What Does it Mean

to Stand on the Rock?

 Matthew 7:24-27
Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears
these words of mine and does
them will be like a wise man
who built his house on the rock.
 25 And the rain fell,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew
and beat on that house,
but it did not fall,
because it had been
founded on the rock.
 26 And everyone who
hears these words of mine
and does not do them
will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand.
 27 And the rain fell,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat
against that house, and it fell,
and great was the fall of it.”
 • Being wise is hearing and
doing the word of God.
• Being foolish is hearing and
NOT doing the word of God.
 In our next passages
from Matthew 16:24-26,
Jesus raises the commitment.
It’s not just doing the word.
It’s about fully living your
life for God and not for self.
 24 Then Jesus told
his disciples:
“If anyone would
come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross
and follow me.
 25 For whoever would
save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it.
 26 For what will it
profit a man if he
gains the whole world
and forfeits his soul?
 In Psalm 18, we read
some snippets of David’s
adoration and praise
for God His fortress,
rock and deliverer.
 Psalms 18:1-2
1 I love you,
O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my
fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock,
in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.
 Psalm 119:1-11
provides clear instructions
for standing on the rock.
 Psalms 119:1-11
​1 Blessed are those
whose way is blameless,
who walk in the
law of the Lord!
 2 Blessed are those
who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with
their whole heart,
3 who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
4 You have commanded
your precepts to
be kept diligently.
 5 Oh that my ways
may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
 6 Then I shall not be
put to shame
[guilt & condemnation],
having my eyes
fixed on all your
commandments.
 7 I will praise you
with an upright heart,
when I learn
your righteous rules.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
9 How can a young man
keep his way pure?
By guarding it
according to your word.
 10 With my whole
heart I seek you;
let me not wander from
your commandments!
 11 I have stored up
your word in my heart,
that I might not
sin against you.
Is this inspiring you?
Does it make you
hungry for God?
How can you stand
on the rock?
 In Matthew 22:23-33,
Jesus debated with
the Sadducees, who don’t
believe in the resurrection.
 In Matthew 22:35-40,
a lawyer of the Pharisees and
a believer in the resurrection,
tried to prove their superiority
by asking Jesus a question
about the Ten Commandments.
 After all, what better way
to stand on the rock
than to follow the
Ten Commandments,
the centrepiece of the law -
Diba?
 35 And one of them
(one of the Pharisees),
a lawyer, asked him
a question to test him.
 36 “Teacher, which is
the great commandment
in the Law?”
37 And he said to him,
“You shall love
the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.
 38 This is the great
and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it:
You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.
 40 On these two
commandments
depend all the Law
and the Prophets.”
 And if you’re struggling
to love as God commands,
consider the added benefit
of loving one another
from 1 Peter 4:8.
 1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving
one another earnestly,
since love covers
a multitude of sins.
Compassion is the Key
Compassion is not one
of the gifts of the Spirit,
but it is the basis for
all forms of kindness.
Compassion showed
up in Jesus’ recipe
for servanthood.
 Matthew 20:25-28
“25 You know that the
rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and
their great ones exercise
authority over them.
 26 It shall not be
so among you.
But whoever would
be great among you
must be your servant,
27 and whoever would
be first among you
must be your slave,
28 even as the Son of
Man came not to be
served but to serve,
and to give his life as
a ransom for many.”
Compassion also
showed up in
Jesus’ recipe for
how we should
treat our enemy.
 Matthew 5:38-39
“38 You have heard
that it was said,
​‘An eye for an eye and
a tooth for a tooth.’
 39 But I say to you,
Do not resist the
one who is evil.
But if anyone slaps
you on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also.
 Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard
that it was said, ‘You
shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you,
Love your enemies
and pray for those
who persecute you,
45 so that you may be
sons of your Father
who is in heaven.
 On various occasions,
we see how Jesus was
moved with compassion
in His ministry.
 Matthew 14:14
When he went ashore
he saw a great crowd,
and he had
compassion on them
and healed their sick.
 John 11:32-39
tells us how Jesus
was moved with
compassion to
heal Lazarus.
 32 When Mary came
to where Jesus was
and saw him, she fell
at his feet, saying to him,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would
not have died.”
 33 When Jesus saw
her weeping, and the
Jews who had come
with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved
in his spirit and
greatly troubled.
 34 And he said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to him,
“Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
 36 So the Jews said,
“See how he loved him!”
(There is no law against love.)
 37 But some of them
(the perpetual critics) said,
“Could not he who opened
the eyes of the blind man
also have kept this
man from dying?”
 38 Then Jesus,
deeply moved again
(with compassion),
came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a
stone lay against it.
 39 Jesus said,
“Take away the stone.”
 To stand on the rock,
we must remove
the stone of disbelief.
We must remove our ego.
We must love our enemy.
We must take up our cross.
We must forgive even as
we have been forgiven.
We must first love God
and then our neighbor.