the simple phrase in verse 24, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, these sayings that Jesus is referring to is everything he's taught since chapter five of the book of Matthew, collectively called a sermon on the mount. We hear these sayings of Jesus. We see what he's been teaching us, and we don't not only hear what Jesus is saying, but we're putting it into practice. We're applying it to our life. And as a result, then because this man heard the sayings, because he did them, his house was therefore built upon a rock. In James chapter one and verse 22, we read, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. We got to be a doer of that word. We hear the message, but we got to make sure we don't stop there. That's going to be like this foolish builder here in verses 26 and 27. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth, them not, shall be likened unto 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. Remember James 122, be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own self. The second man, the foolish builder, was someone that was deceiving himself. He heard the words, but he never put them into practice. That would be like if we spend time listening to podcasts like this, listening to a Bible, believing and Bible teaching pastor, listening to these, reading the Bible, studying the Bible, and then walk away and get nothing out of it, not applying the principles. And Paul writes in Romans, chapter two. Romans, chapter two, and verse number 13, for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Justified and just simply means made right. It's not the one who hears the law and does nothing with it that is made right, but it's the one that hears it and puts it into practice. Notice in these two houses that's built here, notice that the trials and the tribulations of life affected both houses. The rains came, the floods came, the winds beat upon the house. But the one that was the person that heard the word and did the word, that his foundation was built upon the rock, that is the person that was able to stand up in the times of trial. Why? Because he did the word of God. He heard it, he applied it, and he lived a life that was doing what God has called him to do, that was living according to biblical principles. But then in verse 27, we see the person that was the foolish person that just heard the word and didn't apply it. This person's house was built upon the sand. It had no foundation. And when the trials of life came, that house fell. His faith shattered because it had no roots, it had nothing that it was built in. Notice that the trials of life happen to both of them. Just because you take the broad path, you know, the highway to hell we talked about the other day. Just because you take that, don't mean you're immune to the trials of life. Just like if you take the narrow path, doesn't mean that you get a pass to not have to go through trials. Them trials are going to come, and what your life is built upon is going to depend on the outcome. Then verse 28 teaches us, and it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. Why? Because he taught them as one having authority. He taught him as one having authority, not as a scribe, not as a man, but as someone that has authority. So, friends, what are you going to do with these. What are you going to do with these sayings of Jesus here in the sermon on the mount? Are you going to be just simply hearing them and doing nothing else with it? Or are you going to hear the word and do the word and build your life upon what Jesus says. Father, I just ask today that you help us, Lord, to be that doer, of the word. Help us to put into practice your teachings and what you say in the scriptures, so that we can build our life on you, so that we can have that strong foundation, that when the trials of life come, when the temptations of life come, we'll be able to stand up and not fall. And, Father, I ask that each person that's listening to this Lord, that you help them to be that doer of the word so that we don't deceive ourselves and miss the mark and have our foundation built upon the sand. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Don't forget, swing by our website. Make sure you, listen to every episode on here. I know it's a lot. I know it's several hours worth of teaching, but trust me, you need it. We need to apply these principles to our life if we're going to live the successful christian life. Think about that as you go through this day. And remember, get into God's word and allow God's word to get into you. Then share that word with someone today. Have a blessed day.