Build Your House On the Rock

January 29, 2009 at 1:58 pm · Filed under Matthew 7, Uncategorized and tagged: Posted by Jeff W.

Matthew 7:24-27

24 “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: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 

We had a visitor at our church a couple of weeks ago named Frank Zitzman, and he shared something I thought was interesting about these verses.  Over the last couple years I’ve learned more and more that understanding the original language is very critical in properly interpreting the scriptures.  I’ve heard that in the English language there is only about six thousand words contrasted to the Greek language which has over ten thousand words. So some times when your reading the scripture in English you might miss something.

So notice in verse 25 the phrase beat on, this phrase is also found in verse 27, the same phrase in English, right? Well when you study those two phrases in the Greek you will notice that they are two different Greek words.  In verse 25 the Greek word is prospipto which means to violently fall upon; attack; or to rush upon.  In the context of the verse with that phrase it means when a global type flood comes or a huge amount of water comes, the house that is built on the rock will stand. Contrast to verse 27 the Greek word there is proskopto which means dash against or surge against. In the context of the verse with that phrase it means when a small amount of water like a creek comes, the house that is built on the sand will fall, and the fall will be great.

So the question is, is your house built upon the Rock Jesus Christ and His Word or is it built upon the sand of the world system?  We know that as Christians that the Bible promises trials and tribulations and it will not be too long until heavy persecution comes are way. These verses are a promise and a warning. So build your house on the Rock, so that when the heavy floods come your house will stand.

Here is an excerpt from John Pipers book Spectacular Sins (And their global purpose in the glory of Christ). I  think that this drives the point home. Also I would definitely suggest reading this book, you can go to desiringGod.org and read it on line for free. God bless!!

 “Christianity is not a game; it’s not a therapy.  All of its doctrines flow from who God is and what He has done in history.  They correspond to hard facts.  Christianity is more than facts, but not less. There is faith and hope and love.  But these don’t float in the air.  They grow like great cedar trees in the rock of God truth.

  And the reason I make this one of my aims in this book is because I am deeply convinced from the Bible that our eternal joy and strength and holiness depend on the solidity of this worldview putting strong fiber into the spine of our faith.  Wimpy worldviews make wimpy Christians.  And wimpy Christians won’t survive the days ahead.  Rootless emotionalism that treats Christianity like a therapeutic option will be swept away in the last days.  Those who will be left standing will be those who have built their houses on the rock of great, objective truth  with Jesus Christ as the origin, center, and goal of it all.”

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