~Build Your House on the Rock~

Mat 7:24  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 word “rock” in Greek is petra G4073, and it’s a feminine noun that means quite literally rock, a massive rock, cliff or ledge. This word “rock” is used 16 times in the New Testament, 7 times by Jesus Himself.

I’m going to start this article off in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 7, because it’s the first time the word “rock” is used in the New Testament. Jesus uses this word “rock” in this verse above to describe the foundation that a wise man would build his house upon, and that foundation is; Jesus, hearing His sayings/words and doing what He says.

Notice; it’s not the house that is the “rock” in this illustration, but rather the foundation that a wise man would build his house upon; also I’d like to point out that Jesus doesn’t say “whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and believes them” He says “whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and does them.”

First off; what sayings is Jesus talking about? Clearly they are His sayings in the Sermon on the Mount to the multitudes, of which Matthew chapter 7 and this particular rock illustration is a part of.

The Sermon of the Mount starts at the beginning of Matthew Chapter 5. The first 18 verses of The Sermon on the Mount are the sayings of Jesus that are promises of blessedness that we are to believe. The remainder of this lengthy sermon, Mat 5:19 all the way to Mat 7:12 are the sayings of Jesus we are to DO, and in doing what He says, He will likened us to a wise man that built his house upon a Rock. Verse 19 starts off the list of commandments Jesus gives us.

Mat 5:19  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus continues throughout the rest of chapter 5 all the way to chapter 7, to teach these commandments that address things such as Anger (v.21-26) Lust (v.27-30) Divorce (v.31-32) Oaths (v.33-37) Retaliation (v.38-42) Loving our enemies (v.43-48), Giving to the Needy (Ch. 6 v.1-4) How to Pray (Ch. 6 v.5-15) What to Do When Fasting (Ch. 6 v.16-18) Not Laying Up Treasures on the Earth (Ch. 6 v.19-24) Not Being Anxious (Ch. 6 v.25-34), Judging Others (Ch. 7 v.1-6) Asking, Seeking and Knocking (Ch. 7 v.7-11) and The Golden Rule (Ch. 7 v.12-14). There are 14 total admonitions that Jesus lays out in these 3 chapters of Matthew, for us to DO and teach them.

Directly after teaching the multitudes these commands, Jesus gives us a warning about A Tree and It’s Fruit, as well as the fruits that would show that He Never Knew Us by saying this:

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 
Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 
Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 
Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

These sobering verses 21-23, that every Christian knows and ponders, comes immediately before the “Build Your House Upon a Rock” illustration, making it obvious that those that call Him Lord, Lord, that will NOT enter into the kingdom of heaven are those that build a house in His name but DON’T do the will of the Father which is in heaven, and the good fruit is doing what He has said.

These people mentioned in these verses had the faith to prophesy in His name, cast out devils and perform wonderful works, but they worked iniquity by not DOING AS HE SAID, proving that they had never made Jesus their Lord. Luke 6:46 And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 

Let’s look at the “Build upon a rock” verses again.

Mat 7:24  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: 
Mat 7:25  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. 
Mat 7:26  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: 
Mat 7:27  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. 

We can see this scenario illustrated again by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 
Luke 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 
Luke 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 
Luke 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. 

Now, at this point we should all understand that the rock in these illustrations is the Words/Sayings of Jesus, and Jesus IS the Word of God made flesh, as the Gospel of John tells us, and as 1 John 5:7 tells us, He one of the three that bear record in Heaven “the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” and as Paul clearly lays out for us in 1 Cor 10:4 “for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. 
Joh 14:24  He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings: and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father’s which sent Me. 

I’d like to take a minute to draw your attention to this particular use of the word rock by Jesus that has for centuries been twisted and mistranslated.

Mat 16:15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 
Mat 16:16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (G4074), and upon this rock (G4073) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

Here in verse 18, the rock Jesus is speaking of is what the Father just revealed to Peter concerning WHO Jesus was; the Christ, the Son of the living God, NOT Peter. Peter is Petros in Greek G4074 and it is a masculine noun that means: a stone, a piece of rock or a pebble. Petra G4073 is a feminine noun that means: a rock, massive rock, cliff or ledge. Jesus is saying that He will build His church upon the rock of THAT revelation given to Peter by the Father, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Remember, Peter was the first of Christ’s disciples that was called to become a fisher of men. That was the beginning of Jesus starting His church upon the earth, but it’s important to understand that Jesus and ONLY Jesus and the understanding of who He is, is the foundation/rock that His Church is built upon and no other.

Keep in mind that just 5 verses after this conversation with Peter, Jesus rebukes him by calling him Satan and tells him that he is a stumbling block to Him.

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 
Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 

This verse below in 1 Corinthians makes it clear that there is NO OTHER foundation that can be laid that we’re to build upon other than Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:11  For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:12  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 
1Co 3:13  each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 

Our spiritual houses will be tested by fire, which means trials and tribulations; and if what we have built withstands those trials, it will show that we have built our house upon the ROCK, the foundation laid by God for the building of Christ’s Church upon the earth.

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

I profess unto them I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Mat 7:23

I pray this article has you thinking about your spiritual house and the foundation it is built upon. Do you just believe, or do you DO as He has said? This is illustrated by the parable that Jesus tells about the Wedding Feast and the man that is invited/called, but arrives not wearing wedding clothes. The wedding clothes represent righteous deeds that agree with the teachings of Christ.

Rev 19:7  Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready; 
Rev 19:8  it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 

“On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand”

God Bless you, Be Free and Set Free in Jesus name!