A Castle on the Sand or a House on a Rock?
In His short life upon this earth, Jesus showed us how we need to live if we want to inherit eternal life. Surely, His short life was too long for Him who had left the heavenly city, the presence of His Father, the adoration of the angels, the kingdom of light and joy to come to this dark and miserable world. But He knew He did not belong here and He wants us to understand that through His sacrifice on Calvary, through His suffering for our sins, we may one day be there where He is today. Paul believed it, that is why he writes, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He made His disciples a promise, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also.” John 14:3. All through the ages, all Christians have been waiting for the fulfilment of this promise.
During His life upon this earth, Jesus taught, preached and healed. He usually taught through parables, simple examples from nature that were understandable to his listeners.
In Matthew 7:24-27 we read, “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. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” Two kinds of people are mentioned here, wise and foolish, obedient and disobedient. Whoever is wise thinks about the future, gets ready to face difficult situations, looks for a firm foundation to build his house upon it. In a spiritual sense, he lives according to the heavenly principles and builds up his character on the Rock.
Paul explains to the Corinthians that the Rock out of which the people of God drank while in the wilderness was Jesus. He is the living water and in Him we live and grow. Isaiah tells us, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” (Isaiah 55:1, 2)
It is only when we build upon Jesus that we are not afraid of the storm; we can be satisfied in every situation and overcome every problem because He gives us the power, He consoles us, He keeps us in His hand.
Let us build upon Jesus; let us learn from Him; let us follow Him with all our heart. The Lord speaks to us with the sweetest words, “Fear thou not; for I [am] with thee: be not dismayed; for I [am] thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10. “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine. When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I [am] the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:… Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee…” Isaiah 43:1-4.
Do we sometimes doubt God’s love for us? Are the trials in life sometimes so hard that we think the Lord has abandoned us? Do we sometimes feel lonely and forgotten? Jesus’ disciples felt like that when their Master left them. When they were gathered together, feeling very sad and full of doubts, Jesus appeared in the midst and said, “Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet…” Luke 24:38, 39. Let us look at Jesus’ hands and feet. There is hidden all the power of His love. Then all our trials will seem light and we shall follow Him in full trust that He knows the way and will bring us to the goal.
“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.” The “sayings” He is speaking about is the Sermon on the Mount that Matthew wrote down in three long chapters. Anyone can find his way to heaven by studying these chapters and building his life upon them.
In Matthew, we read another parable in which it is spoken about wise and foolish young women, instead. This parable illustrates a very sublime and joyful event- a wedding celebration. In chapter 25 we read about the wise and the foolish virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to come. All of them have lamps; all of them know the Word of God. They are all virgins, meaning that they have kept themselves clean, they have not accepted any false teaching, they know well the doctrine of the church of God, but there is still a difference, half of them are wise and half are foolish. “They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Wisdom is not knowledge, but “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Psalm 111: 10. Somehow, these virgins, with all their knowledge of the truth, lost the fear of the Lord, went their own way and rejected the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to build upon the Rock, to follow and grow in Jesus without the leading power of the Holy Spirit. Nobody can give us the Holy Spirit, but Jesus Himself. He, who invites us to follow Him and learn from Him, gives us the means to be able to do it–the Holy Spirit. When the disciples were gathered together because they feared the Jews, after Jesus was crucified, the Lord appeared among them and said, “Peace be unto you… he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21, 22. So simple it is for Jesus to give His disciples, each one of us His Spirit. We are all in great need of the Holy Spirit, not only to finish His work upon this earth, but so that we ourselves may be saved. “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:11-14.
All the virgins were asleep when the voice was heard that the bridegroom was coming. They were tired of waiting. There is an obvious delay in Jesus’ coming. Peter speaks about it in his letter, “Where is the promise of his coming?” ask some, and the apostle answers, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count for slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:4, 10. So, why has Jesus not come back yet? Is it maybe because some of us have not yet repented? But when the time comes, and only the Father knows the precise time, our Lord will come. In what condition will He find each one of us? Sleeping? Yes. The parable says it, but there is something very interesting in Song of Solomon 5:2, “I sleep, but my heart waketh.” He who goes to sleep because his guest has delayed, but who has prepared everything with great love and care, has a light sleep and at the slightest sound gets up to see if maybe his beloved guest is at the door. His heart is awake and always willing to meet his Master. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:1, 2. “When I remember thee upon my bed, [and] meditate on thee in the [night] watches.” Psalm 63:6.
In what condition is our heart? Are we expecting our Lord to come at any moment? Do we rejoice at the thought of His coming? Do we long for His kingdom? Do we consider everything as rubbish that we may win Christ?
We should not wait for the last moment to prepare for such a solemn event. In Matthew 25:10, we read, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.”
The door of grace is still open, but the time is short. The world is ripe for destruction. Are we ready to receive the latter rain to finish His work and be translated to heaven?
May the Lord help us all to sober up, considering the time in which we are living and not to play with His grace, either as a church or as individuals. Amen.
Teresa Corti