The Foundation Matters Series

January 02, 2021

The Gospels abound with educational material. Jesus was an expert at taking practical stories of daily life and turning them into deep spiritual lessons. This is the foundation for this series.

The Context - The Sermon on the Mount:

From beginning to end, Jesus’ epic Sermon on the Mount was full of things His listeners had not heard before:

• Blessed are the poor and humble – Hold on a minute!!

• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for Righteousness.

• Blessed are the merciful.

• Blessed are those who are persecuted because of Me – wait, what?

But Jesus wasn’t finished……

• Believers should be salt and light in the world.

• I came to fulfill the Law not do away with it.

• Anger is the same as murder.

• Lust is the same as adultery.

• Divorce was never a part of my plan.

• Go the extra mile – even when you don’t have to.

• Love your enemies.

• Lay-up your treasure in Heaven.

• You cannot serve 2 masters --- “When Christ knocks on the door of my material blessed heart, the sound of His knocking is muffled. Even when I do hear it, I struggle to climb over all my blessings to reach and open the door.” --- Julian Archer

• Don’t worry.

• The same standard of judgment you use will be used against you.

• Take the plank out of your own eye before you take the sliver out of your neighbors’ eye.

• Be persistent

• The gate to life is narrow and difficult – the gate to destruction is wide and smooth.

• There will be people who will try to hijack and con you regarding religious things, but you will be able to recognize the truth by the fruit they produce.

• Not everyone who claims to know Me really does.

What a mind-blowing list!

• Ellen White {MB 147 adapted} - The people had been deeply moved by the words of Christ. They were attracted by the beauty of divine truth and His solemn warnings had come to them as the voice of the heart-searching God. His words had struck at the very root of their former ideas and opinions; to obey His teaching would require a change in all their habits of thought and action. It would bring them into collision with their religious teachers because it would involve the overthrow of the whole structure which for generations the rabbis had been teaching. Therefore, while the hearts of many responded to His words, few were ready to accept them as the guide of life.

Jesus concluded His sermon with a vivid illustration of the importance of putting into practice the words He had just spoken.

The Parable:

Therefore, everyone who hears what I have just said and DOES IT is like:

A wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

However, everyone who hears what I have just said and DOES NOT DO IT is like:

A foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

• Ellen White {MB 148 adapted} - ….. As the crowd listened to the words of Christ, they could see the valleys and ravines through which the mountain streams made their way to the sea. In summer these streams often disappeared, leaving only dry channels. But when the winter storms came, the rivers became fierce, raging torrents, at times overspreading the valleys --- carrying everything away --- including the peasant shacks built on the grassy plain that were thought to be beyond the reach of the flood waters.

But high on the hills were houses built upon the rock. Some dwellings were built entirely of rock and many of them had withstood the storms of a thousand years. These houses had been difficult to build and they were not easy to reach, so they were less appealing than the houses on the grassy plain, but they were built upon the rock, and wind and flood and storms beat upon them in vain.

The Point:

At first glance, the house on the ROCK and the house on the SAND look the same – sturdy and comfortable – and as long as there are no storms ---- all is well. But when the storms come and the rain beats against each, the differences will become painfully apparent.

This illustration, however, is not a guide to home construction and was not taken from the “How To” section of ARCHITECTUAL DIGEST --- The house represents the human heart in thought and action {character – who you are when no one is looking} and the claims we make regarding our beliefs. The foundation is what each person builds those claims on.