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Standing on the Rock

3/24/2014

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   For three chapters in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus speaks to a crowd from a mountain. We know this as the Sermon on the Mount, and a huge group of people hear Jesus speak about many different things. He speaks about who is really blessed, and he explains how to pray, and He delves into issues regarding how to deal with people and the whole focus of life changes from focus on self to focus upon Jesus Christ. The whole multitude has listened to Jesus, hanging on His every word, and Jesus concludes this sermon with an illustration. Matthew 7:24-27 "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."
   The whole thought that Jesus  closes with is that all of the previous things He has said are a foundation for life. Each aspect of teaching that has been brought out to the people if obeyed is a great foundation for life. In order to be a wise man (or woman) you simply obey the sayings of Jesus. Jesus compares heeding His words to a man who builds a house on a rock. Jesus says that no good contractor is going to build his house on sand, because the house will crumble in the first windstorm. The same is true in our life. If we have built our foundation on the things of earth, on our own laurels, on the temporal, then our house will crumble.
   All of our lives should be on the Rock. We know that the Rock is Christ (I Peter 2:6). We need to have our foundation placed upon Him. When we trust Christ as Saviour, we move our house from the sand to the Rock.
   Whenever I read this passage I think of a old popular hymn. In that hymn it speaks of our whole lives are secure in Christ. That Jesus is the Rock, and upon Him can we stand. It is only by the power of Jesus Christ that our houses can be built upon His foundation, the Rock. Our hope is indeed built on nothing less than His blood and righteousness. The chorus to that hymn was penned by Edward Mote and he wrote this:
                                    " On Christ, the solid rock I stand;
                                       All other ground is sinking sand,
                                       All other ground is sinking sand."

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The Proof of Prophecy

3/17/2014

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Isaiah 42:9 "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them."

   You may recall the name Ron Wienland. He made a prediction that the Rapture would take place on May 27,2012. People sold their homes and their cars. They took out their life savings and borrowed huge sums of money because they believed this supposed prophecy. In order to believe in any prophecy we need a certainty of past prophecies. If Ron had made a prophecy that was fulfilled then people could believe his next prophecy much easier. Ron failed in his prophecies and that gives Ron no credibility in any prophecy he will state in the future.
   When we look at Isaiah 42 we see clearly that the Messiah is being foretold. The fulfillment of past prophecy brings proof that new prophecies from God would also be a reality. Israel was to be separate from the rest of the world, that was why they had no king before Saul, and that was why they had different rules for living. They were to be different, and to be a light to the Gentiles, that the Gentiles would believe. Israel failed in that mission, but God says in v6 that He would keep his covenant, or His promise to Israel, that they would be that light, and they would release the Gentiles from their prison of sin.
   This verse tells us that God odes not leave us in the dark, we are told everything we need to know to go through life. It is not the case of something happening and God then telling us, "Oh, right, I was going to tell you that, but I forgot." All of the things that God had foretold of Israel had been fulfilled, and He now tells the Israelites through Isaiah that the Messiah will come, and you can be sure that it will happen because the previous things have been fulfilled.
   The Messiah did come, He bled, and died, and suffered on the cruel cross of Calvary for you and for me. It was me who was to suffer for my sin, but it was Jesus who took that punishment for me. How grateful we can be that Jesus Christ paid that death penalty for us. The Messiah was here, and all of the prophecies concerning His first return have been fulfilled. Now we look forward to His Second Coming and because the prophecies of His first have been fulfilled, we can be sure that the Second Coming will happen.

  
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