Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I saw this humorous video recently, and it was showing people that were in their living room or other places in the house, and they were acting like they saw a spider or some dangerous animal. They started screaming and watching out for it. The people who are next to them follow suit. They would run out of the room. It was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen. They're just afraid of things. The fact of the matter is, it was all make believe. It was just a joke.
In our Verse of the Day, Jesus Christ is talking about one of the most important truths in the Bible. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, He says, "'Anyone who listens to My teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.'"
The Context: Jesus as King
Jesus Christ tells us to watch out for something, and then he tells us to build our house upon the rock. The theme of Matthew is Jesus as King. He's the king. He's the King of kings. He's the Lord of lords. He's telling us really what this godly lifestyle, the life that's transformed, looks like in Matthew chapter 5 to 7.
Three Principles for a Stable Life
Here in chapter 7, after he talks about money and worry in chapter 6 and chapter 7, very simply in our Verse of the Day, we're going to look at three great principles that build a stable life in an unstable world. What does a stable life look like? Jesus Christ tells us.
Beware of False Prophets
Number one: Beware of false prophets.
He gives us the warning right away in verse 15: "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing." What does that mean? Sheep's clothing. It means they look like people who go to church. They look like religious people, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
How are we going to recognize them? Jesus says in verse 16: "You'll recognize them by their fruits. Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit."
Thus, He says a second time: "You'll recognize them by their fruits." What's Jesus trying to say? Beware of false prophets.
Beware of False Conversions
Secondly: Beware of false conversions.
Can I just tell you? These are some of the most frightening passages in the Bible. Verse 21: "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father."
Not that good works get us to heaven, but this person who's been transformed by the grace of God—their life will look different.
This next verse is incredible. He says: "On that day many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and do many mighty works in Your name?"
Again, these are church people. These are religious things that they say. Jesus Christ in verse 23 says this—and this is the most frightening passage, possibly in the whole Bible: "And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness."
We're to beware of false conversions, false prophets, and false teachers.
Build Your Faith on Christ
Finally: Build your faith on Christ. Build your faith on the rock.
Jesus says right here in our Verse of the Day: "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them—" You repent, you've come to Christ, then you do His works. You're like a wise man or a wise woman who built their house on the rock.
What happens to this kind of a house? What happens to your life? Is it stable?
Jesus tells us in verse 25: "And the rain fell, the floods came, the wind blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock—Jesus Christ."
Verse 26: "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, who does not do them, they're like a foolish person who built their life on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and they beat against that house and great was its crash."
We don't want to be like that.
Number One: Are You Infected by False Teaching?
I have three simple questions for you.
Number one: Are you infected by false teaching? What do you allow in your mind? Do you allow sound, biblical, good teaching? Or do you allow things that aren't healthy for you? Anchor your life in the Bible.
Number Two: Are You Truly Saved?
Number two: Are you truly saved? I don't say this to judge you. I say this because I want to be in heaven with you. Do you truly know the Lord Jesus? Let's not be those people who will one day have Jesus say: "Depart from Me. I never knew you."
It's one thing to go to heaven. It's another thing to think that we're going to heaven and wind up in eternity without Him.
Number Three: Is Your Foundation on Jesus?
Number three: Is your foundation on Jesus? Is it on the rock of Jesus Christ?
May you and I not build our life on shifting sand with shifting, but let's build our life on the rock of Jesus Christ and His Word.
