Matthew 5:24 “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on bedrock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed — and its collapse was horrendous!”
Luke 6:47 Everyone who comes to me, hears my words and acts on them — I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like someone building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the torrent beat against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it was constructed well. 49 And whoever hears my words but doesn’t act on them is like someone who built his house on the ground without any foundation. As soon as the river struck it, it collapsed and that house became a horrendous wreck!”
“So we find these strange similarities between these two persons. They seem to believe the same things and desire the same things. They are similar also in that not only do they desire the same things, they even seem to have the same things. That is the most alarming thought of all, but the two previous pictures have emphasized that truth quite as much as this one does. The false professor believes he is safe. The people who had cast out devils and done many wonderful works in the name of Christ were quite sure of their salvation. They had no vestige of doubt about it. They believed that they were forgiven; they seemed to be at peace and to be enjoying the comforts of religion; they seemed to have spiritual power and were living a better life; they said, Lord, Lord'; and they wanted to spend their eternity with Him. Yet He said to them: I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.' Do you realize that it is possible to have a false sense of forgiveness? Do you realize that it is possible to have a false peace within you? You say, 'I have not worried about my sins for years.' I can well believe that, if you are only a nominal Christian. The fact that you have not thought about these things for years is an indication in itself that there is something wrong about your sense of security and peace. The man who never knows what it is to have certain fears about himself, fears which drive him to Christ, is in a highly dangerous condition. You can have false peace, false comfort, false guidance. The devil can give you remarkable guidance. Telepathy, and all sorts of occult phenomena and various other agencies can do so too. There are powers that can counterfeit almost everything in the Christian life.”
We have two positions presented before us here:
“...everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them…”
“...everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them...”
Both have heard but hearing isn’t enough. You must act. This is the key pivot point in the whole narrative here.
What exactly is the action, though?
Yeshua is closing up the Sermon on the Mount with this statement so it is safe to assume that all He said on the Mount that day is the action list we are to embrace:
Simple enough, right?
Are you a doer and not just a hearer? We sure do hope that’s the case but…
If you have foundation problems, it’s time to get to work. And how do you fix the foundation once the house is built?
You can’t. It requires you tear down the house and start again.
How is your foundation? Have you heard the Word and considered it of little consequence?
In your own mind, of course not.
Is this you?
If not, it’s time to tear down your house and start over. No matter how grand and expansive the house looks to others, if the foundation is upon sand, it will fall. It isn’t enough to keep the stucco patched and painted, lawn manicured, and trees pruned. That will look nice to the neighbors and passers-by but a house on the sand will develop cracks on the inside. The walls will warp and the interior will begin to crumble -- all while looking great to those on the outside.
Tear it down. Tear it down and start again. It isn’t too late. And yes, you may be living in a temporary place for a while, but it will be so worth it.
Start again and put your house down upon the rock. Dig deep and find that solid ground.
The storms will come and we all want you to be standing strong on the Last Day.
Act.