St Matthew, Chapter 7, verse: 26, The Sermon on the Mount.

The paragraph topic is:  (Conclusion of the sermon) Part 3.  

We continue the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount talking about the words that Christ has given us from these sermons.  He tells us in this verse that:  "Everyone who hears these my words and does not act upon them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house on sand."   Just as Christ told us about those who hear his words and acts upon them, he is telling us about those who hear his words and do not act on them.  These are the ones that will be like foolish men.  These are the ones who will not know.  These are the ones who will wonder what happened.  These are the ones who will have no understanding, for they built their houses upon the sand.

They built their house, their lives, their relationships, their work, their play, their worship, their service, their all, upon sand.  They did not take heed and listen to the words of the sermon.  They did not understand the meaning that the words gave to them.  They continued along the wide path of destruction.  They were foolish men.  They were men basing their lives upon their own understanding, their own desires, their own passions, their own wisdom.  

The Father of all wisdom gave us the truth.  Some accepted and some did not.  Some rationalized that the words did not make sense.  Some sought to understand using their own earthly knowledge.  Some sought to make sense of the words based on the way of the world.  Some threw out the words and made their own words of wisdom to use as their guide.  Some listened to the evil one and became angry at others because they believed.  Some continued along the road of destruction.  These are the ones that were foolish men who did not heed the words of Christ.

Christ gives us the keys to the kingdom.  He gives us the answers to the test.  He gives us the foundation to a happy life.  He gives us the measure by which we should measure.  He gives us the guide to walk by .  He gives us the true riches.  He tells us beware of the road blocks and the pitfalls along the path.  He points us in the direction of the road to life and all we have to do is follow.  He gives us the protection of our heavenly father.  He gives us the food and clothing that we need to live on this earth.  He gives us the peace that comes from the trust that we place in God.  He gives us the love of a father that knows what we need.  He gives us the tools to work around the traps laid down by the evil one.  He is our provider, our protector, our redeemer.

Your house is your own.  Where will you build it?  Will you build it upon sand?  Will you build it upon rock?  Will you be a foolish man?  Or will you have the wisdom that comes from the father of all wisdom?  The choice is yours.  Acceptance is the key that will lead you to the road of life.  Rejection is the the choice that leads to the path of destruction.  You can follow along with the crowd.  Or you can make the decision to take the narrow path.  Choose wisely and my God go with you.  

St Matthew, Chapter 7, verse:25, The Sermon on the Moount.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Conclusion of the sermon) Part 2. 

In this part of the final sermon, Christ tells us what happens in life.  He tells us the rain fell, the floods came, the wind blew and beat against the house, but it did not fall. 

We have rains that come into our lives today in buckets.  When it rains it pours.  It pours problems in the home with our children.  It pours problems in our relationships with our spouses.  It pours problems in our work environment with our co-workers, our supervisor, our managers, the company policies, the company workers that rub us the wrong way.  It pours in our churches.  It pours in our market places where we notice the increases in prices for the products we need.  It pours at the gas pump where we have no control over the cost of gasoline.  It pours with problems all around us that causes us to feel out of control.

And then there is the flood.  The waters that overwhelms us to the point where we loose control.  There is the flood of emotions that causes us to explode at home with our children.  Then there is the flood of emotions that comes with the frustration with our spouses that make us seek a way out.  There is the flood of emotions that make us feel angry with our jobs because we feel we are under paid and over worked.  There is the flood of feelings that comes from looking back upon our lives and seeing that we have not made the progress that we feel we should have made by now in our lives.  Instead we seem to be moving backwards.  There is the flood of desires that drive us to passions that would have us take pleasure in fun and wild behavior to wipe away all of the frustrations that we experience.

And the winds blow against all that we have, threatening to destroy our lives.  The winds of fate blow.  The winds of our destiny blow.  The winds of destruction blow.  The winds of passion blow.  The winds of lust blow.  The winds of envy blow.  The winds of jealousy blow.  The winds of anger and frustration blow.  The winds of deceit blow.  The winds of  death blow and seek to destroy all the we have and our homes.

Christ tells us that if we build our house on the rock, all these things will not prevail.  He tells us that if we hear his words and act upon them then the winds may blow, and the flood may come, and the rains may fall but none of these things will prevail against his words.  His words are truth.  His words are justice.  His words are everlasting.  His words prevail.  His words are protection.  His words provide, if we just keep them.

Keep them in your hearts.  Keep them in your minds.  Speak them daily.  Speak them to your children.  Speak to your spouses.  Speak them to your co-workers.  Speak them to your friends.  Speak them to yourself when you face the winds of evil that we meet everyday.  Christ has given us the key, if we would just use it to unlock the door.  Father God in heaven I pray that more people will hear your words and come to know them as truth.       

St Matthew, Chapter 7, verse: 24, The Sermon on the Mount.

The sermon ends with paragraph topic:  (Conclusion of the sermon) Part 1.

Christ is concluding his Sermon on the Mount.  He ends by telling us about the words that he has spoken.  He tells us:  24"Everyone therefore who hears these my words and acts upon them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock.  First Christ tells us to hear the words of this Sermon on the Mount.  He tells us to open our ears and allow his words to come in.  He tells us to not just hear but to take in what he is saying to us, to be still, to understand, to know.  Secondly, Christ is telling us to act upon what he is saying to us.  Do not just hear, but hear and understand.  Do not just hear and understand, but act upon what you have heard.

By taking action we will be like wise men.  We will have wisdom.  We will receive knowledge that comes from on high.  We will be solid in the knowledge that we have received and that knowledge is like a rock.  That knowledge cannot be disturbed.  That knowledge cannot be moved because it is the heavenly knowledge.  That knowledge cannot be moved because it comes from the heavenly father.  That knowledge cannot be moved no matter what life throws at us.  That knowledge tells us that we will be at peace.  For the Father of all knowledge tells us that when we act upon what we have heard we will be solid, as a rock. 

So build your house upon the knowledge that comes from the rock.  Build your life upon the wisdom that is given from on high.  Build your relationships upon what you have read, and heard, and understood , and what you will act upon.  Keep the knowledge in your mind.  Write them down and take them with you wherever you go.  Make them a part of your daily routine.  Recite them in the morning, afternoon, and evening until they are memorized.  Continue the pattern until you become the words that were spoken, they become you and they are implanted in your heart.  For the world will work against you.

The world will call you a fool.  The world will not like you.  The world will scorn you, and mock you, and speak all manner of evil against you.  The world will attempt to tear you down.  The world will exert all manner of force against you to turn you around.  The world will try to move you from the rock of knowledge, but be not deceived.  The world is the devil and the devil would turn you off the path of life and onto the path of destruction.  Christ did not say that the path to life would be easy.  Beware the obstacles to virtue.  They are like weeds that grow among the flowers, choking the life from them and draining valuable nutrients of life from the earth that the flowers must use for food.

Christ will be our guide, our nourishment, and our light.  Christ will show us the way.  Christ will protect us.  Christ will provide for us.  For God already knows what we need.  Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you.  These are the words that we must eat and sleep and speak and know and keep in our hearts, every second, every minute, every hour of the day.  For ours is the rock of salvation and we shall not be moved.