Not everyone who comes to Jesus and says Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven…
Jesus said, “Only those will enter who do the will of my Father in Heaven.”
Matthew 7:21-29
The Message
21-23 Jesus speaking: “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me.
What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills.
I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our super-spiritual projects had everyone talking.’
And do you know what I am going to say?
‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’
24-25 “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living.
They are foundational words, words to build a life on.
If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.
Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26-27 “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.
When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”
28-29 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause.
They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers!
This was the best teaching they had ever heard.
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Build your house on rock and not sand:
(v. 21) The Lord Jesus warns against people who falsely profess to acknowledge Him as Savior, but have never been converted.
Not everyone who calls Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
Only those who do the will of God enter the kingdom.
The first step in doing the will of God is to believe on the Lord Jesus (John 6:29).
On judgment day when unbelievers stand before Christ (Rev. 20:11–15), many will remind Him that they prophesied, or cast out demons, or performed many wonders—all in His name.
But their protestation will be in vain. Jesus will declare to them that He never knew them or acknowledged them as His own.
Judgment Day is the final day of reckoning when God will settle all accounts, judging sin and rewarding faith.
(vv. 24-27) The two people Jesus compares at the end of the Sermon on the Mount have several points in common: they both build, they both hear Jesus’ teaching, and they both experience the same set of circumstances in life.
The difference between them isn’t lack of knowledge but that one ignores Jesus’ words.
Externally their lives may look similar, but the lasting, structural differences will be revealed by the storms of life.
When you follow Jesus, the immediate differences between your life and the lives of others may not be obvious at first, but the benefits will eventually affect your eternal destiny.
Are you a wise builder, practicing the powerful teachings and promises Jesus gave in this sermon?
To build “on solid rock” means to be a hearing, responding disciple, not a phony, superficial one.
Practicing obedience forms the solid foundation, enabling us to weather the storms of life.
We learn how to do this by following God’s Word as He intended.
(See James 1:22-27 for more on putting into practice what we hear.)
Like a house of cards, the fool’s life crumbles. Most people do not deliberately seek to build on a false or inferior foundation; instead, they just don’t think about their life’s purpose.
Many people are headed for destruction—not always out of stubbornness, but sometimes out of thoughtlessness or ignorance.
Can you help others stop and think about where their lives are headed?
What can you do to point out the consequences of ignoring Jesus’ message and help people see the benefits of following him?
The teachers of religious law (religious scholars) often cited traditions and quoted authorities to support their arguments and interpretations.
But Jesus spoke with a new authority—His own. He didn’t need to quote anyone because He is the original Word (John 1:1).
Selah (let us pause and calmly think about these things)
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Monday, June 20
cFaith
Pursuit of His Presence
A WORD TO THE WISE
by Gloria Copeland
“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” (Matt. 7:24-25).
For years now I’ve been telling people to spend time in the Word. Almost everywhere I preach, no matter what topic I’m talking about, it seems I always get back to the importance of putting the Word first place in my life.
You may have heard me say it a hundred times. But you know, hearing it isn’t enough. It’s doing it that will give you success.
Jesus taught us that principle in Matthew 7. There He told about two men. Both of them had heard the Word, yet Jesus said one of the men was foolish and the other wise.
What made the difference between the two?
The wise man acted on what he heard and the foolish man didn’t.
You may know full well that you need to spend time in the Word. But unless you act on that knowledge, it won’t do you any good when the storms of life come.
So take action! Begin now to set aside time for the Word each day.
Begin now making it the number one priority on your schedule. Don’t wait until you’re faced with some terrible situation or some storm of life to do it.
Have you ever tried to build a house in a storm?
Ken has been through several hurricanes, and he has seen the wind blow so hard that coconuts shot through the air like cannonballs.
Just think about some poor fellow out there trying to build his house with the wind blowing at 120 mph!
Don’t do that. Don’t wait until you’re desperate to make time for the Word. Make the decision and start today.
Then, when the storms of life come against your house, you’ll be sitting inside in front of the fireplace just rocking and praising God.
You’ll be glad that you didn’t let the devil talk you into being too busy for the Word.
Speak the Word: I am a wise man because I hear God’s words and I do them. (Matt. 7:24)
For Further Study: Proverbs 1:1-9
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