Doing The Word Is The Solid Rock Series

The Bible has been unchanged for nearly 2,000 years. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, it is widely considered to be the most influential and best-selling book of all time. The Bible does not merely contain the words of God, It is the word of God. We have explored how God inspired its writing, and also important, how the Holy Spirit inspires and guides us in understanding the Bible. The Bible has been thoroughly examined, investigated, and questioned like no other book in history. In Islam, no one dares or is permitted to question anything in the Koran. Yet the Bible, the holy word of God has stood up with intense scrutiny for centuries, and has never been disproven in anything that it says.

Why Trust the Word? Why trust the Bible? Why should we live according to its dictates? We can trust the Word because: The Word is the Solid Rock. As we will see. Trusting the word and doing what the word says go hand-in-hand.

Matthew 7:24–29 (NKJV)

Back in September 2010, a test was conducted at the Institute for Business and Home Safety in Richburg, South Carolina. Researchers constructed two 1,300-square-foot houses inside a $40 million laboratory and then observed how a simulated hurricane would impact the homes.

The first home was built according to conventional standards. The second home included reinforcement straps that connected every level of the building, from the foundation all the way to the roof.

Then the researchers turned on giant fans, creating gusts of wind up to 110 miles per hour (equal to a category 3 hurricane). In the first two experiments, which lasted under ten minutes, both homes survived the intense winds.

But when they tried a third experiment, turning on the fans for more than ten minutes, the conventional home began to shake and then collapsed. In contrast, the home with the floors and roof reinforced to the foundation sustained only cosmetic damage.

Tim Reingold, an engineer working on the experiment, summarized the results with a pointed question: "The bottom line you have to ask yourself is, which house would you rather be living in?" [1]

With us starting getting into the high part of Hurricane season here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, we understand high winds and torrential rainfall. We know about houses on the beach, those built on sand foundations. We fully understand this illustration of Jesus all too well.

As we look at this teaching of Jesus, I want to put it into context, into perspective that we often overlook. Let’s start at the end of today’s passage

Matthew 7:28–29 (NKJV) And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

This Sermon on the Mount, the people had not heard anything quite like Jesus before. They “were astonished.” Other translations will have “amazed or astounded” This word in the Greek is used 4 times in Matthew and at a total of 13 times in the NT confined to the Synoptic Gospels and Acts. Every time this word is used, it is always concerning the people or the disciples at the teaching of Jesus or His miracles. The word is in the imperfect tense meaning it is an ongoing event. The people cannot get over what they heard from Jesus.

And what was it that astonished, astounded and amazed them? “He taught them as one having authority” and not like the scribes. The authority of Jesus is a central theme of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus taught as one having authority. Jesus demonstrated His authority over nature. He calm the storm. He had authority over the demons and cast many out. Jesus had authority over disease and illnesses and He healed many. Jesus had authority over life and death and brought some back from the dead and Jesus Himself conquered the grave. Jesus, before He ascended back into heaven, He reminded them of this:

Matthew 28:18 (NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Jesus did not leave it to the crowd to perceive his authority. He claimed it openly. This is quite an audacious claim, unless he actually had the authority to make it. Jesus did not give his skeptics much room to maneuver in their opinion of who he was—he was either everything he says he was … or he was nothing at all. Jesus must be fully accepted or fully rejected, for no “good moral teacher” would say the astonishing things Jesus did unless they were true. Jesus is God’s Son. [2] And Jesus words has authority as we read in the scriptures:

Matthew 7:24 (NKJV) “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: