Jesus at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount makes a remarkable claim. He essentially says that those who take heed to do as he says will not be destroyed by life’s frequent troubles and hardships. “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock” (Luke 6:47-48).
It is a remarkable claim indeed! As the Preacher of Ecclesiastes points out throughout his sermons, life is challenging, difficult, frustrating, and frequently disappointing, but not meaningless. Notwithstanding Christ promises a sure stand to those who follow him. He does not say that his disciples will not be touched by difficulties, but rather that they will endure, even triumph, in and over them.
On the other hand and with equal authority, our Lord warns that those who disregard his teachings are headed for certain destruction. “But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:49). Those who have not built their lives on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ will be swept away when the storms of life arise.
Only Jesus, the Son of God, could guarantee safe passage through all of life’s trials and difficulties. No other religious teacher could dare make such a claim. He himself is that rock upon which we are to build “for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11). To refuse him and his teaching is to brazenly (and foolishly) invite defeat. The Psalmist grasped this principle plainly. “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1).
Our Savior made himself the dividing line between those that hear and do his sayings and those that hear and do not his sayings. The key is believing. We are all confronted with the claims of Christ. Our lives hinge on whether we believe him or not. One either does or does not believe. The Psalmist encourages us with his testimony concerning the word of the Lord. “I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right” (Psalm 119:128; emphasis added).
Jesus told Pilate before his crucifixion “for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37). On the other hand, Christ rebuked the Pharisees saying, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham” (John 8:39-40).
The words of Christ are truth. To believe them is to build your life on a sure foundation. To reject them is to invite eternal loss. Do you hear and do his sayings, or do you hear and do not his sayings?
From the Chaplain 