Greetings Flag Branch members and friends and thanks for taking the time to join me, Pastor Jordan, for some Fine Points from Sunday’s service and message “The Root and Ground of Life”.
The “Sermon on the Mount” which includes the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of the gospel according to Matthew is the most complete and comprehensive overview in one place of the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.
In those chapters, Jesus covers a range of issues and updates some Old Testament teaching and understanding of scripture. Jesus chooses to end the sermon with a warning He placed in an illustration involving a house, His teaching, ground or foundation on which the house is built and a storm.
The point of the illustration is to emphasize the importance of acting upon what He is teaching. The ground upon which a house is built matters in the likelihood of severe weather involving extreme wind, rain and water.
Because sand is loosely packed and easily shifted, anything built upon or planted in such ground can be swept away like the sand it is in or on. Contrarily, anything planted in solid or compact ground or built upon a solid foundation like a rock or stone can withstand those same extreme conditions much better and longer.
The two houses built upon and in and upon different ground and foundations represent two groups of people. One group of people houses, which means their lives, will be destroyed and the other group of people houses or lives will be saved.
The ground or foundation upon which each group built their houses or lives depend upon whether or not they adhere to or obey what Jesus taught them. Those who built their house, which means structure their lives by doing what Jesus said, have built their house or lives upon a solid foundation which will cause the house or their lives to stand in the face of a severe storm which is the judgement of God.
The other group chose to built their house or structure their lives by ignoring what Jesus taught and built their house or lives upon sand which will cause their house or lives to fall and fail in the face of the storm of God’s judgement. The illustration beautifully and understandably lays out the consequences for what we do with what we have been taught.
Moreover, every person’s life since the beginning fits into those who sought to seek and do the will of God and those who didn’t. Before Jesus came along, God’s will had to be determined by the signs He left from what He has created and the limited contact He has had with certain people some of whom we know about and others we don’t. They shall be held accountable for what they knew and should have known.
But we have the words of God himself in the person of Jesus. Therefore, we shall be held to a far greater accountability than all those before us because Jesus has made God’s will plain and understandable to everyone.
The gospel said the people were amazed and astonished at the teaching of Jesus because no one had ever taught them with such authority and clarity as He did. We, like them, have received the root and ground of life. It is left up to us to choose how and thereby choose where upon we shall build the house of our life.
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Click the SS Daily Bible Readings for an excellent devotional and preparation for the upcoming Sunday School lesson. Don’t forget to leave a comment or question down below. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
Thank you so much for the word on Sunday. You always explains it so clearly. As always I enjoy it. I thank God for you every day. May you be forever Blessed.
Thank you so much for your encouragement!